Key Highlights

  • Reverse circulation drilling restarted at Music Well north of Leonora, with one hole left at Clifton East before the rig moves to St Patrick's Well.
  • Assays from completed holes are described as imminent.
  • The company reported cash of A$722,000 and an estimated 0.5 quarters of funding at 30 September 2026.

Augustus Minerals Limited (ASX:AUG) told the market on 27 October 2026 that reverse circulation drilling had restarted at its Music Well gold project north of Leonora in Western Australia, after wet weather twice interrupted the programme. One hole remains at the Clifton East prospect before the rig moves to St Patrick's Well, where five holes are planned and rock chip sampling has returned high-grade gold over about 600 metres of strike. Assays from holes already completed are described as imminent.

What the company actually does

Augustus Minerals is a Western Australian exploration company with no revenue from operations. Its principal asset is the Music Well gold project, about 35 kilometres north of Leonora. It also holds the Ti-Tree project, a tenure package of about 1,300 square kilometres in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Through a subsidiary it is pursuing two Papua New Guinea exploration licence applications, Mt Kare about 15 kilometres south-west of the Porgera gold mine and Vanapa River in Central Province. An expression of interest has also been lodged over ground in the Goroka region.

Latest verified developments

Drilling at Music Well restarted on 26 September 2026, was suspended again by heavy overnight rain, and resumed once the ground dried. Three holes at Clifton East were drilled to define the dip of the mineralisation, with one still to come; the rig then moves to St Patrick's Well. Earlier work returned one metre at 19.5 grams per tonne from 73 metres in hole MWRC0019, the highest grade recorded at Clifton East, and a diamond hole was completed to 201.7 metres. A Papua New Guinea progress update on 15 October 2026 confirmed that the Mt Kare application remains a contested second-in-time application and has not been granted.

Financial and operational evidence

The quarterly report for the three months to 30 September 2026, lodged on 26 October 2026, recorded a net operating cash outflow of A$480,000 and a net investing outflow of A$879,000, almost all of it exploration and evaluation spending. Cash at the end of the quarter was A$722,000 at item 4.6 of the Appendix 5B, and the company estimated 0.5 quarters of funding available at item 8.7, answering the follow-up disclosures at items 8.8.1 to 8.8.3. For FY26, the year ended 30 June 2026, Augustus reported a net loss of A$2,651,562 against A$4,049,072 in FY25, with cash of A$1,690,311 at the balance date. A placement raising A$2.5 million was completed in May 2026. No dividend has been paid or recommended.

Risks and pressure points

The funding position is the dominant pressure point: half a quarter of estimated funding at 30 September 2026, with directors stating in the FY26 accounts that they have plans to raise additional capital and that, were the group unable to fund its operations, a material uncertainty would exist over its ability to continue as a going concern. The Mt Kare application confers no current exploration right while it remains contested. Seasonal rain has already cost drilling time twice this programme. The company also lodged a response to an ASX query letter in January 2026 and corrections to a quarterly report and to its annual report in February 2026.

Milestones to watch

Assay results from the completed Clifton East holes are the nearest catalyst. The annual general meeting, notice of which was lodged on 26 October 2026, is the next scheduled corporate event, and the December 2026 quarterly Appendix 5B will show whether the funding runway has been extended beyond the half-quarter estimated at 30 September. In Papua New Guinea, a grant decision on either the Mt Kare or the Vanapa River application would change the company's position there.