Evergold has defined three priority gold targets at its Leonora Goldfields Project after combining 1,312 soil samples with detailed drone magnetics. The early-stage results sharpen the company’s exploration pipeline, but drilling is still needed to establish whether the surface anomalies continue into bedrock.
- Katalina expanded to a 500m by 500m target zone
- Peak surface result of 200 ppb gold at Katalina
- New Sirius and Jack’s Reward targets identified
- Leonora hosts a 63,000oz Inferred Mineral Resource
- Mt Monger assays remain pending after 7,000m aircore program
Three Leonora targets emerge from surface data
Evergold Minerals Limited (ASX:EG1) has moved its Leonora exploration effort from broad geological prospectivity to three defined targets, with Katalina, Sirius and Jack’s Reward now lined up for follow-up work and first-pass drilling.
The targets were identified through a 1,312-sample surface geochemical survey covering about 9km², followed by a 23km² drone magnetic survey. Of the samples, 116 returned at least 10 parts per billion gold, including 29 at 20ppb or above. The peak result was 200ppb at Katalina, against a median result of 2.5ppb across the full dataset.
Katalina leads the surface anomaly results
Katalina has been expanded into an approximately 500m by 500m target zone along strike from historical workings, with 24 samples exceeding the company’s anomalous threshold. About 900m to the southwest, Sirius covers roughly 400m by 300m and contains five samples above 10ppb, including two above 50ppb.
Jack’s Reward, a further 1km southwest of Sirius, returned 150ppb gold, the second-highest result from the survey. Evergold interprets the target as sitting along the same structural corridor associated with Northern Star Resources’ (ASX:NST) approximately 1Moz Wonder deposit, around 3.5km away. The Wonder deposit is owned by Northern Star and is not part of Evergold’s mineral resource.
Magnetics sharpen the drill targeting
Evergold says the anomalous gold values form coherent zones rather than a random distribution, with their locations corresponding to interpreted structural corridors in the magnetic data. The company interprets the Wonder structure as extending into the southern portion of its tenure through Sirius and Jack’s Reward, while the Great Northern structure trends through Katalina towards Craig’s Rest.
That interpretation remains qualitative. The surface anomalies indicate where gold is present in the sampled soil and regolith, but they do not establish the width, continuity or depth of mineralisation. Evergold plans infill geochemistry and first-pass drilling, subject to finalising heritage clearance across the region.
Existing resource and Mt Monger work add near-term catalysts
The new targets sit around Craig’s Rest, the anchor of Leonora’s 63,000oz JORC 2012 Inferred Mineral Resource at 1.41 grams per tonne gold. Craig’s Rest accounts for 48,600oz, and resource-definition drilling is planned while the company also advances the new regional targets.
At Mt Monger, an aircore program finished early after rig issues, with 7,000m completed. Assays are pending from batches covering different target areas, while an RC rig is booked for October follow-up drilling at Duchess of York and other targets prioritised from the aircore work. The immediate test for Leonora is whether its attractive surface pattern survives contact with the drill bit.
Bottom Line?
Evergold has improved its Leonora targeting, but the investment case still turns on whether drilling converts low-tenor surface anomalies into confirmed bedrock mineralisation.
Questions in the middle?
- Will first-pass drilling confirm continuous bedrock gold beneath the Katalina, Sirius and Jack’s Reward anomalies?
- How will heritage clearance affect the timing of Leonora’s next drilling campaign?
- Will pending Mt Monger assays provide a stronger near-term exploration signal than the new Leonora targets?