Marquee Resources Drills Into Fresh Rock at Yindi to Hunt Primary Gold Source
Key Takeaways
- Marquee Resources (ASX: MQR) has mobilised Kennedy Drilling's RC rig to the Yindi Gold Project, with drilling expected to commence on or around 18 September 2026 across an 8-hole, ~1,125 m program.
- The central corridor target is defined by a 4.0 km x 1.7 km gold-in-soil anomaly, with historical aircore drilling already returning intercepts including 8 m @ 0.89 g/t Au from 56 m — but those holes never reached fresh rock.
- The program was designed using a geostatistical ranking methodology applied to more than 6,000 soil samples and 577 historical drill holes, narrowing the anomaly into specific high-confidence drill positions.
- RC drilling is specifically designed to punch through the regolith into unweathered fresh rock below, where a structurally controlled primary gold deposit would be expected to sit — the critical test this program is making.
- Beyond the central corridor, Yindi hosts additional pipeline targets including a NNW structural corridor with a historical intercept of 2 m @ 12 g/t Au from 82 m and an untested ~3 km granite–greenstone contact trend.
Drilling begins at Yindi as Marquee targets fresh rock gold beneath the cover
Marquee Resources (ASX: MQR) has mobilised Kennedy Drilling’s RC rig to its Yindi Gold Project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields, with drilling expected to commence on or around 18 September 2026. The move marks the transition from target definition into active drilling, with the company now testing its highest-priority gold corridor across a 180 km² tenure package located approximately 45 km south of Northern Star’s (ASX: NST) Carosue Dam operations and in the vicinity of Ramelius Resources’ (ASX: RMS) Roe project. Geographic proximity to these operations is noted for context only and does not imply similar mineralisation within Marquee’s tenure.
The first-phase program comprises 8 RC holes for approximately 1,125 m in total.
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What the drill program targets and why it matters
The central corridor — Yindi’s lead gold target
The central corridor is Yindi’s lead gold target, defined by an approximately 4.0 km x 1.7 km east–west gold-in-soil dispersion halo on the southern nose of the Bulyairdie Monzogranite. The corridor sits where north–south and northwest–southeast greenstone trends intersect, creating a structurally favourable setting for orogenic gold.
The central corridor is one of five major gold anomalies at Yindi that Marquee’s earlier target definition work identified across the tenure, with the geostatistical ranking methodology narrowing the broader anomaly set into the specific drill positions now being tested.
Historical aircore drilling has already returned gold results within the regolith beneath transported cover at this location. Those results include:
- 8 m @ 0.89 g/t Au from 56 m (YLAC0401)
- 8 m @ 0.51 g/t Au from 60 m (YLAC0224)
- 4 m @ 0.41 g/t Au from 20 m and 1 m @ 0.64 g/t Au from 77 m (YLAC0400)
All intercepts are reported as down-hole widths; true widths are not known. These are historical results generated by previous explorers (Riversgold, 2017).
The key limitation of the historical drilling is that it largely tested gold expression in saprolite and channel sands above the mafic bedrock, leaving the underlying fresh rock untested. This program drills through the regolith into fresh rock to test for the primary gold source.
How the drill holes were chosen
The company applied a geostatistical ranking methodology to more than 6,000 soil samples and 577 historical drill holes to sharpen the target from a broad anomaly into specific, high-confidence drill positions.
In plain terms, each sample location was scored using a combined gold–arsenic index (with antimony and iron applied as negative filters to reduce false signals). Arsenic is positively associated with gold at Yindi, while antimony and iron are not, so those elements were used to filter out less reliable anomalies. The result is a tighter east–west cluster that forms the basis for hole placement.
