Key Highlights

  • Hole AMRCD377 intersected 23m at 2.39 g/t Au from 418m and 33m at 5.02 g/t Au from 450m, below the current Mineral Resource shell.
  • Holes AMRCD466 and AMRCD467, about 150m south of the current Theia resource, intersected further gold zones, including 11.2m at 5.82 g/t Au from 220.19m.
  • The 21-hole, 11,000m Theia Deeps program has 18 holes completed, and the reported assays cover three holes totalling 1,819.3m.

Astral Resources NL (ASX:AAR) announced on 13 October 2026 assay results for three further diamond holes from the Theia Deeps program at the Theia Deposit, part of its 100%-owned Mandilla Gold Project, 70 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The holes, AMRCD377, AMRCD466 and AMRCD467, total 1,819.3 metres. Mandilla's Mineral Resource is 1.4 million ounces, comprising Measured resources of 57,000 ounces, Indicated resources of 1,092,000 ounces and Inferred resources of 588,000 ounces, as reported on 21 April 2026.

AMRCD377 below the resource shell

AMRCD377 was drilled 60 metres north-east of AMRCD378 on the same section. AMRCD378 returned 52.75 metres at 4.67 g/t gold from 445.25 metres, reported on 17 August 2026. AMRCD377 returned 23 metres at 2.39 g/t from 418 metres, including 0.63 metres at 14.3 g/t and 0.3 metres at 107.9 g/t, and 33 metres at 5.02 g/t from 450 metres, which includes narrow intervals of up to 81.2 g/t gold. The company describes this as evidence of a wide zone of higher-grade mineralisation beneath the base of the current Mineral Resource shell.

Shallower intersections in the same hole include 13 metres at 1.81 g/t from 94 metres and 16 metres at 1.01 g/t from 127 metres.

Holes AMRCD466 and AMRCD467

These holes were drilled about 150 metres south of the current Theia Mineral Resource and confirmed extensions of the south-west dipping Theia-style mineralisation. AMRCD466 returned 0.3 metres at 97.1 g/t gold from 112.42 metres, 42 metres at 0.89 g/t from 285 metres and 6 metres at 13.2 g/t from 595 metres.

AMRCD467 returned 11.2 metres at 5.82 g/t from 220.19 metres, 7.5 metres at 4.00 g/t from 257.7 metres, 13.7 metres at 1.70 g/t from 282.3 metres and 35.9 metres at 1.57 g/t from 303.1 metres. The company characterises these as zones of potential open pit mineralisation outside the current resource. Several of the highest grades in these holes come from intervals well under one metre.

Program status

The Theia Deeps diamond program, which has been expanded several times, now covers a planned 21 holes for 11,000 metres, with 18 holes completed. Its focus has moved to testing the width and strike length of the newly identified deep mineralisation. The Theia reverse circulation in-fill drilling program is also continuing. The release states that the work is intended to establish the scale and continuity of higher-grade mineralisation at depth that could potentially support underground extraction once the economic base of the Theia open pit is reached. No underground study or resource update is announced in this release.

Heritage clearances and relocated rigs

Preliminary approval has been received from recently completed heritage surveys at Spargoville and Kamperman, and planning is under way for drill pad preparation. Once that is complete, the RC rig will move to Spargoville for a phased program of 55 holes totalling 10,000 metres, and the diamond rig will move to Kamperman for a three-hole, 1,000 metre program. The approvals are described as preliminary, so the start dates for both programs depend on pad preparation being completed.

Mandilla resource breakdown and other intervals

The 1.4 million ounce Mandilla Mineral Resource consists of 1.3 million tonnes at 1.3 g/t gold for 57,000 ounces of Measured resources, 32.6 million tonnes at 1.0 g/t for 1,092,000 ounces of Indicated resources and 19.6 million tonnes at 0.9 g/t for 588,000 ounces of Inferred resources. Other AMRCD377 intervals include 1 metre at 10.4 g/t gold from 20 metres, 7 metres at 1.60 g/t from 38 metres and 1 metre at 9.87 g/t from 270 metres.