Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) has provided an update on its reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Ned’s Creek Gold Project in Western Australia, with Westdrill having completed 48 holes over 6,000m of the planned 10,000m program to date.
Lodestar notes that drilling at the Gidgee Flats Prospect is complete, with the RC rig moving over to exploratory holes.
That work will be followed by the Contessa Prospect, where the company will test extensions to primary mineralisation on eight angled RC holes, as well as drilling 12 vertical holes to test the shallow oxide mineralisation.
The drill program is designed to support the delivery of a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for Ned’s Creek in CY 2026.
Lodestar notes that the program is progressing as planned, with mineralisation confirmed in the first batch of samples, providing confidence and continuity in the exploration target and mineralisation model.
The first 175 assay samples returned from the first two holes include 9m @ 1.27 grams per tonne gold from 32m, including 1m @ 6.55g/t gold from 36m; and 15m @ 1.46g/t gold from 151m, including 2m @ 4.34g/t gold from 160m.
With drilling advancing on schedule, CEO Coraline Blaud says that this work represents a “significant step toward establishing a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate”.
“This drilling program was designed to expand and increase confidence in known gold mineralisation following the December 2025 exploration target, and the initial assays returned from the first two drill holes are a positive start with two zones of mineralisation intersected,” Blaud says.
“This, combined with the intersection of the mineralised shear zone at anticipated locations in the rest of the drillholes, is encouraging, and we are looking forward to reporting the following assays as they come to hand.”
Lodestar Minerals is a critical minerals, gold, and base metals explorer with projects in Chile, Western Australia, and the US.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Lodestar Minerals
