Key Highlights

•  Hole PDR0049 at the Altus Lode returned 11m at 20.2g/t gold from 17m, including 2m at 101.5g/t gold from 24m, with visible coarse gold reported.

•  Hole PDR0059 returned 5m at 25.1g/t gold from 19m, and the results relate to the first 22 holes of a 35-hole, roughly 4,000m programme.

•  Assays from the remaining 13 holes are expected in November 2026, followed by a maiden 16-hole diamond programme of about 1,500m.

Hamelin Gold (ASX:HMG) has reported high-grade gold, including visible coarse gold, from the second phase of reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its Day Dawn project in Western Australia's Paterson Province. The results relate to the first 22 holes of a 35-hole, roughly 4,000m programme completed in September 2026.

The standout intercept came from hole PDR0049 at the Altus Lode, which returned 11m at 20.2g/t gold from 17m, including 2m at 101.5g/t gold from 24m. Visible coarse gold was reported in that hole. Hole PDR0059, also at Altus, returned 5m at 25.1g/t gold from 19m.

All reported intervals are downhole widths, and true widths were not stated.

Extending the Aurora lodes

At the Aurora Lode, hole PDR0034 returned 3m at 9.3g/t gold from 6m, extending the Upper Lode to the northeast. For context, phase one hole PDR0001 had previously returned 3m at 93.4g/t gold from 9m in the same area.

Deeper in the system, hole PDR0045 intersected 7m at 5.6g/t gold from 147m. The company said the Lower Lode remains open at depth.

Initial testing of interpreted parallel lodes northwest of the Aurora-Altus corridor returned narrow high-grade hits, including 1m at 11.42g/t gold from 35m in PDR0038 and 1m at 11.33g/t gold from 54m in PDR0039, along with broad anomalous zones.

Managing Director Peter Bewick said the results "confirm that the high-grade Aurora Lodes extend beyond the limits" of phase one drilling, adding that the lodes remain open.

Geological setting

Day Dawn covers about 20 square kilometres and lies roughly 10km northwest of the Telfer gold-copper mine, which has hosted more than 20 million ounces of gold.

Hamelin said the intersection of flat-lying reefs and steep lodes at Altus can generate very high gold grades. It also likened the flat-lying, reef-style mineralisation at Altus to the reef systems that host most of Telfer's high-grade gold within the Lamil Formation. That comparison is a geological interpretation; proximity to a major mine does not mean Day Dawn will host a deposit of similar scale.

What the results do and do not show

Many of the best intercepts start at shallow depths, between 6m and 24m, which could be relevant if a deposit were eventually defined. However, no mineral resource for Day Dawn was cited, and the high-grade intervals are relatively narrow. Coarse visible gold can also produce uneven, or "nuggety", assay results, which may make grades harder to predict between holes. No exploration target or geological model for Day Dawn was presented, so the overall extent of the mineralised system remains to be determined through further drilling.

The project's ownership structure and any joint venture arrangements were not stated. Hamelin describes itself as a gold explorer with projects in the Tanami and Yilgarn regions of Western Australia as well as the Paterson.

Next steps

Assays from the remaining 13 phase two RC holes are expected in November 2026. The outstanding holes should add to that picture. A maiden diamond drilling programme of 16 holes, totalling about 1,500m and mainly targeting down-plunge extensions, is expected to finish in November, with results due in January 2027.

Deep diamond drilling co-funded under Western Australia's Exploration Incentive Scheme is scheduled to begin in March 2027. That programme will test the interpreted link between the feeder system and the prospective Telfer Formation at depth.

Bewick said the company has a steady flow of results ahead, with 13 holes still to report and diamond drilling underway. The diamond core should provide better structural information than RC chips, which may help the company understand the orientation and continuity of the high-grade lodes before any resource work is considered.