Medallion’s high-grade gold at Lounge Lizard: pit design and geotech notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Medallion Metals has intersected a new mineralised hanging-wall lode at the McMahon’s open pit, extending known gold mineralisation at the Lounge Lizard deposit in Western Australia. A seven-hole, 1077m slimline reverse-circulation programme returned a standout intercept of 5m at 5.80g/t gold from 106m depth. The new lode geometry and grade continuity will be critical for updating pit designs, resource models and geotechnical assumptions for wall stability and dilution control.
Technical Brief
- Slimline reverse-circulation drilling totalled 1077m across seven holes, optimising metre cost and penetration.
- Programme targeted the McMahon’s open pit sector of the Lounge Lizard deposit in Western Australia.
- Hanging-wall position of the new lode implies potential for incremental ounces within existing pit shells.
- RC chip logging from slimline holes will constrain lithology and alteration for updated geological domaining.
- New intercepts provide fresh downhole control for refining pit wall geotechnical domains and slope design sectors.
- Additional hanging-wall mineralisation may influence dilution assumptions and blast design near the current pit limit.
- Data density from closely spaced RC holes will support re-estimation of local grade continuity and variography.
- For similar narrow-lode mining projects, such hanging-wall discoveries often trigger pushback and cutback redesign.
Our Take
The Lounge Lizard drilling sits alongside Medallion Metals’ recent high‑grade results at the Gem deposit within the Ravensthorpe project, signalling that the company is building a pipeline of multiple Western Australian gold targets rather than relying on a single flagship asset.
With Macmahon Underground recently named preferred tenderer for a proposed $240 million underground contract at Ravensthorpe, sustained high‑grade hits at assets like Lounge Lizard and McMahon’s open pit strengthen Medallion’s case for a longer‑life, multi‑mine development strategy in WA.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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