What Is Driving Taruga Minerals (ASX:TAR) Shares Up 10% Today?

Sonal Goyal

22 October 2026 01:07 PM AEDT

What Is Driving Taruga Minerals (ASX:TAR) Shares Up 10% Today?

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Key Highlights

Taruga Minerals (ASX:TAR) shares were up 10.00% at $0.022 during the 22 October 2026 session, while the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.64%.
In its 12 October 2026 announcement, the company said a drill rig had arrived at Weioko for a maiden program of about 1,000m across 10 diamond holes.
Historical Weioko drilling includes 64.6m @ 2.2 g/t Au from surface, and assays from the new program will be flown to ALS in Brisbane.

Taruga Minerals Limited (ASX:TAR) shares were up 10.00% at $0.022 during the trading session on Thursday 22 October 2026. At 11:55 am, the S&P/ASX 200 stood at 8,774.90, down 0.64% (56.40 points), while the All Ordinaries stood at 8,897.80, down 0.66%. Taruga is a Perth-based exploration company with a gold-copper portfolio in Papua New Guinea, anchored by the East Normanby Gold Project on Normanby Island.

About the Company

Taruga Minerals Limited is a Perth-based exploration company listed on the ASX under the code TAR, with offices on St Georges Terrace, Perth. Its portfolio is a district-scale gold-copper package in Papua New Guinea, a country the company describes as one of the world's most mineral-rich provinces.

The board is led by Chairman Paul Cronin and Non-Executive Director Eric De Mori, who were co-founders and directors of Adriatic Metals Ltd, a Balkans polymetallic miner sold in 2025 for A$1.5b to Dundee Precious Metals. Technical Director David Chapman and Head of Exploration Brent Laws support them.

Business Overview

Taruga holds a 12-month option over two flagship projects in Papua New Guinea. The East Normanby Gold Project on Normanby Island covers 488km2 and hosts the high-grade Weioko Gold District across a structural corridor of more than 8km. The Kol Mountain Copper-Gold Project on New Britain Island is a large-scale porphyry target previously assessed by BHP and Rio Tinto.

The acquisition structure is staged, with deferred payments linked to defined JORC 2012 milestones. Taruga is advancing exploration and drilling at Weioko and structural target definition at Kol Mountain.

Drill Rig Arrives at Weioko

In an ASX announcement dated 12 October 2026, Taruga said the diamond drill rig had arrived at Weioko and that its maiden diamond drilling campaign was due to commence in the coming days. The rig is setting up on Pad 1 at the northern end of the Weioko ridgeline.

The company said mobilisation was complete following the appointment of CorePacific Drilling (PNG) as drilling contractor on 20 July 2026. Pad 1 is finished, with remaining pad construction and access works being finalised for the initial drilling. It described the campaign as the first at Weioko since 2009.

Testing Historical Intercepts

The program of about 1,000m across 10 holes is described as an initial reconnaissance and validation campaign targeting the overlying Weioko Conglomerate sequence. Historical drilling was shallow, with 70% of holes drilled to less than 100m and several finishing in mineralisation.

Selected historical results cited include 64.6m @ 2.2 g/t Au from surface in PWED047, including 2.9m @ 33.9 g/t Au, and 51.4m @ 2.0 g/t Au from surface in PWED041. Others were 36m @ 2.7 g/t Au in PWED035 and 63.8m @ 1.5 g/t Au in WEH031. Trench WT1N returned 68m @ 5.9 g/t Au.

District Scale and Surface Sampling

The 12 October 2026 announcement placed Weioko within an 8km mineralised corridor running from Wenasia in the south to Sipupu in the north, part of a 40km low sulphidation epithermal gold belt.

Surface sampling referenced from a 2 September 2026 announcement returned rock chip results of up to 33.1 g/t Au and 223 g/t Ag at Wenasia, and 25.2 g/t Au and 867 g/t Ag at Sipupu.

Related Sector Context

Gold exploration companies listed on the ASX generally advance through drilling, sampling and resource definition, and their share prices can respond to exploration news and gold market conditions. Papua New Guinea hosts large copper-gold systems, and Taruga cites Lihir, Wafi-Golpu and Porgera as examples.

At the time of the data, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.64% and the All Ordinaries down 0.66%, while Taruga shares were up 10.00%.

Risks to Weigh In

The program is an initial reconnaissance campaign, and the historical intercepts it targets were drilled by earlier operators. Results from new holes may differ from earlier data. Taruga holds an option rather than full ownership of its Papua New Guinea projects, and deferred payments are tied to JORC milestones.

Exploration in a remote island setting is subject to logistics, weather and access works. The company's own notice states that forward-looking information involves unknown risks and uncertainties, many outside its control.

Catalysts on Watch

Taruga plans to complete the maiden drilling program, with assay results reported to ASX as received and samples flown to ALS in Brisbane for rapid turnaround. It also plans to complete reprocessing of historical CSAMT data and advance trenching and infill rock chip sampling at Wenasia and Sipupu.

The company said there is scope to expand the program beyond the initial 1,000m and to continue drilling along the southern Weioko strike extension.

Putting It Together

Taruga shares were up 10.00% to $0.022 during the 22 October 2026 session as the benchmarks traded lower. The company's most recent update centres on the arrival of the rig at Weioko and a maiden drilling program, with assay results to follow.

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