18 Westgold Resources Limited Annual Report 2024 REVIEW OF OPERATIONS (CONTINUED) OUR OPERATIONS INVESTING IN EXPLORATION CAPACITY In FY24 Westgold continued to invest in extensive drilling across its priority operations with up to 12 underground and surface drill rigs operating across the business during the year. The focus remained on extending mine planning horizons of the four key operating mines, along with defining opportunities in the shallow, upper areas of Great Fingall. Westgold has an extensive pipeline of organic growth opportunities, and during the year, optimisation studies were progressed at a number of previously paused assets. The South Emu Triton underground near Meekatharra was reviewed for restart, along with shallow mining opportunities in the upper areas of Great Fingall with the potential to be accessed without impacting the decline advance to the virgin ore at depth. During the reporting period, Westgold significantly enhanced its in-house underground drilling capacity, with the purchase of six additional underground drill rigs expanding its diamond drill rig fleet size to 13. This investment allowed Westgold to displace contract rigs conducting drilling in parallel with Westgold’s existing fleet. Bringing all underground diamond drilling activities in-house vastly increases Westgold’s operating flexibility. This capability allows rapid deployment to ensure Westgold is best placed to take advantage of emerging geological opportunities, and at the same time delivering superior drilling productivity at industry leading unit rates. The additional rig capacity and agility will be instrumental in expediting priority projects such as Great Fingall and South Junction - as drill platforms open at these significant development projects.
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