Duketon Mining’s Barlee gold program reaches its next test

Barlee drilling moves into the assay queue

Duketon Mining Limited (ASX:DKM) has finished a 17-hole, 2,150-metre reverse-circulation drilling program at the Barlee gold project in Western Australia, but the results that could determine its next exploration step are still to come. The company said assays from drilling at the Gromit and Astro prospects are expected in approximately two to three weeks, after they have been received and reviewed.

The program was designed to follow up mineralisation identified in the maiden drilling campaign and test extensions to those zones. Planned drilling at Odie was not completed because wet weather restricted access, leaving that work for the next time a rig is at the project. The campaign follows Duketon’s Barlee follow-up drilling, which targeted extensions to earlier gold hits.

Re-split samples reinforce multiple gold prospects

While the latest drilling waits for assays, re-split samples from the maiden program have added detail to the geological picture. Notable results included 15 metres at 1.02 grams per tonne gold from 12 metres, including two metres at 2.79 grams per tonne and two metres at 2.83 grams per tonne, alongside 15 metres at 1.05 grams per tonne from 29 metres, including three metres at 3.75 grams per tonne.

Other reported intersections included nine metres at 0.58 grams per tonne from 30 metres, two metres at 2.81 grams per tonne from 66 metres and five metres at 1.21 grams per tonne from 33 metres. The re-splits also highlighted gold at Astro West and Lost Bolt, while the company said the highest individual assay from the maiden campaign was 5.6 grams per tonne over one metre at Gromit.

Duketon said the additional data supports an interpretation of discrete gold-mineralised zones at the prospects and will help refine its geological model and future drill targeting. That is a more measured conclusion than a resource claim: the filing reports confirmed mineralisation, not an economic discovery or estimate.

Soil sampling delayed as weather slows access

A planned 1,100-sample UltraFine+ soil survey is also progressing unevenly. About 60% of the program is complete, with the balance expected to take roughly two weeks once weather and ground conditions allow fieldwork to resume. The survey is intended to refine gold anomalies and generate targets for later drilling.

At Walgoolan, the company has started negotiations with a landholder over access for its base-metals project. Duketon also terminated its option agreement over the Boodanoo gold project and returned the tenement to Western Yilgarn NL (ASX:WYX), narrowing part of its project portfolio even as Barlee remains the main exploration focus.

Nickel inventory remains substantial but unchanged

The quarterly report restated Duketon’s existing JORC-compliant nickel resources at the Duketon Nickel Project. Rosie contains 2.77 million tonnes at 3.27% nickel equivalent, while C2 contains 8.06 million tonnes at 0.57% nickel. Together, the Bulge Complex resources contain 102,527 tonnes of nickel, 14,163 tonnes of copper and 254,712 ounces of platinum-group elements.

Those figures are not a new resource estimate in this report. They are the company’s stated resource base, alongside a strategy to review the Bulge mining study and test extensions to Rosie, C2 and the wider nickel-copper-PGE area. The earlier combined nickel resource had also put the inventory above 102,000 tonnes.

Cash position gives exploration room

Duketon held A$6.9 million in cash and A$1.7 million in listed investments at 30 September, for a combined balance of A$8.6 million. Quarterly exploration and evaluation spending was A$413,000, while net operating cash use was A$588,000. On the company’s calculation, cash alone represented 11.8 quarters of funding at the reported rate of expenditure, although that measure can change as exploration activity accelerates.

The immediate catalyst is therefore clear but unresolved: whether the pending Barlee assays extend the mineralisation already seen in the maiden program, or simply add more isolated intersections. The answer should arrive before the next round of targeting decisions, including the deferred Odie drilling and the remaining soil survey.