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Astral Resources has recorded its highest-ever individual gold assay at the Theia deposit in Western Australia, intersecting 0.34m at 1146.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold within a broader 31m zone grading 13.5g/t gold.
The standout result was returned from 288m in diamond hole AMRCD468A at Astral’s Mandilla gold project, approximately 70km south of Kalgoorlie.
Further drilling returned 40m at 3.30g/t gold from 332m, including 0.3m at 317g/t, alongside a significant deeper intersection of 111m at 1.12g/t gold from 424m.
Astral managing director Marc Ducler said the results reinforced confidence in Theia’s mineralised system and its growth potential.
“The Theia Deeps drill program has delivered some exceptionally high-grade individual assays along with broad zones of gold mineralisation, reinforcing the significant endowment of the Theia mineral system and the potential to grow the current resource,” Ducler said.
The deeper 111m intersection, returned from hole AMRCD515, extended below the April 2026 mineral resource pit shell, offering further opportunities to expand the deposit beyond its existing boundaries.
Additional drilling in AMRCD514 returned 2m at 16.5g/t gold from 434m, 2m at 16.2g/t from 517m and 38m at 0.84g/t from 572m.
The latest results build on previous high-grade drilling beneath Theia’s resource shell, which strengthened the potential for future underground mining beyond the proposed open pit.
Earlier drilling also returned 33m at 5.02g/t gold and 52.75m at 4.67g/t, supporting the interpretation of a substantial high-grade mineralised system at depth.
Theia currently hosts approximately 1.4 million ounces of gold within Mandilla’s broader 1.74-million-ounce mineral resource.
“The focus of the Theia Deeps program has switched to in-fill within the main gold mineralisation ore shoot,” Ducler said.
“A further four holes have been added to the program to achieve a 60m by 60m drill density within this area, which is a designed spacing to support the potential declaration of inferred mineral resources at depth.”
The program has now expanded to 25 diamond holes totalling approximately 13,400m, with further assays pending and drilling expected to continue into early 2027.
Meanwhile, Astral continues infill drilling within Theia’s proposed Stage 1 open pit, where recent results have supported the company’s resource conversion strategy.
Astral is also preparing further exploration at its Spargoville project, with a 10,000m drilling campaign at Spiders now scheduled to commence during the March 2027 quarter.
The company continues advancing Mandilla’s definitive feasibility study, targeting completion in the March quarter of 2027.
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