Yandal Resources Ltd (ASX:YRL) has kicked off a large-scale 2026 exploration campaign across its Ironstone Well–Barwidgee (IWB) Gold Project in Western Australia, with drilling now underway as the company looks to extend recent discoveries and unlock new targets across the Yandal Greenstone Belt.
A fully operational 21-person exploration camp and core yard is now supporting the program, with reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling already in progress and additional rigs set to mobilise in the coming weeks.
An aerial photo looking north over the newly installed 21-person exploration camp (Stilgar’s Camp) and core yard within the IWB gold project.
The June half will see around 30,000 metres of drilling completed, combining RC, diamond and air-core programs across key targets including Arrakis, Flushing Meadows and the New England Granite (NEG) area.
Managing director Chris Oorschot said the campaign marks a major step forward following months of preparation.
“The exploration team have worked incredibly hard to establish the exploration camp and core yard over the summer months,” Oorschot said. “With this key infrastructure in place, the 2026 drilling program has commenced and is now accelerating with multiple rigs now drilling on site,” he said.
“Programs early in the first half of 2026 will focus on understanding the mineralisation potential of both our recent gold discoveries and below the shallow Mineral Resource at Flushing Meadows.”
Yandal Resource priority exploration target areas for 2026 from the Ironstone Well-Barwidgee Gold Project, situated in the northern Yandal Greenstone Belt.
Arrakis and Salusa in focus
Initial drilling has begun at the Salusa prospect within the NEG target area, where the company is following up shallow high-grade gold intercepts returned from late-2025 air-core drilling.
Plan showing Yandal drilling completed across the Salusa Prospect, located on the southern point of the NEG target area. The plan shows the AC drilling lines completed overlying a simplified bedrock geology plan with interpreted structures. The location of the 2150mN section is also shown.
Those results included 6 metres at 6.3 g/t gold from 36 metres, with a higher-grade interval of 2 metres at 18.2 g/t, highlighting the potential for a new discovery within the broader intrusive complex.
Cross-section showing AC drilling results from 25IWBAC173, with a simple preliminary interpretation of geology. The section location is shown in Figure 2. The section shows all drilling within +/- 50m of the section plane.
The RC rig will then shift to the Arrakis discovery, where drilling will test extensions to the southeast of the currently defined 1.2-kilometre mineralised structure.
This builds on recent work that extended the Arrakis structure and sharpened the geological model, with the company now targeting both scale and higher-grade zones along strike.
Diamond drilling is also planned at Arrakis to test depth continuity and assess the broader geometry of the system.
A collar plan over the Arrakis Prospect within the Caladan target area, showing simplified bedrock geology interpretation. All Yandal drilling is plotted along with all historic drilling with end-of-hole depths >20m. Collars are thematically coloured by max Au (g/t) in the hole. 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). Dashed purple lines represent heritage-surveyed 100m-spaced lines to support 2026 drilling.
Flushing Meadows and resource growth potential
At the more advanced Flushing Meadows deposit — which hosts a 268,000-ounce resource — Yandal will begin a framework diamond drilling program aimed at testing mineralisation below the current resource envelope.
The program will target fresh rock approximately 100 metres below the existing drilling, with the aim of:
- assessing high-grade mineralisation potential at depth
- improving geological understanding of controls on mineralisation
- supporting future resource growth opportunities
This work complements ongoing exploration across the broader project area, where limited historic drilling has left significant upside.
A collar plan over the Flushing Meadows deposit, 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.
Testing new large-scale targets
Beyond its existing discoveries, Yandal is also advancing several early-stage targets, including the Nayla prospect, where an 800-metre diamond drilling program is under way with support from the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme.
A collar plan over the Nayla target area, showing simplified bedrock geology interpretation over ground gravity (TMI 1VD image). All historic drilling is plotted with collars that are thematically coloured by the maximum Au (g/t) in the hole. See Table 3 for collar locations and historic data sources.
The program is designed to confirm the presence of an intrusive complex and test structural features analogous to those hosting the nearby Siona discovery.
Meanwhile, broad-scale air-core drilling will target large structural features across the western NEG margin and the Flushing Meadows–Giedi Prime corridor — an underexplored zone with potential for additional large-scale gold systems.
Multi-rig program ramps up
By early April, Yandal expects to have two RC rigs and one diamond rig operating on site, accelerating exploration across multiple fronts.
Across the first half of 2026, the company plans to complete approximately:
- 10,000 metres of RC drilling
- 5,000 metres of diamond drilling
- 15,000 metres of air-core drilling
The program is designed to deliver a clearer picture of the scale of recent discoveries — including Arrakis and Siona — while also identifying new targets across its 370-square-kilometre landholding.
Proposed indicative exploration schedule for the first six months of 2026.
Building on recent momentum
The latest campaign follows a string of recent exploration successes, including high-grade shallow hits at Salusa and continued expansion of the Arrakis system, which has emerged as a key growth driver within the project.
With drilling now under way across multiple targets and infrastructure in place to support sustained activity, Yandal is entering a pivotal phase of exploration aimed at both resource growth and new discovery.
Oorschot said the company’s focus remains firmly on unlocking the broader potential of the belt.
“With heritage surveys scheduled this week, we are also planning additional first-pass air-core drilling across the broader area east of Flushing Meadows and the Geidi Prime target area,” he said. “This air-core program will test several large conceptual structural targets and continue our focus on delivering new gold discoveries within the Yandal Greenstone Belt of Western Australia.”