Constellation’s Edmund-Collier acreage enters a decisive exploration phase

Edmund-Collier acreage moves into fieldwork

Constellation Resources Limited (ASX:CR1) has taken its Edmund-Collier project from permit acquisition into on-ground exploration, with soil-gas surveys now underway across two granted Special Prospecting Authorities with Acreage Options. The permits cover 18,404 square kilometres in Western Australia’s Gascoyne Province and target natural gas, hydrogen and helium.

The company had previously reported the Edmund-Collier permits, alongside gas indicators in the basin. Constellation now aims to complete the surveys by the end of 2026, after which it plans to submit a report to the Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration. That report could put the company in a position to apply for exploration licences supporting later seismic work and drilling, subject to approvals and results.

Laboratory studies may shape a first gas assessment

Alongside the field surveys, 160 petrographic samples have been sent to Core Laboratories in Houston for thin-section preparation and microstructural analysis, with a further 30 conventional porosity samples submitted. Constellation says the results will be combined with existing research to help rank play types across the frontier basin.

The company expects the study results towards the end of the year and says they may be incorporated into a maiden prospective gas resource assessment. That remains an exploration-stage possibility, not a defined resource or production result. Constellation describes the basin as a 500-kilometre-long system with thick Proterozoic sediments, organic-rich shales, deep faults and nearby gas infrastructure, while noting its comparison with the emerging Beetaloo Basin.

Chatham drilling sets up 2027 copper-gold follow-up

Ularring provides the second active exploration thread. A 12-hole, 450-metre reverse-circulation program completed at Chatham earlier in 2026 returned broad regolith-hosted copper-gold mineralisation, including 7 metres at 0.25% copper and 0.04 grams per tonne gold from surface in CHR001, and 15 metres at 0.22% copper and 0.08 grams per tonne gold from surface in CHR004. The results came from two previously untested soil anomalies along the 24-kilometre Meenar Shear corridor.

Constellation plans further RC drilling and infill geochemistry in early 2027 to test fresh-rock extensions. The company’s Chatham drilling results were previously described as shallow copper-gold mineralisation, but the reported intersections do not establish an economic deposit. The next program will be important in determining whether the surface results continue below the weathered zone and along strike.

Capital raising funds a widening exploration program

During the quarter, Constellation reported gross proceeds of $3.2 million from its non-renounceable entitlement and shortfall offer. The company had earlier launched the $3.22 million entitlement offer, and reported 107.2 million ordinary shares on issue at the date of the quarterly report, alongside 9.55 million unlisted options exercisable between $0.12 and $0.30 through to 2030.

There was no mining or production activity during the quarter. Exploration expenditure reported under the ASX quarterly disclosure rules totalled $218,000, while payments to related parties and their associates were approximately $240,000, including executive remuneration, director fees, superannuation and administrative services. The immediate test for the new funding is therefore execution: completing Edmund-Collier’s surveys and studies while preserving room for the planned Chatham work.