Taruga Minerals Limited (ASX:TAR): Drill Rig Reaches Weioko as Surface Sampling Widens the Normanby Island Footprint

Aditi Sarkar

23 October 2026 07:49 PM AEDT

Taruga Minerals Limited (ASX:TAR): Drill Rig Reaches Weioko as Surface Sampling Widens the Normanby Island Footprint

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Highlights

A drill rig was reported mobilised to the Weioko Gold Deposit on 12 October 2026.
Rock chip results announced on 2 September 2026 included 33.1 g/t gold and 223 g/t silver at Wenasia.
The initial diamond program with CorePacific Drilling (PNG) was set at 1,000m.
Exploration licences EL2830 and EL2831 take the East Normanby tenure to 488 km2.
A Uaroo Ridge rock chip in Western Australia returned 1.41 g/t gold and 4.26% copper.

Taruga Minerals Limited (ASX:TAR) is a mineral exploration company with gold, silver and copper projects in Papua New Guinea and Western Australia, including the East Normanby Gold Project on Normanby Island. ASX:TAR announced on 12 October 2026 that a drill rig had been mobilised to site at the Weioko Gold Deposit.

From surface samples to a drill rig

According to the 2 September 2026 announcement, 44 rock chip samples from the Wenasia and Sipupu prospects were reported, with 14 returning above 0.5 g/t gold and six above 5 g/t gold. At Wenasia, sample results included 33.1 g/t gold with 223 g/t silver, which the company described as its highest gold grade to date. At Sipupu, one sample returned 25.2 g/t gold with 867 g/t silver.

The company interprets the results as consistent with a low-sulphidation epithermal system across an 8 km corridor from Wenasia to Sipupu.

It also stated that rock chip samples are highly selective and not representative of average deposit grade, and that no competent person has done sufficient work to report a JORC 2012 compliant resource at Weioko.

Maiden diamond program at Weioko

On 20 July 2026, the company said it had engaged CorePacific Drilling (PNG) for a maiden diamond program at Weioko, with an initial 1,000m of core and a contract allowing extra metres without renegotiation. It is designed to test historical high-grade intercepts and extend holes that ended in mineralisation.

Historical drilling comprised 67 holes for 5,792m, with the last drilling at the deposit in 2009. The rig is man-portable and can reach about 250m depth, and assay results are to be released as the laboratory returns them.

The September update also listed trenching, infill sampling and mapping at the Wenasia and Sipupu source zones.

Tenure, funding and other projects

Exploration licences EL2830 and EL2831 were granted, bringing East Normanby to 488 km2 with EL2590. The ASX:TAR June 2026 quarterly report stated that the grant satisfied the vesting condition for 17.5 million vendor performance rights, and reported cash of about $1.84 million and nil debt at 30 June 2026.

In Western Australia, the ASX:TAR update of 17 September 2026 covered Uaroo Ridge in the Gascoyne Province. Three rock chips from quartz veins returned up to 1.41 g/t gold and 4.26% copper, and soil sampling defined a northeast-trending gold-copper anomaly. Further soil sampling and magnetic and gravity surveys were planned, and the company said the data cannot support a Mineral Resource estimate.

Key Insights

The ASX:TAR confirmed developments are the mobilisation of a drill rig to Weioko, surface sampling results across the Wenasia and Sipupu prospects, and the grant of the licences over the project area. No results from the new drilling have been reported, and no JORC 2012 resource exists at Weioko.

Rock chip grades are selective by nature, and the company's own cautions apply. Whether drilling confirms the historical intercepts is a company objective rather than an established outcome. Funding, access and logistics in Papua New Guinea remain factors for an early-stage explorer.

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