Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL) used a recent presentation to outline progress at its Blue Moon discovery in Victoria, describing early drilling results as evidence it has identified the northern extension of the historic Bendigo Goldfield and setting out an 18-month to two-year drilling plan aimed at demonstrating scale.
Blue Moon positioned on the northern extension of Bendigo
Presenter Tim Markwell said Blue Moon sits in the “Bendigo Zone” and is a relatively new project for the company, with Falcon beginning drilling in June of the prior year. He emphasized the project’s location around a “world-class” goldfield, noting the Bendigo Goldfield is associated with a 22 million-ounce deposit and that historical production averaged more than 200,000 ounces per year for 65 years from 1851.
Drilling approvals and active programs
Markwell said Falcon has seven drill pads approved at Blue Moon, providing “the next 18 months to 2 years of drilling already approved.” He added that two rigs were operating “24/7,” with a third rig hoped to start soon.
He noted that part of the current drilling area lies within the Bendigo Regional Park on what he characterized as degraded crown land, which he said enabled approvals to be obtained relatively easily.
Three zones defined: Morning Glory, Lotus, and Dahlia
Markwell said Falcon’s most recent update defined three discrete mineralized zones at Blue Moon:
- Morning Glory Zone: A shallow zone at surface where the company intersected “nearly 18 grams” over a couple of meters in its first hole. Markwell said Falcon intends to run a separate drilling program targeting this shallow mineralization along strike. He added there are historical “scratchings and workings” over about 1.5 kilometers, which he said supports the view that the zone extends.
- Lotus Zone: Described as the key focus, with Markwell stating Falcon has completed three sections and each has returned results exceeding 100 grams per tonne gold, giving what he called a 100% strike rate to date. He said the zone is now interpreted over 280 meters and could potentially extend for up to 6 kilometers on Falcon’s license area.
- Dahlia Zone: A deeper target around 800 meters where Markwell said Falcon intersected a 6.5-meter quartz vein that ran 33 grams. He said the company is currently “wedging” to test the Dahlia Zone on additional sections and is awaiting results.
To explain the exploration thesis, Markwell said Falcon’s review of historical Bendigo data indicated the best drilling location was along strike from the Garden Gully Line, which he described as a 5.2 million-ounce reef system that runs up to Falcon’s tenement boundary. He said extensive historic mining and deep shafts stop at the boundary and that, beyond it, there had only been shallow shafts and no modern drilling—an opportunity he characterized as unusual given the pedigree of the district.
Next 18 months focused on demonstrating scale
Looking forward, Markwell said Falcon’s priority is to show that the mineralized structures continue along strike and to expand drilling coverage. He said the company had already completed three step-out holes and was awaiting assays from two of them.
He described an 18-month drill-out plan aimed at covering about 2.5 kilometers of strike initially, within a broader 6-kilometer strike length on the Garden Gully Line. Markwell also pointed to additional upside beyond that single structure, stating there are nine other reefs parallel to the Garden Gully Line. He said Falcon intends to keep two rigs focused on the Garden Gully Line while adding a third rig to test parallel structures, potentially starting with the “New Chum Line,” which he described as a 3.8 million-ounce reef historically.
Corporate snapshot and Errabiddy project in WA
On the corporate side, Markwell said Falcon completed a capital raising the previous year that strengthened the register, mentioning Jupiter, Franklin Templeton, Mackenzie, and Paradise among participating funds. He said the company had AUD 22.4 million cash at the end of December, which he described as sufficient to fund planned work for roughly the next year or so. He also referenced a share price “around” AUD 0.81 and a market capitalization of roughly AUD 170 million to AUD 180 million.
Markwell briefly outlined Falcon’s Errabiddy Gold Project in Western Australia as a “sleeper” asset. He said the project is in the northern Yilgarn region about 35 kilometers from Benz Mining’s Glenburgh deposit and includes a nearly 6-kilometer-long soil anomaly, with soil results exceeding 1 gram. He said the target area has not been drilled, that Falcon has completed soil sampling and defined drill targets, and that the next step is completing heritage work before mobilizing an RC rig to begin drilling.
Markwell concluded by reiterating that Falcon has active drilling underway at Blue Moon with visible gold and high grades, additional drilling planned over the next 18 months, a second exploration opportunity at Errabiddy, and cash available to advance both programs.
About Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL)
Falcon Metals Limited engages in the discovery, exploration, and development of mineral deposits in Australia. Its flagship project is the Pyramid Hill Gold project that covers an area of approximately 5000 square kilometers located in the Bendigo region of Victoria. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.
