Pacific Resources Hits 17.15g/t Gold at Snowstorm, Pointing Next Drill Targets
Key Takeaways
- Pacific Resources' final assays for 22 rock-chip channel samples at Snowstorm returned up to 17.15 g/t Au over 0.8 m, with eight samples at or above 4 g/t Au.
- Rex's Bath delivered 9.54 g/t Au over 2.0 m including 13.70 g/t over 0.5 m, while Darby's Adit main shear returned 13.35 g/t Au over 0.5 m.
- The best result, SSS017, comes from a narrow shear not previously sampled underground, pointing to new targets.
- These are reconnaissance samples, not a resource, and Tom's Tunnel about 8 m below Rex's Bath returned only 0.35 g/t Au over 1.0 m.
- Next steps are desktop integration, mapping and drill design, with no drill programme approved and re-assessment of the 3,000-tonne work plan PLN-001755 still to come.
High-grade gold results up to 17.15g/t Au confirmed at Snowstorm
Final assays are in for all 22 rock-chip channel samples collected in July 2026 at the 100%-owned Snowstorm Gold Project, and the best of them returned 17.15 g/t Au over 0.8 m. Pacific Resources Limited (ASX: PXR) holds the project through Prospecting Licence PL007319, held by Mines of Stirling Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary.
Another standout was 9.54 g/t Au over 2.0 m at Rex’s Bath. Of the 22 samples, 8 returned screen fire assay grades at or above 4 g/t Au, and 9 returned grades at or above 1 g/t Au.
For investors, these high-grade gold results show that surface exposures and historic underground workings carry high-grade mineralisation, and they point to structures not previously sampled underground. They are reconnaissance results, not a resource, and the company states the samples are not representative of a volume of mineralisation.
The headline intercepts, all by screen fire assay:
- Rex’s Bath (SSS006–SSS008): 9.54 g/t Au over 2.0 m, including 13.70 g/t Au over 0.5 m
- SSS017: 17.15 g/t Au over 0.8 m, from a narrow shear not previously sampled underground
- SSS022 (Darby’s Adit main shear): 13.35 g/t Au over 0.5 m, with a paired 30 g fire assay of 12.80 g/t Au
- SSS018: 8.11 g/t Au over 0.8 m, and SSS005: 7.51 g/t Au over 0.4 m
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Where the gold was found
Rex’s Bath and Darby’s Adit
At Rex’s Bath, three contiguous channel samples (SSS006–SSS008) produced the 9.54 g/t Au result over 2.0 m. The paired fire assay length-weighted average for the same interval is 8.83 g/t Au, a gap the company says is consistent with coarse gold.
Tom’s Tunnel, approximately 8 m below Rex’s Bath, returned 0.35 g/t Au over 1.0 m. The company cautions that the surface result is not evidence that the same grade or width continues at depth, and that position has not been tested by this sampling.
In Darby’s Adit, SSS022 on the main shear returned 13.35 g/t Au over 0.5 m. The other two adit samples were low grade: SSS020 was below the detection limit over 1.2 m, and SSS021 returned 0.07 g/t Au over 1.1 m.
Previous drilling by First Au Limited (FAU), reported by the company on 29 May 2026, is interpreted to indicate at least one steeply plunging higher-grade position on this shear beneath the adit level. That is an interpretation from previously reported drilling. It is not a new drill result and not a Mineral Resource.
New structures and low-grade results
SSS017 comes from a narrow shear not previously sampled underground. SSS018 (8.11 g/t Au over 0.8 m) is from a narrow shear that may be associated with the main shear in Darby’s Adit, though the company says that association is interpretive and has not been demonstrated by drilling or continuous exposure. SSS012 returned 4.47 g/t Au over 0.3 m.
Not every sample was high grade, and the company reports all 22. Skeletor (SSS001–SSS004) averages 0.21 g/t Au over 2.0 m, while SSS013–SSS015 averages 0.86 g/t Au over 2.5 m.
| Sample | Prospect | Width (m) | Au SFA (g/t) | Au FA (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSS006 | Rex’s Bath | 0.5 | 13.70 | 12.10 |
| SSS007 | Rex’s Bath | 1.0 | 7.51 | 7.00 |
| SSS008 | Rex’s Bath | 0.5 | 9.44 | 9.21 |
| SSS017 | Unnamed 4 | 0.8 | 17.15 | 12.10 |
| SSS018 | Unnamed 5 | 0.8 | 8.11 | 6.95 |
| SSS022 | Darby’s Adit | 0.5 | 13.35 | 12.80 |
What coarse gold means for investors
Coarse gold means gold in larger particles, which can make a small sample read too high or too low depending on whether a nugget lands in it. A standard 30 g fire assay is more exposed to this “nugget effect”.
Screen fire assay screens a nominal 1 kg split at 75 μm and fire assays the entire coarse fraction, which is why the company treats it as the primary result.
The coarse fraction share varies widely between samples:
- SSS017: about 32% of contained gold
- SSS018: about 20%
- SSS015: about 44%
- SSS005, SSS008, SSS012 and SSS022: only about 4% to 6%
The company says the results do not show that a significant portion of gold in every high-grade sample sits in the coarse fraction. What it does say is that the coarse-gold indication is relevant to the design of future sampling and to metallurgical test work.
This is not a metallurgical recovery result. No recovery claim is made, and no metallurgical test work has been completed on this material.
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Management view and next steps
Chief Executive Officer Andrew Fogg framed the results as early-stage.
Andrew Fogg, Chief Executive Officer
“These results confirm high-grade gold at surface and in the historic underground workings at Snowstorm… These are early-stage exploration results. They are not a resource.”
Planned work is subject to access, statutory approvals and Board approval:
- Integrate the channel results with the existing FAU drilling database and three-dimensional interpretation, and re-log available core where it remains accessible.
- Map and further sample the structures around SSS017 and SSS018, and the surface position at Rex’s Bath, before any drill design is finalised.
- Design, but not yet commit to, drill testing beneath Rex’s Bath and the interpreted plunging position beneath Darby’s Adit. No drill programme is approved by the announcement.
- Re-assess approved work plan PLN-001755, which authorises extraction of up to 3,000 tonnes of mineralised material as an exploration activity. Re-assessment does not mean the programme will proceed.
- Subject to sufficient suitable material being available, undertake preliminary metallurgical test work. No recovery outcome is assumed.
Pacific Resources completed the acquisition of 100% of Mines of Stirling Pty Ltd in July 2026. The project is transected by the Cassilis Shear Zone, with orogenic gold mineralisation, and PL007319 adjoins EL007335, which is subject to the company’s option to acquire from First Au Limited (ASX: FAU).
For you as an investor, the sequence matters: desktop integration and mapping come before any drill design, and each step is conditional. No Mineral Resource, Ore Reserve or production target is stated, so the results are best read as early evidence guiding where the company looks next.
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