This article is a sponsored feature from Mining.com.au partner Kalamazoo Resources. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
Kalamazoo Resources (ASX:KZR) is wholly focused on transitioning from explorer to developer with its flagship Ashburton Gold Project leading this charge.
With a strong leadership team driving growth, Executive Director Ben Ackerman says the group’s skills and experience — along with incoming CEO Andrew McDougall’s deep mining expertise — give Kalamazoo the firepower to advance the Ashburton project and set the company’s strategic direction.
Ackerman notes that the company is predominantly focused on advancing its current ‘high-quality’ assets and growth portfolio with a “clear mandate to grow”.
Kalamazoo’s flagship Ashburton Gold Project, based in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, already has 1.44 million ounces in resource and more than 500,000 ounces in gold production profile outlined over a 73-month life of mine period, as outlined in the company’s November 2025 Scoping Study.
“The 2025 scoping study showed very positive financials and was the driver allowing us to launch into our next phase, which is infill work and the Prefeasibility Study,” Ackerman says.
“We’re actively moving Ashburton towards development and see a credible pathway to a one-million-ounce production profile.”
Kalamazoo is also advancing beyond Ashburton, actively pursuing new discoveries through a strong pipeline that includes the ‘highly prospective’ Mallina West Gold Project, just 20km from Northern Star Resources’ (ASX:NST) Hemi Development Project, as well as other ‘high-grade’ gold and antimony projects in Victoria.
Ackerman notes that Kalamazoo has “done an excellent job in putting together its wholly owned portfolio of highly prospective discovery targets while sharpening its focus around Ashburton as a development asset”.
Ashburton: Unlocking the full potential of Mt Olympus
Ackerman lays out the historical context around Ashburton, having been mined for about 350,000 ounces from four open pits in the late 1990s and early 2000s, then being acquired by Northern Star, who held it from 2011 to 2020.
Kalamazoo acquired Ashburton from Northern Star in 2020 on a no-cash deal, hinging on a modest payment once into production and future royalties, at a time when the gold price sat around $2,500 per ounce
With the project operating under different hands over the years, Ackerman points out that there has been a significant amount of time without much news flow on Ashburton, but Kalamazoo is very optimistic about its potential, with a 2.7 gram open-pit resource at the Mt Olympus deposit as the initial development focus.
Ashburton comprises a project area of 380km2, including Mt Olympus at 12.2 million tonnes at @ 2.7 grams per tonne for 1.07 million ounces, as well as the Peake, Waugh, and Zeus deposits which contain an additional 363,000 ounces of gold.
Kalamazoo currently has a PFS underway, which Ackerman says is just the starting point, with plenty of potential to grow the existing resource base, and make new discoveries over time, in order to extend the potential life of mine. The PFS kicked off in January 2026 with the 1.44 million ounce @ 2.8g/t gold resource and growing.
“At this stage, the PFS is based only on the Mt Olympus open pitable resource, which remains open at depth and down plunge. Beyond Mt Olympus, there are three other open pits with existing resources that are still yet to be assessed.
“We really see a credible pathway to over a million ounces in our production profile. Our approach differs from our predecessors in Ashburton.”
Ackerman notes that prior owners looked at more expensive and capital-intensive processing pathways, while Kalamazoo is initially focused on approaching Ashburton from a simple, low-capex approach.
“We’re focused on a 1.5 million tonne per annum three-stage crush, grind, and flotation processing facility to produce a high-grade concentrate that is very marketable,” Ackerman says.
“The key shift for us has been moving from a legacy perception of a constrained oxide system to exploiting the full potential of the sulphide systems that remain there today.”
PFS: Fast-tracking studies to accelerate development
Kalamazoo is targeting a completion date of early 2027 for the PFS that is currently underway, with Ackerman highlighting that all key personnel have been appointed and are commencing their work.
“The PFS is well and truly underway,” Ackerman says, with a key focus on the ground at the moment being around infill resource drilling.
“We’re looking to further improve the Mineral Resource through infill drilling and geological modelling and deliver an updated resource estimate aligned with the PFS delivery.”
Kalamazoo is also focused on delivering high-quality technical studies to optimise metallurgical recovery, mine design, and processing infrastructure design which are major levers for improved financial outcomes.
Concurrently, environmental studies, hydrology, and permitting is well underway, and all studies are being delivered into a fast-tracked timeline.
“Our approach is to conduct high-quality studies to support the development case, and where possible, we are bringing feasibility-level work forward during the PFS,” Ackerman says.
“This will effectively compress that time frame to delivery of a Feasibility Study and fast-track our way through to final investment decision.”
Converting ounces into certainty
With the PFS underway, Kalamazoo is currently focused on infill drilling at Mt Olympus, as previously reported.
“We’ve got a 14,000m drill program underway, with two rigs currently on site and another two rigs arriving this month,” Ackerman says.
Underpinning the PFS is the favourable ~83% of the Mt Olympus resource already contained in the indicated category, with a modest 17% of the resource in the inferred category.
“This program is really focused on conversion of the remaining inferred resources to indicated, increasing our confidence in the key production areas, and then testing extensions at the limits of the current design of the pit.”
Another key opportunity within this program is to grow the resource along the margins of the current open pitable resource, which Ackerman notes directly aligns with and feeds into the PFS.
Charting the path to mid-tier developer and producer
Ackerman says that Kalamazoo really sees itself developing into a mid-tier gold developer and producer over the next few years, with Ashburton’s strong fundamentals in terms of scale, grade, and potential to be a long-life mining operation leading that growth potential.
Kalamazoo is focused on growth, first with Ashburton, and then across the rest of the company’s portfolio.
“Over the next few years, you’re going to see Kalamazoo have a lot more interest from the market, particularly as they realise the potential that sits in the existing development opportunity in our portfolio,” Ackerman says.
In the short term, Kalamazoo will be releasing a regular flow of drilling results from Mt Olympus as the company continues with infill drilling, as well as growth and extension drilling across the regional-scale Ashburton project.
As the company reaches key milestones with the PFS, such as a mineral resource estimate, and new drilling results, news will be released to the market.
At the same time, Kalamazoo is progressing its exploration projects in both Victoria and Western Australia and expects to release news flow from those throughout 2026.
Ackerman notes that Kalamazoo considers that it is very much undervalued, given the strength of the resource and the development case that it has with the Ashburton project.
“With the Ashburton project having been obscured from the public eye for so long, the market is just catching up with the investment case we present for it, and I believe we’ll see a strong growth and re-rate in Kalamazoo.
“We think that Kalamazoo is a really compelling investment opportunity. The time for Kalamazoo is now, and we’re looking forward to 2026 and what it will bring.”
Kalamazoo is moving fast, with drilling results on the way, a PFS underway, and Ashburton shaping into a cornerstone project for the company. With scale, grade, and leadership aligned, the company is primed to shift from explorer to developer.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Kalamazoo Resources and Mining.com.au
