Perpetua Resources has made a new gold discovery at its Stibnite project in central Idaho during its 2026 exploration programme, which is now complete with more than 16,000 metres of core drilling across the project. The first hole at the Fiddle prospect, SB633, returned 109.7 metres grading 3.2 grams per tonne gold and 1.1 percent antimony from 189 metres downhole. The company said the intercept is one of the broadest continuous intervals of gold and antimony mineralisation returned to date at Stibnite, at grades more than double the project’s life of mine average.
Fiddle sits about 750 metres south of the permitted Yellow Pine pit, along the Meadow Creek Fault Zone, the district’s main ore controlling structure. Follow up hole SB637 extended mineralisation 110 metres to the north, returning 37.4 metres grading 0.7 grams per tonne gold and 0.1 percent antimony from 93.8 metres, and SB643 returned 7.2 metres grading 1.7 grams per tonne gold and 0.5 percent antimony. A further 21 holes were drilled along strike of SB633. Two holes drilled to the south, SB665 and SB671, show similar mineralisation in core logging, including abundant stibnite and sulphides, and are awaiting assays.
Drilling in the Clark Tunnel Fault Zone, partly inside the permitted Yellow Pine pit, continued to return near surface high grades, including 25.4 metres of 4.5 grams per tonne gold from 13 metres in SB606 and 25.0 metres of 2.3 grams per tonne gold from 18 metres in SB605. Antimony and tungsten assays for those holes are still pending. The company says the Clark Tunnel mineralisation has the potential to supplement the existing production profile.
The discovery lands on a project already in construction. Perpetua is advancing the $1.3 billion Stibnite project, which was fast tracked by the Trump administration as part of efforts to strengthen the United States critical minerals supply chain. The project is planned to produce roughly 450,000 ounces of gold a year, supported by proven and probable reserves of more than six million ounces of gold and 148 million pounds of antimony. Antimony is used in defence systems, energy storage and semiconductors, and Stibnite is one of the largest deposits outside China’s control.
The results do not change reserves or the production plan. No new resource estimate accompanies the release, and the Fiddle zone lies outside the permitted pit, so any future mining there would need its own technical and permitting work. What the drilling does establish is that the Meadow Creek structure carries broad, high grade mineralisation well south of the current pit, which gives Perpetua a defined target for the next programme while construction proceeds.