Savannah Goldfields (ASX:SVG) lifts Electric Light Mineral Resource to 46,000oz and finally books Indicated ounces

Indicated arrives at 5.4 g/t Au, but historic drilling quality still shapes the model

Savannah Goldfields (ASX:SVG) has updated the Mineral Resource for its Electric Light deposit, sitting about 20km north of Georgetown in far north Queensland. The headline number is 364,000 tonnes at 3.9 g/t Au for 46,000 ounces of contained gold. That total ounce count is essentially unchanged from the 2022 estimate, but the composition of those ounces has shifted in a way that matters.

For the first time, Electric Light carries Indicated Mineral Resources. The Indicated portion sits at 64,000 tonnes grading 5.4 g/t Au, with the remaining 299,000 tonnes at 3.6 g/t Au still classified as Inferred. Confidence has stepped up in the part of the deposit most likely to be mined first.

The update incorporates 14 RC holes and one diamond hole drilled by Savannah in late 2025, a better understanding of bulk density, and a fresh Lidar topography survey. Electric Light sits 30km by road from Savannah’s Georgetown Gold Processing Plant, which gives the ounces a clear path to revenue if the mining and metallurgical work lands.

Why the Indicated category is the real headline

The total ounce count barely moved, going from 46,000oz in 2022 to 46,000oz today. But the previous estimate was entirely Inferred. The new estimate carves out 11,000oz at 5.4 g/t Au into the Indicated bucket, and that is the category mining studies are built on.

Indicated resources matter because they can be converted to Probable Reserves once mining studies are done. Inferred ounces cannot. Without Indicated ounces, a project cannot progress to a feasibility study, and without feasibility, financing becomes harder to secure.

We think this is the announcement’s actual signal. Electric Light has moved from a geological story to a project that can start being mine-planned.

The Sedimentary Holdings drilling problem is still doing heavy lifting

A fact worth noting is that much of the historic definition drilling at Electric Light came from Sedimentary Holdings between 1990 and 1993, and SVG has flagged real quality concerns. Twin drilling suggests possible grade overstatement in stringer zones, with assays from the small Herberton laboratory of the era looking unreliable.

Now, SVG has not excluded the historic data. Instead, it has down-weighted the Sedimentary Holdings drilling to 50%, manually trimmed suspect low-grade halos, and dropped 10 holes entirely. The competent person notes that excluding all Sedimentary Holdings drilling would lower the global grade by around 13%.

Counterbalancing this, the small open pit mined by DRAU in 2010 and 2011 actually overcalled the resource model, producing 23,000 tonnes at 8.7 g/t Au from oxide ore. That is a genuine positive reconciliation, but only on oxide, and the bulk of the remaining resource is sulphide.

Sulphide metallurgy is the next gate Savannah has to pass through

The base of oxidation at Electric Light sits about 15m below surface. Almost all remaining ounces are in fresh sulphide rock, which the existing Georgetown plant was not built to process when it ran from 2009 to 2013.

Historic DRAU testwork on sulphide core in 2011 returned flotation gold recoveries above 90% and cyanide leach recoveries above 70%. That is encouraging but a long way from a commercial flowsheet. SVG has further metallurgical testwork in progress on core from EL25DD1016, with results to be announced when finalised.

The Investors Takeaway for Savannah Goldfields

Today’s update is a constructive step. SVG now has Indicated ounces at Electric Light and a clear plan to drill the down-dip and along-strike extensions in 2026. The Georgetown Project total Mineral Resource now sits at 1.13Mt at 3.6 g/t Au for 130,000oz, with Savannah’s corporate total reaching 552,000oz when Agate Creek is included.

Our concern is the speed of conversion. The sulphide metallurgical results, the Expanded Mining Lease application, and the planned 2026 drilling all need to land in sequence for this story to keep building. Investors looking for more context on small-cap Queensland gold developers can read more at stocksdownunder.

The 5.4 g/t Indicated grade is high enough to justify the work. Whether SVG can convert geology into milled ounces is now the question that matters.