Southern Cross Gold Hits 178.4 g/t Gold as Tighter Drilling Lifts Golden Dyke Grades
Key Takeaways
- SDDSC225 returned 2.7 m @ 178.6 g/t AuEq from 662.3 m, the 13th best composite intersection at Sunday Creek to date and the deepest on the GD40 vein set with nothing drilled beneath it.
- Cutting hole spacing from about 50 m to about 30 m lifted grades, with eight composites and twelve individual assays above 100 g/t Au across four of five holes.
- Four vein sets sit outside the current Exploration Target, pushing Golden Dyke 30 m to 50 m west towards Christina.
- Antimony stays material, with SDDSC218 hitting 2.2 m @ 49.0 g/t AuEq including a 53.5% Sb assay, and preliminary gold recoveries of 93% to 98%.
- Results from 72 holes are still pending, with the 200,000 m program and plant design studies both running to Q1 2027.
Southern Cross Gold’s Golden Dyke infill drilling returns 178.4 g/t Au over 2.7 m at Sunday Creek
Infill drilling usually tests a deposit’s limits. At Southern Cross Gold Consolidated Ltd (TSX:SXGC, ASX:SX2, OTCQX:SXGCF), five infill holes at the Golden Dyke Prospect on the 100%-owned Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project in Victoria reported on 07 October 2026 show closer spacing lifting grades rather than diluting them.
The lead result was 2.7 m @ 178.6 g/t AuEq (178.4 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 662.3 m in SDDSC225. SDDSC218 returned 6.8 m @ 50.1 g/t AuEq (49.8 g/t Au, 0.1% Sb) from 537.9 m.
Gold equivalent (AuEq) is a single figure that converts antimony (Sb) into its gold-equivalent value, so both metals can be read together. Both lead intercepts are composites, meaning a length of drill core averaged across several assays, so the grades are not resting on a single sample.
Michael Hudson, President & CEO
“Infill is where a lot of high-grade systems get found out. Golden Dyke is doing the opposite…”
Four takeaways from the release
- High-grade composites, not just high-grade samples.
- Eight composite intersections above 100 g/t Au and twelve individual assays above 100 g/t Au, spread across four of the five holes.
- Four vein sets outside the current Exploration Target, pushing Golden Dyke 30 m to 50 m west towards Christina.
- Antimony stays high alongside the gold.
When big ASX news breaks, our subscribers know first
Hole-by-hole results
The table below lists headline intercepts from Table 2 in the release. Au and AuEq grades are shown separately.
| Hole | From (m) | Interval | Au g/t / AuEq g/t | Sb % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDDSC225 | 662.3 | 2.7 m | 178.4 Au / 178.6 AuEq | 0.1 |
| SDDSC225 | 793.8 | 3.9 m | 32.9 Au / 32.9 AuEq | 0.0 |
| SDDSC218 | 537.9 | 6.8 m | 49.8 Au / 50.1 AuEq | 0.1 |
| SDDSC221 | 680.0 | 1.0 m | 198.9 Au / 198.9 AuEq | 0.0 |
| SDDSC229 | 489.0 | 13.2 m | 6.8 Au / 7.9 AuEq | 0.4 |
| SDDSC229 | 523.1 | 8.6 m | 5.2 Au / 8.2 AuEq | 1.3 |
SDDSC225 infilled the main Golden Dyke area and cut five vein sets. Its 2.7 m result is the 13th best composite intersection at Sunday Creek to date and the deepest intercept on the GD40 vein set, with nothing yet drilled beneath it. Four individual assays exceeded 100 g/t Au, peaking at 512.0 g/t Au with 0.30% Sb over 0.85 m.
SDDSC218 infilled the central Golden Dyke Prospect and intersected 22 vein sets, one of them new to the Exploration Target. Its 6.8 m composite sits about 380 m below surface and includes the release’s highest individual assay, 1,290.0 g/t Au with 0.67% Sb over 0.22 m. That assay sits inside the composite, not on its own, which is why the composite is the figure to watch.
