Blackham Resources Ltd. said Oct. 12 that milling of ore has commenced at its 5.1 million-ounce Matilda gold project in Western Australia, with the first gold pour expected within a few days.

Commissioning is also underway on the gravity circuit, elution circuit and gold room.

Underground mining during the September quarter focused on lateral development around the old Golden Age stopes, while open pit mining focused on the M10 and M3 pits.

Mining from the open pits, underground and existing stockpiles has resulted in gold stockpiles of 172,000 tonnes at 1.4 g/t for 7,900 ounces available for milling, the company noted.

In early September, the company reported that wet commissioning of the Wiluna gold plant at Matilda was underway.