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 03:03:28 UTC
Analysis by Minestarters Atlas
Atlas analysis published:
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.
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: The processing pathway involves gravity recovery followed by conventional cyanide 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: 2 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: 93% recovery is an exceptional result for gold leaching.
Positive factors
- High recovery rate
Evidence · text
“returned up to 93% gold recovery”
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
- six bulk samples from Consols Zone (gravity component)
Recovery
- Recovery
- 15 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Gravity recovery of 15% is a useful component of the flowsheet.
Positive factors
- Significant gravity recovery
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 gold leachingSpur 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 gold leaching
- Processing Route
- conventional cyanide leaching
- Sample
- six bulk samples from Consols Zone (leach component)
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 a strong component of the combined recovery.
Positive factors
- Solid 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%)
gravity and conventional leachSpur 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
- Test Type
- gravity and conventional leach
- Sample
- Spur Zone material
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 reference used for context.
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
Gravity Routeneutral
Gravity separation forms a material part of the flowsheet.
Why it applies: processing_route matches the gravity signal
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.