Arsenic’s positive association with gold at Yindi mirrors the pathfinder relationships Marquee investigated during antimony-gold drilling at Mt Clement, where multi-element geochemistry was used to distinguish primary mineralisation signals from background noise in weathered profiles.
| Priority | Holes | Focus | Total Metreage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priority 1 | 6 holes (PYND_RC01–06) | Central corridor and highest-ranked geostatistical clusters | — |
| Priority 2 | 2 holes (PYND_RC07–08) | Step-out tests on adjacent ranked anomalies and structural extensions | — |
| Total | 8 holes | — | ~1,125 m |
Hole positions, depths, and total metreage may be adjusted in the field based on geological observations and ground conditions.
Understanding RC drilling and why fresh rock matters
RC (reverse circulation) drilling is a method where compressed air forces rock chips back up through the inside of the drill rods to surface, allowing geologists to collect samples at every metre of depth. This produces faster, cleaner results than older rotary methods and is well suited to penetrating through deep weathered rock into the fresh material below.
The distinction between fresh rock and the regolith above it is critical at Yindi. The regolith is the deeply weathered profile near surface, including saprolite and channel sands, where gold can be transported and redeposited as secondary mineralisation. Historical aircore drilling at Yindi tested this zone but could not definitively reach the primary mineralised source beneath it. RC drilling is designed to punch through the regolith into the unweathered fresh rock below, where a structurally controlled primary gold deposit would be expected to sit.
The key steps in the process, as outlined in the announcement, are:
- Mobilisation and site preparation, with drilling expected to begin on or around 18 September 2026
- Drilling of approximately 14 days on site, with RC chips collected at 1 m intervals via a rig-mounted cone splitter
- Entire samples pulverised at ALS Perth (PUL-23 preparation) to improve representativity where coarse gold may be present
- Gold analysed by 50g fire assay with AAS finish (Au-AA26)
- Every sample also analysed for 48 elements by four-acid digest with ICP-MS finish (ME-MS61), providing arsenic, antimony, iron, and other pathfinder data
- Results reported once received and validated by the company
If primary gold mineralisation is confirmed in fresh rock beneath the existing anomalism, it would materially upgrade the project’s discovery potential and provide a clear basis for follow-up drilling at scale.
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Director quote and what comes next
Charles Thomas, Executive Chairman & Managing Director
“We are moving Yindi from target definition into drilling, with a focused program to test our highest-priority gold corridor. Historical drilling has already intersected gold beneath cover, and our review of more than 6,000 soil samples and 577 drill holes gives us a clear basis for selecting these drill positions.”
Beyond the central corridor being tested in this first-phase program, Yindi hosts a broader pipeline of follow-up targets for subsequent exploration phases:
- NNW structural corridor — historical drilling returned 2 m @ 12 g/t Au from 82 m (SLKI179) beneath weak surface geochemistry; the down-plunge extension of this intercept remains untested and is targeted in the phase 2 program
- Granite–greenstone contact — an approximately 3 km untested trend along a granitic margin where northeast-trending structures intersect the contact
- Next-stage and early-stage targets — including a 2.2 km x 1.7 km dispersion halo associated with a NNW-trending magnetic high and dolerite host rock
The immediate milestones for the program are:
- Commence drilling on or around 18 September 2026
- Complete the 8-hole program (approximately 14 days on site)
- Submit samples to ALS Perth for 50g gold fire assay and 48-element analysis
- Integrate gold and multi-element results with the geostatistical model to refine targeting and rank the wider portfolio
- Report results once received and validated by the company
Ready to Follow Marquee Resources’ First RC Drill Results at the Yindi Gold Project?
Marquee Resources (ASX: MQR) has mobilised its RC rig to the Yindi Gold Project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields, targeting the primary gold source in fresh rock beneath a 4.0 km x 1.7 km soil anomaly that historical aircore drilling never fully tested. With 8 holes across approximately 1,125 m planned across the central corridor, the results could materially upgrade the project’s discovery potential and unlock a broader pipeline of follow-up targets.
To stay across the drill program milestones, assay results, and what comes next for Yindi’s wider target portfolio, explore the full Marquee Resources project profile on Discovery Alert.