Austral Gold Limited reports 95m at 1.10 g/t AuEq at Guanaco
The Los Nanos assays include mineralization beyond the existing model, but the sector has no reserves and remains outside the mine plan.
Mara Quinlan
Austral Gold Limited ASXAGD CVEAGLD OTCMKTSAGLDF reported on Monday that hole RC-1186 cut 95 metres at 1.10 grams per tonne gold equivalent at Los Nanos, part of its Guanaco mine in Chile. The 23-hole campaign also intersected mineralization beyond the existing resource model at the sector, 2.5 kilometres from the processing plant, although Los Nanos remains outside the mine plan.
At 2:32 p.m. Sydney time on Monday, Austral shares were down 3.33 per cent at A$0.15 on the ASXAGD quote.
Austral drilled 1,128 metres in 23 reverse-circulation holes during the second and third quarters of 2026, and 20 holes returned significant intercepts. The company designed the program to test material within a predominantly inferred resource and to step out along structural intersections beyond its model.
RC-1186's 95-metre interval began one metre down hole and included three metres at 8.11 grams per tonne gold equivalent. Austral expects to start up to 8,000 metres of further drilling in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The longer interval assayed 0.97 grams per tonne gold and 11.99 grams per tonne silver. Austral reports all intervals as down-hole lengths; it has not determined true widths and expects them to be narrower than the reported lengths.
Hole RC-1197 returned 20 metres at 3.12 grams per tonne gold equivalent, including five metres at 5.22 grams per tonne. RC-1196 returned 15 metres at 3.33 grams per tonne, including two metres at 16.01 grams per tonne.
A further hole, RC-1199, cut 26 metres at 1.82 grams per tonne gold equivalent. Three holes in the campaign, RC-1194, RC-1203 and RC-1204, returned no significant results, according to Austral's assay table.
Los Nanos hosts mineral resources but no mineral reserves. The release says its highlighted intercepts exceed the 0.39 to 0.62 grams per tonne gold equivalent cut-off range used in the Guanaco technical report, but it gives no revised estimate for the sector.
"While the sector is not included in the current life-of-mine plan, these drilling results have enhanced our understanding of the mineralised system, and the Company intends to advance an updated geological model and continue infill drilling," chief executive Stabro Kasaneva said in the release.
Austral says the broadest mineralized zones appear where its main east-west and east-northeast structures cross northwest-trending structures. It plans to use the assays to update its geological model before the next drilling phase; the release gives no date for a resource revision.
The company operates agitation and heap leach circuits at Guanaco, supported by haul roads, power and water. Austral said the proximity of Los Nanos to the plant makes it a brownfield target, but it has not placed the sector in its current production schedule.
Austral reported US$20.3 million in cash and US$1.7 million in net financial debt at June 30 in its July 31 quarterly release. Guanaco produced 3,381 gold-equivalent ounces in that quarter, up 17 per cent from the first quarter.
Austral expects the next Los Nanos drilling phase, covering up to 8,000 metres, to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.
