Far Northern Resources finds shallow high-grade gold at Bridge Creek

Shallow bonanza-grade interval opens a new drilling target

Far Northern Resources Limited (ASX:FNR) has struck its highest-grade Bridge Creek intersection to date, with diamond hole FNRBCDD004 returning 4 metres at 110.06 g/t gold from 16 metres, including 1 metre at 425.2 g/t. On a gram-metre basis, the company says the result is the strongest drilled at the Northern Territory project.

The intercept sits on the north-western margin of Bridge Creek Central, an area with limited drilling. The hole was abandoned at 68.9 metres because of ground conditions and ended in mineralisation, while the company says the high-grade zone remains open to the north-west. It plans follow-up drilling along strike, down-dip and towards the north-west to test whether the exceptional grade has meaningful continuity.

A 60-metre intersection supports continuity through the deposit

A second result provides a different kind of encouragement. Hole FNRBCDD006 returned 60 metres at 2.00 g/t gold from 53 metres, including 7 metres at 4.13 g/t and 28 metres at 2.10 g/t. Individual metres reached 16.41 g/t and 10.88 g/t.

Drilled through the core of Bridge Creek Central, FNRBCDD006 was the longest continuous mineralised interval recorded at the project on a downhole basis. Far Northern said it confirms continuity between surrounding holes, although the reported widths are downhole measurements rather than true widths. The hole was also drilled obliquely to the steeply dipping mineralised zone, meaning the 60-metre interval is greater than the true mineralised width.

Results feed into 93,000-ounce resource update

The six-hole, 584.3-metre diamond program was designed for a mix of metallurgical, geotechnical and resource purposes. Its results will feed into an updated Bridge Creek Mineral Resource Estimate expected in the first quarter of 2027. Bridge Creek currently contains 93,000 ounces, comprising 76,000 ounces at Bridge Creek Central and 17,000 ounces at Bridge Creek South; the company’s Northern Territory resource base, including Ios, totals 117,000 ounces.

The drilling follows the 31% Bridge Creek resource increase, which lifted Bridge Creek Central to 76,000 ounces and left the resource open along strike and down-dip. The new intersections could influence the next geological model, but no updated resource or economic assessment has yet been reported.

Repeat assays will test the high-grade result

The 425.2 g/t assay is not being treated as the final word. Far Northern plans repeat and screen fire assays of the high-grade interval, with potential photon assay work, because coarse gold and nugget effects can produce variation at very high grades. The company has also disclosed that no field duplicates were available, although laboratory quality-control checks and repeat assays were reviewed.

Metallurgical test work is due to advance alongside the drilling, with a scoping study scheduled for the second or third quarter of 2027. Those milestones will matter because exploration results alone do not establish an economic deposit, a reserve or a future mining operation. The immediate question is whether the spectacular shallow interval can be repeated over enough strike and depth to alter the project’s resource shape rather than remain an isolated high-grade hit.