Meeka Metals Limited has pushed processing operations at its Murchison Gold Project to a steady-state annualised rate of 600,000 tonnes per annum across July and August 2026, touching 630,000 tonnes per annum in August following targeted circuit debottlenecking.

The throughput lift comes as the company advances installation work on a new ore sorting circuit at the Western Australian gold operation. Commissioning of the sorter is scheduled to start in early October 2026, supported by approximately 50,000 tonnes of underground development ore already stockpiled at the Andy Well mine.

Underground development at Andy Well began in July 2025 after the project poured its first gold on schedule. Meeka subsequently established an operational focus on ramping up output toward an 80,000-ounce-per-annum target.

The upcoming ore sorter installation is designed to reject low-grade material ahead of the grinding circuit, separating high-grade ore for immediate processing while stockpiling lower-grade rock for later treatment. The sorting process is expected to roughly double the head grade of Andy Well underground ore entering the plant.

This grade improvement is intended to allow the existing 600,000-tonne-per-annum mill to treat up to 800,000 tonnes of run-of-mine material overall, freeing up milling capacity to handle additional ore from the planned Turnberry underground mine, which is scheduled to start operating during the September 2026 quarter. A previous update in March 2026 had similarly targeted processing upgrades to reach 800,000 tonnes per annum with commissioning in the September 2026 quarter.

“While it has taken longer than anticipated to achieve the 600ktpa throughput , it is pleasing that the processing plant is now consistently operating at this level . The team is now finalising installation work for the ore sorter and will then begin commissioning in early October 2026 using the significant volume of development ore currently stockpiled in front of the sorter .”

— Tim Davidson, Managing Director

Elsewhere in the wider district, Great Boulder Resources Ltd reported high-grade drill intercepts including 7 metres at 14.5g/t gold at its Side Well project, highlighting continued exploration activity across the surrounding Murchison gold belt.

Read the full announcement: Processing Plant Achieves Nameplate Throughput at 600ktpa