Drilling - ASX:PRU

Yaoure open pit reconciliation up 24% over six months; FY26 drilling results and $34M FY27 drilling plan

Perseus reports FY26 drilling at Yaoure with 192 holes in its appendix table, 19 still awaiting assays, and standout intercepts including 7 m at 29.84 g/t. Open pit reconciliation to the reserve model shows more contained gold over three and six months, but the 12-month gain is only 9 percent. The company commits $34M to FY27 drilling and says mine life could extend, but the release states no new Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve figure.

17 Jul 2026, 8:21 am (price sensitive) - Perseus Mining announced: "Perseus Pursues Growth Opportunities at Yaoure Gold Mine" (30 pages) - read the original

72Drill
Score

72StrongPositive

Best intercept208.9 g-m7m @ 29.8g/t Au from 145m Excellent

Disclosure1 flagagainst the ASX's focus areas

Day-1 reaction-3.1%+1.8% vs the XGD

Gold on the dayA$5,696US$3,992/oz

What investors must know

Appendix 1 tabulates 192 FY26 holes; 19 holes (YRC3505 to YRC3523) still await assays and YRC3504 is in progress with partial assays.
Open pit reconciliation shows contained gold at 139% of the reserve model over 3 months, 124% over 6 months and 109% over 12 months, driven by tonnage (149%, 141%, 126%) while head grade ran at 93%, 88% and 86%.
Largest table intercepts include 7 m at 29.84 g/t from 145 m (YRC3427, CMA Southwest), 2 m at 15.19 g/t from 40 m (YRC3367) and 8 m at 7.35 g/t from 126 m including 3 m at 18.7 g/t (YRC3364).
CMA underground extension holes YDD0713 (13.9 m at 2.65 g/t from 742.5 m) and YDD0714 (17.25 m at 2.23 g/t from 620.75 m, and 15.7 m at 3.36 g/t from 644 m) are the first deep results at this extension.
Perseus commits $34M (written as US$34M on page 6 and A$34M elsewhere) to about 123 km of FY27 drilling aimed at converting Inferred Resources, but gives no new resource or reserve estimate.
CMA underground had mined 53,058 t of ore to the end of April 2026, with first stoping in April and a third jumbo being mobilised.

The drill intercepts, normalised

Best hit209 gram-metresExcellent7m @ 29.8g/t Au from 145m in YRC3427

LowModestGoodReally goodExcellentStellar

Excellent - a genuinely strong hit by any ASX standard.

How every hole did - one block per hole, coloured by its best hit

Excellent 1
Good 3
Modest 27
Low 6
No significant hit 155

4 of 192 holes reached 'good' or better (1 excellent, 3 good); the other 188 were modest, low or nil.

The holes, side by side - schematic, best hole first

Each line is a hole drilled from the surface (top); each block is a reported interval at its down-hole depth, sized by its width and coloured by its rating. The holes are side by side for comparison, not at their real positions, and are drawn only as deep as their deepest reported interval. Hover a block for the numbers; the 25 other holes are in the table below.

Every interval, in numbers

Every interval as metal-metres: width x grade (gram-metres for gold, %-metres for copper). Gold bands are Stockhead's rule of thumb: over 50 good, 100-200 really good, 200-500 excellent, beyond that stellar (and under 10, low). Top share is how much of an interval comes from its richest sub-interval - the smearing check.

