Exploration surge in NSW's Lachlan Fold Belt yields high-grade copper and gold finds

Junior miners and major companies are intensifying exploration in the Lachlan Fold Belt, with new high-grade gold, silver and copper discoveries reported.

The Lachlan Fold Belt, a 700-kilometre mineral corridor spanning central New South Wales into Victoria, remains a key source of copper and gold, home to deposits like Cadia-Ridgeway and Northparkes. While legacy mining persists, large areas under younger sediments are still unexplored, prompting majors such as Newmont, Evolution, Gold Fields, AngloGold Ashanti and Fortescue to seek farm-in deals and deeper drilling. Junior Kincora Copper has attracted more than $100 million in partner-funded exploration while retaining its Trundle and Fairholme projects.

Waratah Minerals disclosed a 208.7-metre interval with 1.17 g/t gold, including higher-grade sections, and is targeting deeper porphyry zones. Kuniko Limited, after a year at the Commonwealth-Silica Hill project north of Orange, announced a 0.5-metre zone with 27 g/t gold and 20,603 g/t silver and an 8-metre section of 3.3 g/t gold, 186 g/t silver and 5.6 % zinc, suggesting a polymetallic system comparable to Eskay Creek.

The company has mapped a five-square-kilometre exploration window, identified six regional drill targets, and expects assay results, electromagnetic surveys and a resource update by December, with a 2027 drilling campaign planned. Concurrently, Locksley Resources and Orbit Resources are expanding copper-gold and gold-silver-base-metal resources, underscoring a renewed wave of investment and discovery potential in the region.