Minerals 260 says 320 grade-control holes at Bullabulling have delivered results consistent with its 6.2Moz resource model, while infill drilling returned standout grades at Phoenix and Bacchus. The next test is whether these higher-grade zones prove continuous enough to influence mine planning and the definitive feasibility study.
- 320 grade-control holes completed across Phoenix
- 1.1m at 290g/t gold from 170m at Bacchus
- 7m at 10.9g/t gold from 7m at Phoenix
- Extensions identified beneath and beyond existing resource shells
- Second grade-control program planned to support the DFS
Grade-control drilling validates Phoenix resource model
Minerals 260 Limited (ASX:MI6) has completed its first 10m by 10m grade-control campaign at the Phoenix deposit, with 320 reverse-circulation holes covering 25,970 metres. The company says preliminary twin-hole and spatial comparisons indicate that the grades broadly match the drilling underpinning Bullabulling’s 6.2 million ounce Mineral Resource Estimate, with mineralised intervals correlating well with the existing model.
The results are particularly relevant because the Phoenix area is expected to be mined during the first three months of production. Among the better intersections were 21 metres at 3.4 grams per tonne gold from 27 metres, including 1 metre at 52.6g/t, along with 7 metres at 10.9g/t from 7 metres and 6 metres at 17.1g/t from 19 metres. These are downhole intersections, not mineable widths, although the company estimates most reported widths represent 85% to 95% of true thickness.
Bacchus delivers spectacular but narrow high-grade hit
At Bacchus, infill drilling produced the announcement’s most eye-catching number: 1.1 metres at 290g/t gold from 170 metres in hole BBRD0538. The same hole also returned 6.5 metres at 2.3g/t from 270 metres, while a separate hole intersected 1 metre at 35.8g/t. The company estimates the true width of the 290g/t interval at between 70% and 85% of the reported intercept, and says further drilling is needed to establish the geometry, continuity and potential materiality of the higher-grade zones.
The result sits within a much larger infill and extensional program rather than representing a resource revision. Across Phoenix, Bacchus, Kraken and Dicksons, Minerals 260 received results from 53 holes totalling 11,674 metres. At Phoenix, longer intervals included 14 metres at 1.2g/t, 5 metres at 3.8g/t and 15 metres at 1.9g/t in a single hole, while drilling beneath the existing pit shell returned 5 metres at 2.8g/t from 412 metres.
Drilling moves Bullabulling toward feasibility work
The campaign follows the 6.2Moz resource upgrade, which was part of a broader move toward definitive feasibility and project development. Minerals 260 says the initial grade-control results have reduced operational risk and improved confidence in the geological model, with a second grade-control program due to begin shortly. That work is intended to support the definitive feasibility study, future grade-control design and the evaluation of resources that could be converted into reserves.
The company is also trying to explain why the higher-grade material appears where it does. Its geological review points to northeast and northwest structural trends cutting across the predominantly north-south, west-dipping stacked lodes. Intersections between those trends have been labelled “jewellery boxes”, but the phrase describes a geological hypothesis rather than an established economic zone. Further drilling will be required before their scale and significance can be assessed.
Gravity survey generates regional exploration targets
Beyond the established deposits, a ground gravity survey has outlined a continuous north-northwest trending gravity high hosting the Bullabulling system and extending north of the current resource. South of the resource, several parallel gravity highs coincide with greenstone units, while the structural inflection around Kraken is identified as a prospective setting. Minerals 260 says these results have generated targets for future drilling, adding a regional exploration thread to a program currently dominated by mine-definition work.
Bottom Line?
The drilling supports confidence in the existing resource, but the investment case now turns on continuity: whether narrow high-grade hits become coherent zones that can affect reserves, mine sequencing or project economics.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the second grade-control campaign confirm that Phoenix grades and lode boundaries are consistent at a mining scale?
- Can the Bacchus high-grade intersections be traced into a continuous zone with material impact on the resource model?
- When will the pending assays and further drilling feed into an updated resource-to-reserve evaluation and definitive feasibility study?