Rox Resources Hits 12.46g/t Gold as Youanmi Ore Drives Extend 125m Beyond Plan
Key Takeaways
- Underground infill drilling at United North returned standout intercepts including 10.30m @ 12.46g/t Au (including 1.56m @ 43.42g/t Au) and 9.77m @ 11.17g/t Au, confirming high-grade continuity across the ore system.
- Ore drives on both the 2356mRL and 2341mRL levels have extended approximately 125m beyond the original DFS mine plan footprint, corroborated by surface drilling, underground infill drilling, and production face samples.
- All five headline intercepts were received after the 9 September 2026 data cutoff for the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve update, meaning they represent upside to the published reserves.
- Production stoping is expected to commence in coming weeks once final grade control models are completed, with development already underway on the 2325mRL and 2310mRL levels.
- Rox is targeting the DFS commissioning stockpile of 190,000t at 3.3g/t gold, with a separate surface growth drilling programme now underway supporting the longer-term aspiration of a 150,000ozpa operation.
High-grade infill drilling confirms and extends Youanmi’s United North ore system
Underground diamond drilling at Rox Resources‘s Youanmi Gold Mine in Western Australia is delivering consistently high-grade results, with standout intercepts including 10.30m @ 12.46g/t Au from 184.70m (UNN26018, including 1.56m @ 43.42g/t Au) and 9.77m @ 11.17g/t Au from 229.86m (UNN26013, including 5.07m @ 19.17g/t Au). Alongside those grades, ore drive development has pushed approximately 125m beyond the original Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) mine plan footprint on two levels, pointing to a resource that is both confirming and growing beyond what was planned.
Rox completed 19 holes for 3,326m in August, keeping the drilling programme on schedule. Critically, host shear zones were observed in all drill holes — a key geological consistency signal that reinforces the continuity of mineralisation across the United North ore system.
The five headline intercepts from this programme are:
- 9.77m @ 11.17g/t Au from 229.86m (UNN26_013), including 5.07m @ 19.17g/t Au
- 10.30m @ 12.46g/t Au from 184.70m (UNN26_018), including 1.56m @ 43.42g/t Au
- 2.80m @ 13.20g/t Au from 175.00m (UNN26_019), including 1.00m @ 33.10g/t Au
- 6.98m @ 13.93g/t Au from 187.40m (UNN26_019), including 0.77m @ 19.00g/t Au
- 5.04m @ 4.11g/t Au from 119.50m (UNN26_020), including 2.00m @ 7.04g/t Au
All results were received after the data cutoff date for the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve update announced on 9 September 2026, meaning these intercepts represent upside to the published reserves.
Managing Director & CEO, Phill Wilding
“Underground infill drilling at United North continues to deliver significant high-grade results, confirming, and in some areas growing, the resource while also further derisking delivery from the high-grade Youanmi ore system.”
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Ore drives extend 125m beyond DFS mine plan on two levels
Development progress at United North is now running ahead of the originally scheduled DFS mine plan production rate. Both the 2356mRL and 2341mRL ore drives have extended approximately 125m further along strike than originally designed in the DFS.
This extension is corroborated by three independent data streams:
- Surface resource drilling completed previously
- Underground infill drilling from the current programme
- Production face samples from the advancing ore drives
The growing surface ore stockpile adds further weight to the picture. Management has flagged it is targeting the DFS commissioning stockpile of 190,000t at 3.3g/t gold, reinforcing mill feed readiness as the project moves toward production.
Grade control modelling parameters have been prepared in line with the statistics generated as part of the new United North Mineral Resource Estimate. Final grade control estimates will be completed once all assay results are received.
Managing Director & CEO, Phill Wilding
“With the initial two levels developed and significantly beyond the original DFS mine plan, the teams are now preparing the updated geology grade control models ahead of production stoping works commencing in coming weeks.”
What is underground grade control drilling and why does it matter for investors?
Not all drilling serves the same purpose. Resource definition drilling establishes the broad geological model — it tells you a deposit exists and roughly where the ore sits. Grade control drilling is a finer-scale operation conducted ahead of mining, designed to fill in precisely where high-grade ore sits at a nominal 20m x 20m spacing before stoping commences.
The distinction matters for your portfolio because tighter grade control directly reduces dilution — the mixing of low-grade waste material into mill feed — and improves the accuracy of ore delivery to the processing plant. Higher mill head grade means better margins per tonne processed.
Rox’s stated goal is to have the mine infilled to 12 months ahead of mining by mid-CY2027. The current programme is therefore derisk activity rather than exploration — the company is not discovering new ore here, it is building the operational certainty needed to extract existing ore efficiently. That is a meaningful distinction for an investor assessing how close Youanmi is to predictable, repeatable production.
For investors wanting to understand the geological history behind the current grade control programme, our detailed coverage of the Youanmi resource expansion traces the step-by-step resource growth that brought the project to its current 2.2Moz scale, including the high-grade zones now being drilled at United North.
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Production stoping in coming weeks, growth drilling underway from surface
Both the 2356mRL and 2341mRL ore drives are now preparing for production stoping activities to commence once the final grade control models are completed in coming weeks. Development is sequencing through the next levels:
- Ore drive development is currently underway on the 2325mRL
- The 2310mRL level access is being prepared for crosscut ahead of its ore drive turn out
Beyond the immediate stoping programme, a separate surface growth drilling programme is now underway. CEO Phill Wilding cited this activity as providing further confidence in the company’s aspiration of becoming a 150,000ozpa operation in future years — though this remains a longer-term aspiration.
Youanmi’s scale context is worth keeping in mind. The project is 100%-owned by Rox, hosts a global mineral resource of 12.4Mt at 5.5g/t for 2.2Moz gold, and is located approximately 480km northeast of Perth in Western Australia.
The five headline drill intercepts reported in this announcement are summarised in the table below.
| Hole ID | From (m) | Interval (m) | Grade (g/t Au) | Notable inclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNN26_013 | 229.86 | 9.77 | 11.17 | incl. 5.07m @ 19.17g/t Au |
| UNN26_018 | 184.70 | 10.30 | 12.46 | incl. 1.56m @ 43.42g/t Au; and 3.93m @ 14.37g/t Au |
| UNN26_019 | 175.00 | 2.80 | 13.20 | incl. 1.00m @ 33.10g/t Au |
| UNN26_019 | 187.40 | 6.98 | 13.93 | incl. 0.77m @ 19.00g/t Au; and 2.40m @ 19.52g/t Au; and 1.00m @ 16.00g/t Au |
| UNN26_020 | 119.50 | 5.04 | 4.11 | incl. 2.00m @ 7.04g/t Au |
Final assay results remain outstanding for both the underground resource drilling programme and production face samples. The grade control model will be finalised once all results are received, meaning the full picture of United North’s upper-level potential is still emerging. What has been confirmed so far adds to a body of evidence pointing to a system that is performing at or above expectations heading into production.
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