Exultant reveals thicker Balerion mineralisation as Black Hammer advances

Balerion assays confirm a broader polymetallic system

Exultant Mining Limited (ASX:10X) has finished its first Balerion drilling campaign with a result that gives the small-cap explorer a more defined mineralised system to investigate, rather than merely a set of geophysical anomalies. Final assays from three holes confirmed silver-zinc-lead-copper mineralisation with local gold enrichment, including an 11.75-metre interval in BLRCDD005 grading 9.12g/t silver, 1.05% zinc, 0.37% lead, 0.12% copper and 0.11g/t gold.

The interval sits within a broader 15.90-metre zone and included narrower higher-grade sections, including 0.70 metres at 49.20g/t silver, 6.67% zinc, 3.55% lead, 0.63% copper and 0.30g/t gold. In BLRCDD006, drilled about 100 metres up dip, a 6.65-metre interval returned 16.18g/t silver, 1.07% zinc, 0.49% lead, 0.13% copper and 0.29g/t gold. The company estimates the principal intervals at approximately 10.1 metres and 6.4 metres true thickness respectively, although those estimates remain preliminary.

The results complete a six-hole, 1,370.3-metre maiden program that was delivered within budget. Drilling began as an RC-focused campaign but shifted towards HQ diamond drilling after significant water inflows, providing oriented core for structural interpretation. The program tested each intended target, with visible sulphides recorded in five holes. Earlier in the campaign, the company had reported generally low-grade mineralisation in the first two holes, while the maiden Balerion drilling had been designed to test geochemical and geophysical anomalies.

Open extensions come with important geological limits

Exultant’s current interpretation places the mineralisation in a talc-rich shear zone along the contact between competent rhyolite and underlying volcaniclastic rocks. The company says the mineralised zone remains open at depth and along strike to the north, and plans to incorporate the final assays and oriented-core measurements into an updated three-dimensional model.

That is encouraging exploration geometry, but it is not yet a resource story. The reported widths are downhole composites, several intervals contain core loss, and the grade of unrecovered material is unknown. The estimated true thicknesses are based on the present structural interpretation and could change as the model develops. The company also says further drilling would be needed to establish continuity and geometry beyond the two compared intersections.

Black Hammer becomes the next field priority

With the Balerion drilling completed, Exultant is directing its near-term exploration effort to Black Hammer, a 390km² project near Oberon in New South Wales. A review of 12 prospects and historical workings has elevated Watsons, Porters Retreat and Vermithor as the first targets for follow-up, extending the three Black Hammer targets previously identified by the company.

Fieldwork has started at Watsons, where a historical copper-zinc soil anomaly runs for about 2.4 kilometres, remains open at both ends and has not previously been assayed for gold or drill tested. The initial work combines mapping, rock-chip sampling and portable XRF-assisted soil screening before selected samples are sent for laboratory analysis. Porters Retreat and Vermithor remain subject to land access arrangements, with surface exploration planned before any decision on potential drilling.

Cash supports exploration but leaves a finite runway

Exultant ended September with A$2.729 million in cash, no debt and reported quarterly net operating outflows of A$771,000. On the Appendix 5B calculation, that equates to approximately 3.5 quarters of funding at the reported rate. Exploration expenditure was A$527,000 during the quarter, while the company has spent A$2.609 million against a two-year use-of-funds forecast of A$5 million since admission.

The portfolio also contains a lower-cost historical angle: newly sampled Tuglow core returned 21.1 metres at 0.18g/t gold and 2.1g/t silver, alongside narrow higher-grade zinc and copper intersections. For now, however, the immediate test is whether Black Hammer’s surface work can convert anomalies into drill-ready targets before the cash runway becomes the more pressing constraint. The next meaningful markers are laboratory results from Watsons, land access at the other two priority targets, and the decision on whether Balerion’s open extensions justify another drilling phase.