Maritana Starts Gold Drilling Beside Black Swan Processing Hub

7 August 2026 | Western Australia - Maritana Minerals has commenced a 4,000m aircore drilling program at the Wilsons Gold Prospect, located approximately 400m north of the Black Swan Processing Hub in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.

The program is the first major drilling campaign specifically targeting gold at Wilsons, where previous surface exploration identified a substantial gold-in-soil anomaly covering more than 2.5km by 1.5km.

Maritana said the anomaly remains open along strike and is supported by several indicators of potential gold mineralisation, including recovered gold nuggets, gossanous quartz veins and limited historical gold results from drilling originally focused on nickel.

Historical results within and around the target area include:

• 0.4m at 6.41 g/t gold
• 0.2m at 5.12 g/t gold
• 4m at 2.32 g/t gold
• 1.1m at 2.38 g/t gold
• 0.3m at 1.74 g/t gold
• 1m at 1.13 g/t gold

Rock-chip sampling has also returned quartz-vein results of up to 1.25 g/t gold.

Managing Director and CEO Grant Haywood described Wilsons as a compelling near-infrastructure discovery opportunity, noting that the prospect is located within view of the processing hub and on a granted Mining Lease.

Why it matters

The Black Swan district has historically been explored primarily for nickel sulphide mineralisation. Maritana said only a small proportion of historical drilling samples were assayed for gold, leaving the broader gold potential largely untested.

The current aircore program will provide the first dedicated shallow drilling coverage across the Wilsons anomaly. It is designed to test the underlying bedrock geology and regolith profile, collect geochemical information beneath the surface cover and improve the company’s understanding of the structural and geological controls on mineralisation.

The target’s proximity to the Black Swan Processing Hub is strategically important. Any future discovery would be close to established processing and mining infrastructure, potentially improving its value as a future source of feed for the operation.

The gold potential also extends onto exploration ground immediately north of the existing Wilsons target, which Maritana acquired during the June 2026 quarter. The company plans to complete additional surface mapping and sampling before testing this northern extension in subsequent drilling programs.

Maritana will complete the 4,000m program before submitting samples for laboratory analysis. Geological logging and assay results will then be used to identify targets for follow-up drilling.

The company also intends to investigate other anomalies generated by its 2024 soil-sampling program across the Black Swan mining leases.

Initial drilling results are expected to be reported in late September or early October 2026.

For Western Australia’s gold exploration sector, Wilsons represents an early-stage brownfields opportunity combining a large surface anomaly, historical gold indications and immediate proximity to an established processing hub.

Source: Maritana Minerals ASX announcement, “Commencement of Drilling at Wilsons Gold Prospect Located ~400m from Black Swan Processing Hub”, 7 August 2026.