Daly Resources Eyes Large Zinc Target as Prices Hit Four-Year Highs
Key Takeaways
- Daly Resources has reactivated the Box Hole Zn-Pb-Ag prospect within its Huckitta Project, 340km northeast of Alice Springs, following acquisition of the tenement from Sandfire Resources in 2025.
- Historical RAB drilling by Uramet Minerals (2007–2009) returned best single-metre assays of 14.7% Zn and 5.39% Pb across a ~6.7km prospective strike corridor that remains open along strike and at depth.
- Three priority geophysical targets — two deep IP chargeability anomalies and a potential feeder structure at the King's Workings — have never been drilled despite a fully permitted 2023 RC programme that was halted by unseasonal rainfall before a single hole was turned.
- LME zinc reached a four-year high of US$4,186/t on 9 September 2026, with constrained supply from Antamina and Red Dog underpinning a price approximately one-third higher year-on-year, sharpening the commercial case for advancing the project.
- A soil geochemistry survey across the full ~6.7km trend will commence in coming weeks, with drill testing of survey-generated and existing geophysical targets as the next likely step across Daly's 3,812km² Georgina Basin tenement package.
Daly Resources turns its attention to a large-scale zinc–lead target in the Georgina Basin
Daly Resources has published a detailed technical introduction to its Box Hole Zn-Pb-Ag prospect, located within EL34086 at the Huckitta Project, approximately 340km northeast of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The company acquired the tenement in 2025 following consolidation of the Huckitta Project from Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR), and has now completed a systematic review of the historical exploration database to bring Box Hole back into active focus.
The renewed attention is deliberate. LME zinc reached a four-year high of US$4,186/t on 9 September 2026 and was trading around US$4,000/t in late September, approximately one-third higher year-on-year. Constrained mine supply, including reduced output from Antamina in Peru and Red Dog in Alaska, alongside low LME inventories, has underpinned the rally and sharpened the commercial case for advancing untested zinc targets.
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What makes Box Hole compelling — and what sets it apart
A carbonate-hosted MVT system with 60 years of history
Box Hole is a stratabound Pb-Zn-Ag mineralised system hosted within the Upper Cambrian Arrinthrunga Formation of the Georgina Basin, interpreted as Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) style mineralisation. The prospect’s origins trace back to the early 1960s, when hand-mining at the historic King’s Workings produced 15 tonnes of hand-picked galena grading an average of 66% Pb, 58.5g/t Ag and 0.43% Bi — exceptional grades that drew explorers to the area over six decades ago.
Known mineralisation is concentrated within a “rusty” stromatolite horizon, characterised by sphalerite and galena replacement of porous carbonate at shallow depth. The system follows a sub-horizontal, stratabound geometry along a ~6.7km prospective strike corridor, and remains open along strike and at depth.
Systematic exploration since the 1960s — by CZEE/CRA, BHP, Uramet Minerals, and most recently MetalsGrove Mining — has generated a database of mapping, gravity, IP, aeromagnetic, RAB, and diamond drilling. The most substantial campaign was completed by Uramet Minerals between 2007 and 2009, comprising 94 RAB holes for 4,155m and returning the best single-metre assays recorded at the prospect:
- 14.7% Zn with 0.30% Pb (HDB045)
- 5.39% Pb with 3.34% Zn (HDB001)
In 2009, independent geological consultancy CSA Global Pty Ltd reviewed the exploration potential of Box Hole, concluding that the Georgina Basin’s tectonic and stratigraphic setting is favourable for significant MVT Zn-Pb systems, and that Box Hole “has many features that are found in economic MVT districts and deposits.” The review cited dolomitised host carbonate units, localised brecciation, significant faulting, and Box Hole’s position on a basement high within a structurally complex accommodation zone as features considered highly favourable for focused fluid flow and Zn-Pb prospectivity. CSA Global nonetheless noted the prospect remained materially under-tested away from outcropping mineralisation and at depth.
Key facts at a glance:
- Prospective strike length: ~6.7km (open along strike and at depth)
- Host formation: Upper Cambrian Arrinthrunga Formation, Georgina Basin
- Historical artisanal production: 15t galena @ 66% Pb, 58.5g/t Ag, 0.43% Bi (early 1960s)
- Best RAB intercepts: 14.7% Zn / 0.30% Pb (HDB045); 5.39% Pb / 3.34% Zn (HDB001)
- Independent review: CSA Global confirmed MVT-favourable features (2009)
The Earaheedy analogue — what it suggests about scale potential
Daly considers the geological setting at Box Hole to be broadly analogous to the Earaheedy Zn-Pb-Ag Project in Western Australia, owned by Rumble Resources Ltd (ASX: RTR) and Zenith Minerals Ltd (ASX: ZNC). Like Box Hole, Earaheedy comprises near-surface, stratabound mineralisation within carbonate units, with a structurally associated higher-grade MVT overprint. Rumble’s maiden pit-constrained Inferred Mineral Resource for the combined Chinook, Tonka and Navajoh deposits at Earaheedy stands at 94Mt @ 3.1% Zn+Pb and 4.1g/t Ag (at a 2% Zn+Pb cut-off), a result widely regarded as one of the largest zinc sulphide discoveries made globally in the past decade.
