Big Hits looks at notable drill hits reported to the ASX this week, led by Haranga Resources’ underground gold intersection with a blistering 32 metres at more than 10g/t gold in California.
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Hits → look → California
West Musgrave-focused runner-up Terra Metals landed a massive, near-surface PGE broadside exceeding 190 metres of continuous shallow mineralisation, while Amara Minerals cracked a 102-metre intercept to reinforce the structural architecture of its premier Victorian gold-antimony system.
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Minerals → focus → system
So let’s dive in.
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’s → let → ?
Project: Lincoln gold project, California, USA
Hit: 32m at 10.41g/t gold from 143m downhole
High-grade underground mining exploration thrives on structural continuity, and this week Haranga Resources claimed the top step on the podium after turning a meticulous dewatering campaign to gain access into a spectacular high-grade gold revelation.
Undertaking the first diamond core holes of its highly anticipated Phase 2 underground drilling program at the company’s historic Lincoln gold project, the company delivered a monumental bedrock intercept from the very first rod put down the hole.
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company → thrive → hole
The standout diamond hole, drilled from the recently restored XC11 development level into a little-tested zone along the southern edge of the existing resource, sliced through a tightly folded, structurally controlled gold system to deliver a spectacular 32m at 10.41 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 143m downhole.
Highlighting the remarkable grade distribution and absolute tenor within the core of this system, the single continuous interval generated an extraordinary 13 separate one-metre sample assays that exceeded 10g/t.
The high-grade distribution peaked with a blistering one-metre individual assay roaring up to 51.4g/t gold from 152 metres downhole, validating the genuine bonanza nature of the mineralisation.
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distribution → drill → mineralisation
What makes this performance globally significant is that the breakthrough hit successfully bridged the spatial void between two previously separate, thinner modelled lodes.
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hit → make → lodes
By conceptually merging these mineralised zones into a singular, cohesive domain of immense grade density, the result is expected to immediately upgrade geological confidence ahead of mine planning.
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result → merge → planning
The commercial and strategic appeal of the project is heavily underscored by its location within California’s legendary Mother Lode Gold Belt, a prolific geological province renowned for hosting multi-million-ounce gold deposits that have historically produced at average grades exceeding 10g/t gold.
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that → underscore → gold
Furthermore, the project benefits from an enviable operational status; the ground features established underground access points, a fully permitted conditional use status to mine up to 1000 short tons per day and a mill circuit that was actively producing gold as recently as 2022.
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that → benefit → 2022
With the first phase of dewatering and decline restoration now complete along the Stringbean Alley corridor, drill rigs are turning their bits continuously to complete the remaining 16-hole underground campaign.
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rigs → turn → campaign
This upcoming pipeline of robust data will feed directly into the company’s preliminary feasibility study, which is expected to accelerate Haranga along a trajectory towards converting 402,000-ounce maiden JORC-compliant gold resource into a sustainable, high-value ore reserve operation.
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which → feed → operation
TERRA METALS LTD (ASX: TM1)
Project: Dante Project, Southwest prospect, Western Australia
Hit: 194m at 1.01g/t 3E (combined platinum, palladium and gold) and 0.17 per cent nickel from 15m downhole
Bulk-tonnage tier-one scale is the ultimate prize for base and precious metal explorers, and runner-up Terra Metals has delivered just that by unlocking a colossal near-surface magmatic broadside at its Dante project in Western Australia.
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Metals → combine → Australia
Reverse circulation (RC) drilling targeting immediate extensions of shallow mineralisation has intersected spectacular, continuous thicknesses of platinum group elements, copper, and nickel from shallow near-surface depths.
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drilling → target → depths
The headline performance came from an RC drillhole that pierced a stacked sequence of primitive mafic-ultramafic rocks and returned an aggregate 194 metres at 1.01 grams per tonne (g/t) 3E, combined platinum, palladium and gold, coupled with 0.17 per cent nickel from a depth of just 15 metres.
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that → come → metres
Demonstrating the rich accumulation of sulphides within this massive package, the hole revealed high-grade internal reef zones, including a sharp 24m at 1.84g/t 3E, 0.19 per cent copper and 0.27 per cent nickel from 43m depth, alongside an uncommonly high-grade deep segment of 9m at 3.53g/t 3E from 185m downhole.
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hole → demonstrate → 3E
Geologically, these shallow results are profoundly significant because they demonstrate an impressive platinum-enrichment profile, yielding a near-balanced 1:1 platinum-to-palladium ratio compared to the palladium-dominant mineralisation historically intercepted at depth.
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they → demonstrate → depth
This metal distribution confirms excellent near-surface consistency across the Southwest Prospect, pointing to a possible highly lucrative, low-strip, open-cut mining and selective processing style of operation which could vastly catalyse the project’s economics during its early production phases.
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which → confirm → phases
The asset sits squarely within the West Musgrave region, one of the world’s premier layered mafic-ultramafic complexes, which is globally recognised for hosting mega-scale feeder-style discoveries like the multi-commodity Nebo-Babel nickel-copper-gold PGM sulphide deposit in the western part of the Musgrave block.
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which → sit → block
The company’s drill rigs are currently processing more than 40,000 metres of additional drilling samples to feed into a comprehensive structural model.
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rigs → process → model
This substantial data pipeline will drive Terra Metals toward a planned maiden mineral resource estimate in the first quarter of 2027, paving a solid technical path toward a definitive scoping study.
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pipeline → drive → study
AMARA MINERALS LTD (ASX: AM3)
Project: Apollo gold and antimony project, Central Victoria
Hit: 102.3m at 2.29g/t gold from 140.5m downhole
Victoria’s Melbourne Zone continues to solidify its reputation as a premier exploration hotspot, and Amara Minerals has confidently taken up third place on the Big Hits podium after delivering a spectacular, century-scale gold intersection from its flagship Apollo Project.
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Minerals → continue → Project
Boring clean through the centre of the high-grade Dig Fault Zone, the company’s maiden diamond drilling campaign has successfully validated historic models while unlocking exceptional depth potential.
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campaign → bore → potential
The standout diamond drill hole intercepted strongly faulted, broken metasediments to return a magnificent downhole width of 102.3m going 2.29g/t gold from a depth of 140.5 metres, translating to an estimated 27.30-metre true width.
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hole → intercept → width
Highlighting a potent, premium core operating inside this broad geological system, the interval included a higher-grade internal zone of 66.8m assaying 3.08g/t gold, which was further anchored by an absolute bonanza core of 11m at 12.79g/t gold from 177.1m downhole.
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which → highlight → gold
The commercial profile of the Apollo system is enhanced by its metal diversity, hosting substantial antimony-bearing stibnite that shares close geological and intrusive structural characteristics with Alkane Resources’ high-grade Costerfield mine and Southern Cross Gold’s nearby Sunday Creek deposit.
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that → enhance → mine
Historically, gold across this structural corridor is associated with quartz-muscovite vein networks and stockwork stringers, occurring as highly favourable free grains and fine disseminations.
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gold → associate → grains
Amara is currently executing a 2000-metre diamond coring program, with multiple holes still waiting on assays already logging preliminary visual observations of fine gold at comparable depths to the south.
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holes → execute → south
This robust exploration runway continues to confirm that the system remains entirely open at depth and along strike.
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system → continue → strike
With assay workflows picking up the pace at local laboratories, these broad high-grade gold intersections look likely to provide the definitive geological foundation required to confidently support the evaluation of a potential maiden mineral resource estimate.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting?
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company → pick → something
The Aporia
