Legacy Minerals (ASX:LGM) has increased tonnage at its Mt Carrington Project in northern New South Wales by 151% since acquiring the asset in 2024.
The updated open pit mineral resource estimate (MRE), delivered by independent consultants WSP Australia, stands at 47.9 million tonnes (Mt) containing 1.6 million ounces (Moz) gold equivalent (AuEq). This includes 714,000 ounces gold (Au), 35Moz silver, 40,000 tonnes copper (Cu), 37,000 tonnes lead, and 164,000 tonnes zinc (Zn).
‘High-grade’ mineralisation within the MRE includes 493,000 ounces AuEq at 3.1 grams per tonne AuEq using a cutoff above 1.9g/t AuEq.
The revised estimate represents significant commodity growth since 2025, with tonnage up 39%, silver up 44%, copper up 105%, gold up 9%, lead up 12%, and zinc up 12%.
The resource comprises 19.3Mt indicated at 40% and 28.6Mt inferred at 60%, with indicated resources growing 69% since the 2025 MRE. Legacy Minerals says this improves overall resource confidence and provides a stronger foundation for the Scoping Study.
CEO Christopher Byrne says the updated resource establishes Mt Carrington as one of the largest and most robust gold and silver development opportunities in Australia.
“This is now a materially different project from the one we acquired two years ago,” Byrne says.
“This growth in both overall size and indicated resource has been driven by new silver and copper domains, current metal prices, and the incorporation of new drilling and historical drilling data not previously captured in the 2025 MRE.”
Legacy Minerals notes all deposits remain open along strike and at depth. Intercepts at current resource boundaries include 18.9m @ 5.9% Cu from 52.25m, 10.1m @ 6.3% Cu from 88m, and 95m @ 0.9g/t Au and 0.35% Zn from 2m.
Optimising the Scoping Study and pursuing further resource growth
The higher indicated resource base allows Legacy to evaluate expanding future operational scale beyond the May 2026 Scoping Study, which was based on processing 10.1Mt at 1Mt per annum.
Legacy Minerals now intends to use the updated MRE to inform an optimised Scoping Study to enhance the financial outcomes achieved with the smaller 2025 resource estimate.
“[The] optimised Scoping Study will assess several inputs, including expansions in processing plant size, updated mine planning, and concentrate payabilities,” Byrne says.
Discovery-focused drilling is currently underway at the Emu and Mascotte prospects, targeting further extensions and discoveries.
“Our clear goal now is to grow the Mt Carrington resource to 2.0Moz AuEq and beyond, through a combination of resource extensional drilling at our known deposits and new greenfield discoveries across the wider system,” Byrne says.
“We see a clear pathway to that goal, which will guide our exploration and drilling strategies from here.”
Located around 100km west of Lismore, the Mt Carrington Project is hosted within the Drake Volcanics, a subdivision of the Wandsworth Volcanic Group, with deposits featuring epithermal gold-silver mineralisation and distinct metal zonation.
Legacy Minerals is an explorer focused on gold, silver, copper, and base metal projects in NSW.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Legacy Minerals
