Pilbara Gold Ltd (ASX:PGL) made strong progress across its Western Australian gold portfolio during the June quarter, completing about 13,000 metres of drilling at the 2.1-million-ounce Mt York Gold Project while advancing pre-feasibility work and preparing for further resource growth.
The company had five rigs operating at Mt York by quarter-end, with a sixth scheduled to arrive by the end of July. Initial assay results are expected from late July, while an updated mineral resource estimate is planned for later in 2026.
Pilbara Gold also started a 12,000-metre drilling campaign at its Roe Hills Gold Project and closed the quarter with A$27.6 million in cash, providing funding for its exploration and development programs.
Five drill rigs currently drilling at Mt York with a sixth rig to join the fleet by the end of July.
Mt York drilling gathers pace
Mt York hosts a mineral resource of 61.7 million tonnes at 1.05 g/t gold for 2.08 million ounces within a continuous, 4.2-kilometre-long banded iron formation-hosted system.
Pilbara Gold’s 50,000-metre 2026 campaign combines infill and extensional drilling, with about half of the program targeting mineralisation beyond the existing resource at depth and along strike.
During the quarter, drilling was conducted across Main Hill, Main Hill Extension, Breccia Hill, Gossan Hill and Gilt Dragon. Every completed extensional hole intersected the banded iron formation that hosts gold mineralisation at Mt York.
The program began at Main Hill Extension, where previous drilling had largely tested only the upper 100 metres of the system. Current work is following up earlier results including 9 metres at 3.92 g/t gold from 97 metres and 16 metres at 2.60 g/t from 143 metres.
Drilling then moved to Main Hill and Breccia Hill, where it is testing extensions below the current resource and seeking to upgrade inferred material within the conceptual pit shell to the indicated category.
Long-section of the Mt York Gold Project showing all intercept points for historic drilling and planned intercept points for 2026 drilling.
Encouraging geology below existing resource
Pilbara Gold reported significant widths of grunerite-altered banded iron formation at Main Hill and Breccia Hill, with strong to moderate sulphide alteration observed in most holes.
One of the most encouraging observations came from hole 26MYDD022 at the western end of Main Hill, which intersected more than 50 metres of sulphide alteration, veining and brecciation.
The hole was drilled about 100 metres down-dip from an earlier result of 53 metres at 1.45 g/t gold from 212 metres, including 10 metres at 2.95 g/t from 239 metres.
Pilbara Gold said the geological characteristics observed in the two holes appeared similar, providing encouragement that mineralisation may continue at least 100 metres below the existing resource.
Assays remain pending, and the company cautioned that geological observations do not confirm the grade or continuity of mineralisation.
Mt York and Gilt Dragon Prospects. Historic drilling and planned drilling shown.
Gilt Dragon broadens exploration opportunity
Four holes completed at Gilt Dragon, about 3 kilometres southeast of Mt York, intersected zones of strong veining and alteration.
The prospect sits outside the main Mt York resource trend and is being tested for its potential to host an additional gold system.
Laboratory turnaround times in Perth have extended to about eight weeks, with the first assay results from the broader drilling campaign expected from late July.
Results will feed into geological modelling and support the updated Mt York mineral resource estimate expected later in 2026.
Pre-feasibility study progresses
Pilbara Gold continued to advance the Mt York pre-feasibility study during the quarter, targeting completion in the second quarter of 2027.
Metallurgical test work is underway to determine the optimal processing route for the deposit. Four bulk composites have been prepared for flowsheet development, alongside 12 comminution samples and 22 variability composites representing different grades, lithologies and locations.
Orway Mineral Consultants has been appointed to review the comminution results and undertake a circuit trade-off study.
The broader study will cover an updated mineral resource estimate, mine design, scheduling, capital and operating costs, metallurgical processing, geotechnical conditions, hydrology and water supply.
It will also include environmental baseline work and the development of process plant and tailings storage designs.
A 400-square-kilometre LiDAR survey was completed across the Mt York area during the quarter to provide detailed topographical information for the study.
Airborne survey targets new gold systems
Pilbara Gold is preparing an airborne electromagnetic survey over about 200 square kilometres of the Greater Mt York area.
The program will target conductive, sulphide-rich bodies within the banded iron formation-dominated geology surrounding the existing deposit.
Petrophysical studies on mineralised and non-mineralised Mt York core have supported the use of a deep-penetrating electromagnetic system to identify potential sulphide-bearing gold systems.
The survey is planned to begin in late August.
Roe Hills drilling resumes
Pilbara Gold also commenced drilling at the Terra and Caliburn prospects within its 100%-owned Roe Hills Gold Project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.
The campaign marks the first drilling at the prospects in eight years and follows the completion of Aboriginal heritage surveys.
Up to 12,000 metres of reverse circulation and diamond drilling is planned, with the majority directed towards Terra’s 1.8-kilometre mineralised corridor.
Historical drilling at Terra returned results including 35 metres at 1.00 g/t gold from 116.5 metres and 23 metres at 1.43 g/t from 104 metres.
Caliburn, about 4 kilometres southeast of Terra, contains a 900-metre zone of bedrock mineralisation. Previous results include 22 metres at 1.55 g/t gold from 144 metres, including 10 metres at 2.77 g/t, and 54 metres at 0.74 g/t from 10 metres.
Around 1,600 metres of the campaign has been allocated to Caliburn, with most of the remaining drilling focused on Terra.
Location map of the Roe Hills Gold Project in relation to regional gold mining centres.
Maiden Roe Hills resource targeted
Pilbara Gold aims to complete the Roe Hills program within about three months and will assess the results for a potential maiden mineral resource estimate in late 2026 or early 2027.
The project lies about 100 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie and is surrounded by established gold operations and processing infrastructure.
Roe Hills is about 50 kilometres east of Vault Minerals’ Mt Monger operations and Randalls processing plant, around 50 kilometres south of Ramelius Resources’ Roe Gold Project and roughly 60 kilometres east of Black Cat Syndicate’s Kal East operations.
Pilbara Gold believes the location could provide strategic development options should drilling establish sufficient scale and continuity at Terra and Caliburn.
Strong cash position supports work programs
The company spent about A$3.3 million on exploration and evaluation during the June quarter, with most expenditure directed towards drilling activities.
Pilbara Gold ended the period with A$27.6 million in cash, representing estimated funding for about 7.6 quarters at the reported expenditure rate.
Near-term priorities include continuing the Mt York drilling campaign, receiving and interpreting assay results and preparing the updated mineral resource estimate.
The company will also progress the Mt York pre-feasibility study, complete drilling at Roe Hills and begin modelling its geological and mineralised domains.
About Pilbara Gold
Pilbara Gold, formerly Kairos Minerals, owns 100% of the Mt York Gold Project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
The project was partially mined between 1994 and 1998 and is being assessed as a potential open-pit development using conventional carbon-in-leach processing.
A scoping study released in 2024 outlined a potential development pathway, while the current drilling and pre-feasibility programs are intended to expand the resource, increase confidence and refine the project’s technical and economic parameters.
The company also owns the Roe Hills Gold Project east of Kalgoorlie, where its current drilling campaign is targeting a maiden resource across the Terra and Caliburn prospects.