Highlights

  • Novo holds every regulatory and landholder approval for a roughly 2,700-metre, 18-hole reverse circulation program at the Clone prospect.
  • Drilling will test the down-plunge extension of a north-plunging, high-grade gold zone, with a step-out traverse about 100 metres north.
  • The company has met the A$1.5 million minimum exploration spend to earn 70 per cent of six Albert Goldfields licences.
  • Novo will solely fund Awati Resources' 30 per cent share of exploration costs until a bankable feasibility study is complete.

Novo Resources Corp (ASX:NVO) now has everything it needs to start drilling at Tibooburra. In a project update on 28 October 2026, the company said it has received all regulatory and landholder approvals for the roughly 2,700-metre reverse circulation program at its gold project in north-western New South Wales, first announced on 30 July 2026. The program comprises 18 holes at the Clone prospect, and Novo expects to begin in November.

The final approval

The last step was approval from NSW Parks and Wildlife in October 2026 for a drilling extension at Clone. It followed a heritage clearance survey completed on 8 July 2026 with the Tibooburra Local Aboriginal Land Council.

What the drill bit will test

The main aim is the down-plunge extension of a shallow, north-plunging, open high-grade gold zone identified in drilling by Manhattan Gold in 2023 and by Novo in 2025. The plan adds a step-out traverse about 100 metres to the north, plus selected down-dip and infill holes on existing lines to follow up open intersections and test for parallel, stacked lodes.

The company describes Clone as having significant historic workings, a strike length of around 600 metres and a coherent gold-in-soil anomaly above 30 parts per billion, up to 250 metres wide. Mapping defines a west-dipping reverse fault, the Clone Thrust, with most historic workings and sericite-carbonate alteration on or within it. The high-grade shoot plunges shallowly north at 10 to 20 degrees, has been defined over about 300 metres of strike to a vertical depth of 90 metres, and remains open down-plunge and to the north.

Earlier results, restated

The update restates earlier drilling rather than reporting new results. Hole TBR0001 returned 12 metres at 5.90 grams per tonne gold from 16 metres, including 5 metres at 13.74 grams per tonne, and TBR0014 returned 17 metres at 2.40 grams per tonne from 59 metres. CL0007 intersected 6 metres at 8.39 grams per tonne from 82 metres, CL0010 returned 9 metres at 6.03 grams per tonne from 16 metres, and CL0002 returned 29 metres at 1.37 grams per tonne from 61 metres.

Novo said the underlying data and assumptions have not materially changed since its 9 July 2025 and 30 July 2026 announcements, and that the mineralisation described may not represent the whole project.

Earning 70 per cent

Novo said it has met the A$1.5 million minimum exploration spend under its farm-in with Awati Resources Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Manhattan Gold Corporation, and notified the parties in October 2026. The unincorporated venture, covering six exploration licences in the Albert Goldfields, gives Novo 70 per cent and Awati 30 per cent. Novo manages the venture and will fund Awati's share of exploration costs, known as a free carry, until a bankable feasibility study is complete.

Regional work and what follows

Stream sediment sampling, mapping and gridded soil sampling began in September 2026, with rock chip sampling noted and a follow-up program scheduled for October. Results are pending. The goal is to find new gold-anomalous zones in recessive areas of the 30-kilometre Albert Goldfield and prioritise targets for possible drilling in 2027. Cover sediments extend about 15 kilometres in the south of the project and remain largely unexplored.

Next come the Clone drilling, the regional results and target prioritisation. The update contains no mineral resource estimate, and drilling outcomes remain uncertain.