Ballard Mining (ASX:BM1) said the maiden Baldock deposit ore reserve at the Mt Ida gold project in Western Australia was on track for completion by the middle of the year, according to a Tuesday Australian bourse filing.

A February mineral resource update included 669,000 ounces at 3.7 grams-per-tonne of indicated material at Baldock, which is expected to convert to a 400,000-ounce to 500,000-ounce ore reserve based on material factors. Metallurgical studies are 80% complete, with an overall average metallurgical recovery of over 91%.

The firm also appointed Bedrock Advisory Partners to help in the assessment and management of the debt portion of Ballard's financing process to develop the project.

Its shares rose 1% in recent trading on Tuesday.