The company is additionally expecting more encouraging news out of its “icing on the cake” project Feysville, which is also in the Kalgoorlie-Kambalda neighbourhood where M&A activity has been running hot.

The first in a string of milestones scheduled by Astral Resources (ASX:AAR) for the next 2-3 weeks are assay results from the first phase of an in-fill RC program at Theia. The Theia deposit is the largest at Mandilla, which has a total current MRE of 37Mt at 1.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 1.27 million ounces of contained gold.

Astral managing director Marc Ducler says he expects the results from 70 holes, drilled for a total 6,500m, to reinforce Astral’s understanding of the resource model for Theia, which contains 29Mt at 1.1g/t gold for 1.02Moz in one large open pit.

The average depth of drilling at Theia and Iris is 151m and outside of Theia and Iris, the average depth is only 50m.

As well, Euroz Hartleys recently put a new buy price target of 22c on Astral – up from its current 10c.

The financial services provider noted that Mandilla was just the start for Astral, with its secondary project Feysville project boasting the potential to provide more high-grade ounces earlier into the company’s mine plan.

Since finishing up for the time being at Mandilla, the drill rig has moved on to the highly promising Feysville Gold Project for a 34-hole, 3,750m program to test for extensions to the wide, high-grade Kamperman deposit.

The first seven of the planned 34 holes have already been completed and Ducler says the team is excited by what they’re seeing from the project that has a current MRE of 116,000oz.

“The first three holes – including a 200m step-out to the north and the two most north-eastern step-outs – have all intersected significant quartz and sulphide mineralisation which looks like the lithologies, or rocks, which host gold mineralisation elsewhere at Kamperman,” Ducler says.

“So we’re looking forward to getting the assay results in a few weeks,” he says.

Drilling at Kamperman last year returned thick, high-grade intersections from over a 450m strike, with results including 21m at 4.16 g/t gold from only 31m, 35m at 2.19g/t gold from 81m and 5m at 5.89g/t gold from 112m.

At the same time Mineral Resource Estimates are being finalised for Kamperman, as well as other Feysville deposits Think Big and Rogan Josh, which are expected to be reported imminently.

They’ll follow on from the metallurgy results released last week that significantly de-risk Mandilla, with recoveries of up to 99.5% confirmed in real-world processing plant conditions.

“Those outstanding met test results will positively impact the metrics and economics of the Mandilla Gold Project Pre-Feasibility Study, which we expect to be completed in Q4 of FY 2024-25,” Ducler said.

Also fuelling Ducler’s optimism about the PFS is Mandilla’s robust Scoping Study, released last September.

That forecast production of 100kozpa for the first seven years and 845koz over the 11-year life of mine from the shallow, high-quality resource base of 1.27Moz.

Also assumed was net present value (NPV) of $442 million and free cashflow of $740 million with a payback of approximately nine months – all based on a now very conservative gold price of A$2,750/oz.

As well the Scoping Study lacking the latest met test results, there was no consideration of Mandilla’s Iris deposit, where a Mineral Resource of 115koz is currently mapped, nor the Feysville project, and Ducler anticipates these updates may be included in the PFS.

Meanwhile Astral plans to continue drilling aggressively at Mandilla and Feysville until Christmas, with a view to further expanding the projects.

AAR’s momentum continued this morning with a strongly-backed $25m placement to take the company through to pre-feasibility and definitive studies at Mandilla.

The placement was completed at a 5% discount to AAR’s 30-day volume-weighted average price with strong demand from new and existing investors both in Australia and abroad.

“The calibre of new investors we were able to attract and the quantum of funds we were able to raise is testament to the quality of the Mandilla Gold Project as one of Australia’s best near-term gold development stories,” Ducler said.

“Proceeds from the Placement will enable Astral to accelerate exploration and evaluation activities at both Mandilla and Feysville in order to unlock the genuine potential of these projects.”

As the gold price hits new records there have been some big deals in the mid-tier producer space in WA’s world-class Goldfields region. Red 5 (ASX:RED) and Silver Lake Resources (ASX:SLR) completed their merger earlier this year, and just days before Diggers and Dealers in August Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) finalised its merger with Canada’s Karora Resources. That followed earlier bids by Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) for Westgold.