Koonenberry Gold posted a sharply wider FY2026 loss after impairing its namesake project, while exploration spending rose and Enmore drilling extended a gold system to depth. The company has since raised $3.78 million from a placement, but remains dependent on equity funding.
- $5.82 million FY2026 net loss, including a $3.54 million impairment
- Cash fell to $2.39 million at 30 June 2026
- Enmore’s Sunnyside mineralisation extended beyond 415 metres vertical depth
- Gundagai acquisition expanded the Lachlan Fold Belt footprint to 2,065 square kilometres
- $3.78 million raised in the first tranche of a July placement
Impairment widens annual loss
Koonenberry Gold Limited (ASX:KNB) spent more on exploration but ended FY2026 with a much larger hole in the accounts. The minerals explorer reported a net loss of $5.82 million in Australian dollars, up from $2.14 million a year earlier, after booking a $3.54 million non-cash impairment against the Koonenberry Gold Project.
The impairment reduced the carrying value of that project from $8.84 million to $5.30 million, based on an independent valuation. Koonenberry said funding and exploration activity had been directed towards Enmore and its Lachlan Fold Belt projects, while the company’s total capitalised exploration expenditure rose to $4.58 million from $2.32 million.
Enmore drilling builds the main exploration case
The operational bright spot is Enmore, where the Sunnyside Prospect produced broad gold intersections alongside narrower high-grade zones. Twelve diamond holes drilled during the year took total company drilling at Sunnyside to 22 holes covering 8,012.7 metres. Visible gold was reported in 17 holes, although visual observations are not a substitute for laboratory assays.
Phase II drilling extended mineralisation up to 195 metres down-dip from earlier intersections. The system has now been intersected beyond 415 metres vertical depth and across more than 200 metres of strike on five drill sections, with mineralisation remaining open along strike and at depth. Results included 44.5 metres at 1.01 grams per tonne gold, including narrow intervals at 17.6g/t and 26.4g/t, as well as 24 metres at 1.03g/t and a 4.6-metre interval at 8.82g/t.
Other Enmore targets have produced a more uneven picture. Postman’s Gully returned 12 metres at 1.02g/t gold and 7 metres at 1.18g/t in the first drilling of the Borah Fault, while Hand in Hand confirmed a fertile shear zone but returned modest grades in deeper diamond drilling. Koonenberry plans follow-up work at Postman’s Gully and is fast-tracking drill planning at Queen of Sheba, where rock chips reached 87g/t gold, while Doyle’s returned gold-antimony mineralisation.
Gundagai expands the portfolio after year end
The company also added the 485-square-kilometre Gundagai Gold-Copper Project to its portfolio after shareholders approved the transaction on 31 July 2026. Completion on 10 August expanded Koonenberry’s Lachlan Fold Belt footprint to 2,065 square kilometres and added targets carrying historical and recent rock-chip results, including gold grades up to 386g/t and copper results up to 27.05%.
Those figures are exploration indicators, not mineral resources or reserves, and some historical copper intercepts cited in the report are non-JORC compliant. Koonenberry plans a low-cost programme of surface geochemistry and targeted geophysics once tenement transfers are completed. Separately, Newmont-funded drilling at the Junee joint venture was underway at year end, with results expected in the first half of FY2027, while drilling at Dunedoo was anticipated in the first quarter.
Funding remains central to the story
Cash and cash equivalents fell from $8.68 million to $2.39 million during FY2026, as the company used $1.47 million in operating cash flow and $4.77 million on investing activities. Koonenberry does not generate operating revenue and explicitly states that it relies on equity raisings to fund exploration.
After year end, the company secured commitments for a $4.0 million placement at $0.02 a share and issued 188.75 million shares in the first tranche, raising $3.775 million before costs. A further $225,000 tranche for director participation remains subject to shareholder approval. The directors said the cash balance and placement proceeds provide sufficient funding for planned expenditure and liabilities for at least 12 months, but the next test is whether Enmore and the expanding Lachlan portfolio can produce results strong enough to justify the next round of capital.
Bottom Line?
Koonenberry has bought exploration time with new equity, but the investment case still turns on converting Enmore and Lachlan targets into results that can support future funding without another sharp reset in project values.
Questions in the middle?
- Will follow-up drilling at Sunnyside and Postman’s Gully extend the strongest intersections into a coherent mineralised system?
- How quickly can Gundagai move from high-grade surface indications to drill-tested targets after the tenement transfers?
- When will exploration spending require another capital raising, and on what terms?