SDDSC221 cut eight vein sets, three of them not previously recognised within the current Exploration Target. Its 1.0 m @ 198.9 g/t AuEq is built from adjacent assays of 334.0 g/t Au and 447.0 g/t Au.
SDDSC229, a shallower infill hole from the SDDSC218 collar, also cut eight vein sets and returned two broad zones: 13.2 m @ 7.9 g/t AuEq and 8.6 m @ 8.2 g/t AuEq.
SDDSC236 was a bounding hole on the southern side of the Golden Dyke prospective terrain and returned no significant intersections. The company says it defines the southern margin of the mineralised system and gives structural control for follow-up targeting.
Continuity and grade-lifting evidence
The release points to several markers that the drilling is tightening the picture:
- The infill holes tie directly to SDDSC171, SDDSC177, SDDSC188 and SDDSC210 on the GD80 vein set at 10 m to 30 m spacings.
- Hole spacing within the block fell from approximately 50 m to approximately 30 m along strike by 15 m to 20 m laterally.
- The five holes tested a continuous block roughly 300 m by 500 m, from 280 m to 750 m below surface.
- Visible gold was logged 36 times across SDDSC218, SDDSC221, SDDSC225 and SDDSC229.
For you as an investor, tighter spacing that still returns high grades suggests the vein sets are continuous rather than isolated pockets. That is the kind of evidence the company says its geological model predicted.
Antimony and why it matters
The system is zoned. Antimony is richest in the upper part of the tested block, while gold dominates at depth.
SDDSC218 returned three individual assays above 20% Sb, peaking at 53.5% Sb with 20.8 g/t Au over 0.35 m from 496.30 m. That sits within 2.2 m @ 49.0 g/t AuEq (27.7 g/t Au, 8.9% Sb) from 495.9 m.
What is gold equivalent (AuEq) and why antimony counts
AuEq = Au (g/t) + 2.39 × Sb (%). In plain terms, each 1% of antimony is counted as 2.39 g/t of gold, so a single number captures both metals.
The company adopted the same gold equivalent variables as Mandalay Resources Ltd, which used Costerfield’s 2024 production costs to derive the formula. Antimony represents approximately 15% to 17% of in situ recoverable value at Sunday Creek at an AuEq of 2.39 ratio.
The release notes that China claims a 56 per cent share of global mined supplies of antimony, according to a 2023 European Union study. Antimony features on the critical minerals lists of many countries, and is used in semiconductor and defence applications, including as an additive to primers in munitions.
The company also cites its inclusion in the US Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC).
Sunday Creek is described as an epizonal gold-antimony deposit, a form of orogenic gold deposit classified by depth of formation (epizonal is less than 6 km). Gold and antimony form in a relay of vein sets the company calls a “Golden Ladder” structure, with the host as the side rails and the cross-cutting vein sets as the rungs.
The next major ASX story will hit our subscribers first
Drill program and next steps
Hudson said “Twelve rigs are turning, 72 holes are in the lab and the 200,000 m program runs through to Q1 2027.” The project totals now stand at:
- 288 drill holes for 140.8 km reported since late 2020.
- 106 composite intersections exceeding 100 g/t Au.
- 115 composite intersections exceeding 10% Sb, both counts applying a 1 m (down hole length) @ 5 g/t AuEq lower cut.
Preliminary metallurgical work shows gold recoveries of 93% to 98% through gravity and flotation. Process plant design studies are targeting Q1 2027 completion.
Hudson closed with: “The infill is confirming the model while the step-outs keep growing it.”
Upcoming items to watch:
- Results pending from 72 holes.
- The 200,000 m drill program, continuing through to Q1 2027.
- Process plant design studies, targeting Q1 2027 completion.
Don’t Miss the Next ASX Gold Breakout
Get FREE breaking ASX gold news delivered to your inbox within minutes of release, complete with in-depth analysis. Join 30,000+ investors already staying ahead of the market with Big News Blast. Click the “Free Alerts” button to start receiving market-moving announcements the moment they break.