Lodestar Minerals assays confirm gold continuity at Ned's Creek

Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) is a step closer to a maiden resource estimate at its Ned's Creek gold project in Western Australia. The first assay results from a 106-hole drilling campaign have confirmed continuity of the mineralised shear zone and expanded the oxide footprint.

CEO Coraline Blaud described the 12,344-metre program as a transformational step for the project. “Results continue to expand the oxide mineralisation footprint while confirming the continuity of the mineralised shear-zone trend across the project area,” she told shareholders.

The bulk of the drilling went into Gidgee Flat (7,581 metres), with 2,778 metres at Contessa and 1,985 metres at Central Park. Initial logging and sampling are complete, with resampling continuing over the next one to two months.

Blaud highlighted the confirmation of high-grade gold beyond the limits of the exploration target zone. That suggests “running room for growth in the scale of the project as further drilling is completed,” she said.

In December 2025, Lodestar outlined an exploration target of 250,000 to 300,000 ounces of gold across five to seven million tonnes at 1.0 to 1.7 grams per tonne. Blaud said the current results put the project within that range, though there is not yet enough information to determine where the mineralisation will fall inside it.

Ned's Creek sits near Catalyst's Plutonic Gold Mine and within trucking distance of Westgold's Blue Bird plant near Meekatharra. That proximity gives Lodestar processing optionality – either toll-treating ore or selling direct to a nearby mill – if the project moves toward development.

The company is working toward a maiden mineral resource estimate in calendar 2026. LSR closed at 1.2 Australian cents yesterday, down 7.69%, giving it a market cap of A$18.93 million.

For a broader view of gold-sector catalysts, see our gold profile and the earlier coverage of Lodestar's drill push.