Boab Metals Hits 12.62m at 204g/t Silver Beyond Sorby Hills Pit Designs
Key Takeaways
- Phase IX drilling at Sorby Hills has returned headline intercepts including 12.62m @ 204g/t AgEq at Omega Central and 15.00m @ 56g/t AgEq at Omega S — all confirmed outside the current FEED Study pit designs.
- The program has already been expanded 15% beyond its original planned scope, with 7 additional holes drilled for approximately 930m of extra meterage, reflecting strong geological observations on the ground.
- 47 sonic/diamond core holes totalling approximately 5,880m have been completed, with 2,026 samples submitted for analysis and further assay results from Norton, Beta, and extended Omega holes expected in Q4 2026.
- Keep Zinc, located 3.5km south of Central Omega, has returned a discovery hole of 15.0m @ 3.40% combined Pb+Zn from 242.55m, with three deep holes totalling approximately 1,200m now planned.
- Sorby Hills remains fully funded and under construction, with first production targeted for H2 2027 — making this growth drilling layered on top of an asset already being built, not a speculative exploration program.
Sorby Hills drilling delivers high-grade extensions beyond the pit designs
Assay results from Boab Metals’ 2026 Phase IX growth drilling program have confirmed substantial silver-lead mineralisation in areas outside the current FEED Study pit designs at Sorby Hills, with the program already expanded beyond its original planned scope following positive geological observations. The announcement, dated 14 September 2026, reports on activity completed during Q1 FY27 (July–September 2026) at a project that is fully funded and under construction, targeting first production in H2 2027. This is not exploration for a hypothetical future mine; it is growth drilling layered on top of an asset already being built.
The headline intercepts from this program confirm high-grade mineralisation across multiple deposits:
- SHSD_207 – Omega Central: 12.62m @ 204g/t AgEq, 121g/t Ag & 7.65% Pb from 23m
- SHSD_201 – B Deposit: 3.26m @ 186g/t AgEq, 50g/t Ag & 12.66% Pb from 72m
- SHSD_195 – Omega S: 3.00m @ 152g/t AgEq, 28g/t Ag & 11.45% Pb from 136m
- SHSD_211 – Omega Central: 7.05m @ 133g/t AgEq, 70g/t Ag & 5.79% Pb from 110m
- SHSD_214 – Omega S: 8.65m @ 72g/t AgEq, 25g/t Ag & 4.37% Pb from 107m
- SHSD_190 – Omega S: 15.00m @ 56g/t AgEq, 26g/t Ag & 2.82% Pb from 98m (incl. 6.00m @ 76g/t AgEq, 31g/t Ag & 4.21% Pb from 105m)
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Phase IX at a glance — what the program has delivered
The Phase IX program has covered multiple deposits across the Sorby Hills tenure, with drilling now completed at all priority near-pit targets and work continuing at exploration targets further afield.
| Deposit | Holes Completed | Key Intercept / Metric | Status | Assays Pending? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B Deposit | 8 | SHSD_201: 3.26m @ 186g/t AgEq | Complete | Likely pending |
| Omega (Central + S) | 21 | SHSD_207: 12.62m @ 204g/t AgEq | Complete | Some pending |
| Norton North | 3 (additional) | Significant mineralisation intersected at 90–120m | Complete | Yes — Q4 2026 |
| Beta | 9 | Stratabound mineralisation supported by core observations | Complete | Yes — Q4 2026 |
| Keep Zinc | In progress | Discovery hole SHSD_185: 15.0m @ 3.40% combined Pb+Zn, 12.5g/t Ag from 242.55m | Drilling underway | Yes |
| Manbarrum | Planned | Deep hole to test priority targets | Planned | N/A |
Key program-level statistics underline the scale of what has been completed:
- 47 sonic/diamond core holes completed for approximately 5,880m total
- 7 additional holes drilled beyond the original plan for approximately 930m extra meterage, taking the program approximately 15% beyond its originally planned scope
- 2,026 samples submitted for laboratory analysis
- Further assay results pending, expected during Q4 2026
The Keep Zinc target sits 3.5km south of Central Omega and is an early-stage exploration target containing enriched zinc mineralisation. The discovery hole SHSD_185 returned 15.0m @ 3.40% combined Pb+Zn and 12.5g/t Ag from 242.55m (incl. 5.93m @ 7.35% combined Pb+Zn and 26.5g/t Ag from 242.55m), with three deep sonic/diamond holes totalling approximately 1,200m now planned.
