Kuniko Limited has wrapped up phase two diamond drilling at the company's Commonwealth-Silica Hill project in New South Wales, completing a five-hole, 1492-metre campaign designed to expand the mineralised system ahead of a resource update. Assay results from the phase two drilling campaign are expected in October.
The now-completed program was designed to test and extend the interpreted Northern and Southern lodes at its Silica Hill prospect. Since kicking off its earn-in on the project in October 2025, the company has completed 11 diamond drill holes for a combined 2731m. The expanded dataset will help firm up the mineralised system's geological interpretation ahead of an updated resource estimate, which the company has slated for the fourth quarter of this year.
Kuniko’s earn-in and joint venture with Impact Minerals give it the right to secure up to a 90 per cent interest in the project. Currently, its primary deposits at Commonwealth and Silica Hill have JORC-inferred mineral resource estimates totalling 88,000 ounces of gold and 3.3 million ounces of silver.
The impetus for Kuniko’s latest campaign came from a spectacular, bonanza-grade hit during the first phase of drilling, which delivered a stunning 0.5-metre intercept grading an eye-watering 20,603 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and 27g/t gold. Phase two has also served up early promise, with visual logging revealing broad zones of sulphides up to 70m wide and individual veins as thick as half a metre.
The Commonwealth- Silica Hill project comprises two distinct but related deposits within 200m of each other. The Commonwealth Main and South deposits are a polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulphide style system with high-grade gold, silver and zinc. The nearby Silica Hill deposit is an epithermal stockwork vein system that hosts high-grade silver mineralisation.
Kuniko managing director Maja McGuire said: “Completing Phase 2 drilling is an important milestone for Kuniko, with 11 diamond holes now completed for 2,731 metres across the Commonwealth-Silica Hill system. The program has significantly advanced our understanding of the mineralised system, with assays expected in October and planned DHEM surveys to provide further insight into potential extensions.”
Commonwealth-Silica Hill sits in the heart of the revered Lachlan Fold Belt, a region widely described by market commentators as a tier-1 copper-gold province and home to some of Australia’s mining giants.
The belt, which hosts major operations including Newmont’s goliath 30 million ounce Cadia-Ridgeway mine, is seeing renewed exploration fervour, partly thanks to the ongoing success of ASX-listed Alkane Resources at its nearby Boda-Kaiser porphyry copper-gold deposit. That project now features a hefty resource of more than 8.3 million ounces of gold and 1.5 million tonnes of copper, providing a compelling backdrop for any explorer making headway along the same trend.
The use of geophysics to define new targets and extensions has played a key role in the exploration success at Boda-Kaiser, putting Kuniko’s conductor-focused next move neatly in step with the regional exploration playbook. Selected holes from the recent program have been cased with PVC piping to allow for downhole electromagnetic (DHEM) surveying. The geophysical technique is a smart, low-cost way to chase extensions to known mineralisation by sending a probe down the drill hole to “listen” for conductive bodies in the surrounding rock that the drill bit may have missed.
The company says that in parallel with updating the current resource at Commonwealth-Silica Hill, it is working up additional regional targets across the project's broader district-scale system, with priority hotspots lined up for future drilling.
While its current focus is on the gold-silver potential in NSW, Kuniko also holds a portfolio of battery and critical minerals projects in Norway. These include the Ertelien nickel-copper-cobalt project, which holds a 40-million-tonne resource running 0.25 per cent nickel equivalent, in addition to other cobalt and copper assets aimed at servicing the European energy transition.
With the rods now parked at Silica Hill, all eyes will likely be on the upcoming assay results in October. Following that, the DHEM survey results and the updated resource estimate will potentially provide the next key catalysts for Kuniko as it looks to make its mark in one of the country’s most productive and prospective mineral belts.
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