Dreadnought Identifies Expanding 7km Gold Corridor at Illaara

Emerging Large-Scale Gold System at Black Oak

Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE) has extended a gold anomaly at its Illaara Gold Project in Western Australia's Yilgarn Craton to over 7 kilometres of strike at the Black Oak prospect. This wide-spaced air core drilling program, part of a ~500-hole campaign testing ~24km of the Illaara structural zone, has revealed shallow gold mineralisation starting from surface, accompanied by a suite of orogenic gold pathfinder elements including arsenic, antimony, silver, tellurium, and tungsten.

Notable intercepts on the central >7 km anomaly include 21 metres at 0.3 g/t gold from surface, with a higher-grade 3 metres at 1.1 g/t from 3 metres depth, and 9 metres at 0.5 g/t gold from 33 metres, including 3 metres at 1.4 g/t. These results lie approximately 800 metres along strike from previously reported intercepts such as 18 metres at 0.3 g/t from 138 metres depth.

Multiple Gold-Bearing Trends Signal Growing Prospectivity

Beyond the dominant >7 km corridor, Dreadnought has delineated three additional gold-bearing trends ranging from 2.5 to over 4 kilometres in strike length. Each trend exhibits coincident anomalism in key orogenic pathfinder elements, underscoring the scale and potential of this emerging gold system. The company plans to follow up these anomalies with infill air core drilling at tighter 25–50 metre spacing, commencing immediately after the current program concludes in June 2026.

Managing Director Dean Tuck emphasised the significance of these findings, stating that Black Oak is shaping up as a "genuine large-scale gold system". He highlighted the shallow nature of mineralisation and the strong geochemical signature typical of orogenic gold deposits, which bodes well for future resource definition. The immediate transition to infill drilling reflects Dreadnought’s ambition to convert broad anomalism into defined mineralised corridors.

Illaara’s Underexplored Greenstone Belt Offers Discovery Upside

Illaara covers approximately 800 square kilometres and 70 kilometres of strike within one of the Yilgarn Craton’s least explored greenstone belts. Historically dominated by iron ore exploration and constrained by remoteness, the project has seen minimal systematic gold exploration prior to Dreadnought’s acquisition from Newmont in 2019. Early drilling at the Metzke’s Find within Illaara has already yielded a high-grade resource of 14,900 ounces at 6.8 g/t gold, which remains open along strike and at depth.

The current air core program is the first systematic exploration effort across the Illaara belt, employing modern geochemical and geophysical techniques to target mineralisation beneath shallow cover. The wide-spaced drilling approach is designed to rapidly screen large areas for gold anomalism, with follow-up infill drilling aimed at refining targets for resource development.

Upcoming Catalysts and Broader Project Pipeline

Dreadnought expects further assay results from first-pass drilling at the CRA Homestead prospect between Black Oak and CRA in June and July. Additionally, infill air core and reverse circulation drilling are scheduled to advance resource definition at Illaara through the second half of 2026. The company also anticipates a resource update at Metzke’s Find in July, alongside ongoing metallurgical and scoping studies.

Beyond Illaara, Dreadnought’s portfolio includes the Mangaroon Gold Project with emerging camp-scale targets and the Gifford Creek Critical Metals Project, which hosts rare earth and niobium resources. The company’s strategic focus remains on advancing Illaara’s large-scale gold potential while progressing other assets towards discovery and development milestones.