Key Highlights

  • Final 2026 Stage 1 assays from the Torpy’s silver-lead-zinc discovery at Ruddygore are in.
  • Little Torpy’s returned 3 metres at 160.9 grams per tonne silver.
  • Little Torpy’s lies roughly 600 metres south of the main Torpy’s discovery.
  • The project sits about 150 kilometres west of Cairns.

Ballymore Resources (ASX:BMR) has received the final assays from its 2026 drilling campaign at the Torpy's silver-lead-zinc discovery, within the Ruddygore project near Chillagoe, about 150 kilometres west of Cairns. The standout result came from Little Torpy's, a zone roughly 600 metres south of the main Torpy's discovery.

Hole BTPRC031 returned 3 metres at 160.9 grams per tonne silver, 19.8% lead and 13.9% zinc from 68 metres, equal to 33.7% combined lead and zinc. That sits within a broader 16 metres at 35.9 g/t silver, 4.5% lead and 3.4% zinc from 65 metres. Ballymore describes it as the strongest massive sulphide intersection at Little Torpy's so far.

The rest of the batch

The final five holes of the campaign, BTPRC027 to BTPRC031, totalled 502 metres. Hole BTPRC030 returned 22 metres at 47.3 g/t silver, 3.4% lead and 3.3% zinc from just 34 metres, including 9 metres at 90.0 g/t silver. Chalcopyrite was also observed in that hole, with copper assays up to 0.33%.

Not every hole in the batch was successful. BTPRC008 and BTPRC027 to BTPRC029, drilled beneath the main mineralised shoot, found only weak mineralisation. Rather than a setback, Ballymore treats these as useful in defining the limits of the shoot. All reported intervals are downhole, and the company cautions that true widths may be up to 50% less, pending confirmation of the geometry.

The 2026 Stage 1 campaign comprised 22 reverse circulation holes for 2,609 metres.

Why the structural model matters

Ballymore's interpretation is that rhyolite dykes intruded north-north-east trending faults and acted as structural or competency contrasts that focused mineralising fluids. Grades are highest at or near the contact between dykes and greywacke host rock, falling away within roughly 5 to 10 metres below it, and mineralisation is concentrated where north-west and north-north-east faults intersect. Modelling shows a moderate plunge to the south-east.

For investors, a working model like this is valuable because it allows targets to be ranked rather than drilled speculatively. Ballymore says it will prioritise thicker or more complex dyke contacts and their extensions, and notes several structural targets between Torpy's and Little Torpy's are yet to be drilled.

Indium, a by-product metal used in electronics, is present but at lower grades than at the main zone, reaching 1.34 g/t in BTPRC031. Earlier results at the main Torpy's zone included 10 metres at 483.2 g/t silver and 16.5 g/t indium from 131 metres in BTPRC005.

The two zones together now span a corridor of about 600 metres. The main question for the next phase is whether Torpy's and Little Torpy's are separate pods or parts of one larger, structurally linked system. Drilling the untested ground between them should help answer that, and the outcome will shape any future resource estimate.

Silver upside alongside gold plans

Managing director David A-Izzeddin described Dittmer as the company's path to gold production and Torpy's as its high-grade silver upside. That framing matters: Ballymore's near-term development focus remains Dittmer, so Torpy's is likely to compete with that project for funding and attention.

The Ruddygore project covers 556 square kilometres. Historical production between 1904 and 1914 was small, with about 6,000 tonnes of ore yielding 84,000 ounces of silver and 920 tonnes of lead.

Next steps

Ballymore plans to resume drilling at Torpy's and nearby targets in November, subject to rig availability, weather and final target selection. Modelling of final Ruddygore gravity data, also due in November, is expected to help generate targets.

At Dittmer, a bulk sample is planned this quarter and development of upgraded underground access is due in the March quarter of 2027. No resource has yet been defined at Torpy's, so future drilling will need to demonstrate continuity before the discovery can be valued.