Understanding silver-equivalent grades — why these numbers matter to investors
Many of the intercepts reported by Boab are expressed in AgEq, or silver-equivalent grade. This is a standard industry method for converting multiple metals into a single comparable figure. In practice, it means taking the value of lead contained in a drill intercept, converting it into an equivalent amount of silver using commodity prices and metallurgical recovery assumptions, and then adding that to the actual silver grade. The result is a single number that reflects the combined economic value of both metals in silver terms, making it easier to compare intercepts across different parts of a deposit.
Boab’s AgEq calculation uses the following assumptions:
- Lead price: US$1,875/t | Lead recovery: 91% | Lead payability: 95%
- Silver price: US$60.0/oz | Silver recovery: 82% | Silver payability: 95%
Understanding why mineralisation outside existing pit designs matters requires a brief distinction between two key concepts. A Mineral Resource is a concentration of mineralisation assessed to have reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. An Ore Reserve is the portion of a Mineral Resource that has been demonstrated to be economically mineable under defined conditions. Ore Reserves directly underpin mine plans, production schedules, and project finance.
When high-grade intercepts are confirmed outside the current pit shells, they signal the potential to convert additional Mineral Resources into Ore Reserves, optimise pit designs, and extend mine life — all of which can add meaningful value to a project already in construction.
Growth strategy — building a bigger mine around a project already under construction
Three drilling objectives working in parallel
The Phase IX program is not a single-purpose exercise. It is running three concurrent objectives simultaneously:
- Resource-to-Reserve conversion — upgrading Mineral Resources to support detailed mine planning and production scheduling. The announcement notes this conversion drilling is not a condition precedent to drawing on the project finance debt facility.
- Silver-focused resource expansion — targeting extensions to known mineralisation, particularly silver intercepts previously excluded under a lead-only cut-off grade. This work may support re-estimation of the Mineral Resource on a combined lead-silver basis and potential mine-life extensions.
- Exploration drilling — testing targets across the broader Sorby Hills tenure identified through geological interpretation and historical datasets.
Deposit-by-deposit progress
At B Deposit, eight holes were completed along the eastern down-dip perimeter with additional up-dip testing. SHSD233 extended mineralisation up-dip and supports the interpretation of an anticline-syncline geometry that may have preserved the target horizon at shallow depth. SHSD203 and SHSD_204 confirmed and extended the mineralised zone at depth, with the potential to support additional ore tonnes and an expanded pit.
At Omega, wide and high-grade intercepts across both Omega S and Omega Central confirm mineralisation continuity beyond the FEED Study pit shell. Their potential economic impact is to be assessed through a future Mineral Resource estimate and subsequent pit optimisation.
At Norton, three additional holes were drilled approximately 150m north of the Norton pit perimeter, each intersecting significant mineralisation at 90m to 120m down-hole depth within the target interval. Assay results remain pending. At Beta Deposit, all nine planned holes have been completed, with core observations supporting the initial interpretation of stratabound mineralisation — though geological interpretation remains preliminary.
Manbarrum, Boab’s 100%-owned Zinc-Silver-Lead project located 25km east of Sorby Hills, has one deep hole planned to test priority targets and assess the potential for new discoveries and future resource definition.
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What comes next for Boab Metals investors
The pipeline of near-term catalysts is concrete, not speculative. Results from completed holes at Norton and Beta remain pending and are expected in Q4 2026, alongside results from extended Omega holes.
- Further assay results from Norton, Beta, and extended Omega holes expected Q4 2026
- Keep Zinc target drilling underway with three deep sonic/diamond holes totalling approximately 1,200m planned
- Manbarrum deep hole planned to test priority targets and assess potential for new discoveries
- Future Mineral Resource re-estimation on a combined lead-silver basis under consideration
- Sorby Hills remains fully funded and under construction, targeting first production H2 2027
Managing Director and CEO Simon Noon framed the results in terms of what they could mean for the project’s trajectory:
Simon Noon, Managing Director & CEO, Boab Metals
“These results confirm potentially ore-grade mineralisation beyond current FEED Study pit designs and reinforce Sorby Hills’ growth potential. With the Project fully funded and under construction, additional Ore Reserves and silver production could deliver meaningful shareholder value. The results have already justified extending the drilling program, and we look forward to demonstrating the growth potential of Australia’s next major silver producer.”
These results reaffirm that the growth story at Sorby Hills is being pursued actively, not deferred, even as construction proceeds.
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