Zenith Minerals has delivered a promising start to a drilling campaign that could unlock a major new gold system in Western Australia's historic Southern Cross–Forrestania belt.
Early Drilling Confirms Exploration Model
The company's initial results from its Consolidated Dulcie project, located about 50 kilometres south of Southern Cross, have hit broad zones of gold mineralisation exactly where predicted. The first eight holes from a newly completed 12,621-metre reverse circulation (RC) drilling program have returned solid intercepts, confirming the continuity and scale of the system.
Notable results include 6 metres at 1.42 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 126m depth, 2m at 1.79g/t from 72m, and a broader 15-metre intersection going 1.06g/t from 46m, which included a higher-grade section of 3m at 2.85g/t. While not bonanza grades, the widths are precisely what Zenith is targeting for a large-scale, bulk-tonnage gold deposit.
Building a Major Gold Corridor
Zenith is actively exploring a 6-kilometre mineralised corridor with two rigs, aiming to add between 300,000 and 800,000 ounces to the project's existing JORC Resource of 302,000 ounces. The recent hits appear to sit within the same geological setting—volcanic basalts, banded iron formation (BIF) lenses, and ultramafic contacts—that hosts the known resource at Dulcie Far North.
This suggests the entire corridor could behave as one continuous mineralised system. The intercepts align along dipping shear zones, with clear potential for expansion both down-dip and along strike.
"These first results are what we wanted to see - continuity, scale and a strong match to our exploration target model," said Zenith Minerals managing director Andrew Smith. "Our objective is clear: convert geological confidence into JORC-compliant resources across the consolidated Dulcie corridor."
Strategy and Next Steps
Beyond bulk-tonnage targets, the company has also probed new footwall zones and structural folds believed to be potential high-grade "gold traps," though assays from these areas are still pending. In total, 78 RC holes have been drilled in the current campaign, with results awaited for 70 of them, promising a steady flow of news.
Zenith's strategic position is strengthened by its control of all subsurface rights along the trend, including a recently acquired 3-kilometre extension. The project area also benefits from an existing heap-leach operation, providing established infrastructure and permitting history.
With drilling complete, the focus now shifts to processing the flood of pending assays. Zenith expects to move rapidly towards defining maiden JORC resources at both Dulcie and Dulcie North. If the early results are a reliable guide, the Consolidated Dulcie corridor may soon be recognised as a significant, multi-deposit gold system in Western Australia.
