Mount Hope Mining (ASX:MHM) plans to accelerate exploration at the Mt Solitary gold prospect in New South Wales' Cobar Basin following strong results from its maiden phase one metallurgical testwork program.

The testwork confirmed that gold at Mt Solitary is coarse, free-milling, and highly amenable to a conventional gravity and cyanidation (CIL) processing route. Free-milling ores are prized in the industry because they enable simpler, lower-cost processing circuits without the need for pre-treatment of refractory material. Based on these findings, the company informed shareholders it intends to fast-track its work program as the project moves toward a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE).

Mount Hope also plans to collect additional drill core for further comminution characterisation, including abrasion, crushing, and grinding testwork, to support process plant design and engineering studies.

Earlier this week, the company finalised a drilling contract for the Mt Solitary phase three program. The program is scheduled to commence in mid-August, with a 3,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign expected to run for approximately six weeks.

The phase three program targets the southern and western extensions of the Mt Solitary gold prospect beyond current drilling limits, testing up to 200 metres south of the existing mineralised envelope. The drilling will also support geological interpretation and provide sufficient data for the preparation of a maiden JORC-compliant MRE. A JORC-compliant estimate, governed by the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, would mark the first formal, independently reportable quantification of gold at the project.

The Cobar Basin is a well-established mineral province in central western NSW, hosting a corridor of historical and operating base metal and gold mines, which lends regional significance to new discoveries in the area.

Managing Director and CEO Fergus Kiley said the phase one metallurgical results confirm what visible gold observed in drill chips and earlier cyanide-solubility testwork had indicated — that Mt Solitary hosts a clean, coarse-grained, free-milling gold system responsive to conventional gravity and cyanidation processing.

"The results are highly encouraging at this critical value-accretive stage of the project. Testwork has demonstrated favourable metallurgical characteristics, delivering an indicative combined gold recovery of +98% using a conventional gravity & cyanidation flowsheet," Kiley said.

"Approximately three-quarters of the contained gold is recoverable through gravity concentration alone, while around 95% of the remaining gold is readily cyanide-soluble."

"These results confirm the free-milling nature of the mineralisation, with no evidence of significant refractory behaviour, supporting a technically straightforward, low-complexity processing route and materially reducing metallurgical risk as the project advances."

Kiley noted that the results build directly on cyanide-solubility testwork announced in May, which demonstrated consistently high gold solubility in fresh mineralisation at depth.

Prior to market open, MHM shares were steady at 14.0 cents, with a market capitalisation of $6.636 million.