Future Battery Minerals (ASX: FBM) has expanded the scale of its emerging gold system at the Forrest prospect within the company’s Miriam project in Western Australia, with new assay results confirming multiple thick, high-grade lodes open along strike and at depth.
Results from the first 24 holes of FBM’s Phase 2 reverse circulation program returned standout intersections including 12 metres at 12.18 grams per tonne gold from 48m, and 25m at 3.28g/t from 119m—the latter containing 6m at 10.76g/t.
The drilling extended gold mineralisation 150m south of previous intercepts and demonstrated a multi-lode structure now defined over 500m of strike length.
Large-Scale Mineralised System Emerging
The Phase 2 drilling at Forrest – comprising 22 holes for approximately 2,800m – successfully built on the company’s Phase 1 program, which had already outlined shallow oxide and fresh rock mineralisation.
The latest results show several parallel lodes interpreted as sub-vertical structures that remain open to the southwest, northeast and at depth, with key intercepts including 12m at 1.25g/t from 117m and 16m at 0.98g/t from 16m, along with broad oxide zones such as 21m at 1.00g/t from 18m and 16m at 1.13g/t from 20m.
Chief executive officer Nick Rathjen said the Phase 2 program had been a resounding success, demonstrating strong extensions to both oxide and fresh rock mineralisation.
“The results are clear: Forrest represents a much larger, higher-grade gold system than originally anticipated […] now interpreted to possess multiple stacked lodes of gold mineralisation with potentially significant strike lengths,” he said.
The program also delivered the company’s highest gram-metre intercept to date, with one hole returning 12m at 12.18g/t gold from 48m, confirming the presence of a high-grade primary lode.
Forrest South and Northern Prospects
Two holes drilled at the Forrest South prospect encountered only low-level anomalism, but the broader Phase 2 campaign significantly improved the company’s understanding of the mineralised architecture.
To the north, mineralisation continues to extend toward the Canyon prospect, where further assays from the remaining Phase 2 holes are due in coming weeks.
The company plans to commence a Phase 3 drilling program at Miriam immediately following receipt of the remaining assays in late November, targeting the new high-grade lodes and their extensions, while focusing on potential growth at Forrest and follow-up work at Canyon.
Recent heritage surveys have cleared access to multiple northern prospects – including Burbanks Monarch, Goroke, Blue Bell, and Grand Junction – where soil sampling is scheduled to begin before broader regional drilling in 2026.
Future Battery Minerals said the latest results mark a major step forward in confirming Miriam’s potential as a multi-lode, large-scale gold system, and reinforce its strategy of advancing both its gold and lithium assets within the Kalgoorlie region.
