Golden Horse Ups the Ante at Hopes Hill with EIS-Backed Deep Drilling

Golden Horse Minerals (ASX: GHM) is adding some depth—literally and figuratively—to its flagship Hopes Hill gold project near Southern Cross, WA. The Perth-based explorer has kicked off a 2,500-metre diamond drilling campaign aimed at unveiling the deeper secrets of this historically prolific patch in the Yilgarn.

It’s not just a matter of putting another hole in the ground. These aren’t your garden variety RC (reverse circulation) probes; we’re talking diamond core drilling, with a structural twist. Two deep holes, co-funded under the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS), are first off the rank. These boreholes aren’t just for sniffing out shiny stuff—they’re the foundation for down-hole electromagnetic (DHEM) geophysical surveys, targeting off-hole conductors that could hint at pyrrhotite-rich gold mineralisation, a known indicator in the Southern Cross domain.

Golden Horse MD Nicholas Anderson described the program as a critical evolution in the Hopes Hill story: “This phase of drilling is designed to build on the encouraging results we've already achieved, targeting mineralisation at greater depths than previously tested and providing us with valuable structural and geological insight to support future resource growth.”

The key word here is “structure.” Diamond drilling provides a high-resolution look at geology that RC simply can’t match. The cores should help clarify mineralisation controls, bulk density, and rock fabric—elements vital for future resource estimations.

The company isn’t letting the RC rig gather dust either. It’s running seven days a week, with a reported 50% uptick in productivity, and is zeroing in on multiple prospects along the Hopes Hill trend—Central, North, South, and Irene Betty. Since January, GHM has knocked out over 12,000 metres across 54 RC holes. This hybrid approach—pairing deeper, more precise diamond work with rapid, extensive RC coverage—suggests a deliberate and well-funded escalation in exploration activity.

The DHEM work, slated for mid-July, could also be a game-changer. These surveys enable detection of conductive zones near—but not intersected by—the borehole, increasing the chance of vectoring into rich targets without punching more expensive holes than necessary. It’s a technique that’s paid dividends for other explorers in the greenstone belt.

For a company with over 1,900km² in the Southern Cross Greenstone Belt, Golden Horse is galloping into a critical stage. The deeper dive at Hopes Hill, backed by government support and a stepped-up drilling cadence, could soon yield not just insights—but ounces. Investors will be watching closely for those assay results to begin trickling in, potentially redefining the scale of what’s already shaping up as a high-grade gold system.