E79 Gold prepares Cue for its first major drilling campaign in decades

Cue drilling moves from planning to execution

E79 Gold Mines Limited (ASX:E79) is approaching its first modern drilling campaign at the Cue Gold Project in Western Australia in almost three decades, with more than 12,000 metres planned before the end of 2026. Two rigs are expected to mobilise in November, although the start remains subject to receipt of the final heritage clearance report and no issues being identified.

The program follows the completion of a heritage survey from 12 to 16 October across the planned aircore and reverse circulation drilling areas. That work sits alongside the final Cue tenement grant, which earlier cleared the stated tenure hurdle for the campaign.

P21/800 adds targets as Ada and Chloe take priority

All Cue tenements are now granted, including P21/800, a 1.9 square kilometre prospecting licence containing gravity-defined targets in the Great Fingall Dolerite and Meekatharra Formation. E79 paid the final $25,000 instalment for the licence after its grant, taking the total option-related cash payments to $50,000.

The RC rig will initially focus on the Ada and Chloe prospects. Historical drilling at Ada included 13 metres at 2.2 grams per tonne of gold from 112 metres down-hole and 16 metres at 1.53 grams per tonne from 48 metres. At Chloe, historical intersections included four metres at 6.96 grams per tonne from 90 metres, including two metres at 13.04 grams per tonne, as well as shallower high-grade intervals.

Those intersections are previously reported exploration results, not a mineral resource or evidence of economic viability. The aircore rig will test a wider collection of early-stage and advanced targets, with results expected progressively as drilling advances. E79 had earlier formalised its Heritage Protection Agreement with the Yugunga-Nya Traditional Owners, establishing the cultural heritage framework for exploration.

Mountain Home expands its copper-gold-bismuth target pipeline

At the Mountain Home Project in the Northern Territory, airborne gravity and magnetic surveys have identified a series of magnetic-low zones around the Mountain Home Gossan. The company says the gossan sits within a defined magnetic-low corridor and that several similar structural settings elsewhere in the project remain untested.

The interpretation is still ongoing. E79 said mineralisation at the gossan and a comparable magnetic low 20 kilometres to the east sits within zones on the flanks of gravity highs; historical rock-chip sampling at the eastern feature returned up to 1.17% copper. The Northern Territory Government’s Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations Program also reimbursed $150,000, representing half of eligible data-acquisition costs up to that amount.

Cash supports near-term work but drilling may change the equation

E79 finished the quarter with $1.946 million in cash, after $446,000 of net operating cash outflow and $55,000 spent on tenements. Exploration expenditure was $174,000 excluding exploration staff costs, while 50% of total quarterly expenditure was directed to exploration activities. On the current cash-flow measure, the company reported an estimated 4.4 quarters of funding.

That calculation is a snapshot of present outflows rather than a forecast for the drilling campaign. The next financial marker will be whether the planned dual-rig program begins on schedule, how quickly assays return from Ada, Chloe and the broader target package, and how the resulting expenditure compares with the current cash position.