Right Resources has moved its Blue gold-tungsten project from surface mapping to its first subsurface test, with assays due in the December quarter. The exploration milestone comes alongside a tighter funding position, with reported cash coverage of 1.90 quarters and further financing under consideration.
- Approximately 2,000 metres of maiden aircore drilling across 60 planned holes at Blue
- Surface-defined tungsten-bismuth-gold system measures about 4.7km by 3.4km
- Laboratory testwork produced tungsten concentrates grading up to 66.5% WO₃
- A$2.94 million raised during the quarter, with A$3.8 million cash at 30 September
- Reported funding available for approximately 1.90 quarters at current outgoings
Blue drilling puts the exploration model underground
Right Resources Limited (ASX:RRE) has reached the point where its Blue Project must answer a more consequential question than whether the surface geology looks promising: does the mineral system continue below it? The company has begun a planned approximately 2,000-metre aircore campaign across around 60 holes at Blue in Tumbarumba, New South Wales, marking the first subsurface test of its evolving intrusion-related gold-tungsten model.
The campaign is deliberately reconnaissance rather than resource definition. Drilling across EL9028 is intended to generate the first geological and geochemical information beneath priority targets, test the continuity and geometry of surface mineralisation, and help rank areas for follow-up work. A potential second-stage program at EL9889 remains subject to approvals and refinement from the current results. Assays are expected during the December quarter, making the initial drill data the clearest near-term test of the company’s interpretation.
Surface results have built a large but untested target
Surface exploration has outlined a tungsten-bismuth-gold system measuring approximately 4.7km by 3.4km, with rock-chip assays reaching 5.16 grams per tonne gold. Widespread gold anomalism associated with elevated bismuth is being used as a vectoring tool, while the company has identified dominant northwest-trending tungsten-bismuth-gold corridors alongside subsidiary northeast and east-northeast trends.
The drilling program follows the 5.16 g/t Blue assay, which had previously refined the surface gold target ahead of drilling. The scale is notable, but the distinction between a broad anomalous footprint and a continuous, economically significant orebody remains unresolved. Aircore results should begin to show whether the surface anomalies have meaningful subsurface expression.
Tungsten testwork points to multiple processing routes
Right Resources also reported encouraging laboratory metallurgy from scheelite-bearing material at Blue. Heavy Liquid Separation produced concentrates grading up to 66.5% WO₃, with recoveries of up to 81.6%, while flotation returned concentrate grades of up to 27.0% WO₃ and recoveries of up to 87.3%.
Those results indicate that the sampled mineralisation responded to both gravity and flotation techniques under laboratory conditions. They do not, by themselves, establish a mineable deposit or commercial processing performance, and further testwork will be needed as the geological picture develops. The company is continuing to assess potential beneficiation pathways alongside the drilling program.
Capital raise extends activity but leaves little room for delay
Right Resources raised A$2.7 million through a placement and a further A$236,000 through its Securities Purchase Plan during the quarter, taking the capital-raising program to A$2.94 million. It held A$3.813 million in cash at 30 September, after reporting net operating cash use of A$1.041 million and exploration and evaluation outflows of A$1.164 million for the quarter.
The balance sheet is stronger than it was at the start of the quarter, but the ASX cash-flow report estimates only 1.90 quarters of funding based on A$2.205 million in relevant quarterly outgoings and A$370,000 of unused finance facilities. That follows the going concern warning reported previously, although the latest filing says the board is considering additional capital raises and R&D tax incentive loans. For shareholders, the Blue assays may therefore matter not only for exploration value but also for the timing and terms of the next funding decision.
New England and Pilot add secondary catalysts
Beyond Blue, a review of historical data elevated Rising Sun and Midnight Star as priority gold-copper targets within the New England Project. The company plans further mapping, field assessment and target refinement at both prospects, which had featured in its earlier New England target review.
Post-quarter work also identified Aster, Luna, Moonlight and Nova as priority areas at Blue, with Aster ranked as the highest-priority gold target and Moonlight as the highest-priority tungsten target. At Pilot, metallurgical testwork on historical mullock-dump material achieved 89.9% gold extraction after 24 hours. These developments broaden the work program, but they also compete for capital and management attention while the company’s reported funding horizon remains under two quarters.
Bottom Line?
The December-quarter Blue assays are the immediate test of the exploration thesis, while the funding runway makes the next capital decision almost as important as the next drill result.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the first aircore holes demonstrate continuity beneath Blue’s broad surface anomalies?
- Can future drilling and metallurgy establish a pathway beyond laboratory-scale tungsten recoveries?
- When and on what terms will Right Resources seek additional funding if current outgoings persist?