Upgrade of JORC MRE For Tailings Storage Facility
Updated JORC mineral resource for tailings storage facility shows 118,330 ounces of attributable gold, up from 73,895 ounces in 2016 estimate.
- Attributable contained gold 118,330 ounces (prior 73,895 ounces (2016, like-for-like))
- Gross contained gold 130,560 ounces
- Measured mineral resource tonnes 2.34 million tonnes
- Grade 1.74 g/t gold
- Goldplat interest in GPL 90.63%
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Goldplat plc, (AIM:GDP) the AIM listed Mining Services Group, with international gold recovery operations located in South Africa and Ghana, servicing the African and South American Mining Industry, is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource estimate, reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012 Edition), for the tailings storage facility ('TSF') at its 90.63%-owned subsidiary Goldplat Recovery (Pty) Limited ('GPL') in Benoni, South Africa.
The updated estimate, prepared by Sound Mining International SA (Pty) Limited ('Sound Mining') with an effective date of 31 August 2026, is a Measured Mineral Resource of 2.34 million tonnes at 1.74 g/t gold, containing 130,560 ounces of gold, of which 118,330 ounces are attributable to the Company. This compares with the total resource of 81,959 ounces of gold in 1.43 million tonnes at 1.78 g/t (Measured, Indicated and Inferred) announced on 29 January 2016, which it supersedes.
The 2016 total included 0.23 million tonnes containing 8,060 ounces of gold. This 2016 estimate included content in the footwall soils beneath the TSF, which are not included in the 2026 updated estimate. On a like-for-like basis, the 2016 resource for the tailings was 1.20 million tonnes containing 73,895 ounces of gold. The increase reflects principally approximately 1 million tonnes of tailings deposited on the TSF after the drilling that supported the 2016 estimate, up to December 2023. The 2026 drilling covered the full footprint of the TSF, whereas the 2016 estimate relied mainly on drilling around its perimeter; as a result, the whole of the updated resource is classified as Measured.
Mineral Resource estimate (effective date 31 August 2026)
| Category | Gross tonnes (Mt) | Gross grade (g/t Au) | Gross contained gold (koz) | Net attributable tonnes (Mt) | Net attributable grade (g/t Au) | Net attributable contained gold (koz) | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 2.34 | 1.74 | 130.56 | 2.12 | 1.74 | 118.33 | GPL |
| Indicated | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Inferred | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Total | 2.34 | 1.74 | 130.56 | 2.12 | 1.74 | 118.33 | GPL |
Notes:
- Reported in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, 2012 Edition (the JORC Code). Effective date 31 August 2026.
- Reported in situ on a dry basis, with no cut-off grade, geological losses or metallurgical recovery applied.
- A uniform bulk density of 1.34 t/m³ has been applied, derived from the 2015 drilling programme. Further density testwork is recommended.
- The concept study used to assess reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction indicates a break-even metallurgical recovery of approximately 14%, and preliminary testwork indicates a potential recovery of 20% to 25%. Metallurgical testwork with SGS South Africa (Pty) Limited ('SGS') is in progress to confirm achievable recoveries.
- No geotechnical assessment has yet been completed, and the deposition site for reprocessed residues has not been confirmed.
- Gross is 100% of the TSF. Net attributable reflects the Company's 90.63% interest in GPL, the operator.
- Mineral Resources that are not Ore Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
- Totals may not sum due to rounding.
The updated resource estimate is for gold only. Silver and uranium oxide, which were included in the 2016 estimate, have not been re-estimated, and the 2016 estimates for those minerals should no longer be relied upon. The footwall soils beneath the TSF, which formed part of the 2016 estimate, were not modelled and are not included in the updated estimate.
The full resource report is available on the Company's website at www.goldplat.com/downloads/2026.
GPL deposited tailings onto the TSF from January 2003 with the intention to eventually reprocess the material. Since the 2016 estimate, GPL continued to deposit material on the facility until December 2023, when it moved the deposition to a new TSF. The 2026 estimate is based on a new auger drilling programme of 25 vertical holes totalling 522 metres (average depth 21 metres), sampled at 1.5 metre intervals over the full depth of the facility. No new bulk density measurements were taken; the bulk density of 1.34 t/m³ from the 2015 drilling programme has been applied.
