ASX 200: Vertex Activates Remote Loader at Reward Gold Mine

Highlights

• Tele-remote controls were connected to an underground loader at Reward.

• Remote loading has commenced from a stope area following commissioning.

• Decline development work continues across multiple mining fronts.

Vertex has connected tele-remote controls to an underground loader at the Reward Gold Mine and commenced remote ore loading. The company is also progressing development across multiple declines within the Hill End Project.

Vertex Minerals (ASX:VTX) has reached a practical operating milestone at the Reward Gold Mine by connecting a tele-remote control unit to its Aramine underground loader and commencing remote ore loading. While this is not a headline-grabbing discovery update, it is the kind of commissioning step that often signals operational readiness: systems integration, safety protocols, and equipment procedures coming together so underground material handling can progress with more control and flexibility. The company also flagged ongoing work across multiple decline areas, indicating parallel development activity as the broader underground plan advances.

What has Vertex achieved at Reward?

Vertex has connected the remote control unit housed in the mine’s tele-remote hut to an Aramine underground loader. Following the connection, ore loading was conducted remotely from a stope area, demonstrating that the control and equipment link is functional in an operating setting.

Entity-rich definition: tele-remote mining

Tele-remote mining is the operation of underground equipment from a remote, protected location using control systems and communications links to improve safety and productivity.

Entity-rich definition: underground loader

An underground loader is a load-haul-dump machine used to scoop, move and load broken ore or waste material within underground headings and stopes.

Why does tele-remote commissioning matter?

Tele-remote systems typically require purpose-built commissioning because performance depends on reliable connectivity, operator interfaces, safety interlocks and equipment calibration. In underground environments, communications and line-of-sight limitations can add complexity, so a successful connection and initial operating use can represent a meaningful step toward steady-state operation.

Entity-rich definition: commissioning

Commissioning is the structured process of testing, calibrating and verifying equipment and systems to confirm they operate safely and as intended before routine use.

What mining method is being used?

Vertex notes the operation will use longhole stoping methods. This is a common underground technique where ore is drilled and blasted in planned patterns to create stopes for extraction, typically relying on disciplined development, sequencing and material handling.

Entity-rich definition: longhole stoping

Longhole stoping is an underground mining method that uses long drilled holes and blasting to break ore within a stope, enabling efficient extraction where geology and ground conditions allow.

Entity-rich definition: stope

A stope is the underground void created when ore is extracted; it is also the working area where drilling, blasting and mucking occur.

What else is progressing underground?

Vertex indicates it is working across multiple development fronts, including several declines. Declines are the ramp-style access routes that connect surface to underground workings and enable equipment, ventilation and ore movement.

Entity-rich definition: decline

A decline is a sloping underground tunnel used to access ore zones and infrastructure levels, allowing trucks and machinery to move between surface and underground.

Entity-rich definition: rehabilitation in mining

Rehabilitation refers to work undertaken to restore disturbed areas to safe and stable conditions, including ground support, cleanup and compliance-related actions.

Where is the Reward Gold Mine located?

The Reward Mine sits within the Hill End Project in the central west of New South Wales. The broader project area is described as being within the Eastern Lachlan Fold Belt, a geological province known for mineralised systems.

Entity-rich definition: Lachlan Fold Belt

The Lachlan Fold Belt is a geological region in eastern Australia containing a range of volcanic, sedimentary and intrusive rocks associated with multiple mineral deposit styles.

What should readers watch next?

Because this update is operational, the next points of interest typically relate to how quickly tele-remote capability becomes routine and how development progress supports sustained underground activity.

Practical watchpoints

• further tele-remote deployment across additional headings or stopes

• consistency of remote loading performance and operational routines

• progress updates on decline development and readiness for stoping sequences

• broader Hill End work programme milestones as underground activity expands