Perth, Australia (ABN Newswire) - Vertex Minerals Limited (ASX:VTX) (OTCMKTS:VTXXF) process plant achieves 60% throughput rate of name plate capacity during processing campaigns while plant commissioning is ongoing with modifications to suit future Reward underground ore feed .

Vertex's Executive Chairman, Roger Jackson commented: "Its pleasing to see we have now almost fully tuned the plant to cater for a wider range of feed stock material. We are now gaining confidence in the processing and gold grade in the surface stockpiles, the fact they are sitting adjacent to the plant and offer an inexpensive feed source is a real advantage to the plant commissioning process.

"The processing of the surface stockpile material has presented some real challenges with the way the old stockpile material breaks down causing frequent blockages in piping. These blockages have hindered the plant availability and throughput, however, the processing team have worked diligently to overcome a vast number of issues in a short period of time.

"Our technical team and operators have been implementing low-cost components and strategies to minimise the fine material into the process. Whilst this has set us back in time with moving to cash flow it is important to note that our main game is mining the Reward high grade gold mine material.

Delays due to plant tuning today should translate to higher efficiencies earlier in the mine plan "Meanwhile our underground team has been busy preparing the historical workings in anticipation of the arrival of our TD1 jumbo drill rig with dewatering, ground support and re-entry tasks underway.

The TD1 jumbo is a crucial piece of mining equipment that will herald the start of a new and prosperous era of mining at the historical Reward Gold Mine.

"Every day I am excited to see the progress of development of the mine, and I look forward to updating investors as and when new news comes to hand"

Over the last 10 weeks the process plant has been steadily ramping up its through put capacity through the commissioning process.

Modifications to the plant include:

- Reducing the clearance in the jaw crusher.

- Dampeners over the sorting screen.

- Increasing the gold concentrate resident time in the Falcon concentrator.

- Increasing recycling load in the regrind mill.

- Adjusting water flows for different circuits in the plant.

- Reducing throughput density on the sand line.

These modifications have been important in increasing the plant utilisation and increasing throughput towards nameplate capacity and availability.

Further modifications and improvements have been identified in the following areas:

- A pre-screening scalper to reduce fines in the crushing system.

- Pre-screening oversize fines material to the re-grind mill prior to the Falcon concentrator

- Tails line (sand line) valves and performance review

- Tails hopper agitator unit

These improvements are planned for integration into the process plant over the next 6 weeks.

Commissioning of the plant using the existing low-grade surface stockpiles has initially enabled modest first concentrate production, allowing Vertex the opportunity to optimise the gold collection processes. A small sample of gold has been sent for refining and sale to test the process. A larger size gold concentrate batch is building as throughput increases. It will be dispatched for refining and sale when worthwhile volumes are obtained.

The low-grade surface stockpile material has been an important source of inexpensive feed material to commission the plant, providing invaluable processing information and support for the training of the new workforce. Further it has offered a rare opportunity to de-risk and optimise the processing flowsheet prior to commencement of mining high-grade underground ore from the Reward mine.

Long lead underground equipment has been ordered, including a TD1 jumbo drill rig (refer VTX ASX 4 March announcement) which is due to arrive from Kalgoorlie in 6 weeks. The arrival of the TD1 jumbo drill will be a key milestone in the development of the Reward mine, signalling a significant shift towards underground mining, and subsequently, underground ore feed into the process plant. Management continues to source other capital items required to furnish and operate the Reward mine.

Vertex continues to progress the Reward mine towards underground mining. Dewatering has commenced of old headings in preparation for the arrival of recently ordered underground mining equipment. Check scaling and assessment of historical ground support has been completed throughout historical areas of the mine.

Areas of concern have been identified and remediated where appliable. Additional ground support will be installed when the TD1 jumbo drill rig has arrived and has been commissioned on site.