Next steps
A concept study for the reclamation and processing of the TSF is being conducted by LogiProc (Pty) Ltd, an EPCM contractor in South Africa. Once the concept study is approved by management, a feasibility and economic assessment will follow. The ability to process the TSF and realise its potential value therefore remains subject to significant technical, regulatory, funding and execution uncertainties.
The Company continues to evaluate processing routes for the TSF, both through facilities on its own premises and through third-party infrastructure, including the potential to use the servitudes, plant and deposition capacity of DRDGOLD.
Werner Klingenberg, CEO of Goldplat commented: “The upgraded JORC Resource is an important step in unlocking the value of the TSF, although it will take time to ensure operational readiness. Alongside the resource upgrade, we are working with independent third parties to establish the recoverability of the gold contained in the TSF, whilst the economic route to recovery is developed. The next step is to provide clarity on recoverability, and then to settle the processing route and timelines.”
Glossary
| Term | Definition |
| Au | the chemical symbol for gold |
| auger drilling | a drilling method using a rotating spiral auger to recover samples from unconsolidated material such as tailings |
| bulk density | the dry mass of material per unit volume, including pore spaces, used to convert volume to tonnes; expressed in t/m³ |
| Competent Person | a minerals industry professional who is a member or fellow of a recognised professional organisation, with at least five years of experience relevant to the style of mineralisation, type of deposit and activity concerned, as defined in the JORC Code |
| concept study | an early-stage, high-level technical and economic study of potential reclamation and processing options, undertaken at a lower level of accuracy than a pre-feasibility or feasibility study |
| cut-off grade | the lowest grade at which mineralised material is considered economic to recover; no cut-off grade has been applied to the TSF Mineral Resource |
| dry basis | tonnages reported excluding the weight of contained moisture |
| EPCM | engineering, procurement and construction management |
| feasibility study | a comprehensive technical and economic study of a selected development option, including detailed assessment of the applicable Modifying Factors, sufficient to support a decision to proceed with development |
| g/t | grams per tonne |
| geological losses | an allowance deducted from a Mineral Resource estimate for material that may not be recoverable for geological reasons; none has been applied to the TSF Mineral Resource |
| Gross | 100% of the Mineral Resource, irrespective of the Company's interest |
| in situ | in place, before any reclamation or processing |
| Indicated Mineral Resource | that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade, densities, shape and physical characteristics are estimated with sufficient confidence to allow the application of Modifying Factors in sufficient detail to support mine planning and evaluation of economic viability |
| Inferred Mineral Resource | that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling; it has a lower level of confidence than an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to an Ore Reserve |
| JORC Code | the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, 2012 Edition |
| koz | thousand troy ounces |
| Measured Mineral Resource | that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade, densities, shape and physical characteristics are estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the application of Modifying Factors to support detailed mine planning and final evaluation of economic viability |
| metallurgical recovery | the proportion of the contained metal recovered by processing, expressed as a percentage |
| Mineral Resource | a concentration or occurrence of material of economic interest in such form, grade, quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction |
| Modifying Factors | considerations used to convert Mineral Resources to Ore Reserves, including mining, processing, metallurgical, infrastructure, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors |
| Mt | million tonnes |
| Net attributable | the portion of the Mineral Resource attributable to the Company's economic interest |
| operator | the entity responsible for managing the asset; for the TSF, GPL |
| Ore Reserve | the economically mineable part of a Measured or Indicated Mineral Resource, demonstrated by at least a pre-feasibility study that applies the Modifying Factors |
| oz | troy ounce, equal to 31.10348 grams |
| Pr.Sci.Nat. | Professional Natural Scientist, a professional registration category of SACNASP |
| qualified person | a person meeting the requirements of the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies to review and approve technical information released by an AIM company |
| reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction | the JORC Code requirement that, for material to be reported as a Mineral Resource, the Competent Person has considered the likely technical and economic conditions for its eventual extraction |
| reclamation | the removal of deposited tailings from a facility, for example by hydraulic methods, for reprocessing |
| SACNASP | South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions |
| SANAS | South African National Accreditation System |
| servitude | a registered right over land owned by another party, for example for the routing of a pipeline |
| t/m³ | tonnes per cubic metre |
| tailings | the fine-grained material remaining after ore or other feed material has been processed |
| testwork | laboratory tests carried out to determine the metallurgical characteristics of a material |
| TSF | tailings storage facility; the GPL TSF is referred to in the Sound Mining report as the Rooidam stockdam |
| uranium oxide | triuranium octoxide (U ₃ O ₈ ) |
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