Pacgold nails five hits from five holes in new Qld gold target
Pacgold Limited managing director Matthew Boyes said: ““The identification of large zones of continuous mineralization at Kapok in the first pass air core program is truly exciting and continues to strengthen our understanding of the system and add confidence to what we believe has the potential for a major gold discovery at Alice River.”
While Kapok has attracted attention, Pacgold has also pulled in encouraging numbers from the company’s Victoria target, a hidden gem nestled beneath a blanket of shallow sandstone and sand just two kilometers southeast of the artifact-filled South Target.
Victoria lies along a five-kilometre stretch of the Alice River rapids and forms part of the same gold-bearing corridor that has caused a series of powerful pulses nearby.
An airbase attack in 2024 sparked a series of gold, arsenic and antimony anomalies stretching across the target area.
To track these scents, the platforms were brought back two months ago to run a 20-hole reverse circulation program along the 2.4-kilometer priority strike to see how deep the system went.
The drill bit penetrated the cap to reveal low-grade but persistent gold mineralization in quartz veins hosted in the basement; This is an early sign of a potentially much broader system lurking beneath.
Management says the results clearly justify a larger effort in 2026, with infill and staged drilling on the cards to pursue mineralization at depth and along strike.
The larger Alice River project covers 377 square kilometers in the gold-rich north Queensland mining region, which is home to multi-million ounce neighbors such as the Ravenswood, Pajingo and Mt Leyshon operations.
With the wet season fast approaching, Pacgold is preparing to end its 2025 scouting campaign. The impressive program drilled 118 reverse circulation vents across 12,586 meters and 434 vents across 4,608 metres.
In particular, the company took the opportunity to test a high-impact target called White Lion at the southern end of their lease, which had the potential to be eye-catching.
This prospect ticks all the boxes for the classic Mount Leyshon style pressure pipe, one of Queensland’s most legendary gold systems, and yet it has somehow remained completely overlooked. Until Pacgold’s geophysics revealed a deep induced polarization (IP) anomaly peaking at 38 millivolts against a more inert 8 millivolt background; The kind of signature that would make geologists sit up straight.
Located 50 to 250 m below the surface, the 800 m by 500 m target illuminates rechargeability, resistivity and magnetic properties, a rare triple play in exploration circles. Ten holes have now been drilled over a one kilometer area and all eyes are focused on the laser test results, which are expected shortly.
Pacgold announced last month that, unlike its exploration efforts in Queensland, it had seized the keys to the historic White Dam heap leach gold operation in South Australia. The low-cost trade, valued at $3.3 million in cash and 15 million Pacgold shares, paves the way for short-term production and cash flow.
Pacgold’s newly acquired mine, just 80 kilometers southwest of Broken Hill, is no stranger to gold. Between 2010 and 2018, the fully operational heap leach operation pumped out nearly 180,000 ounces and still has plenty left to give.
The deal gives Pacgold the entire package, including the processing plant, camp, wash areas and supporting infrastructure, all in solid working order and ready to roll. It also comes with a steady JORC resource of 4.6 million tonnes at 0.7 g/t for 102,000 ounces of gold.
But the real sweetener lies in the gold that is currently sitting in the filtration pads. Pacgold plans to regrind and withdraw this material to start production and cash flow in early February next year.
Once the legacy searches are over and the rigs are set to return next field season, Pacgold is preparing to hit the field running on multiple fronts.
The company’s work mapped a continuous 15-kilometer gold-arsenic-antimony anomaly along the Alice River Fault Zone, a geochemical highway filled with potential and ample room to grow the resource base through systematic drilling.
If Kapok’s early promises are delivered, it could soon join Posie, Shadows and other projects at Central to become another major piece in what could become one of Queensland’s most intriguing emerging gold systems.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
