Iltani’s Orient drilling delivers a powerful run of silver-indium hits

Orient drilling produces a dense run of high-grade intercepts

Iltani Resources Limited (ASX:ILT) turned in a substantial exploration quarter at its Orient Silver-Zinc-Indium Project, with 41 reverse-circulation holes covering 7,713 metres and seven diamond holes adding another 645 metres. Assays from 65 RC holes produced 59 intercepts above 1,000 silver-equivalent gram-metres, including 13 above 1,000 silver gram-metres.

The strongest results included ORR210, which returned 19 metres at 343 g/t silver equivalent from 114 metres, including a three-metre interval at 1,811 g/t silver equivalent. ORR164 delivered 28 metres at 318 g/t silver equivalent from 38 metres, while ORR172 returned a notably broad 100 metres at 73 g/t silver equivalent from 83 metres. The company also reported 14 intercepts where a one-metre interval exceeded 1,000 g/t silver equivalent, including high-grade combinations of silver, indium, lead and zinc.

“RC drill rig drilling at the Orient Project.”

“Orient East & West JORC Resource MRE.”

Caption and image © Iltani Resources Limited. From “ILT September 2026 Quarterly Activities Report & Appendix 5B”, 29 Oct 2026.

The scale of the result set matters more than any single spectacular assay. The company says the drilling supports the potential for a robust open-pit operation, but these remain exploration results rather than a mining decision or economic demonstration. The current Orient resource stands at 62.5 million tonnes at 81.5 g/t silver equivalent at a 30 g/t cut-off, with 34.2 million tonnes at 110.4 g/t silver equivalent at a 60 g/t cut-off. The quarter’s drilling is intended to feed resource infill and expansion work, rather than replace that estimate.

TOMRA sorting provides a processing proof of concept

Metallurgy supplied a second positive signal. First-pass X-ray transmission sorting by TOMRA upgraded screened 6-25 millimetre material from both high-grade and low-grade samples, producing a sulphide product with higher lead, zinc, silver and indium grades than the feed. In the high-grade test, 42% of the mass reported to product; in the low-grade test, only 4% did.

Those figures are test-specific, not a forecast for run-of-mine performance. Iltani explicitly says the mass rejection and upgrade factors apply only to the screened material tested. The company has nevertheless moved to the next phase, completing seven PQ diamond holes to generate representative samples for further sorting work. If the result survives broader testing, pre-milling waste rejection could affect plant size, energy use and tailings requirements, but that remains a development question rather than an established project advantage.

Placement extends funding after a cash-intensive quarter

Iltani ended September with $4.18 million in cash after spending $3.15 million on exploration, geological consultants, drilling and project studies. It then completed the October $4.6m placement on 2 October, issuing approximately 11.7 million shares at $0.39 each, a 14.5% discount to the five-day VWAP. Participants also received one free $0.57 option for every two shares, with those options expiring on 12 October 2029.

“Orient Project – Location, Geology & Key Targets.”

The raise was supported by existing shareholders, including a $1.5 million commitment from QIC’s Queensland Critical Minerals Fund. It gives Iltani additional capital for the program after a quarter in which it completed the high-grade Orient drilling that included a 2,561 g/t silver-equivalent intercept reported earlier in September. The trade-off is straightforward: the new shares dilute existing holders, while the free options create a potential future source of capital but also add to the company’s issued securities.

Regional work also began beyond Orient, with eight RC holes drilled across the Boonmoo Epithermal and Union Jack prospects. Three new Queensland tenement applications target copper, lead, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, indium, gold and copper-molybdenum opportunities, although two application processes are competitive and none has yet become a granted project.