Austin Metals Pinpoints New Gold Targets Ahead of Q2 Drilling

Refining Targets with High-Tech Exploration

Austin Metals Limited (ASX:AYT) has taken a methodical approach to unlocking gold potential at its Austin Gold Project in Western Australia’s Murchison region. During the March quarter, the company completed a suite of advanced exploration activities, including drone imagery surveys, field mapping, targeted rock chip sampling, and a high-resolution magnetic survey. These efforts are honing in on the structural controls of gold mineralisation, providing a clearer picture of priority drill targets.

Central to this push is the engagement of Dr Robin Armit from PGN Geoscience, who is leading a detailed litho-structural interpretation. By integrating high-resolution geophysical and remote sensing datasets, the team has identified multiple iron-rich banded iron formation (BIF) horizons, significant shear zones, and cross-cutting faults that are key to localising gold deposits. The interpretation work notably highlights structural intersections along a 2-kilometre BIF trend at Brunswick Hill, reminiscent of the nearby high-grade Vadrians deposit owned by Caprice Resources.

These findings build on Austin’s earlier efforts, including a $3 million capital raise that underpinned the Phase 1 exploration programme targeting the Northern Zone. The current work is a natural progression from the company’s initial deployment of high-resolution drone imagery and field mapping to pinpoint gold targets at Brunswick Hill and surrounding prospects Phase 1 exploration underway.

Drone and Magnetic Surveys Sharpen Geological Models

The drone survey provided detailed aerial imagery over Brunswick Hill, Mt Sandy, and Golconda Well, enabling more confident tracing of subtle faults and lithological contacts. At Mt Sandy, this revealed a previously unrecognised 200-metre-wide zone of deformed BIF with quartz veining, a promising structural setting for gold mineralisation. Complementing this, a high-resolution magnetic survey over the Old Granites and Four Shafts prospects in the southern tenement area has added new layers of structural and lithological detail, aiding in the reinterpretation of historic workings and enhancing drill target ranking.

These geophysical datasets are converging to define priority drill targets, with Austin Metals aiming to commence reverse circulation (RC) drilling in the second quarter of calendar year 2026. The company’s emphasis on integrating geophysics, drone imagery, and geochemistry is designed to reduce exploration risk by better constraining the structural framework that controls gold mineralisation.

Brunswick Hill remains a focal point, with over 2 kilometres of prospective BIF strike identified but only about 500 metres partially tested historically. The structural intersections within the chert-magnetite BIF here are considered high-confidence targets that mirror the structural regime of the high-grade Vadrians deposit, which has been a key model for Austin Metals’ exploration strategy Vadrians-style BIF gold model.

Progress at Ashburton and Corporate Updates

Beyond gold, Austin Metals is advancing its Ashburton copper-gold project in the Pilbara, focusing on structural interpretation and multi-element geochemistry to refine targets within a largely underexplored Proterozoic basin. The company plans further geological mapping and assessment of epithermal potential in this early-stage project.

On the corporate front, Austin Metals appointed Sonu Cheema as Company Secretary in January 2026, replacing Flynn Blackburn. Shareholders also approved the issue of placement shares and options in February, supporting the company’s ongoing exploration activities. Financially, Austin Metals reported $181,000 in exploration expenditure for the quarter, with no mining production activities. The company ended the period with a solid cash balance of $2.623 million, providing an estimated 7.3 quarters of funding at current expenditure levels.