Taruga Minerals (ASX: TAR) will look to fast-track exploration of the Weioko gold district in Papua New Guinea after uncovering high-grade gold in rock chips at the East Normanby project.
The company announced in mid-December 2025 that it had signed a 12-month option and raised $1.5 million to acquire 100% of the East Normanby gold project on Normaby island and the Kol Mountain copper/gold asset on New Britain island.
A sampling campaign Taruga conducted during due diligence across the Weioko area within East Normanby has confirmed extensive high-grade gold mineralisation.
The new rock chip results that included a highlight hit of 23.2 grams per tonne also validated historical returns suggesting Weioko extends for eight kilometres or more.
Extensive Gold System
The East Normanby gold project covers 491 sq km across three tenements including the Weioko gold deposit that traverse most of a 40km long strike in the highly prospective Milne Bay district of PNG.
67 holes across 5,792m completed at Weioko between 1987 and 2009 identified a high-grade, near-surface, low-sulphidation opportunity.
Highlights among them included surface trenching returns of 108 metres at 2.4g/t gold with 28m at 4.9g/t and 4m at 21.9g/t, as well as 68m at 5.9g/t with 4m at 58.9g/t within a zone of 44m at 8.7g/t.
The best drill hit was 64.6m at 2.2g/t gold from surface, including 2.9m at 33.9g/t, with the hole finishing in mineralisation).
The company has also identified gold and silver mineralisation at the Wenasia area 4km south of Weioko, which it believes provides an opportunity to expand exploration beyond previous reconnaissance limits.
The highest historical grade rock chip at Wenasia contained 1,977g/t silver with 49.9g/t gold.
Field Program Planned
The company is now preparing for a sizeable field campaign in Q1 2026 to enhance the existing geochemical datasets and help identify priority drill targets.
Its exploration plans also include an option to acquire modern geophysics data – including drone magnetics – to potentially match with powerful Sentinel and Aster Earth observation satellite imagery and existing geophysical survey information.
Director David Chapman said the high-grade gold results acquired during the recent visit to the site had confirmed the exceptional grade of the epithermal veins at Weioko.
"The interpreted deeper gold mineralisation at Weioko within the source metamorphics has not been intersected, and is an immediate focus for future drilling."
“The presence of the epithermal vein sample at Wenasia near local gold panning confirms the likely source of gold in streams, and […] will be a focus for our upcoming exploration programs,” he added.
