Ballard Mining has announced commitments to raise over $20 million to expand the resource of its Mt Ida gold project in Western Australia.

A new exploration target has also been established to help realise greater output at the project, located in the Eastern Goldfields Province of WA, and is separate from the existing mineral resource estimate of 1.1 million ounces of gold.

Ballard has described  the program as “aggressive” and will explore 26km prospective shear zones – estimated at 11.8–14.6 million tonnes graded at 2.6–3.9 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold.

The company said its goal is to advance development studies of the Baldock deposit, with an already-established mineral resource of 930,000 tonnes at 4.1 g/t of gold.

The funding, by way of  a share issue at a price of 55 cents per share, is led by Aurenne Group Holdings after becoming a substantial shareholder in Ballard, holding almost 10 per cent of the company.

Money raised – an estimated $20.6 million – will be used to advance the current growth and development strategy at the Mt Ida project along with the use of existing cash reserves.

“We are delighted to welcome Aurenne as a substantial shareholder of Ballard. Aurenne is our neighbour at Mt Ida who since 2023, has successfully developed open pits which supply ore to its 100 per cent owned CIL plant, located only 8km from our own project,” Ballard managing director Paul Brennan said.

“The investment comes at a significant point in the development of the company. The announcement of the October 2025 exploration target represents another important milestone for Ballard, demonstrating the potential of the Mt Ida gold project and the untapped exploration potential with the project’s tenements.”

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