Rox Resources has started surface diamond drilling at Youanmi, targeting resource conversion, incremental growth and deeper extensions of the high-grade United North system. The campaign could support future reserve growth and mine-life extensions, but its value still depends on drilling results that have yet to arrive.
- Surface diamond drilling has commenced at Youanmi
- 12.4Mt Mineral Resource grading 5.5g/t gold for 2,195koz
- Structural re-logging points to a southward mineralisation plunge
- Resource conversion drilling will precede deeper step-out work
- Second diamond rig planned from early CY2027
Youanmi drilling targets resource and mine-life growth
Rox Resources Limited (ASX:RXL) has begun a new surface diamond drilling campaign at its 100%-owned Youanmi Gold Mine in Western Australia, putting resource conversion and deeper exploration at the centre of its next phase of mine development.
The program will initially test areas where Inferred Mineral Resources could be converted into higher-confidence categories capable of supporting future reserve growth. Rox then plans to move into broader resource growth drilling and step-out holes beneath United North, targeting the interpreted down-plunge continuation of the high-grade ore system.
Youanmi’s latest Mineral Resource stands at 12.4 million tonnes grading 5.5 grams per tonne gold for 2.195 million ounces. That figure provides the base for the campaign, but the announcement does not contain new surface drilling assays, an updated resource or a revised mine plan.
Structural re-logging points drilling south
The exploration thesis has been sharpened by a re-logging exercise across historical diamond core, combined with mapping from underground development. Rox said the work identified a southward plunge direction for gold mineralisation at United North, with so-called “kinematic flip” movements in hanging-wall structures associated with higher-grade zones.
That interpretation has already influenced the July 2026 resource model through revised variograms and search-ellipse orientations. The new drilling design applies the same geological work in the field: conversion holes will come first, while plunge exploration will be refined as fresh structural information emerges.
Results remain the critical test
Surface drilling is expected to continue into early CY2027, alongside ongoing underground drilling. Rox plans to deploy a second diamond rig from early CY2027, increasing the capacity to test both near-term resource opportunities and deeper extensions between United North and Youanmi Main.
The announcement also reports a 3.5-metre underground face-sample interval grading 15.52g/t gold, including 2.2 metres at 21.44g/t. Rox cautioned that channel samples collected during development are operational in nature and are not equivalent to resource-definition drilling, making them a geological signal rather than a substitute for the campaign now under way.
Managing Director and CEO Phill Wilding said the drilling is intended to support the company’s target of first gold from Youanmi by mid-2027 and its aspirational goal of becoming a 150,000-ounce-per-year producer. Whether the interpreted plunge translates into additional mineable ounces will depend on assays, resource classification and subsequent mine-planning work.
Bottom Line?
The geological model has produced a clearer target, but the next meaningful change will come only when drilling converts that interpretation into defensible resources and reserves.
Questions in the middle?
- Will drilling confirm the interpreted southward plunge beneath United North?
- How much Inferred material can be converted into Indicated resources and ultimately reserves?
- Could any confirmed extensions be incorporated into the mine plan before the mid-2027 first-gold target?