A high-grade Au-Ag-Pb-Zn polymetallic asset, rediscovered
100% Opal tenure over the historic Wheal Ellen mine and a district-scale system in SA's Kanmantoo Trough — directly between Hillgrove's Kanmantoo (Cu-Au) and Terramin's Angas (Zn-Pb-Ag) mines.
A precious-metal-rich system: peak rock chips of 493 g/t Ag and 34 g/t Au, with a core where Au-Ag-Zn-Pb peak together. Modern drilling confirms the 1860s lodes persist at depth and along a ~2 km trend.
Project Snapshot
TenementEL 7124 — granted 6 May 2026
OwnerOpal Resources · 100%
Area83.5 km²
Location40 km SE of Adelaide
StyleSEDEX / Broken Hill Type
Kanmantoo (Hillgrove)~12 km NE · Cu-Au
Angas (Terramin)~7-10 km S · Zn-Pb-Ag
Database at a glance
Compiled from every drillhole recorded within EL7124 (SARIG collar export enriched with Opal/Hillgrove local records) plus 8,430 surface & downhole geochemistry samples (1970–2020). Detailed downhole assays exist for the 68 Hillgrove RC/diamond holes (2007–2015) that tested the Wheal Ellen lode.
Why Wheal Ellen
9.2g/t
Best AuEq intercept WHRC033 · 4 m @ 9.2 g/t AuEq
503g/t
Peak silver (Ag) rock chip on the lode
34g/t
Peak gold (Au) rock chip on the lode
100%
Opal-owned 83.5 km² · Kanmantoo Trough
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High-grade & precious-metal rich
A core where Au, Ag, Pb & Zn peak together — historic ore ran ~20% Pb, 25% Zn, 370 g/t Ag. The precious-metal credits lower the break-even grade.
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Proven at depth, open everywhere
Modern drilling shows the 1860s lodes persist. Open along strike & at depth on a ~2 km trend — Wheal Ellen North to the Monster Lode.
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A ready-made, low-CAPEX play
~8 km from Angas, ~12 km from Kanmantoo. Truck ore to an existing mill — no A$100M+ build. A package a producer can acquire.
All five metals, with gold- and silver-equivalent grades. Click a column header to sort.
Hole
From (m)
To (m)
Int (m)
Ag g/t
Au g/t
Pb %
Zn %
Cu %
AuEq g/t
AgEq g/t
Grade & sample summary
Peak grades & mineralised samples
Across 3,029 assayed intervals (6,556 m) — Hillgrove holes
Element
Samples
Max
Mean
Above cutoff
Cutoffs: Au 0.1 g/t · Ag 5 g/t · Cu 0.1% · Pb 0.3% · Zn 0.3%.
Drilling & geochemistry
Holes by operator and samples by material type
Cross-section A–B
Cross-section A–B & drillhole location
NW–SE section through the high-grade shoot (open at depth, 2.8 m @ 6.0 g/t AuEq weighted avg) with the section line over the Hillgrove drilling.
↔ Swipe sideways to pan the section — or pinch to zoom.
AuEq assumptions: Cu US$5.44/lb · Au US$4,000/oz · Ag US$60/oz · Zn US$3,000/t · Pb US$1,900/t · AUD:USD 0.66. Source: Opal Resources, Strategic Review of the Wheal Ellen Project (Jan 2026).
Growth & the toll-treatment acquisition case
From a ~0.6 Mt drilled shell to a 1.9–2.2 Mt Exploration Target
Most of the growth case comes from extending the known shoot. The EM and magnetic targets below are extra.
The drilled grade shell (~218 m strike × ~243 m down-dip) is open at depth. Carrying it down-dip to ~500 m vertical depth gives a conceptual Exploration Target of 1.9–2.2 Mt.
The pitch: a ready-made, low-CAPEX toll-treatment package
High revenue density + neighbours with idle/operating plants = a project a producer can bolt on.
Wheal Ellen's grade is high enough to truck ore to an existing mill rather than build one — avoiding A$100M+ in standalone CAPEX. Terramin's idle Angas lead–zinc plant is ~10 km away. Opal has no agreement with Terramin.
Add Opal's second asset, Mount Torrens (historical estimate, not JORC (2012): 700,000 t @ 6.4% Pb, 1.6% Zn, 41 g/t Ag), as additional toll-treat feed and the combination becomes a dual-asset, near-term, high-margin polymetallic package ready for a company to acquire.
Source of tonnes
Status
Indicative
Targets that could add tonnes
From Opal's October 2026 review of the 2005 helicopter magnetics and 2011 TDEM survey. Magnetic and EM models are simple and non-unique: depths ±30–50%; a magnetic high shows magnetite or pyrrhotite, not grade.
Target
Type
Evidence / best result
Priority
Proposed programme (draft, October 2026): first 12 months ~A$1.1M — define the strike and test EM-1, drill Wheal Ellen North, map and sample the Mount Torrens east limb, Mount Torrens Phase 1, and landholder engagement led by Teneman → years 2–3 ~A$3.5–3.9M — maiden JORC (2012) resource drilling, Mount Torrens Phases 2–4, the corridor targets and Angas haulage scoping. Total ~A$4.6–5.0M at stated unit rates, no contractor quotes yet. Exploration Target tonnages are conceptual, not Mineral Resources, and require drilling to confirm.
EM: the lode conductor (EM-1) and EM-2
2011 ground TEM survey for Hillgrove (Planetary Geophysics, November 2011): late-time response at 11 ms.
EM-1. The strongest late-time response sits on the drilled lode, and its peak moves east at later times. Planetary Geophysics modelled a conductor with its top about 120 m below surface at 311279 mE, dipping about 53° east. It runs parallel to the drilled lode and continues below the deepest holes. In 2014 WHDD006 was drilled from the collar given by the 2008 downhole EM model and hit massive sulphide at 150.5 m. The model plate is shown in the 3D drilling model.
EM-2. A weaker late-time response about 400 m north of the mine (311450 mE, 6104640 mN). The 2011 report noted it but did not follow it up. No hole within 250 m.
Image: Figure 22 of the 2011 report, placed on the map grid by Opal, with Hillgrove drill traces. Only the report survives; the digital TEM data are not in the record, so the model cannot be re-run. The model is simple and fitted to one survey line. A conductor shows sulphide, not grade: barren pyrite conducts too. Drilling EM-1 and EM-2 with downhole EM is a first-year item in the draft programme.
Plan view — all drilling & district mines
All 1,408 drillholes within EL7124 — maximum gold (Au g/t)
Dots coloured & sized by each hole's peak Au. Wheal Ellen enlarged in the inset; Kanmantoo & Angas arrowed with distance. Hover any hole for name & result.
↔ Swipe sideways to pan the map · tap any hole for its name & result.
True EL7124 tenement outline (GDA2020) shown in orange; GDA94 / MGA Zone 54, 2 km grid. The dense regional grid is Pima Mining's 1997 auger; the high-Au cluster at the Wheal Ellen lode is enlarged in the inset. Kanmantoo (~12.5 km NE) and Angas (~8.5 km S) sit outside the licence and are shown as direction arrows. Angas is the plant considered for the satellite case; Kanmantoo is a copper plant and is not a route.
