Reconnaissance drilling at Austral’s Cameron River Project confirmed copper-gold mineralisation across six prospects.
Waterhole drillhole 26WHRC004 returned 15m at 4.59% copper and 1.16 g/t gold from 40m.
Of the 32 drillholes completed, 25 returned significant copper intersections.
Most targets received their first modern drill testing and remain open at depth and along strike.
Drilling now shifts to the Miranda Project, with Waterhole identified as a priority for follow-up.
Mt Isa region, Austral Resources Australia Ltd (ASX: AR1) | 22 October 2026; Austral Resources has reported assay results from 32 reconnaissance RC drill holes across six prospects at its Cameron River Project. The project sits approximately 40km from the Company’s Rocklands Processing Facility in the Mount Isa Copper Province.
AR Chairman David Newling said: “Waterhole has delivered the standout result from our Cameron River reconnaissance campaign, with strong copper grades accompanied by meaningful gold. We have also intersected copper– gold mineralisation across several additional targets, giving us a clearer set of priorities for follow-up drilling. Our immediate drilling focus now moves to Miranda whilst we refine the next phase of exploration at Cameron River.
These results, alongside previous results like Enterprise and Snow Queen, start to demonstrate the prospectivity of our tenure across north west Queensland, and with an increased exploration programme scheduled for 2027, our belief is that our copper resources will grow substantially as we continue to prosecute our strategy to become Australia’s next mid-tier copper powerhouse.”
Waterhole delivered the standout result. Drillhole 26WHRC004 intersected 15m at 4.59% copper and 1.16 g/t gold from 40m, including 13m at 5.21% copper and 1.24 g/t gold from 41m. Other results included 17m at 1.27% copper from 7m at Waterhole, 5m at 2.79% copper from 10m at Playboy, and 7m at 1.00% copper from 113m at Dawn Marie. All intercepts are downhole widths, and true widths are not yet known.
Waterhole is now a priority for follow-up drilling. Systematic follow-up is also planned at Playboy–Dawn Marie and Trumby Line to test continuity between intersections. Austral’s immediate drilling focus moves to the Miranda Project. That work includes resource definition and potential expansion drilling at the Enterprise Copper Resource. An increased exploration programme is scheduled for 2027.
About us:
Austral Resources is building Australia’s next mid-tier copper powerhouse, underpinned by a differentiated position in North West Queensland. With a focused Queensland copper portfolio and processing capability across both oxide and sulphide ore, Austral Resources combines established infrastructure with a strategy for disciplined, long-term growth. Commercially, we are an ASX listed copper producer operating in Queensland, Australia. We operate dual processing facilities with our Western Operations (Mt Kelly) a copper oxide heap leach and solvent extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) plant with a nameplate capacity of 30,000tpa of copper cathode, and our Eastern Operations (Rocklands) a copper sulphide concentrator with a nameplate capacity of 3Mtpa. We own a significant copper inventory including total in-situ Mineral Resources (JORC 2012) of 62.5 Mt @ 0.73% Cu (454 kt contained Cu), comprising 51.2 Mt @ 0.73% Cu at the Lady Annie Project (8.5 Mt Measured @ 0.74% Cu, 31.8Mt Indicated @ 0.75% Cu and 11.0 Mt Inferred @ 0.69% Cu), and 11.3 Mt @ 0.69% Cu at the Rocklands Project (9.1 Mt Indicated @ 0.72% Cu and 2.1 Mt Inferred @ 0.55% Cu), alongside 2,101km2 of highly prospective exploration tenure in the heart of north west Queensland, a world class copper and base metals province. The Company intends to implement an intensive exploration and development program designed to further plan the life of mine, increase its Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve base and continually review options to commercialise its copper resources.
Contact details:
Jane Morgan Management Investor and Media Relations: Wilamina Russo, 0450 646 609 [email protected]
