Native Mineral Resources (ASX:NMR) Hits Record Production as Gold Soars: Is This Micro-Cap a Buy?

Native Mineral Resources Hits Record Gold Pour at Blackjack

Native Mineral Resources (ASX: NMR)  jumped 16% to A$0.058 on Thursday after completing its largest gold pour to date, six doré bars totalling 1,474.9 ounces at its Blackjack operation in Queensland.

For a small miner that only began producing gold in July 2025, this is a meaningful step forward. It shows the operation is maturing quickly and finding its groove. With gold prices sitting near record highs and over A$10 million in sales already banked, the question now is whether NMR still offers value after the recent rally or whether the easy gains are already behind us.

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Blackjack Finds Its Rhythm as Production Scales

What stands out here isn’t just the headline number, it’s the trend. Since firing up the mill last year, Native Mineral Resources has steadily lifted production with each pour. This latest result isn’t a one-off stroke of luck. It reflects a team that’s getting better at running the operation.

Management says the plant is now humming along nicely, with grades reconciling well and fewer interruptions. That’s exactly what you want to see from a new producer still in ramp-up mode.

More importantly, the company has bigger ambitions for Blackjack. It has hired engineering firm Ausenco to study whether the plant could eventually produce 80,000 ounces or more per year. If that happens, Native Mineral would transform from a tiny producer into something much more substantial. The vision is to turn Blackjack into a regional processing hub, bringing in ore from multiple sources rather than relying on a single deposit.

Multiple Growth Catalysts Beyond Blackjack

The record pour grabbed the headlines, but what caught our attention was the growth story building behind the scenes.

Just down the road sits Far Fanning, a deposit with 138,000 ounces in the ground. Mining there remains on track for the fourth quarter of 2026, which would give Blackjack fresh feed and extend the operation’s life. Granite Castle, with an updated resource of 64,000 ounces of gold plus 1.24 million ounces of silver, adds further optionality.

Drilling at the Podosky target, part of the Ravenswood joint venture with Haoma Mining, is scheduled to commence next week, adding exploration upside to the mix. This hub-and-spoke model makes sense: instead of building separate plants for each deposit, NMR processes everything through one facility, keeping costs down and margins up.

If execution continues at this pace, Blackjack could become the heart of a multi-deposit operation rather than just a single mine.

The Investor’s Takeaway

At around A$62 million market cap after recent jump, Native Mineral is no longer flying under the radar. The market has clearly noticed.

On the positive side, gold is trading near all-time highs, which means every ounce Native Mineral produces is worth more than anyone assumed a year ago. The company is already generating meaningful revenue and has a clear pathway to grow production over the next few years.

On the risk side, this is still a micro-cap miner. Things can go wrong, equipment breaks, grades disappoint, and approvals get delayed. The company will need to keep delivering before the market fully prices in the growth potential.

For investors comfortable with small-cap risk, Native Mineral offers genuine exposure to an emerging Queensland gold producer with multiple growth levers. That said, after a 16% pop in a single session, waiting for a pullback might be the smarter play for anyone not already on the register.