Pilbara Gold has reported strong initial drill results from the Terra Prospect at Roe Hills, including 46 metres at 3.17g/t gold and a narrower high-grade hit of 4 metres at 9.91g/t. The results extend evidence of a mineralised corridor at least 1.5km long, although substantial drilling and follow-up work remain.
- 46m at 3.17g/t gold from 92m at Terra
- 4m at 9.91g/t including 1m at 33.62g/t
- Mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth
- About 5,700m of a planned 12,000m program complete
- Failed holes to be redrilled with diamond drilling where required
Terra Drilling Produces Broad Gold Intercepts
Pilbara Gold Limited (ASX:PGL) has opened its latest Roe Hills campaign with a result that gives the Terra Prospect considerably more geological weight: hole 26RHRC001 returned 46 metres at 3.17g/t gold from 92 metres, including 18 metres at 4.36g/t. The company also reported 4 metres at 9.91g/t from 144 metres in hole 26RHRC006, including 1 metre at 33.62g/t, and 7 metres at 4.14g/t from 81 metres in hole 26RHRC011.
These are exploration results, not a resource estimate. The reported intervals are downhole lengths, with true widths not yet stated, and no resource classification has been applied. Even so, the results are notable for their combination of width, grade and apparent continuity across a prospect where earlier drilling fences were spaced as much as 250 metres apart.
Mineralised Corridor Remains Open
Pilbara Gold says gold mineralisation has now been identified over at least 1,500 metres of bedrock at Terra, with the broader corridor considered potentially 1.5km to 2km long. Mineralisation remains open to the north, south and at depth. The latest 46-metre intersection sits 100 metres south of historic hole TD1, which returned 35 metres at 1.00g/t gold from 116.5 metres.
The geology is also providing a coherent target: stacked quartz-carbonate veins within a shear zone hosted by basaltic and ultramafic rocks, alongside pyrite-sericite alteration and bleaching. Pilbara Gold Managing Director Dr Peter Turner said the company expected the project to develop in scale as drilling continued, while highlighting Roe Hills' proximity to processing mills in the Kalgoorlie region as part of its rationale for further work.
6,300 Metres of Drilling Still to Run
About 5,700 metres of an intended 12,000-metre Roe Hills program has been completed. Roughly 5,000 metres has been drilled at Terra, with another 3,000 metres planned there before the rig moves 3km south to Caliburn, where historic drilling includes 22 metres at 1.55g/t gold from 144 metres.
The campaign has not been technically frictionless. Transported clay cover and groundwater caused three holes to miss or fail to reach their intended targets; holes 26RHRC002 and 26RHRC008 were abandoned, while 26RHRC003 failed to reach its target depth. The company plans priority redrilling, potentially with a diamond rig, and has additional assays outstanding from a substantial number of holes.
Follow-Up Work Will Test Scale and Continuity
Next steps include completing Terra and Caliburn drilling, redrilling failed holes, and wireframing the geological and mineralised domains to guide future targeting. The company has said positive follow-up results could lead it to accelerate and expand Roe Hills work while continuing resource-growth drilling at its Mt York project and targeting completion of a prefeasibility study by mid-2027.
The immediate test is whether the first three standout intersections are representative of a broader, consistently mineralised system. Assays from the remaining holes, successful drilling through the difficult cover and evidence of continuity at depth will determine whether Terra moves from an encouraging exploration story towards a definable mineral resource.
Bottom Line?
The first Terra assays strengthen the case for a sizeable gold corridor, but the investment story now depends on the pending results turning geological continuity into a resource-quality dataset.
Questions in the middle?
- Will assays from the outstanding Terra holes confirm the same width and grade over the full corridor?
- Can diamond drilling successfully test the zones missed by RC drilling because of cover and groundwater?
- How quickly could Roe Hills progress from exploration results to a maiden mineral resource estimate?