SX2 Hits Near-1,000 g/t Gold at Depth; Apollo East Shallows to 144 m
Key Takeaways
- Hole SDDSC222W1 returned 0.6 m at 993.2 g/t AuEq (972.0 g/t Au, 8.9% Sb) from 808.5 m depth, ranking as the 9th best composite intersection drilled at Sunday Creek to date and extending the A130 vein set 40 m below its previously known vertical extent.
- Apollo East has reached its shallowest point yet, with SDDSC227 delivering 5.1 m at 27.2 g/t AuEq from 260.9 m — sitting just 144 m below surface — confirming high-grade mineralisation is not confined to depth.
- The eastern boundary of the Sunday Creek system remains open, with SDDSC227 returning the easternmost significant intersection drilled at the project to date, directly down-dip of 2021 trench mineralisation.
- Antimony grades are exceptional and widespread, with individual assays reaching 32.5% Sb and five assays above 15% Sb in this release alone — material given antimony's critical minerals status across Australia, the US, Canada, Japan, and the EU.
- With 72 holes pending assay results, 11 rigs operational, and a 200,000 m drill program funded through to Q1 2027, the news pipeline from Sunday Creek is as large as any point in the project's history.
Sunday Creek delivers near-1,000 g/t gold at depth while Apollo East pushes closer to surface
Southern Cross Gold Consolidated has released results from five drill holes at its Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project in Victoria, and the headline tells two stories at once. At depth, hole SDDSC222W1 returned 0.6 m @ 993.2 g/t AuEq (972.0 g/t Au, 8.9% Sb) from 808.5 m, ranking as the 9th best composite intersection drilled at Sunday Creek to date, approximately 620 m below surface. Simultaneously, holes SDDSC223 and SDDSC227 pushed the Apollo East corridor to its shallowest and easternmost points yet, finding high-grade gold within 144 m of surface.
The system is not narrowing with depth or distance. It is expanding in both directions at once.
Five individual assays in this release exceed 50 g/t Au, ranging from 97.6 g/t to 972.0 g/t. Results were returned from five holes: SDDSC222, SDDSC222W1, SDDSC223, SDDSC227, and SDDSC234.
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Four results that define the story
1. Grades strengthen at depth in Apollo
SDDSC222W1 returned 0.6 m @ 993.2 g/t AuEq (972.0 g/t Au, 8.9% Sb) from 808.5 m, extending the A130 vein set approximately 40 m below its previously known vertical depth extent. The intersection is the 9th best returned at Sunday Creek to date, consistent with the pattern of grades improving rather than declining with depth.
2. Apollo East is now high-grade near surface
SDDSC227 delivered 5.1 m @ 27.2 g/t AuEq (18.4 g/t Au, 3.7% Sb) from 260.9 m, including 2.6 m @ 51.1 g/t AuEq — the shallowest high-grade intersection drilled within Apollo East to date, sitting only 144 m below surface. SDDSC223 added 97.6 g/t Au at 144 m depth in a previously undefined vein set hosted in altered sediments.
3. Apollo East keeps expanding east
SDDSC227 returned the easternmost significant intersection drilled at the main Sunday Creek Project to date, approximately 110 m below surface and directly down-dip of gold-antimony mineralisation identified in the MTSC001 trench completed in 2021. Apollo East is now defined across 140 m of horizontal strike and is one of five mineralised areas along 1,550 m of drill-defined host strike.
4. Antimony grades are high and shallow
SDDSC227 returned 32.5% Sb, one of five individual assays above 15% Sb reported for Apollo East in this release. The 186.0 g/t Au assay carried 5.2% Sb, and SDDSC222 returned three individual assays above 15% Sb at depth, confirming antimony tenor is carried through the full vertical extent of the system.
What is an epizonal gold-antimony system — and why does it matter here?
Sunday Creek is classified as an epizonal gold-antimony deposit. Epizonal refers to deposits formed at relatively shallow crustal depth (less than 6 km), as distinct from mesozonal (6 km to 12 km) and hypozonal (greater than 12 km) deposits. Victoria hosts several well-known epizonal systems, including Fosterville and Costerfield, and Sunday Creek formed in the same late Devonian geological event.
