Key Highlights

  • Hole 26YRC002 returned 4 metres at 0.32 g/t gold from 85 metres in fresh mafic rock, including 1 metre at 0.73 g/t.
  • Ground conditions stopped the hole at 95 metres, 45 metres short of its target depth.
  • The company is planning diamond drilling to twin the hole and test the target below 95 metres, subject to funding and Board approval.
  • Assay verification, including pulp duplicates and screen fire assays, is pending on higher-grade samples.

Marquee Resources Limited (ASX:MQR) has reported first assays from its Phase 1 Reverse Circulation Drilling program at the Yindi Gold and Lithium Project in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, according to an announcement dated 12 November 2026. Hole 26YRC002 returned gold in both transitional and fresh rock beneath palaeochannel cover, which the company describes as its first gold in fresh rock from its own drilling at Yindi. The hole was halted by ground conditions at 95 metres, which means the priority target below that depth remains untested.

What the drill results show

The most material intercept was 4 metres at 0.32 g/t gold from 85 metres, in altered mafic rock below the base of complete oxidation, including 1 metre at 0.73 g/t from 88 metres. A second intercept of 4 metres at 0.29 g/t came from 72 metres in transitional rock, including 1 metre at 0.81 g/t from 75 metres. The final metre, from 94 to 95 metres, returned 0.18 g/t. The second hole, 26YRC003, recorded a maximum of 0.06 g/t across 22 assayed metres and produced no reportable intercept.

The intercepts were calculated using a lower cut-off of 0.1 g/t and up to 2 metres of internal dilution, with no top cut applied. Individual one-metre assays within the reported intervals range from 0.01 to 0.81 g/t. All intervals are down-hole lengths, and the true width and geometry of the mineralisation are not yet known, so the figures should not be read as an indication of continuity or economic grade.

Geology and the drilling setback

The company logged the base of complete oxidation in 26YRC002 at 77 metres. The mineralised mafic rock contains chlorite and sericite alteration, locally up to about 2 percent disseminated pyrite, and quartz veining increases between 84 and 91 metres. The intercepts sit beneath palaeochannel sediments, which were water-bearing and proved difficult for the rig. The company reports that drill rods became repeatedly stuck, and that hole 26YRC001 had to be ended at 30 metres after water was encountered.

The target was ranked using gold and arsenic data drawn from more than 6,000 soil samples and 577 historical drill holes. The fresh-rock intercept places the company at a specific point beneath the palaeochannel that falls within the central corridor prioritised by that analysis. Because the RC rig could not reach the planned 140-metre target depth in 26YRC002, the deeper zone remains an open question.

Quality control, verification and next steps

Samples were analysed by ALS in Perth, using 50-gram fire assay with AAS finish for gold and four-acid digest for 48 elements. Of the 47 primary samples, eight quality control samples were included, which is approximately 17 percent of the batch. Reference standards returned values within two standard deviations, and both coarse blanks came back below detection. However, one field duplicate pair was near detection, another duplicate is absent from the certificate, and one sample, RC517726, was recorded as not received. These records are being reconciled with the laboratory.

Because precision at the reported grades remains unverified, the company has requested pulp duplicate and screen fire assays on higher-grade samples before finalising drill plans. The proposed diamond program would twin 26YRC002 with a diamond tail, drill four to five further holes at nearby ranked targets, use cased pre-collars through the water-bearing sequence and log core for structure and alteration. The program remains subject to assay verification, funding and Board approval, and the company has not yet announced timing.

Final Word

Marquee's first fresh-rock gold result gives the company a defined target beneath the palaeochannel, but the evidence is a single hole, drilled to a depth short of the intended target. The verification assays, the reconciliation of the missing samples and the outcome of the proposed diamond drilling will determine whether the intercept can be developed into a repeatable zone. Until then, the gold grades should be treated as first-pass results with uncertain continuity.