Marquee Resources Hits Fresh Rock at Yindi With 55 Assays Pending

Fresh rock reached at Yindi as Marquee advances gold hunt in Western Australia

Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) has reached fresh rock beneath transported cover in the central corridor at its Yindi Gold and Lithium Project for the first time in the company’s drilling history at the project. Three RC holes drilled for a total of 227m have delivered geological and ground-condition information to guide follow-up drilling, with 55 samples now submitted for assay. No assay results are available at the date of this announcement.

The Yindi project covers 180 km² of tenure in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, approximately 45 km south of Northern Star’s (ASX:NST) Carosue Dam operations. Contractor Kennedy Drilling completed three of a planned eight-hole, approximately 1,125m program before ground conditions brought the campaign to an early close.

Initial drilling summary: what the three holes revealed

The three holes were drilled across the ranked central corridor target positions. Two of the three reached fresh rock; one was ended at 30m after encountering water in the palaeochannel sands.

The two deeper holes delivered key geological observations below the oxidation base:

• In 26YRC002, chlorite altered mafic rock with disseminated pyrite (locally estimated at up to approximately 2%), minor quartz and quartz veining were logged below the oxidation base. In 26YRC003, sericite–chlorite altered dolerite with minor magnetite was logged below the oxidation base. ⚠️ The 2% pyrite figure is a qualitative visual logging estimate only, not an assay result. These are qualitative interpretations based on RC chip logging and do not establish the presence or grade of gold mineralisation.
• Transported cover of red-brown and grey clays with sandy and gravelly horizons was logged to approximately 41–42m in both deeper holes, consistent with Tertiary Roe Palaeodrainage fill overlying a deeply weathered saprolite profile.

What is RC drilling, and why does the cover sequence matter?

Reverse circulation (RC) drilling is an air-powered method that returns rock chips to the surface through the drill rods, making it faster and cheaper than diamond drilling. Its limitation is that it performs poorly in unstable, water-bearing ground — exactly the conditions encountered at Yindi’s central corridor.

The “base of complete oxidation” is the depth below which rock transitions from weathered to fresh and unweathered. For investors, this matters because orogenic gold systems are typically best preserved and most reliably sampled in fresh rock, below the zone where surface weathering has altered the original mineralogy.

The Roe Palaeodrainage is an ancient river system now filled with clays and water-bearing sands sitting on top of the prospective bedrock. Understanding its position and thickness is not a setback — it directly informs the design of the next, more targeted phase of drilling. Future holes in the corridor will be planned with cased pre-collars specifically engineered to manage this sequence.

Assays pending as Marquee eyes diamond drilling for deeper targets

55 samples submitted to ALS Perth

A total of 55 samples covering the transitional and fresh rock intervals have been dispatched to ALS in Perth (Malaga):

• 26YRC002: 29 samples covering 70m to the end of the hole
• 26YRC003: 26 samples covering 80m to the end of the hole

Gold will be analysed by 50g fire assay with AAS finish (Au-AA26, 0.01 ppm lower detection limit). Every sample will also be analysed for 48 elements by four-acid digest with ICP-MS/ICP-AES finish (ME-MS61). Certified reference materials, blanks and field duplicates were inserted at a combined rate of approximately 20% of primary samples.

No assay results are available at the date of this announcement. Results will be reported once received and validated by the company.

Diamond drilling assessed to unlock depth targets

The interpreted target zones at depth remain untested because ground conditions limited RC penetration. The company is assessing diamond drilling, including RC pre-collars with diamond tails and casing through the palaeochannel sequence, to manage the water-bearing cover and unstable weathered profile while delivering continuous core for structural, alteration and vein logging.

The four-step next-phase plan is as follows:

1. Receive, validate and report assay results from 26YRC002 and 26YRC003.
2. Integrate gold and multi-element results with geostatistical ranking and new geological logging from regolith, palaeochannel and fresh-rock intervals.
3. Complete planning and costing for a diamond drilling program to test the ranked targets in the central corridor.
4. Re-rank the wider target portfolio, including the NNW structural corridor and the granite–greenstone contact.

Any future program is subject to assay results, contractor availability, funding and Board approval.

Alongside Yindi, the Mt Clement antimony-gold program represents a parallel near-term catalyst for Marquee, with RC drilling at that project targeting structurally controlled mineralisation under a comparable Eastern Goldfields exploration model.

Charles Thomas, Executive Chairman, Marquee Resources

“Reaching fresh rock beneath the cover has given us a clearer picture of the geology in Yindi’s central corridor and the ground conditions we need to accommodate in the next phase of drilling. We have submitted samples from the two deeper holes and look forward to reviewing the assays alongside the geological logging. While ground conditions brought the RC program to an early close, the deeper targets remain untested. We are assessing diamond drilling, with cased pre-collars, to provide a suitable approach to testing those targets.”

Strategic context: Yindi’s position in a proven gold district

The Yindi project’s strategic setting underpins its appeal as an exploration target:

• 180 km² tenure package on a major Yilgarn structure in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia
• Approximately 45 km south of Northern Star’s (ASX:NST) Carosue Dam operations
• In the vicinity of Ramelius Resources’ (ASX:RMS) Roe project
• Located in the Kurnalpi Terrane of the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane — an established orogenic gold district
• Target style: structurally controlled orogenic gold in mafic and dolerite host rocks and at granite–greenstone contacts

The central corridor now being drilled was identified as part of a broader targeting exercise that defined five major gold anomalies at Yindi, each ranked by structural position, geochemical response, and proximity to interpreted granite-greenstone contacts.

References to nearby operations are provided for geographic and geological context only. Proximity to these projects does not imply that similar mineralisation exists within Marquee’s tenure.

The immediate focus now rests on assay results from the two deeper holes. Those results, when received and validated, will directly inform the design and timing of a potential diamond drilling program to test the central corridor targets that this RC campaign was unable to reach.

Ready to Follow Marquee Resources’ Next Move at the Yindi Gold Project?

With fresh rock now reached beneath transported cover for the first time in the company’s drilling history, Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) is positioning itself for a potentially defining diamond drilling phase at its 180 km² Yindi tenure in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields. Assay results from 55 submitted samples remain pending and could directly shape the design of that next campaign.

For a deeper look at the exploration strategy, geological setting, and upcoming catalysts, explore the full Marquee Resources project profile on Discovery Alert to stay ahead of developments at Yindi and the parallel Mt Clement antimony-gold programme.