Hole	From	Width	Grade	Metal-metres	Rating	Top share	Notes
YRC3427	145m	7m	29.8 g/t Au	208.9 g-m	Excellent		Table 2 only, not in the main text highlights
YRC3423	92m	40m	2.26 g/t Au	90.4 g-m	Good	81%	Main text highlight, CMA Southwest
incl. YRC3423	97m	16m	4.59 g/t Au	73.4 g-m			Main text highlight
YRC3364	126m	8m	7.35 g/t Au	58.8 g-m	Good	95%	Main text highlight, Table 2 interval
incl. YRC3364	129m	3m	18.7 g/t Au	56.1 g-m			Main text and Figure 5 only, not a separate Table 2 row; to_m derived...
YDD0714	644m	15.7m	3.36 g/t Au	52.8 g-m	Good	29%	Main text highlight, CMA underground extension deep diamond hole
incl. YDD0714	655m	4.4m	3.50 g/t Au	15.4 g-m			Main text highlight; to_m derived from from_m plus width
YDD0714	621m	17.3m	2.23 g/t Au	38.5 g-m	Modest	59%	Main text highlight
incl. YDD0714	621m	5.7m	3.99 g/t Au	22.5 g-m			Main text highlight; to_m derived from from_m plus width
YRC3401	78m	6m	6.33 g/t Au	38.0 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only, not in main text
YRC3316	185m	2m	18.7 g/t Au	37.4 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only, not in main text
YDD0713	743m	13.9m	2.65 g/t Au	36.8 g-m	Modest	55%	Main text highlight, deep diamond hole
incl. YDD0713	743m	4.5m	4.49 g/t Au	20.2 g-m			Main text highlight; to_m derived from from_m plus width
YRC3369D	185m	16m	2.04 g/t Au	32.6 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight
YRC3371	144m	26m	1.19 g/t Au	30.9 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight
YRC3367	40m	2m	15.2 g/t Au	30.4 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight, short interval
YRC3307	0m	6m	4.99 g/t Au	29.9 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only, from surface
YRC3327	201m	8m	2.71 g/t Au	21.7 g-m	Modest	83%	Table 2 only, Zain area
incl. YRC3327	205m	2m	8.99 g/t Au	18.0 g-m			Table 2 including interval
YRC3315	37m	2m	9.96 g/t Au	19.9 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only, not in main text
YRC3369D	11m	4m	4.51 g/t Au	18.0 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight
YRC3370	171m	6m	3.05 g/t Au	18.3 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight
YRC3503	114m	14m	1.30 g/t Au	18.2 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight, ROZA area, the only significant ROZA-area...
YRC3430	40m	2m	9.00 g/t Au	18.0 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only, CMA Southwest
YDD0713	141m	16m	1.09 g/t Au	17.4 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YDD0714	235m	6.9m	2.46 g/t Au	16.9 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3391	171m	5m	3.32 g/t Au	16.6 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight
YRC3336	91m	7m	2.36 g/t Au	16.5 g-m	Modest	87%	Main text highlight, open pit
incl. YRC3336	92m	4m	3.58 g/t Au	14.3 g-m			Main text highlight
YRC3391	210m	10m	1.65 g/t Au	16.5 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight
YDD0714	362m	8m	1.93 g/t Au	15.4 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3362	139m	16m	0.890 g/t Au	14.2 g-m	Modest	60%	Table 2 only, also shown in Figure 5
incl. YRC3362	151m	4m	2.13 g/t Au	8.5 g-m			Table 2 including interval
YRC3432	19m	14m	1.05 g/t Au	14.7 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3365	80m	5m	2.90 g/t Au	14.5 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3361	89m	11m	1.18 g/t Au	13.0 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only, also shown in Figure 5
YRC3444	137m	10m	1.35 g/t Au	13.5 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight, CMA Southwest
YRC3443	42m	11m	1.09 g/t Au	12.0 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight, CMA Southwest
YRC3288	96m	6m	1.96 g/t Au	11.8 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only, Zain area
YRC3371	79m	3m	4.07 g/t Au	12.2 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3363	216m	6m	1.82 g/t Au	10.9 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3363	78m	2m	5.09 g/t Au	10.2 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3498	108m	6m	1.89 g/t Au	11.3 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight, Zain 2 area
YRC3390	169m	2m	5.81 g/t Au	11.6 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3300	34m	6m	1.87 g/t Au	11.2 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only, Zain area
YRC3390	148m	13m	0.850 g/t Au	11.1 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YDD0714	111m	3.7m	2.90 g/t Au	10.7 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3497	120m	6m	1.80 g/t Au	10.8 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight, ROZA-Zain area
YRC3339	67m	2m	5.39 g/t Au	10.8 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3365	208m	7m	1.49 g/t Au	10.4 g-m	Modest		Table 2 only
YRC3498	29m	4m	2.57 g/t Au	10.3 g-m	Modest		Main text highlight, Zain 2 area
YRC3363	200m	8m	1.21 g/t Au	9.7 g-m	Low		Table 2 only
YRC3391	68m	4m	2.35 g/t Au	9.4 g-m	Low		Table 2 only
YRC3500	6m	6m	1.58 g/t Au	9.5 g-m	Low		Table 2 only, Zain 2 area
YRC3499	25m	4m	2.40 g/t Au	9.6 g-m	Low		Table 2 only, Zain 2 area
YRC3419	133m	10m	0.950 g/t Au	9.5 g-m	Low		Table 2 only, Zain area
YRC3390	212m	4m	2.36 g/t Au	9.4 g-m	Low		Table 2 only
YRC3280	212m	3m	3.07 g/t Au	9.2 g-m	Low		Table 2 only, Zain area
YRC3399	2m	3m	3.06 g/t Au	9.2 g-m	Low		Table 2 only
YRC3356	48m	5m	1.85 g/t Au	9.3 g-m	Low		Table 2 only

