LinQ Reports 5m at 11.97g/t Au & 0.57% Cu in Maiden Gidginbung Drilling

Exploration Resumes After Two Decades

LinQ Minerals Limited (ASX, LNQ) has reignited exploration activity at the Gidginbung gold deposit within its flagship Gilmore Gold-Copper Project in New South Wales. This maiden drilling program marks the first modern exploration at Gidginbung in over 20 years, aiming to confirm the continuity of known high-grade zones and test for extensions along strike and at depth.

Gidginbung, a high-sulphidation epithermal gold system, previously yielded around 540,000 ounces of gold from open pit mining between 1987 and 1996. The current drilling campaign, comprising reverse circulation and diamond drilling, is designed not only to validate existing mineralisation but also to collect samples for metallurgical testing, a critical step toward potential development.

Encouraging High-Grade Intercepts Confirm Potential

Following the quarter’s end, LinQ reported impressive assay results from its maiden drilling at Gidginbung. Highlights include intercepts such as 5 meters at 11.97 grams per tonne gold and 0.57% copper, and 3 meters at 9.07 grams per tonne gold and 0.31% copper. These results represent the strongest gold intercepts at Gidginbung in over 25 years, confirming the deposit remains open both along strike and at depth.

The intercepts reveal wide zones of moderate to high-grade mineralisation, with steep east-dipping gold lenses that could be amenable to open pit mining. The initial 2,700 meters drilled at Gidginbung will be followed by a planned 2,500 meters at the nearby Dam porphyry copper-gold deposit, located less than one kilometer east.

New Porphyry Target and Broader Prospectivity

Complementing the drilling success, detailed geochemical analysis led by Dr Scott Halley identified a significant new porphyry copper-gold target immediately north of the Gidginbung resource area. This potential blind porphyry system is supported by gravity anomalies, structural data, historical drill results, and hyperspectral imaging, suggesting a large-scale mineralised system beneath an epithermal lithocap.

Additional promising targets have been highlighted at the Dam deposit and the Woolshed porphyry prospect, reinforcing the Gilmore Project’s standing within the Macquarie Arc, a premier Australian copper-gold province that hosts world-class mines like Cadia and Northparkes.

Financial Position and Strategic Outlook

LinQ closed the quarter with a robust cash balance of A$8.73 million, having spent approximately A$375,000 on exploration activities. The company’s broad tenement package spans nearly 600 square kilometers with over 20 known prospects and six mineral resource deposits, collectively hosting an estimated 3.7 million ounces of gold and 1.2 million tonnes of copper.

Executive Chair Clive Donner emphasised the significance of this maiden drilling phase as a foundation for future exploration and development. The company is poised to systematically advance its understanding of the Southern Zone’s resource potential, with further assay results from diamond drilling awaited in the near term.