Artemis puts Cassowary copper-gold target on the drill pad

Cassowary drill program reaches mobilisation stage

Artemis Resources Limited (ASX:ARV) has moved its most important exploration target from planning towards the drill pad, with a Top Drive diamond rig mobilised to the Madura site after quarter-end. The company plans to begin with two holes at Cassowary, including an 800-metre hole aimed at testing the basement beneath more than 250 metres of sedimentary cover.

The timing is not entirely in Artemis’ hands. Heavy rain closed regional roads during September and delayed site preparations, while the planned three-hole, 2,250-metre program remains subject to weather and access conditions. Cassowary has never been drilled, so the next meaningful update will come from geological evidence rather than another refinement of the target model.

The target is centred on an interpreted magnetic intrusion more than 4 kilometres wide, near the boundary between the Madura Province and the Albany-Fraser Orogen. Artemis says its modelling identified structural disruption, folding and possible hydrothermal alteration, but those features establish exploration rationale rather than a discovery. The drill core will determine whether the concealed intrusion contains copper-gold mineralisation.

Government funding supports first Madura tests

Western Australia’s Exploration Incentive Scheme has awarded Artemis up to $220,000 towards eligible Cassowary drilling costs. That funding sits alongside a further EIS award supporting the first Sharon Dam hole, where Red Metal Ltd (ASX:RDM) holds the tenement and Artemis is earning into the project under a joint venture.

Sharon Dam is expected to follow Cassowary, with one diamond hole planned after a heritage survey and subject to clearance and access arrangements. The target lies 50 kilometres south of Cassowary and is described by Artemis as the strongest known coincident magnetic and gravity anomaly in the Madura Province. The project’s earn-in structure means the expenditure is tied to an asset Artemis does not currently own outright.

The Madura campaign is being funded after the company completed the second tranche of its earlier placement at $0.004 a share, raising $4.998 million following shareholder approval. The capital raising had previously been described as funding maiden Cassowary drilling and Pilbara exploration, while the new grant reduces the portion of eligible drilling costs Artemis must carry itself.

Cash runway improves but exploration spend is set to rise

Artemis held approximately $6.653 million in cash at 30 September, up from $3.446 million at the previous quarter-end after the equity raising. It reported $866,000 of net operating cash outflow and $416,000 of exploration expenditure during the quarter, with the Appendix 5B indicating about 5.19 quarters of funding based on relevant outgoings of $1.282 million.

That runway is a mechanical estimate, not a forecast. Drilling, camp operations and follow-up work can change the rate of cash use materially, particularly if Cassowary generates results that justify a larger campaign. Artemis also has 5.802 billion ordinary shares on issue and 2.425 billion listed options exercisable at $0.01 through October 2028, a capital structure that gives future funding and dilution considerations a prominent place in the story.

Beyond Madura, the company is reviewing the Carlow-Titan corridor, including the Titan East gold footprint, while ERM and other consultants assess Radio Hill’s nickel-copper assets and processing infrastructure. Those reviews may sharpen future priorities, but the immediate test is simpler: whether Artemis can convert a well-funded drilling plan into evidence of mineralisation before the next round of strategic decisions.