Krakatoa Extends High-Grade Antimony and Gold Run at Zopkhito
Krakatoa Resources has reported a second batch of strong antimony and gold assays from drilling at its Zopkhito project in Georgia, led by a 5.61-metre interval grading 3.31g/t gold and 4.28% antimony. The results add support to mineralisation continuity, but the project remains at the exploration stage ahead of drilling, metallurgical work and a planned JORC resource estimate.
- 5.61m at 3.31g/t gold and 4.28% antimony from surface hole DD26ZOP006
- Peak individual results of 13.75g/t gold and 11.65% antimony
- Gold-rich zones identified within an interpreted fault plane
- Veins 50 and 61 remain outside the historical foreign estimate
- Third assay batch pending, with metallurgical testing due to begin in October
Vein 6 Delivers the Standout Intersection
Krakatoa Resources Limited (ASX:KTA) has added another set of high-grade results to the exploration case for Zopkhito, with surface drilling returning 5.61 metres at 3.31g/t gold and 4.28% antimony in hole DD26ZOP006. The interval included 3.89 metres at 6.12% antimony, with a peak sample grading 11.65% antimony, while gold reached 5.49g/t in the surrounding halo.
The result came from Vein 6, a historically recognised mineralised structure that was intersected in all surface holes covered by this assay batch. Other surface results included 0.92 metres at 9.80g/t gold in DD26ZOP004 and 1.38 metres at 1.36g/t gold in DD26ZOP005, including 0.38 metres at 1.12% antimony.
Underground Drilling Expands the Vein System
Underground coring from Adit 118 produced a different emphasis: gold-rich intervals with intermittent antimony across Veins 50 and 61. Hole UG26ZOP015 returned 4.38 metres at 3.54g/t gold, including a 0.5-metre sample at 13.75g/t gold and 2.85% antimony. UG26ZOP012 produced 1.91 metres at 3.84g/t gold and 1.18% antimony, including 0.27 metres at 8.26g/t gold and 7.49% antimony.
Krakatoa said Veins 50 and 61 are not included in the historical foreign resource estimate, giving the underground results potential importance for the eventual footprint of the project. That significance remains untested in resource terms: the reported underground lengths are downhole intersections rather than confirmed true widths, and the company says the true thickness is expected to be lower because of drilling constraints inside the adits.
JORC Conversion Remains the Main Test
Zopkhito's historical foreign estimate is stated at 225,000 tonnes grading 11.6% antimony and 7.3 million tonnes grading 3.7g/t gold. Krakatoa expressly cautions that this estimate is not reported under the JORC 2012 code, that a competent person has not completed sufficient work to classify it as a JORC Mineral Resource, and that it may not convert into a compliant estimate after further evaluation.
The 2026 program is intended to close that gap through surface and underground drilling, with a third batch of assays already at the laboratory. Metallurgical sampling has begun and optimisation studies are scheduled to start in October, while environmental baseline work and permitting continue. Those next results will need to show more than isolated high grades: they will help determine whether the intersected zones have the continuity, geometry and recoveries required to support a maiden JORC resource and a credible development case.
Bottom Line?
The assays strengthen Zopkhito's exploration story, but the next value test is whether drilling and metallurgy can turn high-grade intersections into a JORC-compliant, recoverable resource.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the pending third assay batch confirm continuity beyond the currently tested Vein 6, Vein 50 and Vein 61 zones?
- What recoveries will metallurgical work establish for antimony and gold, particularly given the absence of previously identified gold recovery test work?
- Can the historical foreign estimate be converted into a JORC 2012 resource without a material reduction in confidence or scale?
