Taruga Minerals Mobilises Drill Rig to Weioko, First Drilling Since 2009
Key Takeaways
- Taruga's diamond rig has arrived at Weioko on Normanby Island, with a ~1,000m, 10-hole program starting within days, the first drilling there since 2009.
- Historical results include 64.6m @ 2.2 g/t Au from surface in PWED047 and a trench of 68m @ 5.9 g/t Au, which the new holes must validate.
- Seventy percent of historical holes were drilled shallower than 100m, and PWED041 and WEH030 ended in gold, leaving depth potential untested.
- Rock chips of up to 33.1 g/t Au at Wenasia and 25.2 g/t Au at Sipupu extend the story across an 8km corridor within a 40km gold belt.
- No assays have been released and no timeframe is given, so results from ALS Brisbane are the next catalyst to watch.
Drill rig mobilised at Weioko, first drilling since 2009
Taruga Minerals has confirmed that its diamond drill rig has arrived at the Weioko gold deposit on Normanby Island, Papua New Guinea. The maiden ~1,000m, 10-hole drilling program is due to start “in the coming days”, and it will be the first drilling at Weioko since 2009.
The rig is setting up on Pad 1, at the northern end of the Weioko ridgeline. Pad 1 is complete, and the remaining pads and associated access works are being finalised for the initial drilling.
CorePacific Drilling (PNG) was secured as drilling contractor on 20 July 2026. Mobilisation of the rig to site is now complete.
What does that mean for you? The program is designed to turn a historical dataset into fresh data, with scope to expand beyond the initial 1,000m and continue drilling along the southern Weioko strike extension.
Paul Cronin, Chairman, Taruga Minerals
“Getting a rig onto Weioko is a high impact moment for Taruga…”
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Historical intercepts the drilling will test
Historical drilling at Weioko focused mainly on shallow portions of the system, with 70% of holes drilled to less than 100m. Several holes finished in mineralisation rather than reaching its base.
That matters because it leaves open the question of what sits deeper. The table below sets out the historical results the program will test, as first reported in Taruga’s 15 December 2025 announcement.
| Hole/Trench | Intercept | Highlight |
|---|---|---|
| PWED047 (drill hole) | 64.6m @ 2.2 g/t Au from surface | incl. 2.9m @ 33.9 g/t Au from 3.1m |
| PWED041 (drill hole) | 51.4m @ 2.0 g/t Au from surface | incl. 3m @ 16.3 g/t Au from 28m |
| PWED035 (drill hole) | 36m @ 2.7 g/t Au from surface | incl. 1m @ 29.2 g/t Au from 18m |
| PWED042 (drill hole) | 26.5m @ 2.8 g/t Au from 14m | incl. 1m @ 15.9 g/t Au from 28m |
| WEH031 (drill hole) | 63.8m @ 1.5 g/t Au from 1m | incl. 6m @ 9.3 g/t Au from 13m |
| WEH030 (drill hole) | 12m @ 2.5 g/t Au from 25m | incl. 2m @ 6.3 g/t Au from 33m |
| WT1S (trench) | 108m @ 2.4 g/t Au | including 28m @ 4.9 g/t Au and 4m @ 21.9 g/t Au |
| WT1N (trench) | 68m @ 5.9 g/t Au | including 4m @ 58.9 g/t Au within a zone of 44m @ 8.7 g/t Au |
Two holes stand out for how they ended. PWED041 finished at 1.67 g/t Au at 51.4m, and WEH030 finished at 3.58 g/t Au at 59.5m.
The pattern is high-grade “includes” sitting inside broad zones that start at or near surface, with holes that stopped while still in gold. That combination is the core of the exploration upside, though the new drilling must confirm it.
What is diamond drilling and why validation matters
Diamond drilling extracts solid cylinders of rock, known as core, from underground. Geologists can then examine the core directly and send it for assay, which is laboratory testing of its gold content.
“Validation” means checking whether old results hold up. The ~1,000m program is described as an initial reconnaissance and validation campaign, and results from the initial holes will be used to refine Taruga’s geological and structural model of the Weioko system. That model will inform the design and targeting of an expanded follow-up drilling program.
The staged approach lets the Company validate the historical dataset with limited initial capital before committing to a broader campaign along the wider Weioko Gold District corridor. The program will:
- Target historical high-grade intercepts.
- Infill prospects.
- Test depth extensions on several holes that finished in gold within the overlying Weioko Conglomerate geological sequence.
A district-scale opportunity beyond Weioko
Weioko sits within an 8km mineralised corridor extending from Wenasia in the south to Sipupu in the north (the Weioko Gold District). That corridor is part of a broader 40km low sulphidation epithermal gold belt across the East Normanby Gold Project.
Logistics may also help. Unlike most highland projects in PNG, where access challenges hamper exploration, these coastal projects benefit from barge access providing direct delivery of personnel and consumables.
Recent surface sampling, reported on 2 September 2026, returned rock chip results of up to 33.1 g/t Au & 223 g/t Ag at Wenasia and 25.2 g/t Au & 867 g/t Ag at Sipupu. Taruga says this reinforces the case that the historical drilling results reflect a genuine, laterally extensive gold system rather than an isolated occurrence.
Taruga holds a 12-month option over the East Normanby Gold Project and the Kol Mountain Copper-Gold Project. It is led by Chairman Paul Cronin and Non-Executive Director Eric De Mori, both Co-Founders of Adriatic Metals Ltd, which was sold in 2025 for A$1.5b to Dundee Precious Metals.
Peter McNeil, PNG Project vendor
“I first went to Normanby island in 1986, and have since been involved in numerous exploration campaigns over several decades…”
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Next steps for Taruga
The announcement lists four priorities:
- Complete the maiden ~1,000m diamond drilling program, with assay results to be reported to ASX as they are received. Assays will be flown to ALS in Brisbane.
- Complete reprocessing and interpretation of historical Controlled-Source Audio-Frequency Magnetotellurics (CSAMT) data, and incorporate the findings into assessment of the southern extension of the Weioko vein system into the Wenasia vein system.
- Advance trenching and infill rock chip sampling at both Wenasia and Sipupu vein zones.
- Continue systematic float and drainage sampling elsewhere across the Weioko Gold District.
No assay results have been released from this program yet. Those results are the next catalyst to watch, and the announcement does not give a timeframe for them.
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