Project Background
The Sandstone (Bellchambers) Gold Project lies within tenement E57/984 (125 km2; 90% VMC). The Bellchambers mining area is located about 23 km southwest of the town of Sandstone (Figure 1) and is 70km by road northeast from the Youanmi Gold Project being advanced by Rox Resources Ltd.
Figure 1. Sandstone (Bellchambers) Gold Project Location Plan
The Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) update for the Bellchambers Gold Deposit. The update follows a comprehensive RC drilling program completed in April 2025 with a total of 34 RC holes for 1749 metres drilled at the Bellchambers Gold deposit and Rangeview prospects with the aim of confirming and infill drilling key areas of the known mineralisation (refer ASX announcement 12 June 2025). The global resource is summarised below table 1.
Table 1
Importantly, the drilling and subsequent updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) has defined a significant increase in the measured resource and highlight a resource with a clear development opportunity. For the first time, a small resource at Rangeview, located two kilometres northeast of Bellchambers, has been defined with additional scope to grow this resource. This Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) has been reviewed with reasonable prospect of eventual economic extraction factors being applied. The total Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources reported at 0.5 gm/t Au and constrained by a A$4,500/ounce optimised pit are summarised below table 2.
Table 2
These positive results provide confidence going forward with the potential development of Bellchambers and Rangeview. Mining lease M57/671 covering the Bellchambers and Rangeview deposits has recently been granted, with a number of key consultants appointed to assist Venus in the preparation and submission of a Mining Development and Closure Proposal (MDCP) which will encompass work including flora and fauna surveys, surface hydrology and waste characterisation work. ( refer ASX announcement 15 August 2025 & 31 December 2025.
Figure 2. 3-D View of Bellchambers Mineralisation Wireframes
Figure 3. 3-D View of Range View Mineralisation Wireframes
Metallurgical testwork was completed on seven RC representative drill hole intervals from the Bellchambers Gold Project (E57/984; 90% VMC). The programme aimed to establish gravity gold recovery, cyanide leach extraction, and reagent consumption for oxide and fresh mineralisation. Key Findings Key findings from the leach testwork are summarised as follows:
- Overall gold recoveries are high, ranging from ~90 % to ~99 %, with oxide samples leaching very rapidly and sulphide samples achieving near-complete extraction over 16–24 hours.
- Gravity recoverable gold is variable, generally higher in oxides, indicating potential for a gravity circuit to capture a meaningful portion of gold prior to cyanide leaching.
- Cyanide and lime consumption are within expected ranges; oxides require minimal chemicals, while sulphides show moderate to high consumption related to reactive sulphides and base metals. In summary, Bellchambers ore is highly amenable to conventional processing via gravity recovery followed by cyanide leaching. Rapid and high recoveries confirm the mineralisation is non-refractory with minimal deleterious elements. Both oxide and sulphide material demonstrate strong gravity response and high leach recoveries, supporting a low-risk, conventional gold processing route with clear opportunities for reagent optimisation and cost reduction. These results support a conventional processing route with an initial gravity circuit followed by cyanide leaching, but future optimisation (grind size, cyanide concentration, pH control) is likely to further improve recoveries and reduce reagent consumption. (refer ASX announcement 25 Aug 25)
Widenbar and Associates (“WAA”) was commissioned by Venus Metals Corporation Limited (“Venus”) to produce an Exploration Target** (Figure 4) located below the existing Bellchambers Global Resource (MRE) of 766,000 t @ 1.27 g/t Au for 31,400 ounces. The Exploration Target Area is shown on a Long Section (Figure 5) and is located below the existing Global Resource and to the north of the current Indicated/Inferred Mineral Resource at depth. This material has been reported below the Global Resource cutoff at an assumed underground cutoff of 1 g/t Au. Exploration Target** has been estimated as: 800,000 to 950,000 tonnes @ 1.75 to 2.00 g/t Au for 45,000 to 60,000 ounces Au
Table 3. Bellchambers Gold Exploration Target Potential**
(refer ASX announcement 2 January 2026)
** The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Targets are conceptual in nature and, as such, there has been insufficient exploration drilling conducted to estimate a Mineral Resource. At this stage, it is uncertain if further exploration drilling will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource. The Exploration Target has been prepared in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). Based on the interpretation of the deep holes (Figure 6), there are two major mineralised zones, with a total of approximately 15m true thickness. Fresh material at depth in the block model has a density of 3.00 t/m3 applied. Grade in the Inferred Mineral Resource at depth is approximately 1.95 g/t Au at a 1 g/t Au cutoff.
Figure 4: Plan View: Bellchambers Gold Deposit and Drillholes
Figure 5. Exploration Target Area (Long Section looking west)
There was a total of 679 holes in the complete database; the database used in resource modelling was restricted to the Bellchambers and Range View areas, resulting in the following breakdown of holes (Table 4).
Table 4. Hole Types and Metres
The geological data in the drill holes located at Bellchambers is used as a guide to generate parameters for the Exploration Target calculations; they are not directly used in any target estimation, as they already form part of a reported Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE).
- The volume range (tonnage) of the Exploration Target is defined by interpreted modelling of the mineralised zone delineated by the drilling completed via the geological modelling software (Micromine 2026).
- The assumed strike length of the Exploration Target for Stage 1 is approximately 240m, extending below the current Inferred Resource to the 300m RL (approximately 250m below surface).
- The Exploration Target ounces output ranges have been rounded to the nearest 100 ounces to reflect the conceptual nature of the calculations. (refer ASX announcement 5 January 2026)
Figure 6. Location of the drilled holes at Bellchambers and planned drillholes (Plan 001-005) (phase 1) in the Exploration Target Area
2. Proposed exploration activities designed to test the validity of the Exploration Target and timeframe The following drill holes (see Figure 7 and Table 5) are located relatively close to the Exploration Target area, and have been used to inform the current block model used in Mineral Resource Reporting (refer ASX announcement 15 August and 31 December 2025); they have also been used in conjunction with the block model to derive parameters for the estimation of the Exploration Target.
Table 5. Existing drillhole located close to the Exploration Target Area
Figure 7. Long Section Detail of Exploration Target Area with Drill Hole Intersections relevant to estimating the Target parameters
Figure 8. Location of the planned drillholes (Plan 001-005) (phase 1) in the Exploration Target Area
The Board has now decided to proceed with:
- preparation of a Pre-Feasibility Study, followed by a Feasibility Study for the Bellchambers Project, targeting Q3/Q4 FY2026
- Earthmoving mining quotes and various potential joint venture opportunities are planned to be considered and assessed.
- Further drilling at depth at the Bellchambers and Rangeview deposits during Q1 and Q2 FY2026 is planned, aiming to expand the current Resource and
- regional exploration.
Venus has identified various potential options for treating the ore from the Bellchambers deposit, which it will investigate further as part of the Pre-Feasibility /Feasibility Studies. These options include a mine gate sale agreement with Rox Resources Limited (which parties have agreed to negotiate in good faith on a best endeavours basis) or trucking the ore to other processing plants. (refer ASX announcement 31 December 2025).