Lightning Minerals' late 2025 soil sampling along the Drummer Fault has revealed multiple new gold targets over a 3.9km strike, reinforcing the continuity of mineralisation and setting the stage for a fully funded Phase 2 drilling campaign starting mid-July 2026.
- Multiple new gold targets identified over 3.9km strike
- Soil geochemistry confirms mineralisation continuity between historical pits
- High-priority 2.2km exploration corridor defined along Drummer Fault
- Phase 2 drilling program scheduled to commence mid-July 2026
- Results support district-scale gold system model at Mt Turner
Soil Sampling Unlocks New Gold Targets
Lightning Minerals (ASX:L1M) has delivered a compelling update from its flagship Mt Turner Gold Project in North Queensland, revealing multiple new gold targets identified through a systematic soil sampling program completed in late 2025 along the Drummer Fault corridor. This work has uncovered up to six distinct multi-element anomalies stretching over a 3.9-kilometre strike length, confirming mineralisation continuity between historical oxide pits and extending the prospective zones beyond known workings.
The standout discovery is a high-priority 2.2-kilometre exploration corridor between historical Pits 1 and 5, coinciding with multiple interpreted structural trap sites. These findings lend weight to Lightning’s emerging district-scale gold system model, reinforcing the Drummer Fault as a major mineralised structure with significant potential under shallow transported cover.
Strategic Growth Focus Anchored by Mt Turner
Following the company’s strategic pivot earlier this year to prioritise gold, the Mt Turner Project has been established as Lightning Minerals’ primary growth asset. CEO Troy Brice emphasised the soil program’s role in expanding the known footprint of mineralisation and generating a robust pipeline of drill targets ahead of the upcoming Phase 2 drilling campaign slated to begin mid-July 2026.
“The Drummer Fault soil program has delivered a strong outcome and further strengthens our confidence in the scale potential of the Mt Turner Gold Project,” Brice said. “The combination of geochemistry, historical workings and structural interpretation has generated a pipeline of high-priority targets that will be incorporated into our upcoming Phase 2 drilling campaign.”
Details of Soil Anomalies and Exploration Targets
The soil survey employed a rigorous sampling grid, collecting 492 samples at 20-metre intervals along north-south traverses spaced 100 metres apart. Analytical results from ALS Laboratories identified five distinct anomalous zones across eastern, central, and western sections of the Drummer Fault corridor.
In the eastern grid, a broad multi-element anomaly extends approximately 600 metres westward and remains open for further exploration. The central grid revealed some of the most strategically significant results, with strong anomalies linking Pit 3 and Pit 5 over a 1.6-kilometre stretch, substantially expanding the interpreted mineralised system footprint. The western grid hosts the strongest gold-pathfinder responses, including a 1.2-kilometre Au-Ag-As anomaly east of Pit 6, which remains open beneath floodplain sediments.
Next Steps and Exploration Outlook
Lightning Minerals plans to commence its fully funded Phase 2 drilling program shortly, targeting the high-priority zones identified by the soil sampling. The company will also undertake follow-up geochemical work across unsampled portions of the Drummer Fault, evaluate covered targets beneath Aurora Creek sediments, and continue regional target generation across the broader Mt Turner Project.
These activities align with Lightning’s broader goal of advancing Mt Turner toward resource definition, with early planning already underway for a Phase 3 drilling program focused on resource growth. The combination of drilling success, geological continuity, and extensive soil anomalism is expected to enhance confidence in the Drummer Fault’s district-scale potential.
Lightning Minerals’ strategic repositioning and capital raise earlier this month underpin the company’s ability to accelerate exploration efforts at Mt Turner, marking a critical juncture in its growth trajectory.
Bottom Line?
The soil sampling results sharpen Lightning Minerals’ drill targets and set a clear course for advancing Mt Turner toward resource definition in a fully funded Phase 2 campaign.
Questions in the middle?
- How will Phase 2 drilling results validate the soil sampling anomalies and district-scale gold system model?
- What is the potential scale and grade of mineralisation beneath the shallow cover along the Drummer Fault?
- How might ongoing exploration at Mt Turner impact Lightning Minerals’ capital allocation and growth strategy?