Ordell Minerals Hits 32m of Shallow Gold at McNabs East, Maiden Resource Due Q4
Key Takeaways
- New RC assays confirm continuous gold mineralisation over 400m of strike at McNabs East, starting about 10m below surface and remaining open.
- Best intercepts include 23m @ 1.60g/t Au from 77m and 32m @ 1.08g/t Au from 91m, with a shallower 8m @ 3.35g/t Au from 11m.
- Only about 30% of the 122-hole RC program has reported, so most results are still to come.
- A maiden MRE is targeted for the December 2026 quarter, though the company concedes current data spacing doesn't yet support a JORC resource.
- Early metallurgy shows free-milling gold with 35-40% gravity recovery and fast leaching, and Barimaia sits adjacent to Ramelius' Mt Magnet mill.
Wide shallow gold intercepts at McNabs East pave the way for a maiden MRE
Ordell Minerals (ASX: ORD) has reported new assays from McNabs East gold drilling at its Barimaia Gold Project, near Mount Magnet in Western Australia. The Reverse Circulation (RC) results confirm continuous gold mineralisation over 400m of strike, starting from about 10m below surface and remaining open.
The best intercepts include 23m @ 1.60g/t Au from 77m (26BARC349) and 32m @ 1.08g/t Au from 91m (26BARC361). Closer to surface, 26BARC345 returned 8m @ 3.35g/t Au from 11m.
The results feed a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) targeted for the December 2026 Quarter (Q4 2026). For you as an investor, shallow and wide mineralisation matters because the company says the shallow zones have the potential to be extracted via open pit mining.
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Standout intercepts across two sections
The drilling covers two sections, 585,615E and 585,665E, on the western side of the McNabs East Prospect. Gold grades are in grams per tonne (g/t), and “Au” is the chemical symbol for gold.
Results table
| Hole | From (m) | Interval (m) | Grade (g/t Au) | Section |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26BARC349 | 77 | 23 | 1.60 | 585,615E |
| 26BARC361 | 91 | 32 | 1.08 | 585,665E |
| 26BARC361 (including) | 100 | 15 | 1.63 | 585,665E |
| 26BARC350 | 81 | 22 | 1.22 | 585,615E |
| 26BARC345 | 11 | 8 | 3.35 | 585,615E |
| 26BARC344 | 44 | 11 | 1.51 | 585,615E |
| 26BARC357 | 18 | 13 | 1.32 | 585,665E |
| 26BARC362 | 74 | 6 | 2.02 | 585,665E |
Only downhole lengths are reported, not true widths. That means the intervals show how far each drill hole passed through mineralisation, not the actual thickness of the gold zone.
What the drilling shows
The announcement details the following:
- Results are reported for 25 holes (26BARC337 to 26BARC359 and 26BARC361 to 26BARC362), completed in August 2026.
- Results remain pending for holes 26BARC326, 26BARC327, 26BARC331 and 26BARC360.
- Mineralisation is hosted in weakly oxidised to fresh granodiorite, dips moderately south and plunges gently east at about 30°.
- It remains open and untested down dip and down plunge.
Results have now been returned for about 30% of the 122-hole RC program, which was completed over 1,400m of strike. More results are to come.
Michael Fowler, Managing Director
“In-fill drilling continues to deliver consistently strong results, confirming a significant zone of shallow gold mineralisation at McNabs East that will form the basis of our maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, scheduled for delivery in the December 2026 Quarter…”
Understanding a maiden MRE and why shallow gold matters
A Mineral Resource Estimate is a formal estimate of the tonnes and grade of gold in the ground, reported under the JORC Code (the Australian standard for reporting mineral results). It typically underpins later mining studies. “Maiden” simply means it is the first such estimate for McNabs East.
Shallow mineralisation matters because it is the type the company says has the potential to be extracted via open pit mining. Material close to surface generally needs less waste rock removed to reach it, which can help the economics of a future mine, though the announcement does not quantify this.
Metallurgical testwork (tests on how well gold can be recovered) offers an early positive signal. The master composites tested were free milling, with gravity gold at 35-40% of feed gold, fast leach kinetics with most gold leaching in the first 2-4 hours, and low sodium cyanide and lime consumption.
There is an important caveat. The announcement states the current data spacing is not sufficient to confirm geological and grade continuity to support the definition of a Mineral Resource under the 2012 JORC Code. No resource exists yet.
Two-pronged growth strategy at Barimaia
Ordell is progressing a two-pronged strategy to build value at Barimaia:
- Fast-tracking a potential near-term mine development opportunity at McNabs East, underpinned by the upcoming MRE and followed by mining studies.
- Growing the scale of the Barimaia gold system through continued extensional and discovery drilling over the next 18 months.
A 125-hole, 6,500m air-core drilling program was completed in late September. It targets new, gold-mineralised felsic intrusions along the Barimaia mineralised intrusive system.
The extension and discovery drilling planned over the coming months is supported by Ordell’s $7 million raise, which was earmarked to accelerate drilling at Barimaia and to advance McNabs East towards a maiden resource.
Mine technical studies are also advancing. Water bore drilling is to be completed in October, with geotechnical and metallurgical drilling and associated test work to be completed later in 2026. Environmental reviews and geological modelling are also under way.
Key context on the project:
- Ordell holds an 80.3% interest in Barimaia, acquired from Genesis Minerals Limited (ASX: GMD), which holds 7.9% of Ordell.
- Barimaia lies adjacent to Ramelius Resources’ Mt Magnet mill.
- The Eridanus deposit, about 6km north-west and part of Ramelius Resources’ (ASX: RMS) Mount Magnet operations, hosts a current Mineral Resource Estimate of 30Mt @ 1.6g/t Au for 1,500,000oz of contained gold, with an additional +300,000 ounces already mined from the open pit (Ramelius, 25 August 2026).
Eridanus is relevant only as a style comparison. Ordell is targeting discoveries of a similar style, but the figures are not a forecast for Barimaia.
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Catalysts ahead for the remainder of 2026
The company expects strong news flow through the rest of the year. Key items include:
- Further RC and air-core drilling results.
- Further extension drilling at depth, planned to commence next month, testing down plunge and down dip of known mineralisation.
- Follow-up of any new gold anomalies from the recently completed air-core drilling.
- Water bore drilling, to be completed during October.
- The maiden McNabs East MRE, targeted for Q4 2026.
For investors, the appeal is a sequence of catalysts with a clear path from drilling to resource to mining studies. The next test is whether the remaining RC results and the MRE confirm the continuity seen so far.
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