Stelar Metals Readies First Drill Test of 70-Year-Old Tungsten Field
Key Takeaways
- Stelar has mobilised crews for a maiden ~3,500m RC drilling program at Hill of Leaders, the first bedrock drilling at a tungsten field discovered in 1951.
- Earthworks start this week and the RC rig is due on site within days, putting drilling results on the near-term calendar.
- Drilling targets the depth continuity beneath a 2km+ mineralised corridor, where rock chips returned up to 15.69% WO₃ (12.45% W).
- Soil geochemical results are expected in the coming weeks, with drill updates and assays to follow as they become available.
- The announcement discloses no drilling completion date, assay timing, hole numbers, cash position or funding, so depth results remain the key unknown.
Maiden drilling imminent at Hill of Leaders as crews mobilise
Stelar Metals (ASX: SLB) has mobilised its exploration team and field crew to the Hill of Leaders Tungsten Project in the Tennant Creek region of the Northern Territory, ahead of a maiden ~3,500m Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program. For a stock that has so far relied on surface sampling, a drill bit in the ground changes what the market can measure.
Earthworks for drill pads and access tracks commence this week, with the RC rig expected on site within the next few days. RC drilling fires a hammer bit down a hole and returns rock chips to surface for analysis, giving a direct read on what lies beneath.
The program is the first-ever bedrock drilling at Hill of Leaders, and the first test of the tungsten system at depth since its discovery in 1951. The source notes tungsten was historically mined from surface vein swarms, yet the field has never been drill tested at depth.
What does that mean for you? Stelar moves from surface exploration to a stage where drilling results are expected to flow to the market, as the company has said it will report them as they become available.
What the drilling will test
Drilling will test beneath a 2km+ mineralised corridor where Stelar’s surface sampling returned high-grade tungsten. The program is designed to test the depth continuity of the tungsten mineralisation mapped at surface.
Drill targets were refined using mapping, Phase 1 and 2 rock chip sampling, and Ultra-High-Definition airborne survey data. Stelar’s surface programs confirmed high-grade tungsten, as wolframite and scheelite, across multiple discrete sites along the mapped corridor.
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High-grade surface results underpin the drill targets
The drill targets build on Stelar’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 surface programs, reported in the company’s ASX announcement of 12 August 2026. The table below shows the top five rock chip results highlighted in the announcement.
| Sample ID | WO₃ % | W % |
|---|---|---|
| HOLA039 | **15.69%** | **12.45%** |
| HOLA036 | **7.76%** | **6.16%** |
| HOLA006 | **4.96%** | **3.94%** |
| HOLA031 | **4.45%** | **3.53%** |
| HOLA012 | **2.95%** | **2.34%** |
These are surface samples, so they show where tungsten occurs at the surface rather than how far it extends. That gap is what the drilling is meant to address.
The company’s disclosures also note that previous exploration results referenced were reported by prior owners. Stelar considers them reliable for the purposes of exploration targeting, but they were not obtained, verified or reported by Stelar, so they should be kept separate from the Stelar-generated results above.
Stephen Biggins, Executive Chairman
“…For more than 70 years this tungsten field has only been tested at surface. Our team is now on the ground and within days we’ll be drilling beneath it for the first time.”
Why tungsten matters to investors
Tungsten is a dense, hard metal. The announcement states it is recognised as a critical mineral across the US, EU, Japan and Australia.
Grades are reported two ways. WO₃ is tungsten trioxide, the compound in which tungsten occurs in minerals such as wolframite and scheelite, while W is the tungsten metal content within it, which is why each W figure sits below its WO₃ figure.
Depth drilling matters because surface grades show potential, while drilling shows whether mineralisation continues below. A strong rock chip result is a starting point, not a measure of size.
The announcement cites three sector tailwinds:
- China’s export controls on tungsten remain in force.
- The US Department of War prohibition on Chinese-sourced tungsten takes effect 1 January 2027.
- APT pricing is at historic highs.
APT refers to ammonium paratungstate, a widely traded tungsten intermediate product. These are the company’s own descriptions of market conditions, and they do not guarantee any outcome for Stelar’s project.
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Next steps and upcoming catalysts
The announcement lists the following next steps:
- Complete the 3,500m maiden bedrock RC drilling program
- Report soil geochemical results, which are expected in the coming weeks
- Provide drill updates and assays as they become available
Stelar has also said it will provide an update on commencement of drilling. The announcement does not disclose a drilling completion date, assay timing, hole numbers, cash position or funding.
For investors, the coming weeks are likely to bring a denser run of newsflow, from drilling commencement to soil geochemical results. What the drilling finds remains unknown until results are reported.
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