*To view the Mineral Resource Estimate, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/9C06B296

About Vertex Minerals Limited:  

Vertex Minerals Limited (ASX:VTX) is an Australian based gold exploration company developing its advanced Hargraves and Hill End gold projects located in the highly prospective Eastern Lachlan Fold Belt of Central West NSW. Other Company assets include the Pride of Elvire gold project and Taylors Rock gold/nickel/lithium project both located in the Eastern Goldfields of WA. The focus of Vertex Minerals is to advance the commercial production of gold from its NSW projects embracing an ethical and environmentally sustainable approach.

Source:
Vertex Minerals Limited

Perth, Australia (ABN Newswire) - Vertex Minerals Limited (ASX:VTX) (OTCMKTS:VTXXF) is pleased to announce that its Ordinary Shares have been approved to trade on the OTCQB Venture Market ("OTCQB") in the United States of America (the "U.S.") and have commenced trading under the ticker VTXXF.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Trading commences on OTCQB under the ticker VTXXF.

- OTCQB recognised as an Established Public Market by the SEC.

- Offers enhanced investor benefits, including streamlined trading access for U.S.- based investors to VTX.

- Enables engagement with a network of U.S. investors, data distributions and media partners.

- ASX compliance qualifies for exemption under US regulations, minimising additional costs.

- There is no change to issued capital as part of the quotation on the OTCQB market and Vertex's primary listing remains the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX") listing.

- No new shares in Vertex have been issued as part of the quotation on the OTCQX Market in the USA.

"The US market will take a keen interest in Vertex, an Australian gold company which will be recognised for its high-grade, future free cash generation, exploration upside, and its Australian dollar market value. The OTCQB quotation makes Vertex more readily accessible to a wider audience at a time when the US market is bullish gold and witnessing record Gold prices". Roger Jackson Executive Chairman

The dual-listing of the Company's ordinary shares on the OTCQB offers key advantages for investors, such as improved trading accessibility for U.S.- based investors and increased liquidity driven by a wider geographic reach of potential shareholders. This platform enables the Company to connect with U.S. capital markets, data providers, and media outlets, ensuring that U.S. investors have access to the same high-quality information and disclosures available to Australian investors, delivered through U.S.-focused platforms. Furthermore, the OTCQB listing allows U.S. investors to trade VTX's ordinary shares in U.S. dollars during U.S. market hours, providing a more cost-effective alternative to trading via the ASX platform.

The ability to trade in the Company's existing ordinary shares on the ASX will not be affected by having the OTCQB facility and no new ordinary shares have been issued. VTX will continue to make announcements and disclosures to the Australian Securities Exchange through the Market Operating Rules and Listing Rule requirements.

The OTCQB is acknowledged by the SEC as an Established Public Market and serves as a prominent platform for U.S. and international companies in the entrepreneurial and growth stages. Eligibility requires companies to maintain up-to-date financial reporting (in line with ASX listing rule obligations), meet a minimum bid price requirement, and complete an annual verification and management certification process. As a trusted and transparent marketplace with streamlined access to U.S. investors, the OTCQB supports companies in building shareholder value, enhancing liquidity, and achieving fair market valuation.

The Company would like to thank David Batista of Viriathus Capital who have acted as Sponsor for the Company's application to commence cross-trading on the OTCQB.

About Vertex Minerals Limited:  

Vertex Minerals Limited (ASX:VTX) is an Australian based gold exploration company developing its advanced Hargraves and Hill End gold projects located in the highly prospective Eastern Lachlan Fold Belt of Central West NSW. Other Company assets include the Pride of Elvire gold project and Taylors Rock gold/nickel/lithium project both located in the Eastern Goldfields of WA. The focus of Vertex Minerals is to advance the commercial production of gold from its NSW projects embracing an ethical and environmentally sustainable approach.

Source:
Vertex Minerals Limited

Perth, Australia (ABN Newswire) - Vertex Minerals Limited (ASX:VTX) (OTCMKTS:VTXXF) is pleased to announce the purchase of an Aramine L350D Loader to be incorporated into the underground fleet at the Reward Gold Mine. The loader is specifically designed for small size gold mining. For its size it is very powerful with a 4t carrying and loading capacity. It is also a very comfortable and safe machine to operate, as it has its cabin in the centre of the machine.

