Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX:NVA, NASDAQ:NVA, OTC:NVAAF) has flagged further potential resource upside at its RPM North gold deposit, part of its flagship Estelle Gold and Critical Minerals Project, in the prolific Tintina Gold Belt in Alaska, after the latest drilling extended mineralisation to the east and returned broad, near-surface intercepts that add to the “halo” around the high-grade core zone.
The company drilled a total of seven diamond core holes at RPM North in 2025, designed to:
- Follow-up previous drilling to the East, where hole RPM-004 intersected 259 metres @ 0.5 g/t Au from surface.
- Conduct infill drilling at the main RPM North deposit to increase resource confidence.
- Add definition to the southern boundary of the ore zone.
- Test the connection with RPM Valley to the west.
Results from its 2025 drill program confirmed the eastern strike extension and included additional infill drilling that is expected to support potential upgrades to the existing measured and indicated mineral resource base at the main deposit, which is feeding into its ongoing pre-feasibility study (PFS).
Key assay results reported from the program included:
RPM-080
- 180m @ 0.7 g/t Au from 4m, including;
- 108m @ 1.1 g/t Au from 4m
- 27m @ 2.5 g/t Au from 11m, and 7m@8.1g/tAu from11m
- 2m @ 19.7g/t Au from 15m
RPM-078
- 162m @ 1.0 g/t Au from 3m including;
- 54m @ 1.6 g/t Au from 109m
- 7m @ 6.6 g/t Au from 147m, and
- 2m @ 15.1 g/t Au from 147m
RPM-068
- 167m @ 0.7 g/t Au from 187m, including;
- 123m @ 0.9 g/t Au from 201m
- 75m @ 1.1 g/t Au from 242m
RPM-070
- 165m @ 0.6 g/t Au from 3m
RPM North hole RPM-080 2.4m @ 19.7g/t Au from 15.2m.
“The latest drilling results at RPM North are excellent and importantly, support the continuity of mineralisation across the deposit and indicate that a zone of further mineralisation extends to the east, which remains open along strike. This eastern extension has the potential to significantly increase the resource at RPM and will be a focus of the 2026 RPM resource drilling program,” Nova CEO, Mr Christopher Gerteisen, commented:
“RPM continues to demonstrate the exciting potential of Estelle as a future, tier-one North American gold project. We plan to build on the successes achieved to date, with further exploration aimed at identifying additional mineralisation in 2026. All results will be incorporated into an updated resource estimate for the upcoming PFS.
“Technical studies and optimisation work are progressing to advance the project towards commercial production, and we will keep shareholders informed as relevant studies are completed to realise further value from the Estelle Gold and Critical Minerals Project.”
Looking forward
Further assays from the 2025 campaign are pending and will be released once received and reviewed under Nova’s QA/QC procedures. An updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) will incorporate drilling completed across the 2023–2025 programs.
On study work, Nova said PFS-level activities remain underway. METS Engineering is completing additional metallurgical test work aimed at building on the high gold recoveries previously achieved at RPM (August 2025 announcement), while Rough Stock Mining is conducting mining studies and Whittle Consulting is progressing optimisation work.
Nova also flagged upcoming surface exploration results, with assays pending from the extensive soil and rock chip sampling completed across the broader project area in 2025. The company said those results will be reported once laboratory work is complete and data has been processed.