Astral’s Theia drilling adds high-grade weight to Mandilla’s first pit

Theia Infill Results Beat Stage 1 Resource Grade

Astral Resources NL (ASX:AAR) has added a substantial batch of high-grade results to the proposed Stage 1 open pit at its Mandilla Gold Project, with 41 reverse circulation holes covering 4,456 metres returning a weighted average of 1.54g/t Au. That compares with the 1.1g/t Au grade assigned to the Stage 1 Mineral Resource, although the results are downhole intersections and do not establish true widths.

The strongest intervals included 7 metres at 10.4g/t Au from 133 metres in AMRC446, including 1 metre at 53.0g/t Au; 13 metres at 5.0g/t Au from 36 metres in AMRC431; 4 metres at 13.5g/t Au from 106 metres in AMRC410; and 11 metres at 4.0g/t Au from 34 metres in AMRC444. Several other holes returned broad, more moderate zones around 1g/t to 2g/t Au, which is material to an open-pit model even if it lacks the drama of the headline grades.

High-Grade Zones Strengthen Early Mining Inventory

Theia hosts a Mineral Resource of 41.0 million tonnes at 1.1g/t Au for 1.4 million ounces, with the Mandilla Pre-Feasibility Study assigning 146,000 ounces to the 4.2Mt Stage 1 pit over its first 21 months. Astral says the infill program is intended to convert more of that Stage 1 resource to the Measured category, increasing confidence in the early mine plan and supporting the Definitive Feasibility Study and project financing.

That is the important distinction here: the announcement does not deliver a new resource, reserve or feasibility study. It provides another set of assays that Astral says is consistent with the existing geological and Mineral Resource models. The company has reported weighted average grades of 1.93g/t Au, 1.41g/t Au and 1.24g/t Au from earlier infill batches, making the latest result part of an ongoing pattern rather than a standalone discovery.

AMRCD374 Delivers Exceptional Near-Pit Intercepts

A separate RC hole with a diamond tail, AMRCD374, produced the most eye-catching assay in the release: 1 metre at 219g/t Au from 25 metres. The hole also returned 3 metres at 15.4g/t Au from 141 metres, including 0.3 metres at 122g/t Au, plus 13 metres at 2.29g/t Au and 3.35 metres at 5.86g/t Au.

AMRCD374 was collared inside the proposed Stage 1 pit and was designed to test deeper mineralisation, but excessive deviation forced Astral to terminate it at 318.9 metres before reaching the intended target. Across the reported intersections, the company calculated 426.5 gram x metres of mineralisation along the hole. The result supports the presence of high-grade zones within the near-pit area, but the failed deep test leaves the scale and continuity of mineralisation beneath the current target unresolved.

More Drilling Before the DFS Decision

The Stage 1 infill campaign has completed 225 holes for 22,705 metres from a planned 431 holes and roughly 44,400 metres, leaving a sizeable program still to run. The Theia Deeps diamond campaign is also continuing, with further assays pending. Astral has separately noted visible gold in core from another deep hole, but visual logging is not a substitute for laboratory assay results.

The next useful markers are therefore practical rather than promotional: completion of the infill drilling, any resource reclassification or update, the remaining deep assays and the Mandilla DFS, forecast for the March quarter of 2027. Heritage surveys at the Kamperman and Spiders areas have been completed, but preliminary reports are still required before exploration can restart there. The challenge for Astral is now to convert a persuasive collection of intercepts into a mine plan that survives detailed engineering, approvals and financing scrutiny.