Golden Horse Minerals (ASX:GHM) Managing Director Nicholas Anderson told investors the company is positioning itself as an active explorer and “future gold developer” in Western Australia’s Southern Cross region, outlining a large 2026 drilling program backed by a substantial cash balance.
Large landholding in the Southern Cross belt
Anderson said Golden Horse is based in Southern Cross, about halfway to Kalgoorlie, and controls what he described as an “incredible package of tenure” across the Southern Cross Greenstone Belt. He put the company’s landholding at roughly 1,800 square kilometers, covering more than 100 kilometers of strike along the belt.
Funding position and shareholder support
Anderson said the company is “fully funded” for its plans, stating it has approximately A$42 million in cash and is “almost capped at A$200 million.” He also highlighted Emerald Resources as a significant shareholder, saying it holds about 20% of Golden Horse’s register and has “topped up in every rise.” Anderson added that Golden Horse acquired assets from Emerald Resources and draws on Emerald’s technical support.
He said Golden Horse has research coverage from Euroz Hartleys, Canaccord Genuity, and Petra Capital, and indicated the reports are available on the company’s website.
2025 activity and key intercepts
Reviewing the prior year’s work, Anderson said Golden Horse has been listed for about 14 months and began drilling in January of the previous year. He said the company completed roughly 40 kilometers of drilling across its tenure, with a significant portion focused on its flagship Hopes Hill project.
At Hopes Hill, Anderson described a 1.3-kilometer historic pit that was mined only to around 50 meters depth. He said every hole drilled to date has intersected mineralization, totaling about 200 holes “all in mineralization.” He cited example intercepts shown in his presentation, including 60 meters at 2.5 g/t and 40 meters at 4.5 g/t.
Anderson also pointed to regional targets:
- Hakes Find: He said initial drilling early last year produced shallow intercepts from surface including 10 meters at 4 g/t and 8 meters at 3 g/t, and that the company has returned to drill the prospect again.
- Marionette: He described it as a large anomaly identified through soils and magnetic work and said first-pass drilling late last year returned results including 10 meters at 6.8 g/t and 5 meters at 6 g/t.
2026 plans: 125 km of drilling and move toward an MRE
Anderson said Golden Horse is “building towards an MRE” and plans to drill 125 kilometers in 2026. The program includes more than 20 kilometers of diamond drilling and over 100 kilometers of reverse circulation drilling, with two diamond rigs on site. He said a major focus will be Hopes Hill and its broader district, which he described as approximately a 6-kilometer strike area, alongside additional regional drilling in the south.
Anderson said the company is also advancing non-drilling work in parallel, including flora and fauna studies and heritage work with native title groups. He added that increased diamond core drilling would support more metallurgical test work as the company moves toward a scoping study.
Hopes Hill: depth potential, visible gold, and metallurgy
Anderson said historical production at Hopes Hill exceeded 200,000 ounces at grades above 2.2 g/t and noted the prior operation had a carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant and “high recoveries.” He said Golden Horse’s metallurgical test work to date suggests those recoveries could continue, describing bottle roll test results from chip samples that achieved “95% plus on every sample.” He said more detailed test work is planned in 2026.
On exploration, Anderson said there are historically very few drill holes deeper than 50 meters across the tenure, and that Golden Horse is now stepping back and drilling deeper beneath the historic pit. He said the company’s diamond drilling is targeting depth extensions, where it has begun to see higher grades, citing an intercept of 3 meters at 24 g/t from a prior hole.
He also said Golden Horse released an announcement the same morning reporting its first visible gold in the first diamond hole of 2026, observed at 280 meters below the bottom of the historic pit. Anderson said the visible gold sample was not sent for assay due to QA/QC procedures and is being retained on site.
Looking ahead, Anderson said the company’s goal for 2026 is to extend the mineralized trend beyond the current 1.3-kilometer pit, with an additional 2.5 kilometers of strike being tested by soils and drilling. He said that once open-pit work is advanced, the company would consider an underground opportunity, describing mineralization as continuing at depth and extending north and south.
In regional plans, Anderson said a rig is currently drilling shallow oxide targets at Hakes Find and will later return to Marionette to step down and drill deeper. He also mentioned a prospect called Paddocks, a 750-meter strike area where the company is finalizing an access agreement and which he said has little or no drilling.
About Golden Horse Minerals (ASX:GHM)
Mineral exploration
