Lodestar Drills Thick High-Grade Gold Zones at Ned’s Creek, Maiden Resource in Sight

Central Park Delivers Thick, High-Grade Gold Intercepts

Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) continues to advance its Ned’s Creek Gold Project in Western Australia with compelling assay results from its recent 12,000m reverse circulation drilling campaign. The Central Park prospect, in particular, has returned thick zones of oxide and transitional gold mineralisation that surpass previous historic drilling results. Notably, vertical hole LNRC210 intersected 34m at 1.81g/t Au from 42m, including 12m at 3.03g/t Au from 60m, marking the westernmost section drilled and confirming mineralisation remains open in that direction.

Other significant Central Park results include 24m at 1.56g/t Au from 39m (LNRC191), 20m at 1.90g/t Au from 28m (LNRC196), and 32m at 0.82g/t Au from 16m (LNRC200), all featuring higher-grade internal intervals. These thick oxide zones, often close to true thickness given their flat-lying nature, are complemented by transitional mineralisation extending into fresh rock with quartz veining and shearing, hinting at a structurally controlled system that requires further drilling to fully delineate.

Exploration Target Supported Across Multiple Prospects

The latest drilling results reinforce the December 2025 Exploration Target of 250,000-300,000 ounces of gold contained within 5-7 million tonnes at 1.0-1.7g/t Au across Ned’s Creek’s three main prospects: Central Park, Contessa, and Gidgee Flat. Drilling at Contessa filled gaps in previous data and largely confirmed historical results, with oxide zone intersections such as 3m at 2.73g/t Au from 41m (LNRC173) and a wider 12m at 0.71g/t Au from 56m (LNRC176). Geological observations suggest structural complexities between Central Park and Gidgee Flat present additional exploration upside.

Lodestar’s CEO Coraline Blaud highlighted the significance of these results, stating they “further support the potential to expand the mineralisation footprint at Ned’s Creek” and underscore “very strong growth potential in the oxide zone and fresh rock.” The identification of new mineralised lodes parallel to known zones and mineralisation extending beyond the current Exploration Target boundaries bodes well for the upcoming maiden Mineral Resource Estimate.

Advancing Towards Maiden Resource and Mining Lease Application

The company is progressing geological modelling to underpin the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, targeted for publication in late 2026. Concurrently, environmental, heritage, and metallurgical test work programs have commenced to support a Mining Lease application planned for early 2027. Flora surveys are scheduled in spring and autumn, and Lodestar has initiated communications with Native Title groups, reflecting a comprehensive approach to advancing the project.

With 90% of assay results returned and over 1,000 resamples currently at the laboratory, the final data set is expected within weeks, subject to weather conditions. The drilling campaign’s success in confirming and extending mineralisation, alongside ongoing technical studies, positions Ned’s Creek as a promising development candidate within a proven gold district near Catalyst Metals’ Plutonic Gold Mine and Westgold’s Blue Bird plant near Meekatharra.