Checked against the PDF. Every interval above is printed in the announcement itself - each width and grade was found, together, in the PDF's own text.

Holes reported: 192 of 192 drilled (19 pending)
Metres drilled: 28,811
Drilling: RC and diamond (DD)
Cut-off grade: 0.5 g/t Au
Max internal dilution: 2 m
True widths: Stated - Intercepts are down-hole widths. The release says true width is close to down-hole width for Y-type structures and about 50 to 70 percent of intersection length for S-type structures in holes dipping 60 degrees on a 270 degree bearing. No true width is given per interval.
Hole spacing: Mostly infill and extension. Open pit infill is on 25 m x 25 m spacing with 10 m x 10 m and 8 m x 5 m grade control patterns in places. Zain and ROZA first pass is 50 m x 50 m. The CMA underground extension is two deep diamond holes. CMA Southwest is strike extension on about 25 m spacing. ROZA is an early test with limited assays.
Depth: Table 2 hole depths run from 20 m to 795.2 m (YDD0713, the deepest). The 28,811 m of RC and diamond drilling is since July 2025 across the project, not only the FY26 table. Hole YRC3504 is in progress with partial assays.

Against the project's earlier holes

DrillScore holds no earlier Yaoure intercepts, so no like-for-like drilling comparison is possible. The release says the open pit holes infill previously modelled S-type structures and that CMA underground and CMA Southwest holes extend known mineralisation. It does not give prior grades to compare against, so the results cannot be scored as better or weaker than earlier drilling.

Against similar explorers

On the release's own cut-off of 0.5 g/t with 2 m dilution, most intercepts are modest. The open pit highlights of about 1 to 7 g/t over 2 to 16 m are typical of an established open pit rather than a new discovery. The 7 m at 29.84 g/t is strong for a single hole and would sit in the excellent range on width times grade, but it is one hole.

Gram-metre calculator - gram-metres explained - the leaderboard

Disclosure checks - the ASX's own focus areas

Drill-hole table (collars, dip, azimuth, depth, every intercept)
pass
JORC Table 1, Section 1 - sampling techniques and data
pass
JORC Table 1, Section 2 - reporting of exploration results
pass
Competent person statement
pass
No metal equivalents - grades as assayed
pass
Balanced reporting - low and high grades both shown
Appendix 1 lists every FY26 hole, including nil holes such as YRC3328 to YRC3335 and 19 holes awaiting results. Cut-off and dilution are stated. The main text highlights are a subset and skew to the open pit and CMA Southwest. The largest table intercept (YRC3427, 7 m at 29.84 g/t) is not highlighted. The reconciliation trend was first reported in the 23 April 2026 quarterly and Table 1 repeats it.
pass
No visual estimates - assays only
pass
True widths stated
pass

Red flags and notes

Headline grade carried by one narrow high-grade zone

3m @ 18.7g/t Au from 129m contributes 95% of the gram-metres of 8m @ 7.35g/t Au from 126m in YRC3364; the rest of the interval is much lower grade. 3 other intervals are carried the same way.

