Piche’s Toro Hosco drilling opens a bigger gold-silver exploration story

Toro Hosco emerges as Piche’s leading exploration target

Piche Resources Limited (ASX:PR2) has turned Toro Hosco into the standout target in its portfolio after all nine holes drilled at the Argentine prospect intersected gold and/or silver mineralisation. The results confirmed a low-sulphidation epithermal system covering about 10 square kilometres, with mineralisation remaining open along strike.

The company completed 53 reverse-circulation holes for 5,911 metres across its Cerro Chacón project during FY2025/26. At Toro Hosco, the strongest reported intersections included 1 metre at 2.75 grams per tonne gold in THRC002, 1 metre at 1.49 g/t gold and 68.23 g/t silver in THRC007, and 1 metre at 456.67 g/t silver in THRC006. Those results sit alongside surface rock-chip assays of up to 15.77 g/t gold and 761 g/t silver.

The picture was less compelling across the broader programme. Drilling at the Chacón Grid returned predominantly low gold values, with a best result of 1 metre at 0.40 g/t gold, while the single hole at La Javiela was stopped before reaching its planned target and was deemed inconclusive. Piche says the drilling and 779 pending surface samples will be used to refine its geological model and identify follow-up targets.

Uranium and rare earth projects add competing demands

Piche also secured approval for the Exploration Environmental Impact Assessment at its Sierra Cuadrada uranium project in Chubut, a permitting milestone that allows future drilling and exploration to advance where surface-access agreements are in place. Sierra Cuadrada has surface uranium mineralisation traced over more than 40 kilometres of strike.

In Western Australia, a review of the Ashburton project highlighted rare earth mineralisation over a reported 30-kilometre strike, including historical rock-chip results of up to 11.38% total rare earth oxides at the Livanto prospect. The company said the assemblage is weighted towards magnet rare earth elements, but the report contains no resource estimate, economic study or production guidance for either Ashburton or its Argentine projects.

Losses and capital needs remain central to the story

The exploration progress sits against a familiar junior-miner financial profile. Piche recorded a net loss of $5.273 million for the year, broadly unchanged from the $5.287 million loss in FY2024/25, while operating cash outflow increased to $5.225 million from $4.802 million. Cash and cash equivalents fell to $1.486 million at 30 June 2026 from $5.100 million a year earlier.

The balance sheet was subsequently supported by a $2.53 million underwritten entitlement offer. Eligible shareholders contributed $728,323 before costs, with the underwriter taking up a further $1.846 million shortfall. The annual report also refers to a recently announced $1.1 million top-up placement in its going-concern assessment. That funding provides room for further work, but the company remains an exploration business with no identified mineral resource and no operating revenue.

Piche’s next technical test is whether deeper drilling at Toro Hosco can convert a broad and encouraging surface-and-RC-drilling footprint into more continuous, higher-grade mineralisation. The company is considering that programme while processing multi-element data, extending magnetic surveys and closing gaps along the 14-kilometre Cerro Chacón mineralised corridor. The unanswered financial question is how far the new capital will carry that work before another funding decision is required.