Waratah’s Consols gold delivers up to 93pc recovery
Original announcement by stockhead on
- Company
- Waratah Minerals
- Ticker
- WTM
- Exchange
- Unavailable
- Region
- NSW
- Primary commodity
- Gold
- Secondary commodities
- None reported
- Document categories
- Metallurgy
- Extracted
- 2026-09-16 03:04:31 UTC
Analysis by Minestarters Atlas
Minestarters Atlas analysis
Summary
Waratah Minerals reported strong gold recoveries of 89-93% from early testwork on the Consols Zone at its Spur project in NSW. The results, achieved via gravity recovery followed by conventional cyanide leaching, mirror previous successful testwork on the neighbouring Spur Zone and support a straightforward processing flowsheet.
Reasoning: Strong metallurgical results showing high recovery and simple processing potential for the Consols Zone.
Positive factors
- High gold recovery (up to 93%)
- Free-milling gold identified
- Simple processing pathway (gravity + leach) supported
- Results consistent with previous Spur Zone testwork
Facts used in scoring: 4
Classification and evidence
Free Millingpositive
Simple, clean ore amenable to standard processing without oxidation.
Why it applies: Testwork identified coarse, free-milling gold grains.
Evidence · text
“identifying coarse, free-milling gold”
Mill Routeneutral
Processing via mill or concentrator (CIL, CIP, tank leach, flotation).
Why it applies: Processing involves gravity recovery followed by conventional leaching.
Evidence · text
“gravity recovery followed by conventional leaching”
Gravity Routeneutral
Gravity separation forms a material part of the flowsheet.
Why it applies: the document describes a gravity route ("gravity")
Multi-Domain Testedpositive
Variability across ore domains (oxide, transition, fresh) has been addressed.
Why it applies: 3 distinct composites were tested
Extracted facts
Stored fact records: 4. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record.
Metallurgical Results (4)
diagnostic gold leachingSpur project · goldRecovery: 93 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Spur project
- Commodity
- gold
- Region
- australia_nsw
- Reported Region
- NSW
- Ticker
- WTM
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- diagnostic gold leaching
- Processing Route
- gravity recovery followed by conventional cyanide leaching
- Sample
- six bulk samples from Consols Zone
Recovery
- Recovery
- 93 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Top-end recovery of 93% is very strong for early-stage testwork.
Positive factors
- High recovery rate
Evidence · text
“Consols testwork returns strong 89-93% gold recoveries”
Tags used in scoring
Gravity Routeneutral
Gravity separation forms a material part of the flowsheet.
Why it applies: processing_route matches the gravity signal
gravity separationSpur project · goldRecovery: 15 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Spur project
- Commodity
- gold
- Region
- australia_nsw
- Reported Region
- NSW
- Ticker
- WTM
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- gravity separation
- Processing Route
- gravity recovery
- Sample
- Consols Zone gravity recovery
Recovery
- Recovery
- 15 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Average gravity recovery of 15% supports the proposed flowsheet.
Positive factors
- Significant gravity component
Evidence · text
“Gravity recovered between 4% and 24% of the gold, averaging 15%”
Tags used in scoring
Gravity Routeneutral
Gravity separation forms a material part of the flowsheet.
Why it applies: processing_route matches the gravity signal
Low Recoverynegative
Recovery below the weak band for the commodity and processing route.
Why it applies: 15% is below the weak band (80%)
diagnostic leach testingSpur project · goldRecovery: 76 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Spur project
- Commodity
- gold
- Region
- australia_nsw
- Reported Region
- NSW
- Ticker
- WTM
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- diagnostic leach testing
- Processing Route
- conventional cyanide leaching
- Sample
- Consols Zone conventional cyanide leaching
Recovery
- Recovery
- 76 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: 76% average leach recovery is robust for this stage.
Positive factors
- Strong leach recovery
Evidence · text
“subsequent conventional cyanide leaching recovered a further 68% to 86%, averaging 76%”
Tags used in scoring
Low Recoverynegative
Recovery below the weak band for the commodity and processing route.
Why it applies: 76% is below the weak band (80%)
Fact 4Spur project · goldRecovery: 97 %Historical resultNeeds review: historical_restatementView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Spur project
- Commodity
- gold
- Region
- australia_nsw
- Reported Region
- NSW
- Ticker
- WTM
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Sample
- Spur Zone material (February 2026)
Recovery
- Recovery
- 97 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Review
- Needs Review
- Yes
- Review Reason
- historical_restatement
- Historical
- Yes
- Historical Source Date
- 2026-02-01T00:00:00.000Z
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Historical benchmark for comparison.
Positive factors
- High historical recovery
Evidence · text
“testwork carried out on Spur Zone material in February 2026 returned combined gravity and conventional leach recoveries of 90-97%”
Tags used in scoring
High Recoverypositive
Recovery at or above the exceptional band for the commodity and processing route.
Why it applies: 97% is at or above the exceptional band (95%)
How Atlas produces this analysis
Minestarters Atlas uses automated extraction to summarize mining announcements, identify reported measurements, and classify supporting evidence. Sentiment reflects the extracted narrative and classification rules; it is an interpretation, not a reported measurement. Evidence quotes and context are provided where available. Missing data, low-confidence results, and review flags indicate limitations. Check the original publisher announcement before relying on an interpretation.