en.Wedoany.com Reported - Australian mining company Vertex Minerals is advancing underground development at the Reward Gold Mine, targeting full production by October 2026.

In May 2026, the company completed 88 meters of development advance and an additional 33 meters of rehabilitation work. Gold production for the month totaled 51 ounces sold, with an additional 26 ounces of gold inventory awaiting sale. Vertex noted that May production was below expectations based on the current mine plan, with higher-grade ore coming from airleg stopes, which will begin processing at the end of June 2026.

The company's geological team has constructed a new structural geological model, which has been incorporated into an updated block model. This model includes 30 known gold veins identified from previous diamond drilling and face sampling. An updated JORC resource report is expected to be released in early July 2026.

Vertex plans to install new Muki jumbo rails on the existing Epiroc T1D and Atlas Copco H104 drill jumbos by the end of this month. According to the company, this modification will enable the excavation of narrower drives and improve gold grades during development. Additionally, the company remains on track to receive a Muki long hole rig from Resemin in October 2026 for stoping. A second Bird underground truck is also under construction, with delivery expected in late August 2026, which will help eliminate a key production bottleneck.

Meanwhile, rehabilitation work continues on three declines. Decline 1 requires 115 meters of rehabilitation, while Decline 2 has 50 meters remaining. Decline 3 (flatbacking) has 6 meters of advance left before becoming the first full-scale trial of long hole open stoping. Another airleg stope is scheduled to begin production in July 2026 at the Paxton's 677 sublevel, with stopes identified on both the north and south sides of the Reward shaft.

Vertex is awaiting the outcome of a development application to modify working hours and blasting times, as current restrictions are considered to severely limit available underground operating time.

Vertex Minerals is an Australia-based gold producer, developer, and exploration company.

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