Austral Gold Advances Maiden Drill Program at Juncal Silver-Gold Project

Austral Gold Reports Surface Silver-Gold Results at Juncal as Maiden Drilling Moves Closer

Austral Gold Limited (ASX: AGD) has reported surface silver-gold results from Phase 1 exploration at its 100%-owned Juncal Silver-Gold Project in northern Chile, with continuous mineralisation identified across seven of eleven mapped veins. According to the ASX announcement, the results provide the basis for drill targeting ahead of what is expected to be the first known drilling program at the project.

The update matters to investors because Juncal remains completely untested at depth despite mapped mineralised structures, historical workings, and a growing surface dataset. With Phase 2 induced polarisation (IP) surveys underway and a planned 10,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign scheduled for later in 2026, Austral Gold is moving from surface work toward a material exploration catalyst.

Surface Sampling Defines Multiple Mineralised Veins

In the report, Austral Gold said Phase 1 was completed during March to April 2026 and included detailed geological mapping, more than 1,000 metres of channel sampling in trenches, drone-supported magnetic surveying, and analysis of multispectral satellite imagery.

Channel sampling was completed across 53 trenches using a diamond-blade rock saw. This method is widely used in exploration because it creates consistent samples across exposed rock faces, helping geologists assess grade and width more reliably at surface.

The strongest results came from three principal veins: Javiera, Sofia and Koda.

Austral Gold noted that these widths are channel widths, not true mining widths, and true widths are expected to be lower.

What Did the Javiera Vein Return?

The Javiera vein delivered the strongest individual channel samples reported in the release, including:

• TR-JAV021: 0.58 m @ 392.5 g/t AgEq including 0.32 g/t gold and 363.7 g/t silver
• TR-JAV012: 0.53 m @ 385.0 g/t AgEq including 0.66 g/t gold and 324.7 g/t silver
• TR-JAV016: 0.46 m @ 305.6 g/t AgEq including 0.73 g/t gold and 239.0 g/t silver
• TR-JAV030: 0.67 m @ 295.5 g/t AgEq including 0.14 g/t gold and 282.5 g/t silver
• TR-JAV019: 0.55 m @ 287.8 g/t AgEq including 0.38 g/t gold and 253.5 g/t silver

Elsewhere on the project, the Romané vein also returned encouraging surface values, with TR-ROM004 reporting 1.2 m @ 146.1 g/t AgEq, including 1.05 g/t gold and 50.4 g/t silver.

For investors, the key point is not only grade. It is the combination of multiple veins, surface continuity, and length of mineralised strike. At this stage of exploration, that broader footprint can be as important as any single high-grade sample.

"Juncal is an underexplored silver-gold project at the Paleocene belt within our northern Chile portfolio. Phase 1 has identified silver-gold mineralisation at surface across multiple veins and provides a basis for drill targeting. To date, and despite the presence of mapped mineralised structures and historical workings, the Project has not been drill tested."

— Stabro Kasaneva, CEO, Austral Gold Limited

Structural Interpretation Sharpens Drill Targeting

Beyond assay grades, the Phase 1 program also improved Austral Gold's understanding of the project's structural setting. That is important because epithermal vein systems are often controlled by fault corridors and fracture intersections, which can influence where higher-grade zones develop.

According to the update, the company now interprets three structural corridor systems at Juncal:

1. NW-trend system, interpreted as the dominant and oldest corridor, including the Gloria vein
2. NE-trend system, interpreted as a secondary structure that offsets the Gloria system, including Barreales, Romané, Sofia, Carolina, Mia and Isidora
3. ENE-trend system, interpreted as a later-stage structure, including Javiera, Koda and Edith

A priority target has emerged in the northwestern sector, where the Gloria and Romané systems intersect. Austral Gold said this area coincides with a broad zone of hydrothermal alteration, meaning the rocks have been chemically changed by hot mineral-rich fluids.

In many vein-hosted gold-silver systems, intersecting structures can act as pathways and trapping sites for mineral-bearing fluids. That does not guarantee higher grades at depth, but it is a recognised geological setting that often attracts early drill testing.

The company also reported tourmaline breccia bodies in the eastern portion of the project, mainly within intrusive rocks. In simple terms, breccia is broken rock that has later been cemented together, and tourmaline-rich breccias can form part of a broader hydrothermal system. Their presence may help geologists understand the wider mineralising event across the district.

What Is an Intermediate Sulfidation Epithermal Deposit?

Juncal is described in the ASX announcement as an Intermediate Sulfidation (IS) epithermal deposit. For non-specialist investors, understanding this deposit style helps put the project into context.