Reconciliation emphasis on the strongest window

The headline and CEO quote rely on the 6-month +24% figure and 'more than 20% additional gold year to date'. Table 1 shows the 12-month factor at 109%, and head grade factors are below 1.0 in every window (0.93, 0.88, 0.86).

Mine life and upside statements ahead of resource or reserve support

The release says mine life can be extended well beyond current estimates and that reconciliation suggests upside to expectations. No new Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve is stated, and the updated Ore Reserve statement is due later.

ROZA described as a deposit

The highlights refer to positive results at the CMA Southwest and ROZA deposits. The body describes ROZA as an active prospect with limited assays, and the table shows one significant ROZA-area intercept (YRC3503).

Possible collar error for YRC3442

YRC3442 is listed at easting 218732 and northing 776750, about 1.5 km west of the other CMA Southwest holes, with an azimuth of 268.75 that matches the open pit rather than the 320 degree CMA Southwest layout. The collar should be checked, although the hole is nil.

Why these matter: JORC Table 1 - metal equivalents - balanced reporting - visual estimates

Resource / reserve

Contained metal: 1.44 Moz
What changed: No new estimate. The release restates Ore Reserves of 1.444 Moz as at FY25 and cites an initial Ore Reserve of 1.52 Moz. Open pit drilling is being incorporated into the Mineral Resource estimate, with an updated Ore Reserve statement flagged for August 2026.

Resources vs reserves explained

How the price reacted

The result against the marketStrong result - the market shrugged

DrillScore 72 (top 30% of drill results), and on day 1 the stock moved +1.8% against the gold index (XGD). After 20 trading days: -3.4% against the XGD.

Every result vs its reaction

From the last close before the market could trade on it ($4.80 on 16 Jul 2026), with day-1 volume 0.6x the 20-day average.

Day 1-3.1%+1.8% vs the XGD

Day 5+5.0%+1.5% vs the XGD

Day 20+17.1%

PRU's past price-sensitive news

After 8 earlier announcements, PRU rose on day 1 5 times and fell 3 times - an average move of +5.2%.

DrillScore has no earlier price reactions on record for PRU, so there is no past pattern for this kind of news. The release came out before the market opened on 17 July, against a 16 July close of A$4.80. The shares are now A$6.35, about 32 percent higher, against gains of 19.5 percent for XGD and 14.3 percent for GDX. Much of the move coincides with sector gains, and these figures cannot separate the release's effect from the sector's. The current price is near the top of its 52-week range of A$4.43 to A$6.96.

Past reactions describe what happened, not what will. How prices react to results

The historical pattern

What share prices did after past results like this one, from DrillScore's own records. It describes the past: it isn't a forecast for PRU and it isn't advice.

Results scored like this'Strong' results No clear lean

After 5 other drill results rated 'Strong', stocks moved -0.4% by day 1, 0.0% by day 5 and +0.8% by day 20 against the XGD on average.

Day 1: -0.4%
Day 5: 0.0%
Day 20: +0.8%

5 results, against the XGD

PRU's own record2 earlier announcements Too few to say

Only 2 of PRU's earlier announcements have traded - too few to show a pattern.

The market it landed inXGD -13.8% in 20 days Leaned up

In the 20 trading days before this release the XGD gold index moved -13.8% (falling). After 34 past gold announcements released into a falling gold index, stocks moved +2.0% by day 1, +4.2% by day 5 and +11.1% by day 20 on average - before taking the market's own move out.

