Lunnon Metals has delivered thick, consistent gold intersections at the Plentiful prospect, where drilling now sits at approximately 20m by 20m spacing. The company is moving towards modelling and economic assessment, although a separate deep-drilling target failed to deliver enough encouragement for further work.
- 12m at 1.42 g/t Au, 14m at 1.42 g/t Au and 14m at 1.04 g/t Au
- Plentiful drilled to approximately 20m by 20m spacing
- Initial Mineral Resource estimate may follow modelling and economic assessment
- Two-hole, 1,429m EIS deep program did not confirm its conceptual target
- $13 million FY2027 exploration program remains active across Foster-Baker
Plentiful Drilling Establishes Consistent Gold Zone
Lunnon Metals Limited (ASX:LM8) has taken the Plentiful gold prospect to a more consequential stage, reporting thick and repeatable intersections that may support the company’s first Mineral Resource estimate for the area. Ten new reverse circulation holes returned multiple intervals above the company’s 0.5 g/t gold reporting cut-off, led by 12m at 1.42 g/t Au, 14m at 1.42 g/t Au and 14m at 1.04 g/t Au.
Other results included 9m at 1.09 g/t Au and 4m at 2.08 g/t Au. Lunnon says the interpreted true widths are close to the drilled widths, while the mineralised structure continues to show consistent dip, strike and thickness. The results came from the north-western portion of Plentiful Main, with drilling also testing the potential for hangingwall mineralisation.
Resource Modelling Moves Into View
The prospect is now drilled at approximately 20m by 20m spacing, which Lunnon says is capable of supporting an initial reportable Mineral Resource estimate. That is not yet a resource declaration: the company must first complete its geological modelling and assess whether the deposit can support an economically viable open pit.
The key commercial variable is the gold price and its interaction with overburden, mining and other economic assumptions. Plentiful does not outcrop, coming within 10m of surface at its closest point, while most of the better and thicker mineralisation lies beneath at least 20m to 30m of overburden. Those factors will determine whether consistent geology translates into a mineable deposit.
Deep EIS Target Fails to Confirm Concept
The news was less encouraging below Plentiful. Lunnon has completed its two-hole, 1,429m Exploration Incentive Scheme drilling program and submitted the final report to Western Australia’s Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration, but the conceptual deep target was not confirmed.
The first hole returned 1.9m at 1.18 g/t Au from a narrow veining interval. The second hole intersected the expected broad dolerite package and fault zones, but produced no significant assays in the targeted structures, with only 0.65m at 0.78 g/t Au elsewhere. Lunnon says no further work is planned on that deep target for now, a clear example of the company’s stated intention to advance stronger prospects and park weaker ones.
$13 Million Exploration Program Continues
Plentiful sits within Lunnon’s $13 million FY2027 exploration program, which targets 43,000m of drilling across the Foster-Baker gold project in the St Ives camp. The wider project carries a conceptual Exploration Target of approximately 25 million to 30 million tonnes at 1.5 g/t to 2.5 g/t Au, equivalent to a potential 1.2 million to 2.4 million ounces, but Lunnon stresses that this is not a Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve and may not result in additional resources.
The immediate test is narrower and more concrete: whether Plentiful’s predictable geometry and grade can survive modelling, open-pit optimisation and the assumptions required for a first resource estimate. The next meaningful catalyst is therefore not another promotional exploration target, but evidence that the prospect’s continuity can be converted into an economic inventory.
Bottom Line?
Plentiful has cleared an important exploration hurdle, but its investment case now depends on modelling, pit economics and whether a first resource estimate can justify further development work.
Questions in the middle?
- When will Lunnon complete the Plentiful model and decide whether to report an initial Mineral Resource estimate?
- What gold price, mining assumptions and overburden costs will determine whether Plentiful supports an open pit?
- Can the remaining FY2027 drilling identify a prospect with greater scale or grade than Plentiful?