Profitable gold producer Kaiser Reef has fired up the underground developmentat its historic Maldon gold project in Victoria, taking the first cut of a new drill drive in what marks the first development on-site in nearly eight years.

The work at the project’s Union Hill gold mine will establish a new underground platform to allow for drill testing of several highly prospective, underexplored reef systems. The company says it has already been stripping some narrow sections at the top of the decline with a view to future ore haulage.

The new Northern drill drive is designed to give Kaiser its first proper look at the territory north of Maldon’s existing workings. The company is aiming its drill rigs at the interpreted extensions of the Eaglehawk and Linscott’s Reefs, in addition to the parallel Ladies and Sailor’s Reefs.

Kaiser Reef is already sitting on a 187,000-ounce gold resource at its Union Hill deposit within the project and operates its own 200,000 tonne per annum processing facility at the Porcupine Flat plant nearby. This latest underground development at Maldon represents a significant milestone for the company as it looks to breathe new life into one of the Victorian Golden Triangle’s richest historical goldfields, which churned out 1.75 million ounces of gold at an outstanding average grade of 28 grams per tonne.

‘It’s a milestone for both the Maldon gold project and Kaiser to have jumbo development underway beneath Union Hill.’Kaiser Reef managing director Brad Valiukas

Kaiser Reef managing director Brad Valiukas said: “Maldon represents a district-scale gold opportunity for Kaiser, with numerous historical mines and lines of working that remain substantially underexplored, despite having produced an enviable 1.75Moz at 28g/t. Crucially, Maldon offers more than just historical pedigree and exploration upside. It is supported by a fully permitted and operating processing plant, a fully permitted mining lease and an existing decline that will allow both access for exploration and potential future production.”

While the company has been active with a surface drilling campaign that began in June, with 4350 metres to test its Quill target, and refurbishment works to prepare for underground activities, this latest move marks the first time new ground has been broken in the Maldon underground in the better part of a decade.

Kaiser is a multi-asset producer, also operating its flagship Henty gold mine in Tasmania. During the recent June quarter, Henty produced 5563 ounces of gold, while Maldon contributed a more modest 437 ounces. The company has reaffirmed its production guidance of a total of 32,000 ounces across both operations for the 2027 financial year.

Featuring a healthy cash balance of $37.2 million at the end of the quarter, Kaiser Reef looks to be well-funded to pursue its growth ambitions at both operations. The move to aggressively explore Maldon follows a change in leadership late last year, with former Northern Star Resources operational boss Brad Valiukas taking the helm as managing director.Valiukas topped up his holding in the company with on-market purchases of shares just last month.

Maldon sits within the central Victorian goldfields, a region that hosts world-class deposits such as Agnico Eagle’s legendary 4.6-million-ounce Fosterville gold mine and has seen a resurgence of exploration interest from players including Southern Cross Gold and Catalyst Metals.

With a fully permitted 200,000-tonne-per-annum processing facility and established underground access already in place, any exploration success at Maldon could potentially be fast-tracked into production.

The old-timers pulled an incredible amount of high-grade gold from Maldon using little more than picks, shovels and sheer grit. Now with a healthy war chest, modern exploration smarts and the drill rods about to spin, Kaiser Reef is getting ready to find out just how much they may have left behind.

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