iTech Minerals Extends Sabre Gold Hit to 29m at 2.36g/t With Deep Drilling Next
Key Takeaways
- SBRC26-008 now returns 29m @ 2.36 g/t Au from 81m, up from 21m @ 2.04 g/t, lifting grade-by-length by about 60%.
- SBRC26-010 grew from a single 1m @ 5.77 g/t to 10m @ 2.17 g/t Au, including 5m @ 3.80 g/t, in the deepest hole into Shoot 2.
- Shoot 2 has been intersected in four iTech holes over about 110m of vertical extent and remains open at depth, with surface rock chips of up to 182 g/t Au.
- The shear zone between Shoots 1 and 2 has been drilled only to about 120m, against 270m at Shoot 1 and 150m at Shoot 2, leaving a large untested target.
- Phase 1 diamond drilling starts in mid-November targeting Shoot 1 at 300-400m, but no Mineral Resource exists and true widths are still unknown.
Second gold shoot at Sabre expanded to 29m at 2.36 g/t Au
iTech Minerals (ASX: ITM) has reported final reverse circulation (RC) assays from holes SBRC26-007 to SBRC26-013 at the Sabre Prospect, part of its 100%-owned Reynolds Range Gold-Antimony Project in the Northern Territory. The results expand the Sabre gold shoot known as Shoot 2, which was first reported on 6 October 2026.
The headline intercepts are 29m @ 2.36 g/t Au in SBRC26-008 and 10m @ 2.17 g/t Au in SBRC26-010. Shoot 2 remains open at depth.
Why does that matter? The new assays fill gaps between samples reported earlier, and in two holes they lengthen the main intercepts. That makes the shoot more substantial than it looked a week ago.
Mike Schwarz, Managing Director
“…the receipt of the remaining assay results has extended the previously reported mineralised intercept in SBRC26-008 to 29 metres at 2.36 g/t gold, providing further evidence of the strength and extent of this emerging shoot…”
“…the ground between them remains largely untested below 120 metres.”
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Shoot 2 results: bigger intercepts across four holes
Intercepts before and after the final assays
The table below sets out the principal Shoot 2 intercepts, all at a 0.5 g/t Au lower cut-off and all downhole widths.
| Hole | From | New intercept | Previous intercept | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBRC26-008 | 81m | 29m @ 2.36 g/t Au | 21m @ 2.04 g/t Au from 81m | Extended |
| SBRC26-010 | 162m | 10m @ 2.17 g/t Au | 1m @ 5.77 g/t Au from 166m | Extended |
| SBRC26-011 | 48m | 8m @ 0.83 g/t Au | None | New intercept |
| SBRC26-009 | 113m | 8m @ 1.15 g/t Au | Unchanged | Unchanged |
The SBRC26-010 result is worth noting. The deepest hole into the shoot now carries 10m of mineralisation at about 150m below surface, in place of a single metre.
What the numbers show
- SBRC26-008 shows an increase of approximately 60% on a grade-by-length basis.
- It includes 11m @ 3.13 g/t Au from 81m and 11m @ 2.72 g/t Au from 99m, at a 1 g/t Au cut-off.
- SBRC26-010 includes 5m @ 3.80 g/t Au from 162m, also at a 1 g/t Au cut-off.
- SBRC26-008 is mineralised over most of its length, with a broad interval of 98m @ 1.06 g/t Au from 12m. That is a downhole figure and not a true width.
Shoot 2 has now been intersected in four iTech holes over approximately 110m of vertical extent, from about 45m to 155m below surface. It is interpreted to continue to surface, where outcrop rock chips returned up to 182 g/t Au (ASX: ITM, 5 July 2024).
A caution applies. All intervals are downhole widths, and the new results come from 2m to 5m composite samples. True widths are not yet known.
Why the shear zone between the shoots matters
One controlling structure, not isolated bodies
iTech interprets Shoots 1 to 4 as higher-grade parts of a single north-north-west trending shear zone, spread over more than 400m of strike. Shoots 3 and 4 are outlined by gold grade shell modelling of historical drilling.
The depth contrast is stark. Shoot 1 has been drilled to approximately 270m and Shoot 2 to approximately 150m, yet the shear between them has been drilled only to approximately 120m.
Shoots 1 and 2 both lie next to east-west trending dolerite dykes where the dykes cross the structure. The company is assessing this relationship as a possible control on where the shoots sit.
What is gold-antimony mineralisation, and why does it matter?
Sabre’s mineralisation is steeply dipping and structurally controlled, with gold closely associated with antimony (as the mineral stibnite) and sulphides, hosted in a metasedimentary sequence. iTech says this shows strong similarities to shallow-level, epizonal orogenic gold-antimony systems of central Victoria, most notably Sunday Creek (Southern Cross Gold Consolidated), and the Fosterville and Costerfield deposits.
For investors, the relevance is that iTech says the setting is consistent with this style and supports the potential for mineralisation to continue to depth. The company cautions that comparisons are on geological style only, and that results at those projects should not be assumed to indicate outcomes at Sabre.
Several questions remain open:
- Strike extent: all four iTech intercepts sit on one drill section, and SBRC26-012, about 25m to the north-west, returned no significant intersection.
- Plunge: the orientation of the shoot is not yet established.
- True width: only downhole lengths are known.
- Continuity: the hanging-wall zone rests on three intercepts and the footwall zone on a single hole.
No Mineral Resource has been estimated at Sabre. The potential between the shoots is an exploration concept and not an Exploration Target, and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in a Mineral Resource estimate.
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Next steps: deep diamond drilling from mid-November
The company has outlined a staged programme:
- Phase 1, planned to begin in mid-November, with at least 2 diamond holes aimed at extending Shoot 1 to depths of 300-400m.
- Phases 2 and 3, which will likely commence early in the new year after the predicted wet season, aiming to extend Shoot 1 below 500m vertical depth.
- Follow-up drilling of Shoot 2 below 150m and along strike, and of the shear zone between and below the shoots.
- Assaying of individual 1m samples from the mineralised composite intervals reported in this release.
Other catalysts are lined up. Results from recent drilling at the Falchion Prospect are due shortly and will be reported separately.
iTech also plans detailed soil sampling along extensions to the structures hosting Sabre and Falchion, and is acquiring additional detailed drone magnetic survey data. Metallurgical test work is underway to determine gold and antimony recoveries and the potential for future reporting of a gold equivalent, though no metal equivalents are reported now.
Taken together, the picture is an expanding Shoot 2, a Shoot 1 shown to continue to at least 270m below surface, and a pipeline of results and drilling ahead. The company has 238.9M ordinary shares on issue. Much remains unproven, so the next drilling results will be the test of whether the shear zone holds together at depth.
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