High-Tech Metals and SSH Group Join Forces to Advance Wagtail Gold Deposit in WA

High-Tech Metals (ASX: HTM) and mining service provider SSH Group (ASX: SSH) have executed an agreement to progress development of the Wagtail gold deposit in Western Australia.

Located within High-Tech’s Mt Fisher gold project, Wagtail has historical production of 2,384 ounces at 66 grams per tonne and an existing mineral resource estimate of 63,700t at 7.11g/t for 14,600oz of gold.

The agreement is part of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) the two companies recently signed involving Mt Fisher, and another mining agreement in May concerning the sharing of stockpile profits from the same operation.

Strong Partnership

SSH will fund all pre-feasibility works and associated drilling to advance the project to a final investment decision (FID) and act as mining contractor on a cost-plus basis if the parties make a positive FID.

In return, SSH will receive a 25% share of net project profits from metal sales, with High-Tech free carried for the remaining 75%.

“The execution of this mining agreement with SSH represents another significant milestone in our strategy to unlock the value of the high-grade deposits that sit within our Mt Fisher-Mt Eureka gold portfolio,” High-Tech non-executive chair Charles Thomas said.

“Wagtail is a high-grade deposit located on a granted mining lease with clear potential for near-term production [and] partnering with SSH provides us with a low-risk pathway to rapidly advance the deposit through feasibility and into development.”

Exploration Upside

High-Tech has identified high-grade mineralisation open at depth and along strike at Wagtail, with drilling intercepts such as 5 metres at 41.13g/t and 3m at 55.14g/t.

In parallel with the Wagtail mining agreement, High-Tech is preparing to commence grade control drilling of the Mt Fisher gold stockpiles, which have an exploration target of as much as 175,000t grading approximately 1.0g/t.

With mining and haulage activities to commence in the next two months, Mr Thomas said the stockpile campaign would provide a low-risk, near-term opportunity to generate early cashflow and establish logistics for future mining operations across the Mt Fisher portfolio.

SSH managing director Daniel Cowley-Cooper said the agreement strengthened his company’s pipeline of mining projects and reinstated it as a value proposition within the mining sector.

“We are actively evaluating our own acquisition opportunities in WA across both gold and critical metals, with a focus on transactions that offer inherent value we can further enhance through the application of our mining expertise,” he added.