Neometals strikes again at Barrambie: gold grades shine at Ironclad and Mystery prospects

Neometals (ASX: NMT) has turned the drill bit on once more at its Barrambie Gold Project in WA’s Murchison, returning a clutch of high-grade gold intercepts that would make even the most jaded geo sit up straighter.

Announced on 15 January, the company unveiled assay results from its latest round of RC drilling across the Ironclad and Mystery prospects. It’s the strongest hint yet that Neometals' golden aspirations at Barrambie—better known for its titanium—are gaining serious traction.

Let’s cut to the chase. At Ironclad, standout hits include:

• 26m at 4.04g/t gold from surface (including 15m at 6.58g/t) in hole 25ICRC028

• 19m at 4.16g/t from 106m (including 9m at 7.19g/t) in hole 25ICRC013

• 26m at 2.50g/t from 69m (including 5m at 5.84g/t and 6m at 4.36g/t) in hole 25ICRC022

And at the aptly named Mystery prospect, drill hole 25MYRC009 came home with 14m at a blistering 11.74g/t from 82m, including a bonanza 6m at 26.56g/t gold. Notably, that includes a 2m interval grading a jaw-dropping 74.68g/t.

These are not your garden-variety sniffers. The Ironclad hits build on the project's initial Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 205kt at 1.97g/t for 13,000 ounces, announced mid-2025. Importantly, Neometals is now updating that resource, aiming to firm up the geological model and bolster mine planning during Q1 2026.

“The new drill data supports our current understanding of controls and continuity of gold trends,” managing director Chris Reed said in the announcement. “We’ve commenced the process for updating the mineral resource estimate and mine planning for the Ironclad Deposit”.

The drilling campaign, conducted in October and November 2025, included 42 RC holes for 3,547m at Ironclad and 14 holes for 1,652m at Mystery. The aim? Infill and extensional drilling at Ironclad, with a side quest to revisit historic workings at Mystery.

Geologically, Ironclad's mineralisation is structurally controlled—gold is nestled within gabbros, concentrated along northwest-trending shear zones, with a high-grade plunge to the north. Veining is complex, but it's the parallel veins along shear zones that appear to carry the lion’s share of the metal. The latest drill intercepts confirm a broader mineralised stockwork zone, with increasing grade and width at depth.

Mystery’s mineralisation is of the steep, sulphide-rich, quartz-carbonate vein variety—classic high-grade WA goldfields style. The team interprets a shallow north-plunging high-grade shoot that remains open at depth. Historic workings likely only scratched the surface.

So where to next?

Neometals is processing the remaining assays from Barrambie Ranges drilling, with another announcement flagged later in January. Meanwhile, work is underway on associated geotech, metallurgy, hydrology, and environmental studies for mining approvals at Ironclad. A production joint venture with BML Ventures is also on the table following a December 2025 LOI.

Let’s not forget the broader Barrambie story. The tenement hosts one of the world’s highest-grade titanium deposits, but also covers 40km of the greenstone belt with historic gold production averaging 24.8g/t. In 2024, Neometals set an exploration target of 8–10.5Mt at 1.3–2.3g/t Au, implying a potential bounty of 335,000 to 775,000 ounces.

Gold exploration was mothballed for decades while the company focused on industrial minerals. Now, with modern methods and a bullish gold market, Neometals appears keen to change the narrative at Barrambie.

With assays like these, the gold side of the project is no longer a sideshow—it may soon be the headline act.