Buxton Resources Finds Graphite Behind Madman Conductor as Focus Shifts to Arizona
Key Takeaways
- Hole MD004DD intersected graphitic, pyritic metasediments from 505 m to 627.20 m, giving Buxton a geological explanation for the Madman EM conductor and the first graphite recorded at the project.
- The graphite sat about 95 m shallower than the shallowest predicted plate intersection, but bedding at about 64° fits the modelled 55 to 75 degree dip range.
- Sulphide was limited to pyrite and rare veins up to 5 cm, with one vein at roughly 1% visual chalcopyrite, and Buxton confirms there is no Mineral Resource at Madman.
- Assays are due in December 2026, the next hard test of whether the hydrothermal system carries copper-gold.
- Buxton says it remains well funded but discloses no cash figure, with Arizona airborne magnetics and drilling being prepared for the winter field season.
Graphitic sediments intersected at 505 m in Madman hole MD004DD
Buxton Resources (ASX:BUX) has completed diamond hole MD004DD at the 100%-owned Madman Cu-Au Project at 627.20 m, intersecting pyritic, graphitic metasediments from approximately 505 m to the end of the hole. The company interprets that unit as the source of the EM conductor the hole was designed to test.
Graphite had not been observed previously at Madman. Buxton interprets it as the source of the off-hole conductor modelled from downhole electromagnetic (EM) surveying of MD002DD and MD003DD.
Core logging and sampling are in progress, with assays expected in December 2026. The company says it “remains well funded” as it prepares exploration activities in Arizona, though the announcement discloses no cash figure.
For investors, the conductor now has a geological explanation. That sharpens the picture of what Madman has and has not delivered so far.
Marty Moloney, Managing Director
“The graphitic sediments in MD004DD provide an explanation for the off-hole conductor detected from downhole EM surveying…”
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Why the conductor mattered and what was found
How do downhole EM conductors guide drilling?
Downhole EM surveys detect material that conducts electricity. The announcement notes that responses of this character may be produced by sulphide, graphite, magnetite, saline groundwater or conductive lithologies.
Buxton states that EM plate modelling is non-unique. The plates shown are alternative solutions that each satisfy the same measured response, and the company says no inference about the presence, size, tenor or continuity of sulphide mineralisation should be drawn from them.
What that tells you is that a graphite explanation is a clear result that narrows the target. It is not a sulphide discovery.
Key drilling facts
- The conductor was modelled about 350 m north of MD002DD and about 250 m north-northeast of MD003DD.
- MD004DD was designed to intersect the modelled plate solutions between approximately 600 m and 700 m downhole.
- Graphitic sediments were intersected from 505 m, approximately 95 m above the shallowest predicted plate intersection.
- The hole was terminated at 627.20 m, short of its planned depth of 800 m.
- Bedding in the graphitic metasediments averages approximately 64° toward 225°, inside the 55 to 75 degree southwest dip range modelled for the conductor.
The company says the difference between predicted and intersected depths is within the uncertainty expected of plate modelling.
What did the core show, and what does it say about structure?
Sulphide in MD004DD was limited to pyrite within the graphitic metasediments and rare, thin quartz-sulphide veins of up to 5 cm. One vein contains approximately 1% disseminated chalcopyrite, a visual estimate. Wider zones of quartz vein stockworks, 0.2 to 1.2 m across, carry trace sulphide.
Buxton cautions that visual estimates should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses. It also states that no mineralisation of economic tenor has been identified at Madman and that the company has no Mineral Resource at the project.
The structural picture is also developing. The Skates Hills Formation conglomerate is over four times thicker in MD003DD than in MD002DD across only about 200 m of lateral separation.
MD004DD intersected none of that conglomerate. The Mundajini Formation gypsum member rests directly on basement at 494.4 m.
Buxton’s working interpretation is a releasing step in a strike-slip fault system. On either interpretation, the company says the structure provides a plausible conduit for the hydrothermal fluids logged in both maiden holes.
| Hole | Depth (m) | Dip | Azimuth | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MD002DD | **635.76** | -81.2 | 231.1 | Rotary Mud / Diamond |
| MD003DD | **731.29** | -68.5 | 228.8 | Rotary Mud / Diamond |
| MD004DD | **627.20** | -68.5 | 13.6 | Rotary Mud / Diamond |
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What’s next for Buxton: assays and Arizona?
The announcement points to a clear sequence of next steps:
- Complete field activities at Madman.
- Finish core logging and sampling, with assay results expected in December 2026.
- Integrate the results over the Australian summer.
- Continue preparations in Arizona for airborne magnetics and drilling, with further updates promised in the coming weeks.
Moloney said the company would “turn our attention to Arizona where we’re preparing for geophysical and drilling programs over the upcoming winter field season.”
That sets up a news-flow pipeline of December assays and Arizona updates, with the company stating it remains well funded. No cash amount is given, so you should check the next quarterly report for the balance sheet.
Madman’s broader thesis also stays in play pending assays. Earlier MD002DD results, reported on 20 August 2026, described a zoned hydrothermal system, and Buxton interprets that hole as having intersected the peripheral alteration envelope of a large system rather than its centre.
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