Key highlights

• Novo Resources has placed its Tibooburra Gold Project in north-west New South Wales at the centre of its December-quarter work.

• A Reverse Circulation Drilling programme of about 2,700 metres is planned at the Clone prospect.

• This update covers why Clone matters, the funding position, and how the Egina review compares with Hemi.

Novo Resources (ASX:NVO) has set the Tibooburra Gold Project in north-west New South Wales at the centre of its December-quarter work, with a reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme of about 2,700 metres planned at the Clone prospect. According to the company's latest quarterly Business review, lodged with the ASX on 3 November, drilling was scheduled to begin in early November after the required regulatory and landholder approvals were secured.

The programme is designed to follow up plunging high-grade gold shoots identified during Novo's 2025 campaign and to test whether they extend further. The company has said the mineralisation at Clone remains open in several directions. That description should be read carefully: "open" means drilling has not yet closed off the zone, not that further mineralisation has been demonstrated.

Why Clone matters to the wider story

Clone is one piece of a larger district effort. Novo has completed regional stream sediment sampling, targeted soil sampling, rock-chip work and geological mapping across the roughly 30-kilometre-long Albert Goldfield, with assays still pending. The company intends to use those results to rank new gold-anomalous zones and build a pipeline of targets for possible drilling in the first half of 2027.

For investors, the value of the current campaign therefore lies partly in what it reveals about continuity. If the high-grade shoots persist down plunge, Clone could move closer to a resource-definition stage. If they do not, the regional work becomes more important in identifying replacement targets.

Funding position and investments

Novo reported A$8.5 million in cash at the end of September and an Investment portfolio valued at about A$38.1 million, giving combined cash and investments of roughly A$46.6 million. That mix is relevant. Cash funds near-term drilling, while the value of listed or unlisted investments can move with market conditions and may not be realised at the stated figure.

Egina review and the Hemi comparison

In Western Australia, Novo is reviewing geological data from the Egina Gold Project after Northern Star Resources withdrew from its earn-in earlier this year. Consultant geologist Allan Kneeshaw, who was involved in the Hemi discovery, has been engaged to examine lithogeochemistry around the Millindinna Intrusive Suite. Novo considers structural corridors linked to that intrusive suite prospective for Hemi-style gold mineralisation.

That comparison is a company view rather than an established result. No Hemi-style deposit has been identified at Egina, and the company expects to update the market on the review in December.

Other projects remain earlier stage

At the Teichman Gold Project, a maiden RC campaign is now planned for the first half of 2027 after delays while regulatory and heritage approvals are obtained. Historic workings there cover two main shear zones across an area of about 2.5 kilometres by 1.3 kilometres. At the Farno joint venture, Northern Star has continued mapping and sampling, with gravity and induced polarisation surveys proposed subject to access approvals.

At the Wyloo Polymetallic Project, earlier sampling outlined a 600-metre by 270-metre antimony-arsenic anomaly at Vera, open to the north and east. New samples are being analysed with the Ultrafine+ method, and aircore drilling is planned for 2027, subject to heritage approvals. In Victoria, Novo continues to assess Options for the Belltopper Gold Project, including a potential partner, with internal studies examining an underground Mining and toll-treatment scenario.

What to watch next

The immediate catalysts are the start of drilling at Clone, assay results from the Tibooburra regional sampling and the December update on Egina. The Clone assays will provide the first real test. Investors should note that Novo's portfolio remains at the exploration and study stage, with no project yet supported by a production decision.