Vertex has purchased the L350D loader for production work in the Reward Mine. It will be fitted with remotes so that the machine can be operated from a remote location. This enables Vertex to undertake long hole stoping which requires the loader to operate in unsupported ground. The new L350D loader has an 8-week delivery time.

On a separate front, engineering staff have been exploring the areas of the mine above the 640 Amalgamated level. These areas are presently accessible by ladders only but will eventually be accessible by an incline ramp for access with jumbos and loaders.

Figures 3* and 4* show current faces with multiple vein exposures up to 6m in width. This represents an exciting opportunity for mining significantly wider stopes than the 1.5m wide stopes envisaged in the PFS. The inclusion of the ore sorter in the processing plant means that Vertex can reject the waste rock between the veins prior to gravity processing.

This ability to sort quartz from country rock is significant as it changes the mining economics of this style of mineralisation. (refer to VTX ASX announcement 24th September 2024) While sampling and assay of these faces remain to be completed, these exposures provide an indication that wider stope widths are possible in some areas and are likely to have a positive impact on stope productivity.

Vertex Director and Mining Engineer Declan Franzmann commented:

"The purchase of a tele-remote capable underground loader provides the flexibility to mine wider stopes using modern mining techniques. The inclusion of ore sorting in the process flow sheet provides VTX with the ability to improve the economics of mining quartz stockwork style mineralisation, which is evident at the Reward Gold Mine."

*To view tables and figures, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/0VLI8BPP

About Vertex Minerals Limited:  

Vertex Minerals Limited (ASX:VTX) is an Australian based gold exploration company developing its advanced Hargraves and Hill End gold projects located in the highly prospective Eastern Lachlan Fold Belt of Central West NSW. Other Company assets include the Pride of Elvire gold project and Taylors Rock gold/nickel/lithium project both located in the Eastern Goldfields of WA. The focus of Vertex Minerals is to advance the commercial production of gold from its NSW projects embracing an ethical and environmentally sustainable approach.

Source:
Vertex Minerals Limited

Perth, Australia (ABN Newswire) - Vertex Minerals Limited (ASX:VTX) (OTCMKTS:VTXXF) is pleased to announce the purchase of an Epiroc Boomer TD1 development and production rig to be incorporated into the underground fleet at the Reward Gold Mine. The drill rig is specifically designed for high-speed drilling in narrow vein mining in cross sections up to 23m2.

Vertex has purchased the TD1 Jumbo so it can be used in development work and undertake production drilling.

This machine comes with a conversion kit, so that it can be rapidly converted from a face drilling machine to a long hole production rig, called a "combi".

The new base model TD1 machine is sitting in Kalgoorlie and will undergo some refitting to meet Vertex's specification. Additional production and development drill rigs are currently under review but will have longer lead times than the TD1.

Vertex Director and Mining Engineer commented.

"The TD1 Boomer is the perfect machine for the size development that we have planned for the Reward Gold Mine. Buying a new Boomer with a split feed is ideal for achieving high rates of development advance while ensuring we can install the highest quality ground support efficiently. We look forward to working closely with Epiroc and their team. Their workshop facilities are conveniently located a short 124km from Hill End in Orange and will help Vertex achieve high levels of availability."

*To view photographs, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/Y1GL6J22

About Vertex Minerals Limited:  

Vertex Minerals Limited (ASX:VTX) is an Australian based gold exploration company developing its advanced Hargraves and Hill End gold projects located in the highly prospective Eastern Lachlan Fold Belt of Central West NSW. Other Company assets include the Pride of Elvire gold project and Taylors Rock gold/nickel/lithium project both located in the Eastern Goldfields of WA. The focus of Vertex Minerals is to advance the commercial production of gold from its NSW projects embracing an ethical and environmentally sustainable approach.

Source:
Vertex Minerals Limited