Argent Minerals Hits 187g/t Silver Beyond Kempfield’s Resource Boundary
Key Takeaways
- AKDD217 intersected 18.2m @ 187.3 g/t Ag from 168m depth, sitting outside the current Mineral Resource boundary and confirming high-grade silver mineralisation extends beyond the existing 142.8Moz AgEq resource model.
- Individual silver assays of 705 g/t Ag and 442 g/t Ag within the AKDD217 intercept represent some of the highest-grade results yet reported at Kempfield.
- AKDD216 extended Lode 200 — which accounts for 28.0Mt of the Kempfield resource — at depth below previous drilling limits, confirming the system remains open in a material lode.
- AKDD215 confirmed polymetallic mineralisation through the Gap corridor between Lodes 100 and 300, a previously data-sparse zone that now has a geological basis for follow-up drilling.
- Assays from five additional drill holes remain pending, expected within approximately six weeks of the September 2026 announcement, with further drilling planned across the Gap and southern extensions of Lodes 100 and 200.
High-grade silver breaks beyond Kempfield’s resource boundary
Argent Minerals (ASX: ARD) has released new diamond drilling results from its 100%-owned Kempfield Project in New South Wales, with the programme delivering on all three of its core resource growth objectives. The standout result comes from AKDD217, which intersected 18.2m @ 187.3 g/t Ag from 168m depth, a zone sitting beyond the boundary of the existing Mineral Resource, including individual silver assays of 705 g/t Ag and 442 g/t Ag.
That existing resource is substantial: 63.7Mt @ 69.75 g/t AgEq for 142.8Moz AgEq. The new drilling is testing whether Kempfield extends beyond that already significant base.
Four diamond holes — AKDD215, AKDD216, AKDD217, and AKDD219 — were completed between April and mid-June 2026 as part of an approximately 1,880m campaign announced in January 2026. Assays from a further five drill holes remain pending.
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What the drill holes found
AKDD217 — High-grade silver beyond Lode 100
AKDD217 targeted the depth extent of mineralisation at the northern end of Lode 100. The hole returned a broad mineralised envelope of 158.7m @ 17.9 g/t Ag, 0.44% Pb, 0.63% Zn from surface, with notable sub-intercepts including:
- 6m @ 52.9 g/t Ag from surface
- 25.7m @ 10.0 g/t Ag from 12.3m
- 18.8m @ 53.4 g/t Ag from 80m
- 14.6m @ 24.8 g/t Ag from 102.4m
The deeper zone is the headline result: 18.2m @ 187.3 g/t Ag from 168m, intersected outside the current Mineral Resource boundary, with individual assays reaching 705 g/t Ag and 442 g/t Ag. This confirms that high-grade silver mineralisation continues beyond the existing resource model.
AKDD216 — Lode 200 extends at depth
AKDD216 was designed to test whether the northern portion of Lode 200 continues below the limits of previous drilling. The hole intersected two significant silver-rich zones:
- 3.9m @ 70.4 g/t Ag from 42.3m, including 1.4m @ 154.0 g/t Ag from 43.9m
- 29.8m @ 34.6 g/t Ag from 60m
Lode 200 accounts for 28.0Mt of the Kempfield Mineral Resource. The fact that one of the largest lodes in the system remains open at depth and along strike is material for investors following this story.
AKDD215 — Polymetallic mineralisation confirmed in the Gap
AKDD215 targeted the sparsely drilled corridor between Lodes 100 and 300, known as the Gap area. The hole intersected 25m of base metal mineralisation from 63m, including:
- 9m @ 6.0 g/t Ag, 1.04% Pb, 2.28% Zn and 0.25 g/t Au from 68m
This confirms mineralisation through an area where historical drill coverage was limited, providing new geological information to guide follow-up work through the Gap.
AKDD219 — Filling a gap within Lode 200
AKDD219 tested an under-drilled portion of Lode 200’s central eastern zone. Three distinct silver-rich zones were intersected:
- 22.6m @ 27.3 g/t Ag from 55.8m
- 7.8m @ 17.7 g/t Ag from 102.2m
- 21.5m @ 18.9 g/t Ag, 0.70% Pb and 0.80% Zn from 127m, including 5.4m @ 40.7 g/t Ag from 140.6m
Three mineralised zones confirmed in a previously data-sparse area signals grade continuity where the historical record was thin.
