Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) is a Western Australian explorer whose near-term story is a short reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme at its Yindi Gold Project, funded in part by a small entitlement offer at half a cent a share. Nothing about it is a defined resource yet: this is early-stage exploration.

The project

Yindi covers about 180 square kilometres in the Eastern Goldfields, roughly 45 kilometres south of Northern Star’s Carosue Dam operation, according to coverage of the company’s 16 September 2026 announcement. The company’s targeting centres on a gold-in-soil anomaly measuring about 4.0 by 1.7 kilometres.

Drilling under way

Marquee said drilling would start on or around 18 September 2026 with Kennedy Drilling. The programme is eight RC holes totalling about 1,125 metres, with around 14 days on site. The aim is to test fresh bedrock beneath the weathered regolith, which earlier aircore drilling did not reach.

Historical results cited include 8 metres at 0.89 grams per tonne gold from 56 metres and 8 metres at 0.51 grams per tonne from 60 metres. These are exploration intercepts in the regolith, true widths are unknown, and they are not a mineral resource under the JORC Code. Target selection reportedly used geostatistical ranking across more than 6,000 soil samples and 577 historical holes.

Samples are due to be analysed by fire assay and multi-element methods.

Funding

On 16 July 2026 the company opened a 1-for-5 non-renounceable entitlement offer at A$0.005 per share, seeking up to about A$1.02 million before costs. The offer closed on 27 July 2026. On 3 August 2026 Marquee applied to quote 9,150,141 new shares from the offer and noted that a further 195,279,631 shares from the same transaction, the shortfall, had yet to be issued. After that issue there were 1,031,296,641 quoted ordinary shares, alongside roughly 195 million unquoted Options and 50 million performance rights.

That share count matters. A stock priced at A$0.004 with more than a billion shares on issue has a Market Value of only a few million dollars, and further raisings would dilute holders heavily.

Sector context

Gold exploration in the Eastern Goldfields is crowded and capital-hungry. Most drill programmes do not lead to a Mining project, and small companies typically fund each stage through Equity raisings. Gold prices affect sentiment but do not change the geology of a particular target.

Upcoming dates

Marquee announced on 30 September 2026 that its Annual General Meeting will be held on 25 November 2026, subject to regulatory approval, with director nominations closing at 5.00pm WST on 9 October 2026. Assay results from Yindi have not been given a confirmed date.

Key risks

Exploration risk, dilution, thin funding and the absence of a resource are the main issues.