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Horn Silver tenure consolidated across 202 claims and 13.2km², enabling a coordinated exploration and drilling strategy across the broader project.
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High-grade regional sampling expands the target pipeline, including up to 4,190 g/t silver, 18.05 g/t gold and 3.37% copper across multiple prospects.
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Multiple near-term exploration catalysts, with maiden Horn Silver drilling being prepared for 2026 while drilling continues at nearby North Star.
8 September 2026 – Mount Hawthorn, WA | Diablo Resources (ASX: DBO) has exercised its option over 101 patented claims at the Horn Silver Project in Utah, bringing the core project tenure under a coordinated exploration strategy as the company moves to rank targets and prepare for maiden drilling.
The option, exercised through Diablo’s 80%-owned subsidiary Antler Resources Limited, covers the patented claims surrounding the historic Horn Silver Mine in Beaver County and complements the company’s existing interest in a further 101 unpatented claims. The combined project now spans 13.2 square kilometres across 202 patented and unpatented claims.
Bringing the broader tenure together gives Diablo a single framework for exploration planning across the historic mine and a growing pipeline of near-mine and regional prospects, with the company now able to coordinate target ranking, permitting and future drilling across the project.
The centrepiece is the historic Horn Silver Mine, which is credited with historical production of approximately 17 million ounces of silver and 30,000 ounces of gold. Exploration targets extend beyond the mine itself and include interpreted Horn Silver Mine extensions, the untested Gossan IP anomaly, Buckhorn and a series of regional copper-silver skarn prospects.
Recent reconnaissance sampling across the unpatented claims has added further targets to that pipeline, returning high-grade silver, gold and copper mineralisation across several prospects. At Buckhorn, sampling returned up to 4,190 g/t silver, 1.40 g/t gold and 2.41% copper, while Washington returned results including 1,475 g/t silver, 7.57 g/t gold and 3.37% copper. Michigan produced up to 18.05 g/t gold, 199 g/t silver and 2.07% copper.
The spread of results across Buckhorn, Washington, Accrington and Michigan has broadened the exploration focus beyond the immediate Horn Silver Mine and supports Diablo’s interpretation of a larger polymetallic system containing multiple structural corridors and target styles.
Diablo CEO Lyle Thorne commented:
“Exercising the option over the patented claims marks a major milestone for Diablo and provides a clear pathway to advance systematic exploration across the broader Horn Silver Project.
The Horn Silver Project combines a historically high-grade silver mine and multiple near-mine and regional exploration targets across a large interpreted polymetallic system that has seen limited recent systematic exploration. The recent high-grade rock sampling results have added further depth to that target pipeline and will help guide our next phase of work.
At the same time, maiden drilling is now underway at North Star within our nearby Star Range Project. With Horn Silver and Star Range located approximately 15 km apart, we are building a concentrated critical-minerals exploration position in Utah and can pursue a coordinated strategy across both projects.
Our focus is now on systematically ranking and testing the highest priority targets across Horn Silver while progressing drilling at Star Range, providing multiple opportunities for exploration success across our Utah portfolio.”
The Utah portfolio also sits within a strengthening US critical-minerals policy backdrop. Silver and copper were included on the United States’ final 2025 List of Critical Minerals, alongside antimony, lead and zinc - meaning the principal commodities targeted across Diablo’s Utah portfolio are recognised as critical minerals in the US. The announcement also points to a July 2026 US Executive Order covering critical-material supply-chain mapping and measures aimed at accelerating the testing and qualification of new domestic sources.
Diablo will now begin regional mapping, sampling and structural interpretation across priority Horn Silver corridors, while integrating historical geophysical, geochemical and geological datasets to refine and rank drill targets. Work will also focus on the interpreted extensions around the historic mine and the Gossan IP anomaly.
The company is preparing for a maiden 2026 drilling program at Horn Silver, including drill-hole planning, permitting, contractor engagement and mobilisation. In parallel, maiden drilling will continue at North Star within the nearby Star Range Project, with results to be used to guide geological interpretation and follow-up exploration across Diablo’s broader Utah portfolio.
Contact details:
Lyle Thorne
Chief Executive Officer
Jane Morgan
Investor & Media Relations
