Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE) outlined plans for what it described as its largest exploration effort in the company’s seven-year history, following a funding boost that management said has lifted its cash position to more than A$20 million.
In remarks delivered as a recap of recent developments and forward work plans, the company’s managing director, Dean Tuck, said an A$18 million investment from Petra has positioned Dreadnought to accelerate multiple programs across its Western Australian gold and critical minerals portfolio. Tuck said the financing came after a call in which he laid out priorities including expanded exploration at Mangaroon, metallurgical test work at the Stinger critical metals discovery, advancing Metzke’s Find toward potential production, and undertaking a large aircore drilling campaign at the Illaara Gold Project—an initiative he said Newmont had wanted to execute about a decade ago.
Funding supports expanded drilling and sampling plans
He also noted the addition of a new chief geologist, Dr. Jamie Robinson, recruited from Gold Road, which he said strengthens Dreadnought’s technical capabilities as it scales up field work.
Near-term cash flow focus: Star of Mangaroon and Metzke’s Find
The presentation reiterated Dreadnought’s strategy of developing high-grade gold deposits to generate cash flow while pursuing larger discovery potential. Tuck highlighted the Star of Mangaroon, describing it as containing 27,000 ounces at 11.1 grams per tonne. Referring to the company’s most recent study updated at the end of the year, he said that at an assumed gold price of A$6,500, Star of Mangaroon could generate A$100 million in free cash flow.
He detailed the project’s joint venture structure with Black Cat, describing a 50/50 profit share up to A$80 million in free cash flow, after which Dreadnought’s share rises to 70% of profit beyond that threshold. According to Tuck, Black Cat is fully funding up to A$10 million and is expected to incur around A$5 million in upfront cash costs, while managing development, haulage, and processing. He said this arrangement is intended to keep Dreadnought’s team “hands-off” on operations so it can focus on exploration. Approvals for Star of Mangaroon were described as “under assessment,” with the company in ongoing discussions with the Mines department, and Tuck said the project is expected to mine and process this year.
At Metzke’s Find, Tuck said drilling is set to restart in early March, with mobilization beginning March 2 and drilling commencing March 5. He described an existing high-grade resource of 15,000 ounces at 6.8 g/t and said the resource was extended about 250 meters to the north in late-year drilling. The company plans a 6,000-meter RC program aimed at extending mineralization northward toward surface and at depth, targeting a doubling or tripling of the resource. Tuck said this work would feed into a mid-year resource update and support studies including geotechnical and metallurgical work, with the goal of completing studies by year-end and starting approvals so that Metzke’s Find could potentially move into production after Star of Mangaroon, under a similar partner-supported model.
Illaara: large aircore campaign on an undrilled greenstone belt
Tuck described the Illaara Gold Project as a “belt-scale opportunity” adjacent to what he called a multi-million-ounce gold belt, noting proximity to Ora Banda’s reported 2.1 million ounces and historical production at Davyhurst. He said Illaara covers roughly 800 square kilometers, including about 70 kilometers of greenstone belt that has “never been drilled,” and argued the area shows strong gold anomalism but has lacked a systematic aircore campaign.
He said Newmont acquired the ground in 2016 and cleared about 30 kilometers of tracks in preparation for an aircore program, but did not complete it. Dreadnought acquired the project in 2019 and, according to Tuck, has awaited sufficient funding to carry out the program.
The phase one aircore drilling program is now underway, with crews on site and a drill rig expected to arrive during the week of the event. Tuck said phase one is planned at 40,000 to 50,000 meters across more than 550 holes, targeting 25 to 30 kilometers of strike length and expected to take about three months. He said results would be released throughout the program and would roll directly into a phase two follow-up on anomalous results and additional targets.
Mangaroon targets and critical metals test work at Stinger
At Mangaroon, Tuck said Dreadnought has identified seven “camp-scale” targets through systematic stream sediment sampling across roughly 4,000 to 5,000 square kilometers of tenure, with targets showing gold and pathfinder anomalism in prospective lithostructural settings. He highlighted early drilling on the Minga Bar Shear Zone corridor including Cullens Find and Midnight Star, describing it as a 7-kilometer-long opportunity. He cited initial results including 25 meters at 1 g/t from 22 meters depth at Cullens, and, 7 kilometers north, 4 meters at 3 g/t and 3.2 g/t. Tuck said these are among the thickest intercepts seen at Mangaroon and support the view that the region could host larger discoveries beyond small, high-grade “nuggety” occurrences.
He said an RC rig conducting resource extension work at Metzke’s Find is expected to move to Mangaroon later, with further RC drilling along the Cullens to Midnight Star corridor planned around late April to early May, alongside surface geochemical surveys.
On critical metals, Tuck emphasized the importance of proving a sellable product. He described the Stinger discovery within the Gifford Creek Carbonatite as hosting rare earths as well as niobium, titanium, scandium, phosphate, and zirconium. He said the company drilled multiple PQ diamond holes late last year, generating “tens of hundreds of kilograms” of material for a large metallurgical program designed to determine what products could be produced. Phase one is expected to run through the first six months of the year, with phase two continuing to year-end.
In closing, Tuck said the company expects consistent news flow from approvals and development work at Star of Mangaroon, drilling and study milestones at Metzke’s Find, ongoing aircore results from Illaara, and continued work at Mangaroon and Gifford Creek. He also invited investors to participate in an upcoming InvestorHub webinar with live Q&A.
About Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE)
Dreadnought Resources Limited explores for and develops mineral properties in Australia. The company explores for copper, nickel, gold, silver, cobalt, platinum group elements, rare earth elements, iron ore, and base metals. Its flagship project is the Tarraji-Yampi project covering an area of approximately 1,400 km2 located in West Kimberly. The company was formerly known as Tychean Resources Limited and changed its name to Dreadnought Resources Ltd in February 2019. Dreadnought Resources Limited was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Osborne Park, Australia.