A Simple Explanation of Epithermal Systems

An epithermal deposit forms relatively close to the Earth's surface when hot fluids move through cracks and faults, then cool and deposit metals such as gold and silver. These deposits are commonly associated with volcanic belts and can host mineralisation in veins, breccias and stockworks.

At Juncal, mineralisation is reported to occur mainly in quartz-carbonate veins with associated sulphide minerals. Furthermore, these veins are structurally controlled, meaning faults and fractures largely determine their position.

Why Does Intermediate Sulfidation Matter?

Intermediate sulfidation systems sit between two better-known epithermal styles: high sulfidation and low sulfidation. According to Austral Gold, Juncal shows features typical of this subtype, including:

• Quartz-carbonate veins containing gold and silver
• Textures such as banding and bladed calcite replacement, which are common in epithermal veins
• Associated sulphide minerals including sphalerite, galena, stibnite and chalcopyrite

For investors, the practical importance is that this type of silver-gold system is well recognised in mining districts. Juncal also sits within the Paleocene metallogenic belt of northern Chile, near Austral Gold's Guanaco and Amancaya mines. The project is located about 70 km south of Guanaco and 35 km east of Amancaya.

That proximity does not confirm development outcomes, but it does place Juncal in a known mineral belt where the company already has operating experience.

QA/QC Work Adds Confidence to the Dataset

One of the more important technical details in the report is the company's handling of assay quality control. Exploration results are only as useful as the sampling and analytical process behind them, particularly in early-stage surface programs.

Austral Gold said an initial discrepancy emerged between assays from its internal Guanaco Mine laboratory and the external umpire laboratory Cotecna-AGS. The issue was linked to the internal lab's initial analytical method for silver, which was less effective than the external laboratory's 4-acid digestion approach.

However, rather than leave the issue unresolved, the company reported that it:

• Updated the internal laboratory protocol to 4-acid digestion
• Re-analysed 100% of all trench and chip-channel samples
• Achieved a strong cross-lab correlation of R² = 0.9884
• Reduced the average relative percent difference for silver to around 7%

In addition, the announcement reported the following analytical precision and accuracy results:

• Gold precision: 96.0%
• Gold accuracy: 99.0%
• Silver precision: 98.0%
• Silver accuracy: 92.5%

For investors, this does not change the geological outcome, but it does improve confidence that the reported grades are based on a checked and internally consistent dataset.

Next Steps: IP Surveys Now, Maiden RC Drilling Later in 2026

The exploration program at Juncal is being advanced in three stages, with the company now transitioning from surface work toward subsurface testing.

In the update, Austral Gold said the IP survey will focus on structures associated with identified geochemical anomalies in the silver-gold veins. IP surveys measure how rocks respond to electrical current, which can help identify sulphide-rich zones below surface.

The planned RC drilling program is designed to test the down-dip extensions of mapped structures. In plain terms, this means drilling below the known surface veins to see whether mineralisation continues underground. The company also stated that drilling would include areas not exposed at surface.

Austral Gold reported that the campaign is expected to use company-owned equipment operated by DV Drilling. While the company did not provide a cost estimate in the release, use of internal equipment may assist operating flexibility.

Why Juncal Is Becoming More Relevant to Investors

Juncal sits within Austral Gold's broader exploration portfolio, but several features in this update make it more relevant than a typical early-stage surface sampling story.

First, the project is undrilled. In practical terms, that means the next phase has greater informational value than a follow-up campaign at a mature exploration asset. Any meaningful intercepts from Phase 3 would represent new subsurface data, not incremental confirmation of an already drilled system.

Second, the mineralisation is spread across multiple structures, not one isolated vein. Surface continuity across seven mapped veins suggests a broader hydrothermal system that may justify district-scale targeting.

Third, the project is 100% owned by Austral Gold, subject to a 1% net smelter return (NSR) royalty held by Elemental Royalty Corporation. Full ownership can matter if exploration success leads to later-stage project studies.

The current Juncal project snapshot is outlined below:

What to Watch From Here

The next key milestone is not more trench data. It is whether the IP survey helps refine a coherent first-pass drill plan across the most prospective structures, particularly around the Gloria-Romané intersection and the principal mineralised veins already identified at surface.

If the maiden RC campaign proceeds on schedule in September to November 2026, Juncal should shift from a geological concept to a directly testable exploration target. For a project with no prior drilling, that transition is often the point where market interest begins to build.

Austral Gold's latest Juncal update does not yet answer the critical question of subsurface continuity. What it does show is that the company has defined multiple mineralised veins at surface, improved its structural model, and established a clear pathway toward its first known drill test. For ASX investors tracking Chilean gold-silver exploration, that makes Juncal a project to monitor over the coming months.

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