Ricciardo Resource Doubles to 1.96 Moz AuEq with 60 kt Antimony Maiden Estimate

A Landmark Resource Update

Warriedar Resources Limited (ASX: WA8) has delivered a significant milestone with the declaration of a maiden antimony Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at its flagship Ricciardo deposit in Western Australia. The announcement reveals a resource of 12.2 million tonnes at 0.5% antimony (Sb), containing 60.3 kilotonnes of antimony, positioning Ricciardo as Australia’s largest open-pit antimony resource on a granted mining lease.

Alongside this, the total Ricciardo MRE has surged to 1.96 million ounces gold equivalent (AuEq), representing a 107% increase from the previous estimate, with an average grade of 2.5 g/t AuEq. This update includes an open-pit resource of 11.4 million tonnes at 3.3 g/t AuEq, containing 331,000 ounces of gold and 56.8 kilotonnes of antimony within the antimony grade shell.

Strategic Significance Amid Global Supply Dynamics

The timing of this resource update is particularly noteworthy given the surging global antimony prices and tightening supply constraints driven by geopolitical factors. Antimony, a critical mineral used in flame retardants, batteries, and alloys, has seen renewed strategic interest. Warriedar’s Managing Director Amanda Buckingham highlighted the importance of this development, emphasizing the company’s systematic approach to unlocking the antimony potential alongside its gold assets.

Warriedar’s extensive drilling campaigns in 2023 and 2024, combined with a comprehensive review of historical data and metallurgical testwork, underpin the robustness of this resource. The metallurgical results are promising, demonstrating the feasibility of producing a high-grade antimony concentrate with an attractive recovery rate of 81%, complementing the gold recovery assumptions of 95%.

Geological and Operational Context

The Ricciardo deposit is situated within the Golden Range Project in the Murchison region, a prolific gold and base metals province. The mineralisation occurs along the Mougooderra Shear Zone, with antimony mineralisation structurally controlled and partially overlapping with gold mineralisation but occurring as a distinct later event. The resource model incorporates three domains reflecting gold-only, antimony-only, and combined gold-antimony mineralisation, refined through advanced geostatistical methods and constrained by geological controls.

Importantly, the resource update includes both open-pit and underground components, with cut-off grades tailored to mining method assumptions. The open-pit resource is optimised using industry-standard parameters and the Lerchs-Grossman algorithm, assuming a production rate of 700,000 tonnes per annum.

Broader Project Scale and Next Steps

Beyond Ricciardo, the combined Mineral Resource Estimate for the Golden Range and Fields Find projects now totals 31 million tonnes at 2.3 g/t AuEq, equating to 2.3 million ounces AuEq. This scale underlines Warriedar’s growing footprint in the region and its potential to develop a multi-commodity mining operation.

Looking ahead, Warriedar plans to commence dedicated antimony-focused drilling in 2025, targeting high-grade shoots identified below the Ardmore pit and other prospective zones. This drilling will run in parallel with ongoing metallurgical testwork and gold resource growth programs along the 25-kilometre Golden Corridor.

The company’s disciplined approach, supported by independent consultants Measured Group Pty Ltd and rigorous QA/QC protocols, provides a solid foundation for advancing the project towards feasibility and potential production.