| Hole ID | From (m) | Interval (m) | Ag (g/t) | Pb (%) | Zn (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKDD215 | 63 | 25 | 3.7 | 0.55 | 1.34 |
| incl. | 68 | 9 | 6.0 | 1.04 | 2.28 |
| AKDD216 | 42.3 | 3.9 | 70.4 | 0.02 | 0.19 |
| incl. | 43.9 | 1.4 | 154.0 | 0.01 | 0.12 |
| and | 60 | 29.8 | 34.6 | 0.25 | 0.20 |
| AKDD217 | 0 | 158.7 | 17.9 | 0.44 | 0.63 |
| & incl. | 0 | 6 | 52.9 | 0.55 | 0.02 |
| & incl. | 12.3 | 25.7 | 10.0 | 0.92 | 1.76 |
| & incl. | 80 | 18.8 | 53.4 | 0.42 | 0.17 |
| & incl. | 102.4 | 14.6 | 24.8 | 0.30 | 0.24 |
| and | 168 | 18.2 | 187.3 | 0.39 | 0.05 |
| AKDD219 | 55.8 | 22.6 | 27.3 | 0.04 | 0.11 |
| and | 102.2 | 7.8 | 17.7 | 0.47 | 0.19 |
| and | 127 | 21.5 | 18.9 | 0.70 | 0.80 |
| incl. | 140.6 | 5.4 | 40.7 | 1.16 | 2.10 |
Table 1: Significant drilling intersections from Kempfield (intercepts using 10 g/t Ag, 0.01 g/t Au and/or 0.1% Pb & Zn cut-off). Source: Argent Minerals ASX Announcement, 24 September 2026.
Understanding silver equivalent resources — what the numbers mean
When Argent reports 142.8Moz AgEq, the “AgEq” stands for silver equivalent. It converts the value of associated metals (in Kempfield’s case, gold, lead, and zinc) into an equivalent silver weight using commodity prices and metallurgical recovery rates, producing a single comparable grade figure across the deposit.
Polymetallic deposits like Kempfield benefit from this approach because multiple metals contribute revenue, which can improve project economics relative to a deposit carrying silver alone. The Kempfield resource was estimated under the JORC 2012 framework in July 2024. Within that estimate, Indicated material (better constrained, higher confidence) totals 23.7Mt, while the larger Inferred component (40.0Mt) carries more uncertainty but still qualifies as formal resource material.
When the announcement states mineralisation remains “open along strike and at depth,” it means drilling has not closed off the mineralised system in those directions. The deposit could grow with further drilling — that is not a guarantee, but it is a genuine geological basis for continued exploration.
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What comes next for Kempfield
Mike McKevitt, Chief Executive Officer, Argent Minerals
“We started this program with a substantial 142.8Moz silver equivalent Mineral Resource and a number of clearly defined opportunities to test whether the Kempfield mineralised system extended beyond the areas covered by historical drilling.
“We are now seeing that evidence progressively emerge. AKDD217 has intersected high-grade silver beyond the current Lode 100 resource boundary, AKDD216 has extended mineralisation at depth beneath Lode 200, and AKDD215 and AKDD219 have confirmed mineralisation through areas where previous drilling was limited.
“These results also need to be viewed alongside AKDD212, AKDD213 and AKDD214 earlier this year. Collectively, the drilling is building a much stronger picture of the scale and continuity of Kempfield and identifying clear areas for further testing.
“Our objective now is to continue systematically defining that mineralised footprint and determine how much larger the Kempfield system may ultimately be.”
With the four holes reported here and the broader 2026 campaign now delivering across all three stated objectives, investors should watch for the following:
- Assays from a further five drill holes remain pending, expected within approximately six weeks of the announcement date (September 2026).
- Further drilling is planned across the Gap area and along the southern extensions of Lodes 100 and 200.
- Drilling will continue across Kempfield through the remainder of 2026.
- The combined 2026 programme — including earlier results from AKDD212, AKDD213, and AKDD214 — is progressively building the geological case for future resource growth, though no resource update has been confirmed or scheduled.
Kempfield sits within the Lachlan Fold Belt near Orange, NSW, a district that hosts Northparkes and Cadia. Beyond Kempfield, Argent also holds the Trunkey Creek, Mt Dudley, and Pine Ridge gold projects in New South Wales, and the Copperhead Polymetallic Project in Western Australia — though the immediate drilling news centres firmly on extending the silver system at Kempfield itself.
The Trunkey Creek gold project sits within Argent’s broader New South Wales portfolio alongside Kempfield, and earlier results from that project demonstrated the company’s capacity to identify high-grade mineralisation across different geological settings.
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