Australian producer Blackham Resources Ltd. has upped the resource for its combined Matilda-Wiluna operation in Western Australia to 6 million ounces of contained gold from 5.1 million ounces of contained gold previously.

This is the first resource associated with the stage two expansion study aimed at growing production beyond 200,000 ounces per annum.

"The latest Wiluna resource upgrade is likely to add significant baseload open pit and underground feed for the Wiluna expansion study currently underway," Managing Director Bryan Dixon said Dec. 13.

Open pit resources now stand at 33 million tonnes at 2 g/t for 2.1 million ounces of contained gold, while underground resources have increased to 25 million tonnes at 4.9 g/t for 3.9 million ounces of contained gold.