Yandal Resources Ltd (ASX:YRL) has reported strong exploration progress over the September quarter, confirming a second gold discovery with a year at the Arrakis prospect through broad, high-grade intercepts at its Ironstone Well–Barwidgee (IWB) Project in Western Australia’s Yandal Greenstone Belt.
The company said the quarter highlighted both strong exploration progress and a strengthened financial position, following a $13.5 million capital raising completed after quarter-end to accelerate drilling across its key project areas.
Arrakis discovery confirmed
Yandal’s reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Arrakis returned multiple significant intercepts below a 2.2-kilometre mineralised structure defined by earlier aircore (AC) drilling, confirming the presence of primary gold mineralisation in fresh rock.
A collar plan over the Arrakis Prospect within the Caladan target area, showing simplified bedrock geology interpretation. All Yandal drilling is plotted (historic drilling has been excluded. Collars are thematically coloured by max Au (g/t) in the hole. The red line represents the approximate position of the interpreted Arrakis mineralised structure. Dashed yellow polygons represent air-core regolith anomalies.
Highlights included:
- 54 metres at 1.2 g/t gold from 108 metres to end-of-hole in hole 25IWBRC0040, including 24 metres at 2.1 g/t gold from 138 metres and 8 metres at 4.7 g/t gold from 154 metres; and
- 50 metres at 1.3 g/t gold from 122 metres in hole 25IWBRC0042, including 28 metres at 1.9 g/t gold from 143 metres, with higher-grade zones of 9 metres at 2.1 g/t gold and 7 metres at 2.7 g/t gold.
Cross-section showing all RC drilling results from 25IWBRC0040 and 25IWBRC0041, with a simple preliminary interpretation of geology. The section location is shown in Figure 3. The section shows all drilling within +/- 50m of the section plane. The dark blue line represents planned diamond core drilling, including a diamond tail extending 25IWBRC0041 with diamond drilling.
Several RC holes ended in mineralisation and will be extended with diamond tails under a 2,000-metre diamond drilling program now under way. Yandal said the results are “solidifying Arrakis as a new gold discovery and demonstrating the potential for a large-scale mineralised system”.
The Arrakis prospect lies within the broader Caladan target area, which was first identified from gravity data and geological similarities to major gold systems including the Golden Mile and Canada’s Timmins-Porcupine district.
Expanding exploration across Caladan and New England Granite
The company’s 13,500-metre AC program during the quarter defined the 2.2-kilometre Arrakis mineralised trend and tested 6.4 kilometres of strike within Caladan. Additional AC drilling is planned to test along-strike extensions and parallel anomalies over coming months.
A follow-up RC drilling program, set to begin in mid-November, will test the extent of mineralisation on 200-metre-spaced lines across the Arrakis trend.
A collar plan over the Caladan target area, which hosts the Arrakis Discovery, showing simplified bedrock geology interpretation. All effective drilling is plotted (>20m down-hole depth). Collars are thematically coloured by max Au (g/t) in the hole. The red line represents the approximate position of the interpreted Arrakis mineralised structure. Dashed yellow polygons represent air-core regolith anomalies (Results include ~4m @ 0.1 g/t Au or greater, with the upper profile or the bottom-of-hole sample is 0.1g/t Au or greater). Purple lines represent cleared drill lines following a heritage survey completed in August, including 200m space lines that will be cleared in preparation for RC drilling in November.
At the New England Granite target area, Yandal completed 13 AC holes totalling 1,400 metres before temporarily pausing work to prioritise RC drilling at Arrakis. Drilling has since resumed, following up on targets identified around the Siona discovery — made in late 2024 — where previous intercepts included 2 metres at 9.4 g/t gold and 14 metres at 0.8 g/t gold.
Results from the current phase of AC drilling at New England Granite are expected in the coming weeks and will guide RC follow-up work in 2026.
Plan showing processed infill ground gravity dataset (BA267 1VD northwest shade linear colour scale) across the New England Granite area. The plan includes the updated interpretation of the intrusive margin and a preliminary interpretation of structures interacting with the intrusion. Broad structural targets include Salusa and NEG01-NEG04.
Flushing Meadows and Mt McClure advance
At the Flushing Meadows deposit, which hosts a 268,000-ounce resource at 1.1 g/t gold, Yandal is planning new drilling to better understand the distribution of fresh rock mineralisation and assess parallel targets identified from soil and gravity data. Heritage surveys are being scheduled ahead of 2026 exploration.
Plan showing processed infill ground gravity dataset (BA267 1VD northwest shade linear colour scale) across the New England Granite area. The plan includes the updated interpretation of the intrusive margin and a preliminary interpretation of structures interacting with the intrusion. Broad structural targets include Salusa and NEG01-NEG04.
At Mt McClure, located near Northern Star’s Bronzewing and Orelia mines, a ground gravity survey was completed across the entire project area to refine structural and stratigraphic models ahead of next year’s work programs.
Mt McClure tenement plan showing the location of major prospects, interpreted bedrock lithology, major structures and proximity to nearby mines.
Strengthened financial position and asset sale
Yandal finished the September quarter with $2.26 million in cash and cash equivalents. Subsequent to quarter-end, it completed a $13.5 million placement at $0.29 per share to accelerate exploration at Arrakis, New England Granite and Flushing Meadows.
The company also finalised a binding sale agreement with Horizon Minerals Ltd (ASX:HRZ) for its non-core Gordons Gold Project, for total consideration of $2.81 million in cash and shares. The transaction follows a strategic review recommending the divestment of non-core assets to focus on exploration within the Yandal Belt.
As of quarter-end, Yandal had 23.9 million unlisted options exercisable at $0.11 — currently in the money — which, if exercised, would contribute a further $2.6 million.
Looking ahead
- Yandal has outlined a busy December quarter, with expected news flow from:
- Ongoing diamond drilling and RC extensions at Arrakis;
- Results from the New England Granite air-core program;
- The start of RC drilling across 200-metre lines at Arrakis in mid-November; and
- Completion of the Gordons Gold Project sale.
The company said its discoveries at Arrakis and Siona underscore the underexplored potential of the Yandal Greenstone Belt and validate the effectiveness of its revised exploration strategy launched in 2023.