Focus Minerals Confirms High-Grade Gold at Green Light Ahead of Open Pit Feasibility
Key Takeaways
- Focus Minerals completed 114 RC infill holes totalling 8,968m at Green Light, with the best intersection returning 3.00m @ 30.48 g/t Au from 27m — confirming mineralisation style mirrors the adjacent CNX Gold Deposit.
- The 2026 infill programme drilled to 20m spacing is designed to upgrade the existing 29,300 oz Inferred resource to Indicated status, the confidence level required to advance an open pit feasibility study.
- Grade control drilling at the historic 1991 CNX waste dump has already recovered 36 Kt of mineralised stockpile, with approximately 40 Kt of reclaimable material still remaining — ounces added at very low incremental cost.
- Metallurgical testwork on fresh-rock CNX/Green Light composites returned post-gravity leach recoveries of 96.9% to 98.2%, confirming efficient processing through the existing 1.2Mtpa Three Mile Hill plant less than 2km away.
- A Mineral Resource update, Mineral Reserve calculation, and economic mine design for permitting are all targeted for Q4 2026, with geotechnical drilling already underway in September 2026.
Green Light drilling confirms CNX-style mineralisation ahead of open pit feasibility
Focus Minerals (ASX: FML) has completed a substantial infill drilling campaign at the Green Light Deposit within its Coolgardie Gold Project, confirming that the mineralisation style mirrors the adjacent CNX Gold Deposit. The result is a material step toward open pit feasibility, with 114 RC infill holes totalling 8,968m drilled at Green Light and a further 3,265m of RC grade control drilling completed at the historic 1991 CNX waste dump. The standout intersection from the campaign came in hole 26GLRC055 at 3.00m @ 30.48 g/t Au from 27m (GxM 91).
Green Light sits within a 119km² tenement holding in Western Australia’s Goldfields region, less than 2km from Focus’s 1.2Mtpa Three Mile Hill processing plant at Three Mile Hill.
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2026 infill campaign delivers standout intersections across Green Light
Top Green Light intersections from the 2026 infill campaign
Significant intersections recorded at Green Light during 2026 drilling, calculated at a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off with up to 2m internal dilution, include:
- 26GLRC055 — 3.00m @ 30.48 g/t from 27m (GxM 91)
- 26GLRC062 — 12.00m @ 4.17 g/t from 40m (GxM 50)
- 26GLRC039 — 32.00m @ 1.19 g/t from 48m (GxM 38)
- 26GLRC052 — 18.00m @ 1.48 g/t from 117m (GxM 27)
- 26GLRC108 — 17.00m @ 1.38 g/t from 0m (GxM 23)
- 26GLRC056 — 4.00m @ 5.68 g/t from 13m (GxM 23)
The cut-off applied here is 0.4 g/t Au, updated from the 0.5 g/t Au threshold used for the 2021 maiden resource. The change reflects the higher gold price environment and means these intersections are being assessed against a more inclusive economic threshold.
Current mineral resource and what infill drilling is targeting
The existing Green Light maiden Mineral Resource was declared in December 2021 using a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off to 200mRL:
| Classification | Tonnage (Mt) | Grade (g/t Au) | Contained Au (oz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicated | 0.44 | 1.14 | 16,300 |
| Inferred | 0.77 | 1.18 | 29,300 |
| Total | 1.22 | 1.17 | 45,600 |
The 2026 infill programme, drilled to nominal 20m spacing, is designed to upgrade the Inferred portions of this resource to Indicated quality. Indicated status carries greater geological confidence and is the standard required to advance an open pit feasibility study and secure mining approval.
What is grade control drilling — and why does it matter for investors?
RC grade control drilling (Reverse Circulation — a method that returns rock chips to surface via air pressure through the drill rods) is used to map gold distribution at fine resolution before mining begins. Think of it as the final check before you commit machinery to moving earth.
Without it, you are essentially guessing which material is ore and which is waste — a costly mistake when you are paying to truck and process every tonne. Grade control pins down exactly where the gold sits, allowing mining teams to distinguish ore from waste before any material is moved.
The commercial relevance in the CNX waste dump context is direct. What was classified as waste rock in 1991 is now being drilled and assessed metre by metre. Where gold mineralisation is confirmed above economic cut-off, that material can be reclassified as recoverable stockpile rather than simply relocated. You add ounces at very low incremental cost — the dump has to be moved regardless to allow approved CNX Stage 1 pit mining to proceed.
Historic CNX waste dump reclassified — 36 Kt stockpile already recovered
The 1991 CNX waste dump must be relocated to facilitate approved Stage 1 open pit mining. Before moving it, Focus completed initial characterisation RC drilling across the dump from the 426mRL elevation. Results were significantly gold mineralised, triggering additional infill rounds at 10m spacing across accessible portions of the dump.
What started as a logistical obligation has become a near-term production opportunity.
Standout CNX waste dump intersections
Significant intersections from grade control drilling, calculated at a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off with up to 2m internal dilution, include:
- 26CNWD614 — 9.00m @ 2.87 g/t from 0m (GxM 26)
- 26CNWD947 — 4.00m @ 5.33 g/t from 1m (GxM 21)
- 26CNWD620 — 14.00m @ 1.45 g/t from 0m (GxM 20)
- 26CNWD678 — 6.00m @ 2.39 g/t from 1m (GxM 14)
- 26CNWD744 — 5.00m @ 2.79 g/t from 1m (GxM 14)
- 26CNWD618 — 12.00m @ 1.16 g/t from 0m (GxM 14)
- 26CNWD607 — 12.00m @ 1.08 g/t from 0m (GxM 13)
Stockpile status as of 31 August 2026
The grade control drilling has already translated into tangible stockpile tonnages. As of 31 August 2026:
- 36 Kt of mineralised stockpile has already been recovered, from mining between 426mRL and 419mRL
- Approximately 40 Kt of reclaimable stockpile remains within the old CNX waste dump
This is not a one-time event. Additional grade control infill drilling is planned as the drillable footprint expands during dump removal, meaning further reclassifications are possible as access improves.
Metallurgy supports high recoveries — feasibility work advancing
Metallurgical testwork on three composite fresh-rock CNX/Green Light samples (sample IDs FC188449/KW1375, FC188450/KW1376, FC188451/KW1377) returned strong results across the board:
- Gravity gold recovery: 62.5% to 80.6%
- Post-gravity leach recovery: 96.9% to 98.2%
- Low reagent consumption across all three samples
High gravity recoveries reduce the leach circuit workload, and the near-complete leach recoveries that follow mean very little gold is lost in the tails. Together, the results indicate that fresh-rock material from both deposits should process efficiently through the existing Three Mile Hill plant.
Feasibility advancement work already completed includes:
- Heritage survey completed — area cleared for follow-up works
- Hydrogeological assessment and water table monitoring in progress
- Flora and fauna surveys completed (multiple rounds)
- Baseline noise and dust studies completed
- Metallurgical composite sampling finalised
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What’s next — resource update and mine permitting targeted for Q4 2026
Focus has a clearly defined pipeline of de-risking milestones targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. The proximity of Green Light to the existing Three Mile Hill processing plant (less than 2km) means that any resource upgrade and reserve declaration feeds directly into an operational processing pathway — there is no processing infrastructure gap to bridge.
Upcoming milestones include:
- Geotechnical drilling underway September 2026
- Material classification testwork — Q4 2026
- Mineral Resource update — Q4 2026
- Economic mine design for permitting — Q4 2026
- Mineral Reserve calculation — Q4 2026
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