Nelson Resources Advances Underground Drilling at High-Grade Orleans Mine

Rehabilitation Unlocks Access to High-Grade Veins

Nelson Resources Limited (ASX:NES) has completed a significant milestone by rehabilitating the upper levels of its historic Orleans Mine at the Gold Point Project in Nevada, USA. This rehabilitation, conducted by Nevada Rand LLC, has restored underground access and established drill platforms, enabling Nelson’s maiden underground drilling program to commence imminently. The move shifts exploration from surface to underground, offering improved targeting precision and substantially lower costs.

Chip sampling during rehabilitation yielded an exceptional 77.9 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 46.1g/t silver over a 1-metre interval of fault breccia adjacent to a historic stope on the 300’ level. This result not only confirms the presence of very high-grade mineralisation continuing approximately 150 metres below surface but also reinforces the potential for further high-grade zones along strike and at depth.

Cost Efficiency and Precision from Underground Drilling

With underground access restored through the Dunfee decline, Nelson anticipates drilling costs to be roughly half of what a comparable surface program would require. The underground platform allows for shorter drill holes (~20 metres initially), better angles, and reduced surface disturbance, which are critical advantages in targeting remnant mineralisation near historic stopes. The initial program will include at least four short holes to test these high-grade remnants, followed by up to 15 diamond core holes aimed at extending the Orleans vein system beyond existing workings.

This approach dovetails with Nelson’s broader strategy at Gold Point, which includes more than 5 kilometres of underground workings across five historic mines and over 20 additional shafts, providing multiple access points for systematic exploration. The scale and complexity of the district have been consolidated under Nelson’s ownership for the first time in over 140 years, enabling a unified exploration campaign that integrates underground and surface data.

Next Steps and Broader District Potential

Following the Orleans rehabilitation, Nelson is advancing plans to rehabilitate the Great Western Mine, another historic high-grade gold-silver producer within the Gold Point district. The company intends to apply the same staged process of stabilising access, underground mapping, sampling, and LiDAR surveying to develop drill-ready targets. Drilling at Great Western is expected to begin once the initial Orleans program concludes.

Nelson’s near-term work program focuses on finalising underground drill stations, mobilising drilling equipment, testing remnant vein material adjacent to historic stopes, and completing follow-up diamond core drilling to explore extensions beyond current workings. The integration of assay results, geological observations, and underground survey data will feed into a 3D geological model to refine targeting across the broader Gold Point network.

This step forward builds on Nelson’s recent confirmation of a large high-grade gold-silver system at Gold Point, where multiple mineralisation styles and additional claims have expanded the project footprint. The company’s systematic rehabilitation and drilling efforts are set to unlock the district’s underexplored potential, which has seen historic production of approximately 75,000 ounces of gold at grades of 20-30g/t, primarily from just four of fifteen known veins. The remaining veins and broader district remain materially underexplored, offering significant upside potential for new discoveries. Nelson’s integrated underground approach complements its ongoing surface exploration and geophysical surveys, enhancing the precision of drill targeting and resource definition. high-grade gold-silver assays

Nelson’s rehabilitation progress at Orleans follows its earlier commencement of underground access works and sets the stage for the maiden drill program anticipated in Q3 2026. This program aims to unlock high-grade veins with improved precision and cost efficiency, leveraging the extensive underground infrastructure now under Nelson’s control. The company’s work at Gold Point is part of a broader strategy to consolidate historic mining assets and apply modern exploration techniques to a historically productive but underexplored district. Rehabilitation underway at historic Orleans