Sunshine Metals (ASX:SHN) has commenced a 28-hole, 2,680m reverse circulation drilling program at the Sybil Epithermal Gold Project.
Sybil is part of the 100%-owned Ravenswood Consolidated Project in North Queensland, located around 135km west of Townsville.
The program targets four areas and includes the first drill tests of the Burdekin Veins and Cisco prospects.
Burdekin consists of two outcropping epithermal vein systems. Burdekin North extends over 300m, with rock chip samples returning up to 6.48 grams per tonne gold (Au). Sunshine has planned six holes to test the system, following historical drilling that may not have intersected the mineralised position.
The second system, Burdekin South, extends for more than 700m and remains undrilled. Nine holes have been planned to follow up on rock chip samples of up to 3.02g/t Au.
At Cisco, fieldwork confirmed veining, with a rock chip assay returning 9.48g/t Au.
Drilling will also test deeper targets at Francis Creek East, where previous drilling intersected 3m @ 2.36g/t Au from 15m. Sunshine notes the presence of elevated antimony, which indicates that the gold-bearing boiling zone lies deeper.
Sunshine also intends to test extensions to Francis Creek’s A Vein north of the Main Vein, where a recent hole intersected 4m @ 11.11g/t Au from 62m, including 2m @ 20.22g/t Au.
Managing Director Damien Keys says the commencement of drilling at Burdekin marks another ‘exciting’ step in the company’s Sybil exploration.
“Burdekin is particularly exciting, with two extensive outcropping vein systems returning high-grade gold in surface samples but having received little to no effective drilling,” Keys says.
“With our Mt Moss processing facility progressing towards gold production in 2027, exploration success at Sybil has the potential to provide an additional source of gold mineralisation in close proximity to our processing infrastructure.”
The company says an extension to the airborne magnetic-radiometric survey is also being planned for November 2026. Meanwhile, results from the Sybil campaign are expected in November–December 2026.
Sunshine Metals is an Australian mineral explorer and developer transitioning towards near-term gold and polymetallic production.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Main image: Sunshine Metals
