North Stawell Minerals (ASX:NSM), an exploration company focused on gold prospects in the structural corridor north of Stawell Gold Mines in Victoria, Australia, has announced the commencement of a follow-up diamond drilling program at its Darlington Project in western Victoria. The program, anticipated to comprise 600-800 metres of diamond drilling, is designed to test extensions beneath a shallow mineralised gold zone previously identified parallel to the historic Darlington Mine trend, which remains open in all directions.
The current drilling targets the continuation of high-grade mineralisation first identified 70 metres to the south. This follows significant previous intercepts, including 2.3 metres at 29.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 108.2 metres, incorporating 0.8 metres at 82.0 g/t gold, from diamond drill hole NSD057. Other notable results from earlier diamond and aircore drilling include 4.00 metres at 10.77 g/t gold from 60.00 metres (NSAC0527) and 6.00 metres at 3.45 g/t gold from 42.00 metres (NSAC0532), underscoring the project’s prospectivity.
Executive Director Bill Reid commented on the company’s enthusiasm to return to Darlington, aiming to test the interpreted orientation of a high-grade gold shoot. He highlighted the presence of key geological and structural elements at Darlington, similar to the historic Mariners Lodes at Stawell, located 6 kilometres to the south, which historically recorded production grades of 28-30 g/t gold. Darlington is a priority target within the 3.6-kilometre Darlington-Caledonia trend, representing North Stawell Minerals’ key exploration focus through 2026 due to its demonstrated high-grade, narrow-vein gold potential. The program will step out along strike and down dip of the current target, building on the “Mariners-type” mineralisation model.
