Chalice Mining has made a shallow copper-gold discovery at Kestrel in the Northern Territory, with first-pass drilling returning 27 metres at 4.83g/t gold and 0.42% copper. The result is promising but early-stage, with true widths unknown, eight assays pending and the headline gold interval heavily influenced by a single sample.
- 27m at 4.83g/t gold and 0.42% copper from 78m
- 2m at 56.7g/t gold and 0.88% copper within the discovery hole
- Copper mineralisation intersected across approximately 500m of strike
- Kestrel remains open, with a 2.2km magnetic trend and parallel targets untested
- PhotonAssay checks, gravity surveys and follow-up drilling are planned
Kestrel Delivers High-Grade Gold in First Drilling
Chalice Mining Limited (ASX:CHN) has found what could become a significant new copper-gold system 20km west of the historic Warrego mine, after the first drilling at its Kestrel prospect in the Northern Territory returned a 27-metre interval grading 4.83g/t gold and 0.42% copper from 78 metres.
The standout result came from hole WCRC001, which included 15 metres at 8.56g/t gold and 0.54% copper, plus a 2-metre high-grade gold interval grading 56.7g/t gold and 0.88% copper. A single one-metre sample within that interval returned 99.9g/t gold, with a laboratory check producing 85.8g/t. Chalice says the result is not considered to reflect significant downhole smearing, but coarse gold may be present and PhotonAssay checks remain pending.
The wider drilling picture is less dependent on that one result. Other Kestrel holes returned 27 metres at 0.57% copper from 120 metres, including 10 metres at 0.92% copper; 11 metres at 0.84% copper and 0.84g/t gold; and 24 metres at 0.52% copper, including seven metres at 1.35% copper. All six holes drilled at Kestrel intersected copper mineralisation.
Open Mineralised Zone Sits Along a Larger Exploration Corridor
Chalice has now intersected copper mineralisation over approximately 500 metres of strike, in wide-spaced drilling reaching depths of about 140 metres. The company says the zone remains open along strike and both up- and down-dip, although the current spacing is not sufficient to establish continuity or support a mineral resource, and the reported lengths are downhole rather than true widths.
Kestrel sits on a west-northwest-trending magnetic corridor extending for about 2.2 kilometres. Several similar magnetic features and two parallel trends remain undrilled. The mineralisation is associated with hematite and magnetite alteration in altered sedimentary rocks, a feature Chalice says may expand the search area beyond the strongly magnetic targets that have historically dominated exploration in the Tennant Creek field.
The nearby Chook prospect adds some evidence of a broader copper-bearing corridor, but also illustrates the variability of the system. A Chalice twin of an historical intersection returned nine metres at 0.44% copper, below the historical 13-metre result at 1.33% copper, while a follow-up hole produced five metres at 1.43% copper at depth. The roughly one-kilometre corridor between Chook and Kestrel has not yet been drill tested.
Gravity Surveys and Pending Assays Set the Next Test
The discovery comes from a 16-hole, 3,108-metre RC program completed after Chalice secured access and heritage approvals in May 2026. Assays have been received for only eight holes; results from drilling at Eagle, Chook North and Big Bird are still pending. Chalice plans to begin ground gravity surveys over Kestrel, Chook and surrounding areas in the coming weeks, followed by step-out and infill RC or diamond drilling.
The company has also expanded its tenure across what it interprets as a potential 140-kilometre western extension of the Tennant Creek Inlier. Warrego’s owner, Pan African Resources, is studying a redevelopment that could make the historic mine a regional processing hub, but Kestrel has not yet reached the resource, metallurgical or economic stage at which that possibility can be assessed. Chalice reported $53 million in cash and liquid investments at 30 September 2026, providing funding for the planned exploration campaign.
The immediate question is whether the high-grade gold repeats beyond WCRC001 and whether the broader copper envelope develops into a continuous body. Bismuth is elevated in the gold-rich zones, reaching 0.93%, but its mineralogy and potential treatment implications are not yet known. Those assays, the PhotonAssay checks and the next round of drilling will determine whether Kestrel is an isolated high-grade hit or the first visible part of a larger Tennant Creek system.
Bottom Line?
Kestrel has cleared the discovery hurdle, but continuity, true widths, repeatable gold grades and metallurgy now matter more than the headline intercept.
Questions in the middle?
- Will PhotonAssay confirm the exceptional gold grade in WCRC001, and can similar grades be repeated in step-out drilling?
- Do the pending eight assays extend copper-gold mineralisation beyond the current 500-metre footprint?
- Can gravity identify additional hematite-rich targets across the expanded Warrego North tenure, and will bismuth prove useful or problematic in future metallurgy?