Highlights

  • Stelar completed a 26-hole maiden reverse-circulation program at Hill of Leaders in the Northern Territory.
  • Ultraviolet fluorescence and portable instruments identified possible tungsten minerals, not certified laboratory grades.
  • An initial exploration program tested several prospects across the broader tungsten system.
  • Laboratory assays and geological interpretation remain necessary before grade and continuity can be established.

Stelar Metals Limited (ASX:SLB) explores critical minerals in Australia, with its principal current emphasis on the Hill of Leaders Tungsten Project in the Tennant Creek region of the Northern Territory. During 2026 the company progressed surface exploration, geophysical work and an initial reverse-circulation drilling campaign. The latest drilling update concerns observations of minerals associated with tungsten, while the chemical assays needed to quantify grades remain pending. That distinction is essential when assessing this early exploration stage.

Hill of Leaders Exploration Footprint

The company's Hill of Leaders exploration area covers approximately 445 square kilometres. The asset includes multiple prospects and a broad zone of historical tungsten indications, rather than one established commercial deposit. Stelar Metals Limited (ASX:SLB) has presented the project as an exploration opportunity, not an operating mine. Its 2026 field activities were designed to test whether mapped tungsten-bearing veins extend beneath the surface and whether separate prospects form part of a connected mineralised system.

Earlier surface rock sampling and Geophysical surveys supplied targets for drilling. Selective samples cannot be assumed to represent average grades across a deposit.

Maiden Drilling and Visual Tungsten Evidence

The November drilling update describes 26 reverse-circulation holes totalling approximately 3,300 metres across Hill of Leaders and neighbouring targets. Geological logging, ultraviolet inspection and portable X-ray fluorescence screening indicated possible tungsten-bearing minerals in the drilled rock. Scheelite can fluoresce under ultraviolet light; wolframite may also occur in tungsten systems. These observations can help select laboratory samples and plan subsequent holes.

However, Stelar Metals Limited (ASX:SLB) has not established an assay-based mineral resource through those observations. Visual percentages of mineral grains are not equivalent to laboratory tungsten trioxide grades, and portable instrument readings can be affected by rock composition and analytical conditions. The currently described intervals represent sampled drill-hole lengths, not measured true widths. A statement that mineral indications occur across a broad strike does not demonstrate continuous economic mineralisation between widely spaced drilling sections.

Funding and the Assay Decision Point

Stelar's 2026 activity included a reported Capital raising intended to support field work and initial drilling.

Stelar Metals Limited (ASX:SLB) expects laboratory results from its initial batches of samples following the November campaign. Confirmed assay results would allow the company to compare mineral concentrations between holes and prospects and revisit its target ranking. The next interpretation should distinguish anomalous tungsten from mineralisation with potentially consistent grades and meaningful widths.

Further Work and Geological Uncertainty

The most immediate steps involve receiving certified assays, reconciling them with visual logging and determining whether the current hole spacing adequately tests the mineralised zones. Follow-up drilling can refine the orientation of veins, test extensions and Supply samples for metallurgical work. These activities remain conditional on the initial results and the company's subsequent program decisions.

Stelar Metals Limited (ASX:SLB) faces geological uncertainty because vein systems can vary sharply over short distances. Mining and processing Economics would also depend on recoverable tungsten minerals, dilution, infrastructure, permitting and financing. Until representative assays and a formal estimate are available, it would be premature to attach production expectations or resource quantities to Hill of Leaders.

Key Insights

Stelar's initial 2026 drilling gives it more geological information about Hill of Leaders, but laboratory assays remain the decisive missing evidence. The project's next phase depends on verifying tungsten grades, understanding vein continuity and allocating exploration funds to the most informative targets.