Why Diablo Resources (ASX:DBO) is sampling around Utah's historic Horn silver mine ahead of maiden drilling in 2027

Sonal Goyal

12 November 2026 02:05 PM AEDT

Why Diablo Resources (ASX:DBO) is sampling around Utah's historic Horn silver mine ahead of maiden drilling in 2027

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Key Highlights

Diablo completed an 80% Acquisition of the Horn Silver Project in the September quarter, which includes the historic Horn Silver Mine.
Reconnaissance sampling reported grades of up to 4,190g/t silver at the Buckhorn prospect, with the latest release adding grab samples of up to 1,580g/t silver at Gossan.
Cash was $1.56 million at 30 September with no debt, and the company estimates 2.45 quarters of funding.
Diamond drilling at Star Range finished after quarter end, with results expected in the December quarter.

Diablo Resources (ASX:DBO) has become a Utah-focused silver and polymetallic explorer. In the September quarter it completed an 80% acquisition of the Horn Silver Project in the historic Frisco Mining District. That project includes the old Horn Silver Mine, which reportedly produced about 17 million ounces of silver at 604g/t. Since then the company has released a series of surface sampling results. The most recent, on 9 November 2026, reported antimony with silver in old mine dumps and high-grade silver grab samples at the Gossan and Drum Fissure targets.

The work is a step towards drilling, not a discovery. Diablo says the new results will feed into target ranking for a maiden Horn drilling programme planned for the March quarter of 2027. Separately, it is waiting for assays from its first diamond drilling at the nearby Star Range project.

Building the Horn position

Diablo announced on 17 August that it had acquired 80% of Antler Resources LLC, which holds 101 unpatented claims. It issued 36 million escrowed shares as consideration. On 8 September it exercised an option over 101 patented claims covering the historic mine itself, giving it about 13.2 square kilometres across 202 claims. Horn lies about 15km from Star Range, which Diablo presents as a district-scale position.

The historical production figures are not a JORC mineral resource. The company has not reported any resource at Horn.

What the sampling shows

Reconnaissance rock sampling reported during the quarter included grades of up to 4,190g/t silver at the Buckhorn prospect. Other prospects also returned high-grade silver, gold and copper. On 26 October Diablo reported surface tungsten values of up to 0.37% WO3 at the Cupric prospect, where adits were built in the 1940s. The 9 November release added grab samples of up to 1,580g/t silver at Gossan and up to 0.47% antimony from historical dump material.

Grab and dump samples are selective. They show that mineralisation is present but do not indicate its width, continuity or grade at depth. Diablo itself frames them as inputs to drill planning.

Star Range drilling

Diamond drilling began at the North Star prospect during the quarter. It is testing silver-antimony-copper-gold targets beneath surface mineralisation and induced polarisation (IP) anomalies. The permitted initial programme was about 1,000 metres in five holes. Drilling finished after quarter end, and the company expects results in the December quarter of 2026. No assays had been released by 11 November.

Cash and dilution

Diablo's Appendix 5B, released on 29 October 2026, shows $1.56 million in cash at 30 September and no Debt facilities. The quarter's figures included $2.18 million raised from Tranche 2 of a $3.5 million Placement and $1.03 million spent on tenement payments. They also included $365,000 of capitalised exploration and $273,000 of net operating outflows. The company estimates 2.45 quarters of funding. However, that measure excludes tenement acquisition costs, and the Star Range drilling and a 2027 Horn programme are likely to need more capital. The placement and the acquisition shares have already enlarged the share register.

Risks and milestones

Silver, antimony and tungsten are on US critical-minerals lists, and Utah is an established mining jurisdiction. Even so, Diablo's targets are at an early stage. Its risks include drilling failing to confirm surface grades, permitting on federal land, holding only 80% of the unpatented ground and the need for further funding. The Annual General Meeting is at 10.30am (WST) on 26 November 2026 in West Perth. North Star assays are due in the December quarter, and maiden Horn drilling is planned for the March quarter of 2027.

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