Christmas Gift Gold Anomaly Lengthens to Over 4km with 29 New Soil Targets Identified

Gold Anomaly Extension and New Targets

Tarrina Resources (ASX:TR8) has significantly expanded the footprint of its Christmas Gift Gold Project in the Lachlan Fold Belt, southern NSW, extending the gold anomaly by 1.16 kilometres to a total strike length exceeding 4 kilometres. This comes from a recent auger soil sampling campaign that identified 29 new geochemical targets, with 12 flagged as high priority, including the historically mined McLeod’s Shaft which now stands out as a potential analogue to the Christmas Gift mine itself. The integrated dataset combining gold, zinc, and copper assays from 4,760 soil samples reveals a complex mineral system with multiple unexplored zones that could host new discoveries.

The new soil sampling results, which include a standout 1.86 g/t gold assay 2.2 kilometres north of the historic mine area where no prior mining or exploration occurred, suggest the mineralisation system is more extensive than previously understood. The anomaly's width of approximately 200 metres and the identification of three highly anomalous zones west of the mine hint at a possible subparallel mineralised zone, a fresh bedrock target in the mine’s footwall. These findings align with the company’s view that the strike length of gold mineralisation could extend over 5 kilometres when considering both tenements EL9615 and EL9683.

Historic Context and Drilling Validation

Christmas Gift’s history includes production of roughly 30,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 18 g/t from the late 19th to mid-20th century. Modern exploration has confirmed high-grade orogenic lode-style gold mineralisation with significant potential for strike and depth extensions. Historic drilling, including 592 holes completed between 1968 and 2020, has delivered high-grade intersections such as 13 metres at 13.2 g/t gold and 8 metres at 17.23 g/t gold, though only two holes have tested beyond 150 metres depth. Tarrina’s ongoing diamond drilling program, which recently completed six holes for 1,180 metres, aims to validate these historic results and test extensions. Initial assay results from this drilling have already confirmed high-grade gold zones, supporting the soil sampling targets and the broader geological model. This drilling campaign and the soil sampling program build on the company’s earlier efforts, including the confirmed high-grade gold intersections and the launch of the drilling program earlier this year at Christmas Gift.

Geochemical and Geological Insights

The soil sampling program, involving 2,527 new samples analyzed for gold, zinc, and copper, was designed to complement and extend the existing 4,760-sample database. The use of pXRF in-field and laboratory fire assays provided robust multi-element geochemical data supporting the identification of 746 gold, 267 zinc, and 333 copper anomalous outliers. Statistical analysis has allowed for classification of anomalies into background, anomalous, and highly anomalous categories, guiding prioritisation for follow-up fieldwork and drilling.

Geologically, the Christmas Gift area is located within a complex Ordovician to Silurian sequence of metamorphosed marine sedimentary and volcanic rocks, structurally controlled by major faults such as the Thuddungra Fault. Gold mineralisation is associated with quartz–calcite veins containing pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite, with alteration assemblages typical of orogenic gold systems. Notably, the presence of zinc and copper as pathfinder elements, confirmed by historic core re-logging and recent geochemical data, adds a compelling dimension to the exploration model, suggesting potential polymetallic mineralisation that warrants further investigation.

Next Steps and Exploration Outlook

Tarrina is preparing to complete the assay results from its Phase 1 diamond core drilling by the end of June 2026, which will provide critical data on the scale and grade of mineralisation. Concurrently, the company plans comprehensive field checks of all identified soil anomaly targets, geological modelling updates incorporating new drilling data, and follow-up drilling campaigns aimed at infilling and extending mineralisation between Christmas Gift and Cullinga Extended mines. These efforts are designed to underpin a maiden Mineral Resource estimate and to systematically test high-priority zones including McLeod’s Shaft, Venables, and new targets within EL9683.

While the Christmas Gift project remains the flagship, Tarrina is also advancing its South Australian projects at Walparuta and Yongala, focusing on copper and rare earth element targets, supported by a solid funding position. The integration of historic data with modern exploration techniques continues to drive the company’s strategy to unlock value from its portfolio.