Stelar Metals is taking its Hill of Leaders tungsten project from spectacular surface assays to its first-ever bedrock drilling, backed by A$2.6 million in fresh funding. The 3,500-metre RC program will test whether high-grade mineralisation continues beneath a 2km-plus corridor in the Northern Territory.
- Maiden 3,500m RC drilling program approved and mobilised
- Phase 2 samples returned grades up to 15.69% WO₃
- Mineralised quartz-vein corridors extend over 2km and remain open
- A$2.6 million placement completed to fund exploration
- Cash balance stood at A$3.363 million on 30 September
High-Grade Surface Results Face Their First Deep Test
Stelar Metals Limited (ASX:SLB) has reached the point where its Hill of Leaders tungsten story must move beyond impressive rock chips. The company has secured approvals and mobilised for a maiden 3,500-metre reverse circulation drilling program, the first bedrock drilling at the Northern Territory project and the first attempt to test its tungsten system at depth since its discovery in 1951. The campaign follows 15.69% WO₃ surface assays reported across a mineralised footprint extending more than 2km.
Phase 2 Sampling Expands the Mineralised Footprint
Phase 2 sampling produced five headline results above 2% WO₃, including 15.69%, 7.76%, 4.96%, 4.45% and 2.95%. Stelar said the samples were distributed across multiple sites rather than concentrated at one point, although many came from old workings, trenches or mining spoils. That distinction matters: the assays demonstrate high-grade tungsten at surface, but they do not establish continuity, tonnage, a mineral resource or economic viability.
Mapping identified scheelite and wolframite in multiple subparallel and stacked quartz veins. Some mineralised corridors are about 200 metres wide and more than 2km long, with mineralisation remaining open in several directions. Historical shallow aircore drilling also returned tungsten intersections, including 1 metre at 0.60% WO₃, but the upcoming RC program is intended to provide the first substantial bedrock information beneath the workings.
Approvals, Survey Data and Soil Results Set the Targets
Stelar completed environmental approvals and received an Authority Certificate from the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority before the quarter ended. The RC rig arrived in early October after drill pads and access tracks were prepared, with the company due to provide an update on drilling commencement and report results as they become available. The program's targets were refined using geological mapping, surface assays and an ultra-high-definition airborne magnetic survey that identified structures and alteration patterns not clearly visible in historical data.
A separate regional soil survey collected 1,350 samples across roughly 50 square kilometres on a 200-metre grid. Those results are expected in the December quarter and are intended to generate targets for later drilling. Stelar has also reported fluorescent mineralisation in granite outside the narrow quartz veins, but acknowledged that the extent and significance of any broader granite-hosted mineralisation remains unknown.
Placement Funds the Next Exploration Stage
The drilling is funded by a A$2.6 million placement of 13,141,421 shares at A$0.20 each, following the A$2.6 million placement previously reported as supporting the maiden campaign. Stelar held A$3.363 million in cash at 30 September, after recording quarterly operating and investing cash outflows of A$666,000 and financing inflows of A$2.43 million net of issue costs.
On the Appendix 5B calculation, that cash position represented an estimated 5.25 quarters of funding based on the quarter's relevant outgoings. Exploration and evaluation expenditure during the period was A$226,345, while the company reported no production or development activity. The placement increases the share count to 80.7 million ordinary shares, making the drilling results the next major test of whether the capital raised can convert surface promise into a coherent subsurface exploration case.
Management Adds Drilling and Critical Minerals Experience
Stelar appointed former Core Lithium Exploration Manager Andrew Bennett as Exploration Manager, giving him a lead role in planning and executing the RC campaign. Dr Qingtao Zeng also joined the board as a non-executive director, bringing experience in critical-minerals offtake and investment agreements. The appointments strengthen the team around a project that remains at the exploration stage, with no resource estimate or development decision reported.
Bottom Line?
The immediate catalyst is no longer another surface assay but the first drill evidence showing whether Hill of Leaders has depth continuity, usable widths and repeatable grades.
Questions in the middle?
- Will RC drilling confirm that the exceptional surface grades continue below the historical workings?
- Does the mineralisation extend through the surrounding granite at a scale larger than the mapped quartz veins?
- How quickly will drilling and regional soil results consume the current cash position if exploration expands?