Key Highlights

• Sentinel completed a maiden drilling programme at Columbia in Montana.

• It bought the Big Springs gold project in Nevada.

• The company has moved beyond a single Montana project.

• Further drilling and funding will shape its next steps.

Sentinel Metals (ASX:SNM) is an ASX-listed gold explorer that has pushed beyond a single Montana project in 2026. It completed a maiden drilling programme at Columbia, bought the Big Springs gold project in Nevada and raised fresh capital, so a resource update due in November is the next test.

What the company does

Sentinel Metals Limited (ASX:SNM) is a mineral exploration company classified by the ASX under the Materials sector. It listed on 30 October 2025 and trades as ordinary shares.

Its original asset is the Columbia gold-silver project in Montana, held 100 per cent through a subsidiary, Great Plains Mining, LLC. The current Columbia Inferred Mineral Resource is 21.4 million tonnes at 1.3 grams per tonne gold for 920,000 ounces of gold.

Drilling at Columbia

The company's 15-hole programme of about 3,700 metres finished on 2 October 2026. Results from 11 holes had been reported by the September quarterly report, released on 29 October 2026.

Hole DDCO26-001 returned 46.8 metres at 5.5 grams per tonne gold on preliminary PhotonAssay, with a fire assay of 5.33 grams per tonne over the same interval. Another hole, DDCO26-011, cut 21.7 metres at 2.19 grams per tonne from 36 metres.

Not every hole was strong. Southern holes showed lower grades and narrower widths than those in the north, and one hole had no significant intercept. The company says its gold results are preliminary pending fire assay, and the survey on DDCO26-011 failed, so it will be re-surveyed before the resource update.

A second project in Nevada

On 26 August 2026 Sentinel completed the purchase of the Big Springs gold project in Nevada from Capricorn Metals. The consideration was A$8.5 million in cash, 8,620,690 shares valued at A$5.0 million, and up to A$12.5 million of contingent payments.

Big Springs hosts a resource of 15.5 million tonnes at 2.0 grams per tonne gold for 1.01 million ounces, and is permitted for open-cut and underground mining. Sentinel plans to drill extensions of high-grade shoots at North Sammy.

Funding and the Royalty option

Cash at 30 September 2026 was A$6.08 million, against A$3.70 million three months earlier. Net operating outflow for the quarter was A$859,000, and exploration spending was about A$2.17 million.

The quarterly report's own funding estimate was 2.00 quarters. That shows how dependent explorers are on market access.

On 9 September 2026 Sentinel also secured an option over a 1 per cent production royalty held by Amazon Mining Company on 13 patented claims at Columbia. The price is 500 ounces of gold, about A$3.1 million at the Spot Price cited in the announcement, less option payments already made. Sentinel can walk away without penalty, and it expects to decide near a final Investment decision.

Risks and what comes next

Exploration is inherently uncertain. The Columbia resource is entirely Inferred, which is the lowest confidence category, and it was estimated within a US$2,200 an ounce pit shell. A new estimate could be higher or lower than the current figure.

Gold prices and exchange rates matter greatly. The royalty announcement cited gold at US$4,480 an ounce and an Australian dollar worth US$0.72. Permitting, further dilution and the contingent Big Springs payments add variables.

The half-year accounts to 30 June 2026 showed a loss of A$1.32 million and capitalised exploration of A$7.49 million, before the Nevada Acquisition and Placement were completed.

The company is targeting an updated Columbia resource in November 2026, once remaining assays from holes DDCO26-012 to -015 are received and interpreted. It describes the December quarter as expected to be pivotal.