Key Highlights

  • Easy Drill has mobilised equipment and personnel to the Bondoukou Gold Ridge Project in north-eastern Cote d'Ivoire.
  • The initial programme comprises five diamond holes for about 1,750 metres.
  • Oriented diamond core is intended to clarify structure, geometry and true widths at Wilfred.
  • The contract with Easy Drill covers an estimated 20,000 metres using two rigs.

Dalaroo Metals (ASX:DAL) announced on 12 November 2026 that drilling contractor Easy Drill has mobilised equipment and personnel to its Bondoukou Gold Ridge Project in north-eastern Côte d'Ivoire. The company expects diamond drilling to begin next week.

The initial programme comprises five holes for about 1,750 metres, with each hole planned to reach roughly 350 metres. The start follows minor delays to the mid-to-late October timetable the company had previously indicated.

Dalaroo's earlier reverse circulation (RC) results from Wilfred have already been reported; the focus here is on what the diamond programme is designed to answer.

The results being followed up

The Wilfred discovery was established by RC holes BDRC001, which returned 23 metres at 2.14 grams per tonne gold from surface, and BDRC002, which returned 18 metres at 7.31g/t from 63 metres.

On 9 November, Dalaroo reported that hole BDRC010C, on a section about 1.25 kilometres north of the discovery, intersected 13 metres at 2.67g/t from 87 metres, including 6 metres at 4.19g/t. A scissor hole on the same section, BDRC011B, returned 60 metres at 0.85g/t from 148 metres.

Dalaroo has been careful to note that continuity between the two sections has not been demonstrated, that central and southern holes returned narrower and lower-grade intersections, and that three holes returned no significant results.

Why diamond core matters here

All the intervals reported so far are downhole lengths, and true widths are not yet established. That is the central reason for switching to diamond drilling.

Exploration Manager Frank Twum-Berima Bosompem said oriented diamond core would be critical to refining the interpretation of the structural controls, geometry and continuity of the mineralisation, including true widths. Oriented core allows geologists to measure the angle of veins and structures, which RC chips cannot provide.

The first hole will test beneath the BDRC002 intercept, while two further holes will be drilled on each of two sections about 80 metres to the northwest and southeast.

A larger drilling contract

The contract with Easy Drill covers an estimated 20,000 metres using two rigs. A second rig is due at the end of November to drill the northern section around BDRC010C and BDRC011B. Dalaroo says all follow-up drilling will use diamond rigs once the current RC orientation work is complete.

A 35.1 line-kilometre induced polarisation survey over the Mag, Wilfred and Ali targets is also planned, and assays for RC holes BDRC012 to BDRC018 remain pending.

Funding and ownership

Dalaroo held about $2.04 million in cash at the start of November. It says roughly 263 million in-the-money Options could raise $13.54 million if exercised in full, although option exercise is not guaranteed. A 20,000-metre diamond campaign would require more than the current cash balance.

The company has the right to earn up to 80% of the 245.77 square kilometre Goldridge permit through a joint venture with Goldridge SARL. No mineral resource has been declared.

The geological setting is part of the appeal. North-eastern Côte d'Ivoire lies within the Birimian terrane, which hosts many of West Africa's major gold mines and extends into neighbouring Ghana. Explorers in the region often begin with soil and RC programmes before moving to diamond drilling once a structure has been located, which is the sequence Dalaroo is following. Chief Executive John Morgan said on 9 November that the results strengthened the company's confidence in the potential for a substantial gold system, with considerable upside across the broader 7-kilometre gold-anomalous corridor. That corridor has not yet been fully drilled.

What to watch

The first diamond holes, the pending RC assays and the IP survey will together show whether Wilfred is a coherent structure or a series of separate zones. Funding arrangements for the expanded programme will also be important.