The architecture of the system is best understood through what the company describes as a “Golden Ladder” structure:
- The main host — a steeply dipping zone of intensely altered dyke and sediment — forms the vertical “rails” of the ladder, extending from surface to over 1,200 m depth
- Multiple cross-cutting vein sets form the “rungs,” each carrying gold and antimony mineralisation
- At Sunday Creek, at least 125 rungs have been defined to date across 1,550 m of drill-defined host strike
- Individual vein sets have been drill-tested from surface to over 1,200 m depth, with median widths of 2.5 m to 3.5 m (locally up to 10 m) and strike extents of 20 m to 100 m
This architecture explains why five separate drill holes across different depths and locations all continue to intersect high-grade mineralisation. There are a lot of rungs still to test.
The AuEq (gold equivalent) formula used throughout the results is: AuEq = Au (g/t) + 2.39 × Sb (%). This formula, adopted from Mandalay Resources’ 2024 methodology for the adjacent Costerfield mine, incorporates both gold and antimony into a single grade metric because both metals are considered to have reasonable potential to be recovered and sold.
Antimony is the reason the formula matters beyond just the maths:
- China claims approximately 56% of global mined antimony supply, according to a 2023 European Union study
- Antimony features on the critical minerals lists of Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan, and the European Union
- Australia ranks seventh globally for antimony production, despite all production coming from a single mine at Costerfield in Victoria
- Antimony represents approximately 15% to 17% of in-situ recoverable value at Sunday Creek at the current AuEq ratio
That strategic context gives the antimony numbers in this release — 32.5% Sb, 8.9% Sb, and multiple assays above 15% Sb — a significance beyond grade alone.
Michael Hudson, President & CEO
“This release does two things at once. SDDSC222 and its wedge SDDSC222W1 pushed Apollo down-dip, returning 972 g/t gold over 0.6 m at 620 metres vertical depth, our 9th best intersection at Sunday Creek. SDDSC223 and SDDSC227 extended Apollo East to its shallowest and easternmost extensions. Grades keep improving with depth at Sunday Creek rather than tailing off, but they are not absent at surface either.”
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Scale, momentum, and what comes next
The drilling program behind these results is substantial — and it is still accelerating. Key metrics from the program to date:
- 11 drill rigs currently operational at Sunday Creek
- 72 holes with results pending (50 at Sunday Creek, 22 regional)
- 200,000 m drill program running through to Q1 2027
- 283 drill holes for 136.9 km reported since late 2020
- 98 composite intersections exceeding 100 g/t Au to date
- 111 composite intersections exceeding 10% Sb to date
One detail worth noting on efficiency: rather than drilling a separate hole to test targets below the Admiral Fault, the team wedged SDDSC222 at 747.7 m to continue as SDDSC222W1. That single decision is estimated to have saved approximately 750 m of future drilling while delivering the headline result of this release.
The table below summarises the key composite intersections from this release, sourced directly from Table 2 of the announcement.
| Hole ID | From (m) | Interval (m) | Au g/t | AuEq g/t |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDDSC222W1 | 808.5 | 0.6 | 972.0 | 993.2 |
| SDDSC227 | 260.9 | 5.1 | 18.4 | 27.2 |
| SDDSC227 (incl.) | 260.9 | 2.6 | 34.2 | 51.1 |
| SDDSC227 | 209.0 | 0.8 | 7.8 | 10.8 |
| SDDSC223 | 280.1 | 1.4 | 10.9 | 11.4 |
| SDDSC223 | 245.3 | 2.3 | 11.2 | 13.9 |
| SDDSC222 | 597.3 | 5.7 | 4.3 | 7.5 |
| SDDSC222 | 635.8 | 2.1 | 20.0 | 20.0 |
| SDDSC234 | 323.4 | 1.1 | 5.4 | 7.0 |
What these results collectively describe is a system that is growing in every direction being tested. Grades are strengthening at depth in Apollo. Apollo East is delivering high-grade intersections within reach of surface. The eastern boundary of the system has not been found. And with 72 holes pending assay results and the drill program funded through to Q1 2027, the pipeline of news from Sunday Creek remains as large as any point in the project’s history.
For investors tracking critical mineral exposure alongside gold, Sunday Creek’s dual-metal profile places it in a strategically relevant position at a time when Western governments are actively seeking to reduce dependence on Chinese antimony supply.
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