Krakatoa Resources Doubles Its Rigs at Zopkhito to Speed Up Antimony-Gold Resource Push
Key Takeaways
- A second drill rig has started at the Zopkhito antimony-gold project in Georgia, accelerating Krakatoa's 2026 resource definition program.
- The starting point is a non-JORC foreign estimate of 815,119oz of gold at 3.7g/t and 26,000 tonnes of antimony at 11.6% Sb, which still has to be confirmed by drilling.
- The second batch of 2026 assays included a 5.61m intercept at 3.31g/t Au and 4.28% Sb in Vein 6, with two veins sitting entirely outside the current foreign estimate.
- Bulk sampling for ore sorting and flotation test work, plus environmental baseline studies and permitting, are running in parallel with drilling.
- The announcement gives no MRE timeline, budget or option terms, and Krakatoa holds only an option on up to 80% of the project.
Second rig commences drilling at Zopkhito, accelerating 2026 program
A second drill rig is now turning at the Zopkhito antimony-gold project in Georgia, and that matters because rig count is one of the few levers a junior explorer can pull to speed up a resource timeline. In its 14 October 2026 announcement, Krakatoa Resources (ASX: KTA) said the Krakatoa Resources second drill rig will advance the 2026 exploration program.
The program is focused on resource definition drilling to support progression toward a JORC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and future development studies. JORC is the Australian code that sets the standard for publicly reporting mineral resources.
Two rigs working together may shorten the path from a historical foreign estimate to a JORC-compliant resource. The announcement does not give a timeline for the MRE.
Mark Major, Krakatoa CEO
“Having a second drill rig operating on-site is a positive step in advancing the project into the next stage in a timely manner…”
What are the rigs targeting?
Drilling is targeting antimony and gold mineralisation between and below the historical adits (the legacy underground tunnels). The two rigs operate alongside underground core and channel sampling.
Major described the strategy as systematically testing the mineralised zone between the adits, “where both Soviet-era and more recent sampling have highlighted high-grade antimony and gold mineralisation.”
By targeting these areas, the company aims to validate the historical work and expand its understanding of the broader gold alteration system and quartz-antimony vein development.
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Zopkhito’s foreign resource estimate and track record
Zopkhito contains a Foreign Resource Estimate, which is the starting point for the work now under way. The figures below are from the announcement.
| Commodity | Tonnage | Grade | Contained metal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antimony | 225Kt | 11.6% Sb | 26,000 tonnes |
| Gold | 7.1Mt | 3.7g/t | 815,119oz |
These are Foreign Resource Estimates, not a JORC-compliant Mineral Resource. Per the company’s cautionary statement, a competent person has not done sufficient work to classify the foreign estimate as a Mineral Resource under the JORC Code 2012. It is uncertain that, following evaluation and/or further exploration work, the estimate will be able to be reported in accordance with that code.
The project’s pedigree includes:
- 20+ km of legacy underground exploration adits
- Over 30,000 previous channel and geochemical samples
Krakatoa’s 2025 drill testing confirmed high-grade mineralisation beyond the adits, an extended gold alteration system and high-grade quartz-antimony vein development. Results in 2026 have continued to confirm significant antimony and gold mineralisation across multiple zones. The announcement does not provide new intercept figures.
The second batch of assay results from the 2026 program included a 5.61m intercept at 3.31g/t Au and 4.28% Sb in Vein 6, and two veins that sit entirely outside the current foreign resource estimate.
Why does a JORC-compliant resource matter?
A foreign or historical estimate was produced under a different reporting standard, so investors cannot rely on it in the way they can a JORC-compliant figure. Until a competent person has done the work to classify it, the numbers remain an indication of potential rather than a verified inventory.
Converting to a JORC-compliant MRE is therefore a key de-risking step. It generally improves confidence in the numbers and provides the base for development studies.
That conversion is not guaranteed. As the cautionary statement notes, the foreign estimate may not be reportable under the JORC Code 2012 after further evaluation, so drilling results will be the real test.
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Next steps: metallurgy, permitting and option structure
The announcement points to three parallel streams of work:
- Collecting bulk samples for additional metallurgical optimisation test work, covering ore sorting evaluation and further flotation work for antimony and gold recovery studies.
- Continuing environmental baseline studies and permitting activities in parallel, to support future project advancement.
- Resource definition drilling toward the JORC-compliant MRE.
Krakatoa holds an exclusive option to acquire up to an 80% interest in the Zopkhito Project (see ASX announcement of 17 April 2026). The announcement does not disclose option terms, rig numbers, planned metres, MRE timing, budget or metallurgical recovery figures.
For investors, the takeaway is about cadence. A faster drilling pace, with testwork and permitting running in parallel, is aimed at positioning Zopkhito for its next stage of development, though the results of each stream will determine whether that happens.
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