RML to start drilling on US gold/critical minerals project in “early May”
Our US gold and critical minerals Investment Resolution Minerals (ASX: RML) just laid out the plans for its phase 2 drilling program at its Golden Gate gold discovery in Idaho.
RML confirmed that the program would be for 45 diamond holes over 13,700m - nearly 4x the size of last year's drilling where RML made a gold discovery.
RML expects to be drilling this year's program in “early May”.
RML drilled 14 holes in 2025 across its Golden Gate prospect and every hole hit gold from surface, open at depth.
The best intercepts included 253m @1.5g/t gold, 197.5m @ 1.26g/t gold and 265.2m @ 0.6g/t gold.
All of these are wide, continuous gold intercepts starting from surface and running 200m+ into the ground.
Then in February, RML hit a second gold discovery at Golden Gate South with a hit of 99.1m @ 0.38g/t gold from surface to end of hole, also ending in mineralisation.
So now RML has gold across 1.5km of strike, open in all directions, with every hole either ending in mineralisation or suggesting that mineralisation continues to further depths.
Phase 2 drilling is about defining the scale of the system to test how big this thing actually is both along strike and at depth:
(source)
60% of the drilling will focus on Golden Gate South (the new discovery) and 40% on Golden Gate North (where the big intercepts came from).
Phase 1 drilling was done from just a handful of drill locations, so phase two is branching out considerably and will also be looking to step out to test for widths of mineralisation (east-west).
RML will also be testing whether the mineralisation extends between the 2 confirmed gold zones, whether its continuous or if they are 2 separate zones:
(source)
As a part of this drilling program, Two diamond rigs will be deployed starting early May, running through mid-August.
The goal is to get enough drilling in the ground to support a maiden mineral resource estimate, which RML is targeting for Q1 2027 (IF the drilling goes well). (source)
A reminder that all of this is just 12km from $5.4BN Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite Gold Project, the biggest antimony project in the US and hosts a current 6 million ounce gold resource.
Perpetua's project is backed by over US$2BN in US government support and has the backing of JP Morgan and $147BN capped Agnico Eagle Mines.
RML's exploration model is based on the idea that both projects sit on the same geological system which the Phase 1 drilling results have backed up so far:
(source)
Gold is also trading at ~US$5,000/oz right now, near all-time highs which would make the economics of any discovery here even more likely to be mineable.
(source)
Late in the program, RML confirmed that tungsten showed up in the results too.
One of the Phase 1 holes also hit tungsten mineralisation which showed 21m @ 0.06% tungsten including 8m @ 0.14% tungsten.
This is consistent with the historical Golden Gate Tungsten Mine which sits immediately to the north, and where RML recently acquired the Johnson Creek processing plant and tungsten stockpiles.
With this acquisition recently completed, RML now has processing infrastructure in house, a tungsten hit in drilling, and tungsten prices at all-time highs. (source)
Phase 2 will also be testing for tungsten potential alongside the gold.
So we think the next few months are going to be important for RML.
We Invested in RML because of its proximity to Perpetua, the multi-commodity potential (gold, antimony, tungsten), and the chance to ride the US critical minerals theme at a time when the US government is spending big on domestic supply chains.
The Phase 1 results validated the geological model, we are now looking to see Phase 2 to show the potential for significant scale of the system.
IF the drilling comes in and RML can put together a maiden resource, the market will have a very clear comparison in Perpetua to value RML against.
(there are no guarantees here as there is still a lot of work to do)
What's next for RML?
NASDAQ listing 🔄
RML has already submitted its registration statement to the SEC and launched its ADR facility through BNY Mellon.
The Roth Conference on March 22-24 is a key step in building the US investor profile ahead of the listing.
Phase 2 drilling at Golden Gate gold discovery 🔲
RML has permits for a 57-hole follow-up program - up to 45,000 feet of core drilling at Golden Gate. This is the program that should lead to a maiden JORC resource later in 2026.
We are looking forward to that program starting, which RML has confirmed is expected in early May. (source)
Antimony Ridge advancement 🔲
RML is also planning a drill program on its second high priority target area at its Antimony Ridge prospect.
A drill campaign and bulk sample program targeting the near-surface high-grade antimony veins is planned.
