Bayan Mining and Minerals has begun a third phase of surface sampling at its Bayan Springs South gold project in Nevada, extending an open southern anomaly and testing a previously unsampled northern fault intersection. The work is intended to sharpen drill targets, while assays from the company’s completed Desert Star RC program are expected in October 2026.
- Phase 3 soil sampling and geological mapping underway at Bayan Springs South
- Southern gold anomaly remains open beyond existing sampling
- Northern program tests the interpreted Dynasty-Bida fault intersection
- Results to support drill locations and US Forest Service permitting
- 856 metres of Desert Star RC drilling completed, with assays pending
Bayan Extends Open Gold Anomaly
Bayan Mining and Minerals Ltd (ASX:BMM) has started a third phase of fieldwork at its 100%-owned Bayan Springs South project in Nevada, where earlier sampling returned rock-chip assays of up to 8.25 g/t gold and soil results of up to 0.311 g/t gold. The new program will extend coverage over a southern anomaly that remains open beyond the existing sampling grid.
The southern target has not yet been closed off at surface. Bayan said the southernmost rock-chip sample returned 0.64 g/t gold, while a sample on the anomaly’s northeastern margin returned 0.58 g/t gold. Those results do not establish a resource, but they explain why the company is expanding the grid before committing to drill collars.
Northern Fault Target Gets First Systematic Sampling
A separate program will provide first-pass soil geochemistry over the northern target, centred on the interpreted intersection of the NNE-trending Dynasty Fault and NW-trending Bida Fault. Bayan considers the structures prospective for structurally controlled gold mineralisation, but the area has not previously received systematic surface sampling.
Soil lines are planned at approximately 50-metre spacing, with stations roughly 100 metres apart. Rock-chip work will focus on jasperoid, silicified carbonate, breccia, iron oxide-rich material, veins, intrusive contacts and other structurally prepared zones, with samples submitted for gold and the Carlin-style pathfinder elements arsenic, antimony, mercury and thallium.
Field Results to Shape Drill Permitting
Bayan said the results will be combined with its existing geological, structural, geochemical and CSAMT geophysical data to refine proposed drill locations and hole orientations. The revised configuration is expected to feed into an updated Plan of Operations for the US Forest Service, which must approve the drilling program before it can proceed.
Only about 12% of the project area has previously been covered by surface geochemistry, leaving much of the 4.85-square-kilometre project untested by systematic soil and rock-chip sampling. The project sits on the Carlin Trend, near the historic Bellview Au-Ag-Pb deposit and about 10 kilometres north of Kinross Gold’s Bald Mountain mine. Nearby deposits and geological similarities, however, do not demonstrate that Bayan Springs South hosts an economic discovery.
Desert Star Drilling Moves to Assay Stage
The announcement also confirms that Bayan has completed its maiden reverse-circulation drilling program at the Desert Star Rare Earth Project, comprising 856 metres. Samples have been sent to ALS Laboratories in Reno, with assay results expected in October 2026, subject to laboratory turnaround times.
For Bayan, the immediate test is now twofold: whether Phase 3 sampling produces a coherent gold-pathfinder response strong enough to justify the proposed drilling, and whether the US Forest Service accepts the revised permitting plan. Until those steps and the pending Desert Star assays arrive, the company remains in target-generation rather than resource-definition territory.
Bottom Line?
The next value-bearing evidence will come from Phase 3 assays, the revised drilling plan and US Forest Service approval, not from the project’s location alone.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the southern anomaly remain coherent and strengthen when sampling extends beyond the existing grid?
- Does the Dynasty-Bida fault intersection produce a consistent gold and pathfinder signature at surface?
- When will permitting be completed and what will the Desert Star assay results show?