Early-stage metallurgical testing at Hammer Metals Ltd (ASX:HMX)‘s North Orelia gold deposit in Western Australia has yielded a top recovery of 96% (with an average recovery of 94%).

The testing involved a LeachWELL process, with 11 samples from the optimised pit resource being subject to this, resulting in a range of gold recoveries from 90 to 96%.

The deposit – which is part of Hammer’s wider Yandal gold project – received a maiden JORC resource of 1.48 million tonnes grading 1.15 grams per tonne (g/t), for 54.5,000 ounces of contained gold (with a cut off of 0.5g/t).

Managing director Daniel Thomas said the results allowed Hammer to progress further with development of North Orelia, which is located 10 kilometres from Northern Star’s Orelia gold operation.

“These very encouraging initial metallurgical results tick another important box in unlocking the commercial potential of our North Orelia gold project,” he said.

“The combination of high metallurgical recoveries and near-surface mineralisation increases the attractiveness of the project for future development.

“Importantly, the deposit remains open at depth, offering upside to the existing Resource and an excellent exploration target.”

Shares in Hammer Metals fell slightly on the news, and at 13:20 AEDT, they were trading at 3.5 cents – a drop of 2.78% since the market opened.

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