en.Wedoany.com Reported - Australian gold company Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) has expanded the mineralisation footprint at the Little Gem project, extending the Sapphire lode and returning further high-grade gold intercepts from the broader Gem system. The project holds a strategic near-mine position close to the company's Riverina underground mine and the Davyhurst processing hub in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

Drilling has now defined multiple parallel Sapphire lodes with a strike length exceeding 2.6 kilometres and a depth of approximately 200 metres, with mineralisation still open. The Gem lode (formerly known as the Little Gem Trend) has been delineated over a strike of more than 4.7 kilometres and to a depth of approximately 750 metres. More than 360 drill holes have now been completed at Little Gem and Sunraysia, with drilling at Little Gem ongoing and an initial Mineral Resource Estimate expected by the end of calendar year 2026.

Recent Sapphire drilling results include: 5 metres at 18.1 grams per tonne gold (including 1 metre at 84.8 g/t); 2 metres at 44.3 g/t (including 1 metre at 86.4 g/t). Other intercepts include 7 metres at 10.1 g/t (including 1 metre at 51.7 g/t), and 13 metres at 3.2 g/t. At the Gem lode, drilling returned 18 metres at 3.4 g/t and 16.1 metres at 3.5 g/t (including 2.1 metres at 21.6 g/t). A narrower high-grade intercept returned 1.5 metres at 34.9 g/t, including 0.5 metres at 90.4 g/t. Drilling at Little Jewel on the Sapphire lode returned 1.2 metres at 25.6 g/t, including 0.5 metres at 64.9 g/t.

Managing Director Luke Creagh said the company is encouraged by the ongoing exploration success. He noted that the team continues to be excited by the sustained exploration success at the Little Gem project, discovering and extending the system along the Sapphire lode, supporting its potential to host substantial high-grade gold mineralisation.

The Sapphire lode, discovered approximately 200 metres east of the Gem lode, has quickly become a major focus of Ora Banda's drilling campaign. Mineralisation is now traced from British Lion southward through Little Jewel, covering a strike length of more than 2.6 kilometres. Like the Gem system, Sapphire is interpreted as a series of parallel lodes containing moderate south-plunging high-grade shoots. Intercepts of 5 metres at 18.1 g/t, 7 metres at 10.1 g/t and 13 metres at 3.2 g/t demonstrate a combination of grade and width that could support both open-pit and underground mining.

To date, drilling has focused mainly on mineralisation within approximately 200 metres of surface, with deeper potential largely untested, while the interpreted high-grade plunges provide clear targets for future drilling.

Drilling at the Gem lode is also continuing, with recent results reinforcing the widths and grades obtained in earlier programmes. Intercepts of 18 metres at 3.4 g/t and 16.1 metres at 3.5 g/t add further scale to a system now defined over more than 4.7 kilometres. OBM has renamed the Little Gem Trend as the Gem lode and the Sapphire Trend as the Sapphire lode to better reflect the style of mineralisation and simplify future reporting. The Gem system remains open along strike and at depth, providing scope for further expansion as the company advances its geological model ahead of the initial resource estimate.

The location of Little Gem strengthens the exploration outlook. The project sits on the broader Riverina structural corridor, close to the operating Riverina underground mine and north of OBM's Davyhurst processing plant. The Gem and Sapphire systems lie approximately 2.5 kilometres from Riverina, highlighting the near-mine nature of the discovery and its potential strategic value within the company's operational footprint.

Recent drilling indicates a more complex mineralised system than a single gold-bearing structure. Cross-sections show the Gem and Sapphire systems as distinct mineralised corridors, each containing multiple parallel lodes. This geometry provides the company with multiple target horizons as drilling advances along strike and below existing intercepts. At Sapphire, the interpreted south-plunging shoots connect high-grade intersections over the 2.6-kilometre strike length, providing priority targets for deeper drilling.

OBM remains on track to deliver an initial Mineral Resource Estimate for Little Gem by the end of 2026. Work will continue across both the Gem and Sapphire systems, with drilling designed to extend mineralisation along strike, test open positions, and determine whether shallow high-grade shoots continue at depth. With both systems remaining open and more than 360 drill holes completed at Little Gem and Sunraysia, the company is building a substantial dataset around a project that could become a significant near-mine gold system.