Catalyst: Which gold explorers have assay results in the pipeline?

• Gold’s record streak has investors hunting the next big discovery among ASX explorers
• Strong assays turn speculation into discovery, showing what’s really in the ground and driving the next share price move
• These ASX explorers have drill campaigns underway at their respective gold projects 

Gold’s glittering spot price run, up more than 50% over the past year and setting fresh record highs after smashing through the US$4000 an ounce milestone, is drawing in two distinct types of investors, according to NAB-trade director of SMSF and investor behaviour Gemma Dale.

“We’re seeing younger investors and those managing retirement portfolios looking to gold as a defensive asset and long-term store of wealth,” she says, noting the precious metal’s return to favour after decades on the sidelines.

The second group, Dale explains, are seasoned resources investors who understand the cycles and management risks in mining and are now selectively positioning for leverage to the gold price.

Gold’s still glistening – and the next big clues are coming from the drill lab

With both groups increasing exposure and the metal’s momentum showing few signs of slowing, it’s shaping up as an ideal time to keep an eye on ASX-listed gold explorers with assays on the horizon.

For investors, assay results are the hard data that show what’s really in the ground, confirming whether those promising drill samples contain economic grades.

Early results might reveal a hint of gold mineralisation, and follow-up drilling can show whether it continues over length and depth.

When the numbers start stacking up – strong grades, thick intercepts, consistency across holes – that’s when the market takes notice.

It’s often the point where a share price rerate begins, as investors start to model what the resource might look like and how valuable it could become.

Watching for assay updates is one of the clearest ways to track progress and spot which explorers are sitting on something special before the rest of the market catches on.

Luckily for you, we’ve outlined some resources juniors with drilling plans underway.

Nordic Resources

Nordic Resources (ASX:NNL) , formerly Nordic Nickel, is carrying out a 4500m drill campaign at its advanced Kopsa gold project in central Finland’s Middle Ostrobothnia Gold Belt.

Its plans include drill testing at least one of the newly identified targets in the program, as well as ground truthing, ranking and potentially testing the other exciting targets in the project area.

Kopsa holds a resource of 630,000oz of gold and 38,000t of copper, over 90% of which sits within 150m of surface.

It hopes to replicate previous results which returned 98.7m at 3.90g/t gold and 0.19% copper from 6m and 54.5m at 2.49g/t gold and 0.18% copper from 19m.

Drilling targeting depth and strike extensions to the 814,800oz gold equivalent resource at Kopsa began at the end of July, with eight holes sunk for 1700m of drilling up to early September.

Assays were scheduled for release in mid-October, a point that is rapidly emerging for eager investors.

Even with assays still pending, Nordic has been running hot in the past month with its shares climbing more than 50%.

In the meantime, Nordic has restocked for further exploration at its +1Moz gold equivalent projects in the Middle Ostrothbonia gold belt, with two Melbourne instos coming on board in a $1.75m placement this month.

Verity Resources

Verity Resources (ASX:VRL) is on the hunt for more gold at its Monument project in WA’s Laverton Goldfields, directly adjacent and along strike of Genesis Minerals’ (ASX:GMD) 3.3Moz Laverton Gold Project and 3.1Mtpa operating mill.

The 6400m Phase 2 program includes a mix of reverse circulation and diamond drilling to firm up the inferred gold resource (154,000oz) and chase extensions where the mineralisation remains open.

It will focus on both infill and step-out zones across Korong and Waihi, where previous drilling returned consistent hits above a gram per tonne across 38 drill holes.

The drilling program is part of a broader, multi-stage campaign designed to both grow the resource and run early metallurgical tests, which will feed directly into upcoming technical studies.

With more assays still pending from Phase 1, the next few months could prove pivotal in unlocking Monument’s full potential

Mammoth Minerals

Drills are also turning in Nevada, where the first-ever diamond drilling program has kicked off at Mammoth Minerals’ (ASX:M79) Excelsior gold-silver project.

The campaign is zeroing in on the Buster Trend to define the geometry and extent of high-grade mineralisation, an area already known for historical production of 19,200oz at an impressive 41g/t gold.

A second rig is due to arrive within weeks to accelerate progress, with drilling designed to collect key structural, metallurgical and geotechnical data.

The program follows up on some eye-catching previous hits, including 51.8m at 4.0g/t gold, 33.5m at 5.35g/t, and 10.7m at nearly 16g/t, highlighting the serious potential waiting to be unlocked.

Caprice Resources

And while Caprice Resources (ASX:CRS) hasn’t yet announced drilling, the explorer plans to begin as soon as possible on newly acquired ground at the Comet exploration project in WA’s Murchison.

The acquisition triples the company’s footprint in the highly endowed gold district, providing Caprice with ~40km of contiguous fertile greenstone strike, in the same geology and mineralisation as its Island gold asset.

Comet lies within the Tuckabianna mining complex, which is host to the adjacent 1.2Moz Tuckabianna and 1Moz Comet gold mines that were previously mined and processed by Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX).

Caprice plans to consolidate available historical exploration data to refine known zones of mineralisation and identify new targets for follow up.

Once the team’s finished mapping and verifying targets in the field, the best prospects will head straight into aircore and RC drilling.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Nordic Resources, Verity Resources, Mammoth Minerals and Caprice Resources are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.