Lunnon Metals (ASX:LM8) has highlighted the potential to develop its Hustler gold deposit after releasing an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Western Australia discovery. Hustler was discovered by Lunnon Metals in late CY21, with the company drilling it in its very first hole after listing on the ASX.

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The updated MRE shows the Hustler mineral resource has increased by 20% in gold and 21% in tonnes. The deposit is now estimated at 826,000 tonnes at 1.4 grams per tonne (g/t) for 36,200 ounces. The Hustler update was released alongside an MRE for the company’s other Kambalda gold and nickel project, Lady Herial, giving a broader picture of the company’s near-term asset base in the same district.

Lunnon is mining the adjacent Lady Herial open pit, with gold ore being purchased by its major 30.15% shareholder, St Ives Gold Mining (SIGM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Gold Fields, under an ore purchase agreement (OPA). That arrangement matters because it links the resource update to an operating project already generating ore sales, rather than to a stand-alone discovery.

As at June 30, CY26, after mining depletion and with about two months of mining remaining, the Lady Herial gold ore reserve stood at 82,700 tonnes at 2.1 g/t for 5,600 ounces.

“Hustler and a possible cut-back at Lady Herial are sitting in pole position as the next potential development opportunities,” managing director Edmund Ainscough said.

“The current Lady Herial open pit has been a big success and financial enabler. We will continue to fast-track the permitting… and, in parallel, discuss ongoing collaboration with our current partners; SIGM, Hampton Mining \u0026 Civil and Goldfields Technical Services, with a view to reproducing that success in FY27.

“With a strong and growing cash balance, and a $13 million drill campaign already underway, shareholders can expect robust news flow throughout the coming months.”

The St Ives gold camp has recorded more than 18 million ounces of gold mined from the early 1980s to the present day. Combined with more than 1.6 million tonnes of nickel metal mined since WMC Resources discovered the nickel belt in 1966, this makes the Kambalda/St Ives district a globally significant precious and base metals belt. In that context, Lunnon’s Hustler and Lady Herial updates sit within a long-established mining area where new and existing deposits can be assessed alongside nearby infrastructure, historical production and ongoing regional activity.

Gold has been produced in the area since the discovery of the Red Hill gold mine in 1896, adjacent to the company’s historical Silver Lake nickel mine at Kambalda.

LM8 was steady at 30 cents this morning.

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