Novo Resources Corp Executive Co-Chairman Mike Spreadborough joined Steve Darling from Proactive to discuss the company’s maiden mineral resource estimate for the Leven Star Reef at its Belltopper Gold Project in Victoria, Australia.
The first JORC-compliant resource at Belltopper outlines an inferred mineral resource of 760,000 tonnes grading 3.6 g/t gold for 87,000 ounces of contained gold. Spreadborough said the estimate provides an important foundation for the project while also highlighting the significant upside potential that remains across the broader Belltopper system.
Leven Star is just one of eight high-grade gold-bearing reefs included within Belltopper’s wider exploration target, which was upgraded earlier this year and currently ranges from 2.1 million to 3.1 million tonnes grading 6.7 to 8.9 g/t gold, representing between 460,000 and 880,000 ounces of contained gold.
The Belltopper Gold Project is located approximately 120 kilometres northwest of Melbourne within Victoria’s historic Bendigo Zone, one of Australia’s most prolific gold belts, which has produced more than 60 million ounces of gold and hosts major operations such as Fosterville and Costerfield.
Novo noted that the Leven Star Reef has seen relatively limited drilling to date, with only 44 drill holes completed, and mineralization remains open in multiple directions. Management believes additional drilling could significantly expand the current resource and improve understanding of the wider mineralized system.
The maiden resource is based solely on Leven Star and was assessed using underground mining assumptions, including a 1.9 g/t gold cut-off grade, A$5,250 per ounce gold price, 88% metallurgical recovery, and a mine life assumption of between five and 10 years.
Novo is preparing a new drilling campaign for the second half of 2026, which will focus on expanding the Leven Star resource while also advancing the broader Belltopper exploration target. The program is expected to include initial scoping drilling across the remaining seven target reefs, tests of additional historic gold reefs outside the current target area, and drilling of high-priority targets within the Belltopper Anticline Corridor.
Management believes Belltopper offers the potential to evolve into a much larger high-grade gold project as exploration continues across this underexplored but historically productive gold district.
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