Investors should note that this comparison is made on the basis of geological setting and style only. Box Hole is at a considerably earlier stage of exploration than Earaheedy, has no defined Mineral Resource, and there is no guarantee that further exploration at Box Hole will replicate the scale, grade or economic outcomes achieved at Earaheedy, or that a Mineral Resource will ultimately be defined.
What MVT zinc deposits are — and why this style matters to investors
Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) deposits are carbonate-hosted, low-temperature zinc-lead systems. They form when metal-rich brines migrate through permeable rock, replacing carbonate minerals with sphalerite (zinc sulphide) and galena (lead sulphide) along favourable structural and stratigraphic pathways.
What makes the MVT style attractive to explorers is the combination of near-surface geometry, potential amenability to open-pit mining, and a tendency to occur in clusters across large sedimentary basins. One discovery in an MVT district frequently opens the door to regional follow-up.
At Box Hole specifically, the folded stratigraphy creates potential for buried repetitions of the mineralised stromatolite horizon, multiplying the number of discrete targets along strike. Historical diamond drilling also confirms that thicker, more massive carbonate beds occur below the Eurowie Sandstone Member below approximately 150m depth — a stratigraphic level that has not yet been tested in optimal structural positions, and which CSA Global interpreted as potentially hosting a larger system than the near-surface expression exposed at outcrop.
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Drill targets ready — the path to testing Box Hole
Why the priority targets have never been drilled
The highest-priority targets at Box Hole have never seen a drill bit, not for want of preparation but due to timing. In 2023, a maiden RC drilling programme was advanced to full permitting: access tracks were cleared, drill pads constructed, and sumps installed ahead of a planned June mobilisation. A heavy, unseasonal rainfall event then cut off access to the project, and the drilling crew was demobilised before any holes were drilled.
The planned programme was designed to test three geophysical targets: two deep IP chargeability anomalies in the northeast of the tenement, and a chargeability feature in the central zone spatially associated with the King’s Workings, interpreted as a potential feeder structure. All three remain untested.
Daly regards this as a significant opportunity: a fully permitted programme with geologically well-supported targets, ready to be resumed.
Immediate next steps
The company will commence a soil geochemistry survey in the coming weeks, designed to test the broader extent of the prospective Box Hole geology beyond the historically sampled outcrop corridor. Historical soil and rock-chip sampling was confined almost entirely to mapped outcrop; large areas of the ~6.7km trend, including much of the northern and southern synclines, have never been tested even at the most basic level of soil sampling.
Following the survey, drill testing of survey-generated targets alongside the untested 2023 geophysical targets is the next likely step.
The regional context adds further weight to the programme. Zn-Pb mineralisation has been recognised at five other prospects across the Georgina Basin, including Trackrider (70km northeast of Box Hole), Boat Hill, Marqua, Mt Skinner, and Noranside in Queensland. Daly’s 3,812km² tenement package, the majority of which covers the Georgina Basin, offers considerably greater scope to test this basin-scale system than has previously been possible.
The Box Hole zinc-lead programme sits alongside a separate, parallel exploration thread at Huckitta: a high-grade fluorite discovery at Huckitta extending 5km west of previously known limits, confirmed through recent rock-chip sampling, adds another commodity dimension to the company’s 3,812km2 tenement package in the Northern Territory.
Executive Chairman Mike Edwards
“Box Hole is an exciting addition to our portfolio. Historical drilling confirms a substantial zinc-lead mineralised system along an extensive prospective corridor, but the broader system remains largely untested. Importantly, a number of priority geophysical targets defined by previous explorers have never been drilled. Our priority now is to move quickly and methodically. A comprehensive soil geochemistry programme across the full prospective stratigraphy will commence in the coming weeks, giving us the information we need to properly define the footprint of this system and lock in the highest confidence targets for drilling. With priority RC targets already defined from the previous programme, and zinc prices near four-year highs, the timing to advance Box Hole has rarely been stronger. We’re applying a rigorous scientific approach to make sure that when we drill, we are targeting the right areas and doing so as efficiently as the data allows.”
| Category | Detail | Significance | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strike length | ~6.7km | Open along strike and at depth | Being tested |
| Deposit style | MVT Zn-Pb-Ag | Carbonate-hosted, near-surface | Confirmed |
| Independent review | CSA Global (2009) | MVT-favourable features confirmed | Complete |
| 2023 RC programme | Fully permitted, deferred | Priority targets untested | Resumed focus |
| Next step | Soil geochemistry survey | Defines footprint, refines drill targets | Imminent |
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