Company update · 21 October 2026
The maiden season is complete; five holes still await assays. Manhattan Gold Corporation (ASX: MHC) has completed 25 reverse-circulation holes for 4,591.85m across five targets at Hook Lake in Nunavut, Canada, exceeding the original 4,000m plan.
The release consolidates progress at Jaws and Spectre and reports the first drilling observations from Quantum and Lotus. It also confirms completion of project-wide LiDAR, airborne magnetics and till sampling to guide the next exploration season.
Jaws leads the gold results
Seventeen holes accounted for 3,128.80m at Jaws. Fifteen had been reported by 21 October, defining a 490m zone of higher-grade gold within approximately 1.25km of drill-tested strike. Gold had been confirmed to 223m vertical depth.
The strongest intercepts highlighted in the update were previously announced, not newly released October assays. They include:
- JWS26006b: 41.15m at 4.66 g/t gold from 83.82m, including 7.62m at 18.67 g/t.
- JWS26009: 74.67m at 1.61 g/t gold from 21.34m, including 15.24m at 5.35 g/t.
- JWS26008: 51.82m at 1.88 g/t gold from 47.24m, plus a deeper 24.38m at 1.15 g/t from 204.22m.
- JWS26012: 21.34m at 1.72 g/t gold from 32.0m, including 4.57m at 4.89 g/t.
The two pending Jaws holes extend the drilled test to approximately 2.25km of strike. That is the span tested by drilling, not an already demonstrated 2.25km continuous mineralised zone. Assays are needed to establish what those extensions contain.
Spectre adds a separate base-metal target
All three Spectre holes intersected mineralisation. Previously reported SPC26001 results include 19.81m at 1.77% copper, 0.80 g/t gold, 84.3 g/t silver and 2.30% zinc from 42.67m, and a separate shallow interval of 3.05m at 29.50% zinc from 12.19m.
Spectre is a volcanogenic massive sulphide target approximately 26km southwest of Jaws. The company reports mineralisation across 340m of drilled strike, remaining open along strike and untested at depth. These are exploration results, not a resource or a demonstrated mining inventory.
A mixed first look at the new targets
Quantum returned 3.05m at 1.69 g/t gold and 18.2 g/t silver from 10.67m in QTM26001. Lotus returned 1.53m at 0.12 g/t gold and 23.8 g/t silver from 134.10m in LTS26001. The company describes these as narrow vein intervals, without the substantial silicification and sulphide presence seen at Jaws. Follow-up targeting is required; the first holes do not demonstrate a Jaws-like system at either prospect.
Three holes for 684.28m at the previously undrilled Omega banded-iron-formation target were still awaiting assays. Along with the two Jaws holes, they make up the five pending holes, totalling 1,088.14m.
Preparing the next season
The completed regional work includes approximately 12,600 line-kilometres of airborne magnetics, high-resolution LiDAR and orthophotography, and 550 till samples. Till assays were pending. Integrating these datasets with drilling was expected to refine 2027 targets; a permanent camp is intended to allow winter resupply and earlier mobilisation.
Scoping metallurgical work on samples from Jaws and Spectre was also under way. The next catalysts are the outstanding assays, metallurgical results and a more focused follow-up plan. None of these future steps is assured to deliver an economic outcome.
Technical context: reported intervals are down-hole lengths and should not be assumed to be true thicknesses. The historical Jaws estimate discussed in the source is a foreign, non-JORC estimate, not a current JORC Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve. Its conversion to a compliant estimate is uncertain. High-grade samples and nearby mines do not establish the economics of Hook Lake.
Source and related coverage
- Original Manhattan Gold Hook Lake update, 21 October 2026, including tables and JORC disclosures (PDF).
- First Jaws drill results: 41.15m at 4.66 g/t gold.
- Follow-up Jaws results.
- Manhattan Gold company page and related research.
Results, interpretations and plans are attributed to Manhattan's 21 October release. Cover photograph: RC drilling at Hook Lake during the 2026 campaign, reproduced from Figure 2 of that announcement. General information only, not personal financial advice. Exploration results do not establish commercial viability. No valuation or price-target revision is made in this update.