Day 1: +2.0%
Day 5: +4.2%
Day 20: +11.1%

34 results, raw moves

A strand leans up or down when its day-5 average is 1% or more either way. Each is shown on its own and never added up into a prediction: small samples swing, and every result is different. The full backtest - how it's worked out

The market it landed in

Market	On the day	Now	Since
Gold (US$/oz)	US$3,992	US$3,886	-2.7%
Gold (A$/oz)	A$5,696	A$5,737	+0.7%
Copper (US$/lb)	US$6.30	US$6.09	-3.3%
AUD/USD	0.7008	0.6774	-3.3%

Spot gold is US$3,886/oz (A$5,737/oz) now. In US$ it is down 2.7% from the 16 July close, but in A$ it is up 0.7% because the Australian dollar fell 3.3%. Against the March quarter AISC of A$2,443/oz in DrillScore records, spot leaves a wide margin before royalties. At US$3,886 the top royalty band of 6% (above US$2,000) applies, and the release says the Government is seeking a higher rate. The release gives no price deck. The US 10-year yield rose 0.59 points and the US dollar index rose 2.7%, both usually a headwind for gold. Even so, GDX rose 14.3% and XGD 19.5% since release, so miner equities moved well ahead of the metal. COPX fell 7.3%, which bears less directly on a gold release.

Against PRU's own history

Earlier DrillScore records hold no Yaoure intercepts, so there is no drilling comparison. Last reported figures (quarter to 31 March 2026) were cash A$950.3m, no debt, 107,144 oz gold produced and AISC of A$2,443/oz. This release gives no new cash or production figures. Shares on issue are now 1,327.13m against 1,346.38m at 31 March, a fall of about 19.3m. That is consistent with the buy-back lifted to A$150m on 15 June 2026, although the release does not link the two. Both earlier analysed announcements (the April quarterly and the June buy-back update) were rated positive. No capital raisings are on record.

Risks & caveats

Open pit grade ran below the reserve model in every window (head grade factors 0.93, 0.88 and 0.86), so the gain relies on more tonnes at lower grade.
The 12-month reconciliation gain is about 9 percent, and the company says the positive trend is not guaranteed to continue.
Many intercepts are short and modest, and the CMA underground extension rests on two deep holes.
Holes drilled in 2021 and 2022 may have lode positions out by 5 to 10 m because of a downhole azimuth calibration issue, which the company says newer drilling should reduce.
Mine life and upside statements are ahead of any updated resource or reserve, and the Government is seeking a higher royalty that the release says is under discussion.

What's next

Updated Ore Reserve statement that will include the open pit drilling results - August 2026 (as stated in the release)
Breakthrough between the Blika and Pauline declines at CMA underground - FY27 Q1
Assays for the 19 holes awaiting results and the in-progress hole YRC3504 - not stated
FY27 drilling program of about 123 km, including ROZA and CMA Southwest extension drilling - FY27

Questions worth asking

Has the August 2026 Ore Reserve update been released, and how much of the open pit reconciliation gain does it bring into the reserve?
Why did the 12-month reconciliation fall to 109%, and do the head grade factors below 1.0 point to a lasting grade shortfall against the model?
When will the 19 holes awaiting results (YRC3505 to YRC3523) and the in-progress hole YRC3504 be reported, and will they appear in the table?
Is the FY27 drilling commitment US$34M or A$34M, and how much of it goes to converting Inferred Resources to Indicated?
Will the company publish a resource estimate for the CMA underground extension before it cites longer mine life?

What it means

For someone following Perseus, this is an operating and exploration update rather than a change to the reserve or resource base. The useful signals are that the open pit is delivering more tonnes than the model, at slightly lower grades, that CMA underground has started stoping, and that deep extension holes look promising but rest on only a few holes. The 12-month reconciliation gain is much smaller than the headline, and 19 holes are still awaiting assays. The updated Ore Reserve statement is where these claims will be tested. This is general information only and not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold.

General information only - not financial advice. DrillScore's analyses are produced automatically by an AI model (Claude, by Anthropic) from the company's own ASX announcement and public market data, and scored by a fixed formula (how it works). They can be wrong or incomplete, don't consider your objectives or circumstances, and are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold anything. Always read the original announcement and consider advice from a licensed adviser.

Decoded 15 Nov 2026, 8:17 am by claude-haiku-5-5 - confidence: high. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

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