Great Boulder Hits 9m at 4.17g/t Gold Just Below Surface, Lifting Peak Hill Mine Hopes
Key Takeaways
- Enigma returned 9m @ 4.17g/t Au from 6m beneath only about 5m of cover, giving gold that starts almost at surface and could lower open pit strip ratios.
- Five Ways delivered 1m @ 20.7g/t Au from 155m and 5m @ 3.70g/t from 149m, with the company saying results confirm its high-grade shoot hypothesis.
- Diamond core shows Enigma shares the same shear and fold-axis controls as Durack, where 4m @ 37.1g/t Au has already been drilled.
- The current resource stands at 481,000oz at 1.6g/t, while Golden Treasure (12m @ 8.56g/t) and Mt Pleasant have no resource yet and are candidates for the end-of-year update.
- Three rigs are drilling at a $183 million market cap, and an ore purchase agreement with Westgold underpins the stated pathway to cashflow, though its terms aren't disclosed.
Shallow high-grade gold confirmed at Enigma and Five Ways
Thick gold starting just below the surface is the kind of result mining studies look for. Great Boulder Resources (ASX: GBR) has reported new assays from its maiden 40,000m drilling program at the Peak Hill Gold Project, located 120km north of Meekatharra in Western Australia.
The results, from drilling at Enigma and Five Ways, show thick, shallow, high-grade gold with strong continuity. Headline intercepts include:
- 9m @ 4.17g/t Au from 6m in GERC054 at Enigma
- 11m @ 3.60g/t Au from 44m in GERC049 at Enigma
- 4m @ 8.48g/t Au from 64m in GERC006 at Enigma
- 7m @ 3.04g/t Au from 41m in GERC035 at Enigma
- 5m @ 3.70g/t Au from 149m in GFRC013 at Five Ways
- 1m @ 20.7g/t Au from 155m in GFRC014 at Five Ways
A “g/t” figure is grams of gold per tonne of rock. Intersections are downhole widths, and the highlights do not state true widths.
The company says drilling in all areas indicates potential upside in grade as well as mineralisation from surface. It describes this as important for mining studies, potentially reducing strip ratios and improving mine economics.
Andrew Paterson, Managing Director
“Intersections of 9m @ 4.17g/t Au from 6m at Enigma show we have high grade gold starting immediately below the shallow layer of cover…”
Paterson also said results “continue to exceed expectations, not only in thickness and grade but also in terms of continuity…”
The assays have been received since the previous announcement on 7 September 2026. They follow earlier results from Jubilee, Golden Treasure and Durack.
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Enigma and Five Ways drilling detail
Enigma: grade from beneath thin cover
Enigma sits approximately 500m east of the Harmony pit, beneath alluvial cover approximately 5m thick. There has been no previous mining in this area.
Paterson said other results in the area show good continuity on the same trend already confirmed at Durack, where results included 23m @ 2.22g/t Au from surface and 4m @ 37.1g/t Au from 110m.
| Hole | From (m) | Width (m) | Grade (g/t Au) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GERC054 | 6 | 9 | 4.17 | Also 5m @ 3.11g/t from 44m |
| GERC049 | 44 | 11 | 3.60 | Also 4m @ 3.33g/t from 58m |
| GERC006 | 64 | 4 | 8.48 | Highest-grade Enigma highlight |
| GERC035 | 41 | 7 | 3.04 | |
| GERC048 | 43 | 5 | 4.25 | |
| GERC029 | 90 | 11 | 2.34 | Also 11m @ 1.60g/t from 108m |
| GERC042 | 47 | 4 | 3.14 |
Diamond core from Enigma shows that both shears and northwest-plunging fold axes control gold mineralisation. The company says this is very similar to the control seen in core at Durack, and is useful early confirmation of both the drilling direction and the interpreted mineralisation zones.
Five Ways: high-grade shoot hypothesis supported
At Five Ways, a small program of wide-spaced RC (reverse circulation) holes was drilled north of the historic pit. It tested whether a high-grade shoot within the thrust surface extends north towards Jubilee. The surface strikes north-south and dips west at approximately 30°.
Initial results confirm the hypothesis, according to the company. Other highlights include 1m @ 15.55g/t Au from 250m in GFRC006 and 7m @ 1.45g/t Au from 141m in GFRC021.
The company says new gold mineralisation along strike and down dip from the historic Five Ways pit will be an important factor when considering future open pit cut-backs. The high frequency of historic shafts between Five Ways and Jubilee also suggests excellent potential for additional discoveries, though further drilling is required to continue testing the area.
Why shallow, high-grade ounces matter
A strip ratio is the amount of waste rock that must be removed to reach each tonne of ore in an open pit mine. Less waste means lower costs, so gold that starts near surface can improve margins.
That is why Enigma’s cover of about 5m is relevant. The company says near-surface mineralisation is important for mining studies because it can potentially reduce strip ratios.
Great Boulder also states that Peak Hill has a clear, low-cost pathway to production and cashflow under an ore purchase agreement with its largest shareholder, Westgold. The announcement discloses no further terms of that agreement.
The existing resource base gives context for how much gold is already defined:
| Classification | Tonnes | Grade (g/t Au) | Ounces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Indicated | 7,547,000 | 1.5 | 376,000 |
| Total Inferred | 1,838,000 | 1.8 | 105,000 |
| Total | 9,385,000 | 1.6 | 481,000 |
These are the Peak Hill Mineral Resources reported on 4 May 2026. Within that total, the Enigma subtotal is 41,000oz and the Durack subtotal is 230,000oz.
The company’s profile lists a major resource upgrade as pending, and the announcement refers to an end-of-year resource update.
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Next steps: three rigs and a busy pipeline
Three rigs are on site, and the company’s near-term plans include:
- Phase 2 RC drilling at Jubilee / Golden Treasure, with two rigs.
- Phase 2 drilling at Durack, with one rig, testing deeper down-plunge continuity of high grades from the first round.
- The diamond rig moving to Mt Pleasant, with one to two holes planned to confirm orientations of gold mineralisation previously defined by historical RAB and RC drilling.
First-phase drilling at Golden Treasure returned 12m @ 8.56g/t Au from 8m and 8m @ 9.00g/t Au from 76m. Golden Treasure does not currently host a JORC resource.
Mt Pleasant also has no current mineral resource. The company says widespread historic gold intersections suggest excellent potential for it to be included in the end-of-year resource update.
Paterson said it is “an exciting phase of exploration at Peak Hill, with volumes of assays in the pipeline and drilling continuing at pace”.
For context, the company lists a share price of $0.093, a market capitalisation of $183 million and 1,972,959,604 shares on issue.
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