Diablo’s Utah silver campaign reaches the drill-results stage
Diablo Resources has completed its 80% acquisition of the Horn Silver Project and reported high-grade silver, gold and copper samples across several Utah prospects. The next major test arrives in Q4, when results from maiden drilling at the North Star Prospect are expected, although the company ended September with only 2.45 quarters of estimated funding.
- High-grade reconnaissance samples across four Horn Silver prospects
- 80% Horn Silver acquisition completed, covering 101 unpatented and 101 patented claims
- North Star maiden diamond drilling completed after quarter end
- Q4 2026 drill results expected from Star Range
- A$1.562 million cash balance and 2.45 quarters of estimated funding
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Horn Silver acquisition opens a larger Utah target pipeline
Diablo Resources Limited (ASX:DBO) has moved its Utah exploration strategy from land assembly to target testing, completing the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Horn Silver Project in the historic Frisco Mining District. The package includes 101 unpatented claims and 101 patented claims, including the past-producing Horn Silver Mine, which the company says produced about 17 million ounces of silver at 604 grams per tonne.
The quarter also delivered the first field evidence from the expanded ground. Diablo collected 66 reconnaissance rock samples from historical workings, outcrop and float material, with results showing high-grade silver, gold and copper across the Buckhorn, Washington, Accrington and Michigan prospects. The campaign followed the company’s Horn Silver claims consolidation, which had brought the patented claims into the broader project package.
Rock samples show grades, not yet a mine
The headline numbers are striking. Buckhorn returned up to 4,190 grams per tonne of silver, 1.40 grams per tonne of gold and 2.41% copper. Washington produced samples grading up to 1,730 grams per tonne silver and 5.74 grams per tonne gold, while another returned 1,475 grams per tonne silver, 7.57 grams per tonne gold and 3.37% copper. Accrington returned up to 985 grams per tonne silver and 6.99% copper, and Michigan delivered up to 18.05 grams per tonne gold, 199 grams per tonne silver and 2.07% copper.
Those results are reconnaissance samples rather than a resource estimate. They do not establish the continuity, scale or economic viability of mineralisation. Diablo is combining the sampling with historical geological, geochemical and geophysical data to rank drill targets, including extensions around the old mine, a gossan target, Buckhorn, Horn South and other regional polymetallic prospects.
North Star drilling creates the next market test
At the separate Star Range Project, maiden diamond drilling began at the North Star Prospect during the quarter and was completed after 30 September. The program targeted silver-antimony-copper-gold mineralisation beneath high-grade surface results and coincident induced-polarisation anomalies. Diablo expects to release results in Q4 2026, making the campaign the clearest near-term test of whether its surface exploration model carries into the subsurface.
The North Star work follows the company’s Star Range drilling preparation, while regional exploration continued across the broader project. At South Star, a prospective silver-antimony soil trend now extends for more than 3,000 metres; at East Star, Diablo identified an approximately 400-metre copper-in-soil anomaly. Neither anomaly is presented as a resource or discovery in the filing.
Cash funds exploration but leaves limited room for delay
Diablo completed the second tranche of its A$3.5 million placement during the quarter, with the total raising comprising about 269.23 million shares issued at A$0.013 each. Quarterly financing proceeds were A$2.18 million before A$183,000 of transaction costs, while exploration and evaluation spending came to A$365,000 and tenement payments to A$1.032 million.
The company ended September with A$1.562 million in cash and no unused finance facilities. Based on relevant quarterly outgoings of A$638,000, the Appendix 5B calculates 2.45 quarters of estimated funding. That measure is a snapshot based on the current spending rate, not a guarantee that the planned exploration program can be completed without further funding. Diablo also reduced the Phoenix Copper claim package from 315 to 133 claims and continues to assess options for the King Solomon Project as it concentrates on Horn Silver and Star Range.
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Bottom Line?
The Q4 North Star results will matter more than the reconnaissance grades alone, while the 2.45-quarter funding estimate puts a clock on follow-up work and any future capital decisions.
Questions in the middle?
- Will North Star drilling confirm subsurface continuity beneath the high-grade surface mineralisation?
- Can Horn Silver’s multiple high-grade samples be converted into coherent drill targets and eventually a defined resource?
- How quickly will Diablo need to raise or conserve capital if exploration spending accelerates beyond the current rate?
Sources
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Quarterly Activities/Appendix 5B Cash Flow Report (opens in a new tab)Verified source. Diablo Resources Limited · 29 Oct 2026
