What did North Stawell Minerals (ASX:NSM) recently announce regarding its Darlington Project?

North Stawell Minerals has commenced a 600-to-800-metre follow-up diamond drilling programme at its flagship Darlington Project in Western Victoria. The exploration campaign is designed to test a shallow, mineralised gold zone that runs parallel to the historic Darlington Mine trend.

Why is the Darlington Project significant for North Stawell Minerals (ASX:NSM)?

The Darlington site represents the company's primary exploration focus through 2026. Management has prioritised this area within the larger 3.6km Darlington-Caledonia trend due to its proven, high-grade, narrow-vein gold potential.

What are the key historical drilling results supporting this new campaign?

The new drilling initiative builds on high-grade historical intercepts. Notable prior results include drill hole NSD057, which returned 2.3 metres at 29.3 g/t Au from 108.2 metres, and drill hole NSAC0527, which intercepted 4 metres at 10.77 g/t Au from 60 metres.

What are geologists specifically targeting in this drilling phase?

Geologists are targeting a continuation of the high-grade mineralisation previously identified 70 metres to the south. The newly mobilised diamond drilling programme will actively step out along strike and down dip of the current target to test the absolute bounds of the system.

How does the Darlington Project compare to historical mines in the Stawell region?

Exploration teams have noted that Darlington’s structural and geological style shares striking similarities with the historic Mariners Lodes, located 6km south. The Mariners Lodes are highly regarded for having historically recorded exceptional production grades of 28–30 g/t Au.

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North Stawell begins diamond drilling at Darlington Project

Written by Liezl GambePublished Jun. 5 2026Last Updated Jun. 5 2026

North Stawell Minerals (ASX:NSM) commenced a 600-to-800-metre follow-up diamond drilling programme at its flagship Darlington Project in Western Victoria.

The latest campaign is designed to test a shallow, mineralised gold zone running parallel to the historic Darlington Mine trend, which currently remains wide open in all directions.

The initiative builds directly upon highly encouraging prior intercepts.

Notable historical results include drill hole NSD057, which returned a 2.3m at 29.3 g/t Au from 108.2m (including a higher-grade interval of 0.8m at 82.0 g/t Au), and NSAC0527, which intercepted 4m at 10.77 g/t Au from 60m.

Geologists are targeting a continuation of high-grade mineralisation identified 70 metres to the south.

Exploration teams have noted that the structural and geological style of the Darlington mineralisation bears striking similarities to the historic Mariners Lodes at Stawell—located just 6km south—which historically recorded exceptional production grades of 28-30 g/t Au.

The Darlington site sits within the larger 3.6km Darlington-Caledonia trend and represents NSM’s primary exploration focus through 2026.

The company has prioritised the area due to its proven, high-grade, narrow-vein gold potential.

The newly mobilised diamond drilling programme will actively step out along strike and down dip of the current target to test the bounds of the system.

At the time of reporting, North Stawell Minerals’ share price was $0.028.