Pilbara Gold Ltd (ASX:PGL) has completed more than 5,600 metres of diamond drilling at its 2.1-million-ounce Mt York Gold Project in Western Australia's Pilbara, with the company ramping up what it describes as the largest drilling campaign in its history.
The recently rebranded explorer, formerly known as Kairos Minerals, is advancing a more than 50,000-metre drill program aimed at growing and upgrading resources across the 4.2-kilometre-long Mt York gold system ahead of a future mineral resource estimate update.
Three diamond rigs are currently operating on double shift, with two reverse circulation rigs expected to join the program this month as drilling accelerates.
Managing director Dr Peter Turner said the company was encouraged by early observations from the drilling program.
“We are very excited to be drilling the Mt York Gold Project again, with the aim of increasing and upgrading resources at this quality asset,” he said.
“The technical team has already started to see interesting core and we anticipate to have initial results flowing in a matter of weeks.”
Resource growth focus
Since early April, Pilbara Gold has completed 19 diamond holes for a total of 5,680 metres across Main Hill Extension, Gossan Hill, Breccia Hill and the nearby Gilt Dragon prospect. First assay results are expected from late July.
Mt York and Gilt Dragon Prospects. Historic drilling and planned drilling shown.
The company's current resource stands at 61.7 million tonnes at 1.05 g/t gold for 2.08 million ounces, making Mt York one of the larger undeveloped gold projects in the Pilbara.
Current drilling is targeting extensions beneath the existing resource and pit shell after recent optimisation work highlighted insufficient drilling at depth to fully constrain the system. Pilbara Gold believes the mineralised trend remains open below the current resource model and is prioritising deeper drilling to test that potential.
The campaign is following up several strong results reported earlier this year from Main Hill Extension, including 9 metres at 3.92 g/t gold from 97 metres and 16 metres at 2.60 g/t gold from 143 metres.
Visual logging from recent drilling has identified strongly altered banded iron formations containing moderate-to-strong arsenopyrite mineralisation, a key indicator associated with higher-grade gold zones at Mt York. The company has also identified a series of north-south cross-faults that appear to offset mineralised horizons, information expected to improve future drill targeting.
Long-section of the Mt York Gold Project showing all intercept points for historic drilling and planned intercept points for 2026 drilling. Drilling completed (results awaited) shown as black dots with white outline.
Gilt Dragon delivers encouraging signs
Pilbara Gold has also completed four diamond holes at the Gilt Dragon prospect, located about three kilometres southeast of Mt York.
The drilling was designed to follow up a historical intersection of 19 metres at 1.31 g/t gold from 1 metre, including 5 metres at 3.19 g/t from 4 metres.
While assays are still pending, the company reported intersections of chalcopyrite and chalcocite within quartz-carbonate veins, along with pyrite-chalcopyrite veining in rhyolitic rocks. Management said the alteration and veining observed suggest hydrothermal activity commonly associated with gold systems.
At Gossan Hill, nine holes were drilled to increase resource confidence and support conversion of inferred resources into higher-confidence categories. All holes intersected sulphide-bearing banded iron formations similar to those hosting gold mineralisation elsewhere in the deposit.
Regional exploration expands
Alongside drilling, Pilbara Gold is planning an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey across about 200 square kilometres of the broader Mt York district. The survey is expected to begin in July or August and will target sulphide-rich bodies that could host additional gold mineralisation beyond the current resource footprint.
Pilbara Gold licences and applications including PLS licences and applications where Pilbara Gold owns the gold and base metal rights. Mt York Gold Project is shown along with other regional prospects. Background image is of magnetic susceptibility showing prominent banded iron formation or BIF targets for the planned airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey (also shown).
“The foundation dataset that this cost-effective survey generates will be used to directly target buried gold deposits over a large portion of our prospective land package surrounding Mt York,” Turner said.
The update follows Pilbara Gold's recent rebrand from Kairos Minerals and comes less than two months after the company unveiled an updated 2.1Moz resource for Mt York, which forms the foundation for ongoing drilling, development studies and resource growth initiatives.