West Coast Silver (ASX: WCE) has increased the contained silver mineral resource estimate at its Elizabeth Hill project in Western Australia by 20.3% to 3.36 million ounces after incorporating additional drilling and a revised geological model.
The updated inventory comprises 234,700 tonnes grading 446 grams per tonne silver, compared with 141,000t at 617g/t in April.
Importantly, the proportion of contained silver classified as Indicated has risen from 13% to 77%, giving the company a larger higher-confidence resource base for technical studies.
The estimate covers the full deposit rather than West Coast Silver’s attributable interest, with the company holding 70% of the Elizabeth Hill mining lease and Alien Metals retaining 30%.
Resource Confidence Growth
Contained silver increased by approximately 568,000 ounces, while resource tonnage climbed 66.5%, with the lower average grade reflecting additional lower-grade material captured by the revised interpretation.
The Indicated component now contains 2.59Moz at 411g/t in 195,900t, while the remaining Inferred resource comprises 776,000oz at 622g/t in 38,800t.
The revision incorporates 46 additional drill holes and almost 4,000 further silver assays, alongside changes to the interpreted mineralised domains and estimation methodology.
Closer-spaced drilling, generally around five metres by 5m in the more thoroughly tested zones, underpins the increased confidence classification rather than representing an equivalent increase in total metal.