Key Highlights

  • Maiden 22-hole campaign at Gold Mountain hit gold in every hole, including discovery hole DRC#9 at 27.4m at 8.3g/t from 221.0m
  • Second drilling round of about 3,500 metres across 10-11 holes commenced in October 2026, with first assays expected four to six weeks after start
  • Cash was approximately A$5.5 million at 30 September 2026 with about 4.56 quarters of funding at the current expenditure rate
  • Gold Mountain sits in Nevada's Walker Lane trend, an epithermal system with high-grade structures inside a broader lower-grade gold envelope

49 Metals (ASX:49M) is an early-stage gold explorer whose story rests on a single project: Gold Mountain in Nevada. A maiden 22-hole drill programme returned gold and silver in every hole, including a thick, lower-grade interval and a narrow, very high-grade one, and a second round of drilling began in October 2026.

What the company does

According to ASX records, 49 Metals explores for and develops high-grade gold projects. It listed on the ASX on 31 March 2026, and its board includes Richard Pearce as non-executive chair and Phil Carter as chief executive.

Gold Mountain, also known as Tonopah Divide, sits in the Walker Lane trend in Esmeralda County, about 7 kilometres south of Tonopah. The tenure comprises 64 patented and 97 unpatented lode claims covering roughly 8.6 square kilometres.

The company has entered an agreement with Americas Gold Exploration to earn up to a 75% leasehold interest. The detailed earn-in conditions were not reviewed here, so the final ownership outcome is not assured.

The drilling evidence

The first reverse circulation campaign totalled about 7,500 metres. The discovery hole, DRC#9, intersected 27.4 metres at 8.3 grams per tonne gold from 221.0 metres, including 9.1 metres at 21.9 grams per tonne.

DRC#22 cut 170.7 metres at 0.9 grams per tonne from 121.9 metres, including 50.3 metres at 1.2 grams per tonne. DRC#19 returned 67.1 metres at 1.7 grams per tonne from 169.2 metres, including 3.0 metres at 20.0 grams per tonne.

All intercepts are downhole lengths and true widths have not been determined. That matters because angled holes can overstate the thickness of a mineralised body.

Reading the geology

Management describes a low-sulphidation epithermal gold and silver system, with high-grade structures inside a broader lower-grade envelope. It interprets structurally controlled corridors linked to the Oddie Rhyolite contact as a key control.

The Adit Zone is said to remain open in all directions, and oxidation reaches about 300 metres depth in parts. Oxidised material can be easier and cheaper to process than sulphide ore, though that depends on metallurgical testing the company has not yet reported.

The pattern of broad, moderate grades with narrow high-grade zones is typical of such systems. Whether it adds up to an economic deposit will depend on continuity, which the next drilling aims to test.

Money, management and the next round

Cash was about A$5.5 million at 30 September 2026, against A$6.8 million at 30 June. Operating outflows for the September quarter were A$1.213 million, including A$910,000 on exploration, and the company estimated about 4.56 quarters of funding at that rate.

At quarter end there were 82,236,653 ordinary shares, 9.9 million unlisted Options and 6.675 million rights. No Equity was raised in the quarter.

On 14 September 2026 Phil Carter became managing director as well as chief executive, on a base salary of A$265,000 plus Superannuation and 5 million options split between A$0.25 and A$0.30 exercise prices.

The follow-up programme is about 3,500 metres across 10 or 11 holes, with some diamond holes planned once contractors are secured. Drilling is expected to finish in November 2026, with first assays four to six weeks after it began.

Risks and dates

Exploration carries high failure risk, and the company has no resource estimate at Gold Mountain. A foreign resource estimate for its Buffalo Canyon project was retracted on 27 March 2026, and the reason was not reviewed.

Funding is a further constraint, since cash covers a little over a year of spending at the current rate.

The Annual General Meeting is at 2:00pm WST on 26 November 2026 in Subiaco, Western Australia.