Argent uncovers new high-grade silver zone beyond Kempfield resource
Argent Minerals has intersected 18.2 metres at 187.3 g/t silver beyond the current Lode 100 resource boundary at Kempfield. Further drilling also extended Lode 200 at depth and confirmed mineralisation in under-drilled areas, although the Mineral Resource has not yet been updated.
- 18.2m at 187.3 g/t silver from 168m in AKDD217
- Lode 200 extended below its previously defined position
- Mineralisation confirmed across the Gap between Lodes 100 and 300
- Current Kempfield resource stands at 142.8Moz AgEq
- Five further holes await assay results
High-grade silver steps outside the existing resource
The most consequential result in Argent Minerals Limited's (ASX:ARD) latest Kempfield drilling is also the one furthest beyond the current resource model: hole AKDD217 returned 18.2 metres at 187.3 g/t silver from 168 metres. The interval sits beyond the existing Lode 100 Mineral Resource boundary and included individual assays of up to 705 g/t and 442 g/t silver.
That high-grade zone was not an isolated hit in the hole. AKDD217 also intersected 158.7 metres of mineralisation from surface grading 17.9 g/t silver, 0.44% lead, 0.63% zinc and 0.09 g/t gold, including several narrower higher-grade zones. The company cautions that the reported intersections are downhole lengths and true widths have not been established.
Four holes test separate growth targets
The results from AKDD215, AKDD216, AKDD217 and AKDD219 were designed to probe different parts of Kempfield's 2026 growth campaign. AKDD216 extended Lode 200 below its previously defined position with 29.8 metres at 34.6 g/t silver from 60 metres, alongside a shallower 3.9-metre interval at 70.4 g/t silver. Lode 200 currently accounts for 28.0 million tonnes of the existing resource.
AKDD215 tested the sparsely drilled Gap between Lodes 100 and 300, returning 25 metres of base-metal mineralisation from 63 metres, including 9 metres at 6.0 g/t silver, 1.04% lead, 2.28% zinc and 0.25 g/t gold. AKDD219 filled another under-drilled section of Lode 200 with three mineralised zones, including 21.5 metres at 18.9 g/t silver, 0.70% lead and 0.80% zinc.
A larger system remains possible, but unconfirmed
Kempfield's current Mineral Resource comprises 63.7 million tonnes at 69.75 g/t silver equivalent for 142.8 million ounces of silver equivalent, including 65.8 million ounces of silver, 125,192 ounces of gold, 207,402 tonnes of lead and 420,373 tonnes of zinc. Argent says the latest drilling supports the view that the existing resource does not define the full known mineralised system, which remains open along strike and at depth.
That is an exploration conclusion, not yet a revised resource statement. The company has five more holes awaiting assays and plans further drilling through the remainder of 2026, with work focused on the Gap area and the southern extensions of Lodes 100 and 200. Until those results are received and incorporated into geological modelling, the scale and continuity of any potential resource addition remain unresolved.
Bottom Line?
The drilling has strengthened Kempfield's resource-growth case, but the next material step is whether pending assays and follow-up holes convert isolated extensions into a coherent, updated resource.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the five pending holes confirm continuity beyond the current Lode 100 and Lode 200 boundaries?
- How much of the reported downhole mineralisation will translate into meaningful true widths?
- When could the accumulated drilling support a formal update to the 142.8Moz AgEq Mineral Resource?
