How North Stawell Minerals’ Modelling Uncovered New Gold at Darlington West
North Stawell Minerals has extended gold mineralisation at its Darlington West target, confirming promising grades and validating its predictive modelling approach. The results open new avenues for exploration across its extensive tenement package.
- Diamond drill hole NSD061 intersects multiple gold zones including 1.2m at 3.32 g/t Au
- Mineralisation occurs on basalt contacts consistent with Stawell-type gold systems
- Geophysical and numerical modelling targets confirmed, with mineralisation open along strike and down-dip
- Darlington West target spans approximately 700m in length and remains a high priority
- Air Core drilling planned for Q1 2026 to extend shallow mineralisation strike
Darlington West Drilling Success
North Stawell Minerals (ASX, NSM) has announced encouraging results from the latest diamond drilling at its Darlington West prospect within the North Stawell Project in Victoria. The recently completed hole, NSD061, intersected multiple zones of gold mineralisation, including a standout 1.2 metres at 3.32 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 177.3 metres depth. This follows earlier positive results from hole NSD058, reinforcing the prospectivity of this emerging target.
The mineralisation is hosted on the contacts of foliated basalt, a hallmark of the Stawell-type gold deposits that have historically produced multimillion-ounce ore bodies in the region. The presence of needle-like arsenopyrite, a mineral commonly associated with Victorian gold deposits, further supports the geological similarity to the nearby Stawell Gold Mine, located just six kilometres to the south.
Validation of Predictive Modelling
What makes these results particularly significant is their alignment with North Stawell Minerals’ geophysical and numerical modelling predictions. The Darlington West target, approximately 700 metres long and 500 metres wide, was identified through advanced gravity data inversion and strain modelling techniques designed to pinpoint structural zones most likely to host gold-bearing fluids. The successful intersection of mineralisation in NSD061 confirms the effectiveness of this approach, suggesting that other similar modelled targets within NSM’s expansive 455 square kilometre tenement package could also yield discoveries.
Non-Executive Chairman Campbell Olsen highlighted the importance of this validation, noting that the results provide a strong foundation for refining exploration programs and focusing efforts on the most prospective areas. The mineralisation remains open in all directions, offering significant upside potential as drilling continues.
Strategic Exploration Outlook
Building on these promising findings, North Stawell Minerals plans to commence an Air Core drilling program in the first quarter of 2026. This program aims to extend the strike of shallow mineralisation along the Darlington Trend, further delineating the extent of gold mineralisation and guiding future drilling campaigns. The company is also evaluating other high-priority targets such as Caledonia, Lubeck, and Crams, identified through the same mineral systems modelling process.
While the current results are exploratory and do not yet contribute to mineral resource estimates, they mark a critical step in advancing the North Stawell Project towards potential resource definition. The integration of modern geophysical techniques with targeted drilling is positioning NSM to efficiently explore under cover sediments that have historically concealed significant gold deposits.
Geological Context and Regional Significance
The North Stawell Project lies within a highly prospective gold corridor extending north from the Stawell Gold Mine, which has produced over five million ounces of gold. The project area features fault-disrupted basalt blocks, with mineralisation typically concentrated along basalt margins. NSM’s exploration strategy leverages the geological model of the Magdala orebody at Stawell, focusing on similar structural and mineralogical controls to uncover new deposits beneath shallow sedimentary cover.
These latest drilling results at Darlington West reinforce the potential for discovering large-scale, shallow gold deposits in this under-explored region, which could have meaningful implications for the company and the broader Victorian gold sector.
Bottom Line?
Darlington West’s promising drill results validate NSM’s modelling strategy and set the stage for accelerated exploration across its tenements.
Questions in the middle?
- How extensive is the mineralisation along strike and at depth beyond current drill intercepts?
- What are the next steps to convert exploration success into a defined mineral resource?
- How will upcoming Air Core drilling results influence NSM’s broader exploration priorities?
