Manhattan Gold widens Hook Lake case with Jaws and Spectre results
Manhattan Gold has completed its largest-ever Hook Lake drilling campaign, with strong gold results at Jaws and polymetallic sulphide intercepts at Spectre widening the project’s exploration case. But five assays remain outstanding, the next funding tranche still needs shareholder approval, and the company reports only 1.54 quarters of cash coverage on its current spending basis.
- 4,591.85m maiden RC campaign completed at Hook Lake
- Jaws drilling defines a 1.25km tested strike and gold to 223m depth
- Spectre returns copper, gold, silver and zinc massive sulphides
- A$4.5m placement completed in two tranches, with A$1.14m conditional
- Five drillhole assays and 550 till samples remain pending
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Hook Lake drilling exceeds plan
Manhattan Gold Corporation Limited (ASX:MHC) has finished its first Hook Lake drilling campaign in more than three decades, putting 4,591.85 metres into 25 reverse-circulation holes against a 4,000-metre plan. The results have expanded the project’s exploration footprint, led by Jaws gold mineralisation and a separate polymetallic massive sulphide system at Spectre.
Jaws absorbed 17 holes and 3,128.80 metres of the campaign. The strongest reported intercepts included 41.15 metres at 4.66 grams per tonne gold from 83.82 metres, including 7.62 metres at 18.67g/t, and 74.67 metres at 1.61g/t from 21.34 metres, including 15.24 metres at 5.35g/t. The results are downhole lengths, and the company has not established a compliant mineral resource.
The company says drilling now covers 1.25 kilometres of tested strike, with a 490-metre zone of higher-grade gold identified within that footprint. Gold has also been confirmed to a vertical depth of 223 metres. The campaign included a 275m Jaws step-out, which returned 21.34 metres at 1.72g/t gold and extended the tested strike to 1.25 kilometres.
Spectre adds copper and zinc potential
Spectre, 26 kilometres southwest of Jaws, delivered a different kind of result. One hole returned 82.3 metres at 0.45% copper, 0.21g/t gold, 22.7g/t silver and 1.26% zinc, including 19.81 metres at 1.77% copper, 0.80g/t gold, 84.3g/t silver and 2.30% zinc. A separate upper zone returned 3.05 metres at 29.50% zinc.
Mineralisation was repeated 77 metres along strike, with the three Spectre holes defining mineralisation over 340 metres. The company says the system reaches 86 metres vertically, remains open along strike and has not yet been tested at depth. That is encouraging exploration evidence, rather than an indication of an established economic deposit; the early results do not define true widths or a resource.
The quarter also saw completion of a 12,600-line-kilometre airborne magnetic survey, LiDAR and orthophoto coverage, and a 550-sample till program. Manhattan plans to combine those datasets with drilling results during the December quarter, while assays from two Jaws holes, three Omega holes, the till samples and scoping metallurgical work remain outstanding.
Capital raise improves cash, but runway remains short
Manhattan ended September with A$3.474 million in bank cash after receiving the first A$3.36 million of a strongly supported A$4.5 million placement. The remaining A$1.14 million tranche requires shareholder approval at the 6 November annual meeting, and directors and related parties have committed to subscribe for A$200,000 of that tranche. A one-for-four entitlement issue of options is planned after the meeting.
The Appendix 5B reports quarterly net operating and investing outflows of A$2.246 million, producing an estimated 1.54 quarters of funding on the company’s current calculation. Manhattan says the quarter’s spending was elevated by the maiden Hook Lake program and that future exploration expenditure can be adjusted. The cash-flow table also contains an apparent numerical discrepancy: its cash reconciliation lists A$3.374 million at period end, while the bank balance and other headline cash figures state A$3.474 million.
Diamond drilling and Tibooburra work ahead
A permanent camp has now been established at Hook Lake, allowing winter resupply and an earlier start to the 2027 field season. Manhattan says next year’s program will use diamond drilling to better manage variable ground conditions encountered by reverse-circulation drilling.
At Tibooburra in New South Wales, Novo Resources has moved with Manhattan into the second stage of their farm-in and joint venture arrangement. Novo is commencing an approximately 2,700-metre reverse-circulation program at Clone and Pioneer South, targeting a possible northern extension at Clone and an undrilled 600-metre trend of gold-quartz reefs at Pioneer South.
Bottom Line?
The exploration story has strengthened, but the next test is whether pending assays and 2027 targeting can justify continued funding before the current runway tightens.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the five pending Hook Lake assays extend the Jaws footprint or add meaningful results at Omega?
- Will shareholders approve the A$1.14 million second placement tranche on 6 November?
- Can the planned diamond drilling convert broad exploration signals into a coherent, JORC-compliant resource case?
Sources
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Quarterly Activities/Appendix 5B Cash Flow Report (opens in a new tab)Verified source. Manhattan Gold Corporation Limited · 26 Oct 2026 · investors.mhc.gold
