Astral finds deeper high-grade gold at Mandilla’s Theia deposit

Deep Theia hole delivers two broad high-grade zones

Astral Resources NL (ASX:AAR) has returned two substantial gold intersections below the current Mineral Resource pit shell at Theia, the cornerstone deposit within its Mandilla Gold Project in Western Australia. Hole AMRCD377 intersected 23 metres at 2.39g/t gold from 418 metres and 33 metres at 5.02g/t from 450 metres, with the combined reported intervals in the deeper section totalling 143 metres at 1.87g/t gold when broader mineralised zones are included.

The result follows the September Theia drilling results, which had extended evidence of mineralisation below the existing resource shell. AMRCD377 was drilled 60 metres north-east of AMRCD378 on the same section, and the earlier hole returned 52.75 metres at 4.67g/t gold from 445.25 metres.

Several narrow high-grade components sit inside the new intersections, including 1.32 metres at 81.2g/t gold and 0.32 metres at 69.2g/t in the 33-metre zone. Those spikes are part of the reported down-hole intervals, not separate estimates of mineable width. Astral said the higher-grade zones are associated with greater dilation and more frequent quartz veining, and may support investigation of underground extraction below the economic base of the proposed Theia open pit.

Southern drilling extends the mineralised footprint

Two additional holes drilled approximately 150 metres south of the current Theia Mineral Resource also returned meaningful results. AMRCD466 produced 42 metres at 0.89g/t gold from 285 metres outside the April 2026 resource pit shell, followed by 6 metres at 13.2g/t from 595 metres. The latter included 0.5 metres at 153.6g/t.

AMRCD467, drilled 110 metres east of AMRCD466, returned 11.2 metres at 5.82g/t gold from 220.19 metres, 7.5 metres at 4.00g/t from 257.7 metres, 13.7 metres at 1.70g/t from 282.3 metres and 35.9 metres at 1.57g/t from 303.1 metres. Astral described the two holes as a potential south-eastern extension of Theia mineralisation, but the reported lengths are down-hole intervals and true widths have not been stated.

Theia drilling nears completion as development work advances

The expanded Theia Deeps program covers 21 diamond holes and 11,000 metres, with 18 holes completed. In-fill reverse-circulation drilling across the Theia Stage 1 open pit is continuing, with 28,350 metres completed against a planned 44,400 metres.

The immediate question is continuity. These assays add encouraging points below and south of the existing model, but they do not yet constitute an updated Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve. The remaining assays, geological interpretation and any future estimation will determine whether the deeper mineralisation can influence the Mandilla Definitive Feasibility Study, which Astral is targeting for completion in the March 2027 quarter.

Drilling is also scheduled to move beyond Theia. Following preliminary approval from recently completed heritage surveys, Astral plans a phased 55-hole, 10,000-metre reverse-circulation program at Spargoville and a three-hole, 1,000-metre diamond program at Kamperman during the December quarter. For Theia, however, the next catalyst is more specific: whether the final deep holes show a coherent zone that can be modelled and assessed as something more than a promising collection of intersections.