Krakatoa Resources (ASX:KTA) has commenced drilling with a second rig at the Zopkhito Antimony-Gold Project in Georgia, accelerating its 2026 exploration program.
The additional rig will advance resource-definition drilling to support the preparation of a JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate (MRE), as well as future development studies. The company is targeting antimony and gold mineralisation between and below historical adits.
Zopkhito hosts a foreign resource estimate of 225,000 tonnes at 11.60% antimony, containing 26,000 tonnes of antimony, and 7.1 million tonnes at 3.70 grams per tonne gold, containing 815,119 ounces of gold.
The project includes more than 20km of legacy underground exploration adits and over 30,000 historical channel and geochemical samples.
CEO Mark Major says the two rigs, working in tandem with underground core drilling and channel sampling, will be ‘invaluable’ in efforts to upgrade the historical foreign resource estimate to a JORC-compliant mineral resource.
“Our strategy is to systematically test the mineralised zone between the adits, where both Soviet-era and more recent sampling have highlighted high-grade antimony and gold mineralisation,” Major says.
Krakatoa’s 2025 drill testing confirmed ‘high-grade’ mineralisation beyond the adits and an extended gold alteration system. It says the 2026 results have continued to confirm significant antimony and gold mineralisation across multiple zones.
The company is collecting bulk samples for metallurgical optimisation test work, including ore-sorting evaluations and flotation studies to assess antimony and gold recovery. Environmental baseline studies and permitting activities are also progressing in parallel.
Krakatoa holds an exclusive option to acquire up to an 80% interest in the Zopkhito Project.
Krakatoa Resources is an explorer and developer focused on critical minerals, precious metals, and electrical energy resources. Its flagship asset is the Zopkhito Project in Georgia, alongside a portfolio of specialty metals and rare earth projects across Western Australia.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Main image: Krakatoa Resources
