Underground drilling returns exceptional results as exploration expands at Mainfield Mining Centre
Pantoro Gold Limited (ASX: PNR), a Western Australian gold company, has announced massive and high-grade gold intercepts in its current underground drillage campaign on its 100% owned Norseman Gold project, located in the Eastern Goldfields, at the Mainfield Mining Centre.
The findings represent the first underground drilling in the Mainfield area in the last 20 years, which confirms the potential of Norseman to have deep and extensive high-grade ore deposits that can be developed and mined in the near future.
Pantoro Gold’s Managing Director, Paul Cmrlec, said the results confirm the geological continuity and high-grade potential across several reef systems.
“After an intensive period of rehabilitation in the Bullen Decline, it is exciting to see the diamond drill rigs turning out high-grade intercepts for the first time in 20 years. These results confirm that extensive high-grade ore zones can be defined, developed, and mined in the near term.”
Key Drilling Highlights
The first underground drilling scheme was aimed at several reef structures such as Crown South, Bullen West, Norseman and Esperanto. The confirmation that all target structures were intersected was given by Pantoro.
Significant intercepts are:
- 0.68 m @ 137.19 g/t Au
- 1.13 m @ 12.36 g/t Au (including 0.36 m @ 27.63 g/t Au)
- 1.37 m @ 15.69 g/t Au (including 0.53 m @ 38.57 g/t Au)
- 1.64 m @ 11.79 g/t Au (including 0.3 m @ 44.31 g/t Au)
- 0.32 m @ 71.14 g/t Au
- 0.83 m @ 31.24 g/t Au
- 0.91 m @ 13.47 g/t Au
Mineralisation was also observed in high grades beyond lodes that had been previously mined, such as 0.68 m @ 137.19 g/t Au, indicating that there had been previously untapped areas in the area surrounding the structure of the O’Brien reefs.
Drilling has already taken place out of the rehabilitated Bullen Decline, and the dewatering and platform development are ongoing, in anticipation of future mining.
Figure 1: Core from Bullen West – Hole ID BWDD25_006.
Economic and Strategic Importance
The Norseman Gold Project, at the southern end of the prolific Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt, is one of Australia’s historically richest goldfields, as it has yielded over 5.5 million ounces of gold since 1935.
The findings by Pantoro reinforce the growth strategy in order to increase underground mining and increase production at Norseman. With rapid underground developments and exploration success, the productivity of the company is expected to rise to above 200,000 ounces in the years to come.
Mr Cmrlec added:
“Our operating plan currently has new mine developments commencing during FY2027, but we aim to fast-track development once we are confident in defining economically viable ore panels.”
Resource and Discovery News
Pantoro has the current Ore Reserves of 859,000 ounces, and the Total Mineral Resources of 4.6 million ounces of gold. There are still numerous deposits that are open in the strike direction and depth, and they provide opportunities to expand further.
The Mainfield drilling program specifically targeted:
- Crown South Reef, yielding multiple intercepts up to 71.14 g/t Au;
- Esperanto Reef, where drilling confirmed 1.64 m @ 11.79 g/t Au;
- Norseman Reef, extending high-grade zones historically mined at 4–7 g/t Au; and
- Bullen West, confirming continuity of mineralisation below historic workings.
Pantoro has stated that FY2026 is scheduled to have around 250,000 metres of combined reverse circulation, diamond, and air core drilling.
Figure 2: Isometric view of Mainfield Reefs
The company also restated its ESG commitment, its high level of safety, its low environmental impact, and its employment of local people.
Market and Strategic Environment
The prices of gold globally have been healthy due to geopolitical and lingering inflation issues. High-margin environment still presents an opportunity to the Australian mid-tier producers, including Pantoro, especially due to the strategic position of the domestic projects with high grades compared to the global colleagues.
The Norseman operations, owned fully by Pantoro, give it a jurisdictional advantage that is located in a stable mining region with well-established infrastructure and a skilled labour force. Eastern Goldfields are a major exploration investment area that is still in demand to provide the nation with a large share of total gold production in Australia.
Analysts observe that the expansion of the project is in line with the general trends in the industry as miners are shifting to high-quality, cheap underground operations to remain profitable in the face of increased input prices.
Investor Outlook
On 13 October 2025, Pantoro Gold shares increased by 6.98%, with a market capitalisation of approximately $2.31 billion. The stock has been ranging between $4.85 and $6.40 in the last 52 weeks as the investors have regained confidence as the company continued to make updates on production and also achieved success in its exploration.
Figure 3: Market share price
The share price performance of the company has performed better compared to some of its peers in the ASX gold market over the year to date, owing to the high results of the Norseman operations and the ongoing underground developments.
The investor backlash is blue with the latest drill outcomes showing that other ore areas may increase mine longevity and sustain the rate of production.
Final Thoughts
Norseman Project: The discovery of new high-grade gold zones by Pantoro Gold at the Mainfield Mining Centre highlights the long-term potential of the project. The good intercepts, the expansive growth of resources, as well as the good operational progress of the company, place it in a position of being one of the leading mid-line gold producers in Australia.
Having a clear focus on the growth of underground operations, enhancing the production capacity, and ensuring the continuity of the ESG performance, Pantoro Gold is still in a good position to take advantage of the long-term resilience in global gold markets and provide further value to investors.
