Valiant Gold’s maiden drilling at South Emu-Triton confirms significant gold mineralisation extending approximately 400 metres below the existing resource, highlighting potential for near-term resource growth and advancing mine planning.
- Maiden drilling returns 34.2m at 2.97g/t Au from 1007.9m
- Mineralisation extends ~400m below current resource
- Reedy Shear zone exceeds 100m horizontal width and remains open
- Infill drilling planned to upgrade resource classification
- Drilling ongoing with further assay results expected
Deep Gold Mineralisation Confirmed Below South Emu-Triton
Valiant Gold Limited (ASX:VAL) has unveiled compelling assay results from its inaugural drilling campaign at the South Emu-Triton deposit, part of its 100%-owned Reedy Gold Project in Western Australia’s Murchison region. The highlight is a substantial intercept of 34.2 metres grading 2.97 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from a depth of 1007.9 metres, including a high-grade 3.6-metre section at 15.55 g/t Au. This intercept, from the deepest hole (26REDD001_W5), confirms that mineralisation extends approximately 400 metres below the current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 1.7 million tonnes at 4.0 g/t Au for 224,000 ounces.
Scale and Continuity of the Reedy Shear Zone
The drilling results demonstrate that the Reedy Shear, the key mineralised structure at South Emu-Triton, is not only deep but also substantial in scale. The mineralised system now exceeds 100 metres in horizontal width and remains open in all directions, both down-dip and along strike. This suggests a sizeable, robust gold system with significant potential for resource expansion beyond the current boundaries.
Supporting the new drilling, historic intercepts outside the current resource also reveal high-grade zones, including a 3.4-metre intercept at an exceptional 85.56 g/t Au from 726.4 metres, underscoring the prospectivity of the area.
Transitioning to Resource Upgrade Drilling
With the confirmation of deep mineralisation, Valiant plans to shift focus to infill drilling at shallower levels within the deposit. This phase aims to convert Inferred resources into the higher-confidence Indicated category, a crucial step toward detailed mine planning and advancing restart studies for production at South Emu-Triton. The company has completed around 2,000 metres of a planned 5,000-metre program, with drilling continuing and further assay results anticipated in the coming months.
Technical challenges related to drilling at depth have been addressed, with the successful completion of hole 26REDD001_W5 after optimising hole stabilisation techniques. Future deep drilling is expected to be conducted from underground positions closer to the orebody to improve access and data quality.
Strategic Positioning within the Murchison Gold Belt
South Emu-Triton forms part of the Reedy Gold Project, a brownfields operation with historical production exceeding one million ounces and a combined resource base of 1.2 million ounces across Reedy and Comet projects. Valiant, spun out from Westgold Resources Limited (ASX:WGX), benefits from existing mining leases and an ore purchase agreement with Westgold, providing near-term processing infrastructure access.
Managing Director Brendan Tritton emphasised the significance of the drilling results, stating they provide proof of concept for extending the orebody below the existing resource and set the stage for resource upgrades and production planning.
The initial public offering earlier this year, which raised $75 million, funded these exploration efforts and other development activities across Valiant’s portfolio, including the Comet project. These assay results mark a critical milestone in delivering on the company’s growth strategy.
Bottom Line?
Valiant Gold’s deep drilling success at South Emu-Triton repositions the project for resource growth and mine restart planning, but upcoming infill drilling and further assays will be decisive in confirming the scale and economic viability of these extensions.
Questions in the middle?
- Will infill drilling confirm sufficient continuity to upgrade significant Inferred resources to Indicated?
- How will ongoing drilling results influence the timeline for mine planning and production restart?
- What impact will deep underground access have on exploration efficiency and resource definition?