Highlights

  • Hole 26HHDD035 returns the deepest gold intersection at Hopes Hill South: 34.9m at 2.3 g/t Au from 398.7m depth, including 5.1m at 10.3 g/t Au.
  • High-grade sub-interval of 0.6m at 65.5 g/t Au from 430m within the deep zone.
  • 26HHRCD168 returns 18.0m at 2.7 g/t Au from 307.0m, approximately 80 metres from 26HHDD035, confirming lode geometry.
  • The mineralised system is now proven open at depth across the entire 4.2-kilometre strike extent.
  • 26HHRC207 returns 10m at 3.6 g/t Au from 19m, demonstrating shallow near-surface mineralisation at the northern end.

Golden Horse Minerals Limited (ASX:GHM) has reported the deepest gold intersection recorded to date at its Hopes Hill South prospect, located approximately 7 kilometres north of Southern Cross in the Western Australian Goldfields. Diamond hole 26HHDD035 returned a broad zone of 34.9 metres at 2.3 g/t gold from 398.7 metres depth, including a high-grade sub-interval of 5.1 metres at 10.3 g/t gold and a localised interval of 0.6 metres at 65.5 g/t gold. The result is located more than 300 metres below surface and represents a potential new zone of mineralisation beyond the constraints of previous shallow drilling at Hopes Hill South.

Latest Development

26HHDD035 was drilled to target the southern extensions of previously announced reverse circulation holes at Hopes Hill South, intercepting mineralisation approximately 150 metres below the overlying RC hole that returned 27 metres at 1.4 g/t gold. The fact that grade and width have increased at depth — with the deeper hole returning 34.9 metres versus the shallower 27-metre interval — is considered geologically significant, as it suggests that the high-grade lode structure is not thinning at depth. Within approximately 80 metres along strike, diamond tail hole 26HHRCD168 returned 18.0 metres at 2.7 g/t gold from 307.0 metres, with a high-grade core of 7.0 metres at 5.2 g/t gold. The two holes provide a preliminary foundation for defining a new lode plunging shallowly to the south-west within Hopes Hill South. At Hopes Hill North, 26HHRC207 returned 10 metres at 3.6 g/t gold from 19 metres depth, demonstrating near-surface mineralisation at the northern end of the 4.2-kilometre trend.

Company Background

Golden Horse Minerals is a gold exploration company focused on the Southern Cross Greenstone Belt in Western Australia. The Company has consolidated approximately 1,800 square kilometres of tenure within the belt, exploring for extensions to historic gold mines and developing new high-priority prospects. The Hopes Hill deposit, with a resource of 216,000 ounces, is located approximately 7 kilometres north of Southern Cross. The 4.2-kilometre mineralised trend hosts multiple prospects including Hopes Hill North, Hopes Hill Main, and Hopes Hill South, all within a continuous banded iron formation (BIF) sequence. Resource modelling activities are in progress, targeting a Mineral Resource Estimate update ahead of a potential Pre-feasibility Study.

Sector Context

The Southern Cross Greenstone Belt is an established gold-producing region in Western Australia, with multiple historical mines and processors. The orogenic gold mineralisation style at Hopes Hill — structurally controlled, hosted within BIF sequences, and associated with quartz veining — is a well-understood deposit type. The recognition that high-grade gold shoots can persist and potentially increase in width at significant depth is an important exploration concept for BIF-hosted systems, where structural thickening through folding often creates concentration zones at depth. Near-surface mineralisation confirmed at Hopes Hill North also provides potential development flexibility.

Market Perception

The deepest intersection at Hopes Hill South adds an important third dimension to the mineralised system. Prior drilling at Hopes Hill South was largely shallow, leaving an effective untested drill gap of more than 2.8 kilometres at depth below the existing resource boundary. The 26HHDD035 and 26HHRCD168 results begin to close this gap and demonstrate that the system extends well beyond the depth range of historical exploration. For resource estimation and future PFS planning, confirmed deep mineralisation adds confidence to the down-dip continuity assumptions and potential extends the economic mine life envelope.

Growth Drivers

The Company's geological interpretation suggests that fold structures within the BIF host create width repetitions of the mineralised zone at depth, potentially providing multiple separate high-grade targets down plunge across the entire 4.2-kilometre trend. Regional aircore drilling across approximately 280 square kilometres is in progress at the Flemington and Randwick prospects, targeting new greenfield discoveries. The RC rig has also mobilised to the Golden Valley Group and Withers prospects north of Bullfinch to test additional targets. This multi-front exploration strategy provides multiple potential discovery catalysts in the near term.

Risks and Challenges

Assay results for a large number of holes — including 21 Hopes Hill North RC holes and two deep diamond holes at Hopes Hill South — remain outstanding. Laboratory backlogs are affecting turnaround times, which delays the Company's ability to update resource models and plan follow-up drilling. The Southern Cross Greenstone Belt's BIF-hosted gold systems can exhibit nugget effects and local grade variability that require careful treatment in resource estimation. As an exploration-stage company, Golden Horse requires continued Capital deployment to fund its active multi-front drilling programme, and future project advancement will depend on the outcomes of the current resource update and scoping-level studies.

Recent Announcements

Resource modelling activities are ongoing, incorporating all 2026 drilling results as they are received. The Company has previously reported a series of deep drilling results at Hopes Hill Main and Hopes Hill North, extending mineralisation consistently along the 4.2-kilometre trend. No new information or data has been identified by the Company that materially affects information from prior announcements.

Key Insights

Golden Horse Minerals has demonstrated that the Hopes Hill gold system extends to substantial depth at the southern end of the 4.2-kilometre trend, with grade and width maintained or potentially increasing below the previously tested zone. The 34.9-metre intersection at over 300 metres depth, combined with an adjacent 18-metre result 80 metres along strike, suggests a coherent lode geometry that has not previously been systematically explored at depth. The Company's parallel near-surface drilling and regional greenfields activity maintain a broad exploration programme even as the deep drilling results reshape understanding of the Hopes Hill system's potential scale.