Manhattan Gold Corporation (ASX:MHC) has opened its maiden Jaws drilling campaign within the Hook Lake Project, with 41.15m @ 4.66g/t Au from 83.82m, including 7.62m @ 18.67g/t Au and individual samples grading up to 41.0g/t Au.
That is the headline. The bigger point is that the new hole came back both wider and higher grade than the nearest historical drilling.
Jaws upgrades quickly
Hole JWS26006b cut the broad mineralised shear zone from shallow depth and confirmed a high-grade shoot sitting inside it.
The nearest historical hole returned 22m @ 2.41g/t Au from 100m. Manhattan’s new hole has materially improved both the width and grade at the same part of the system.
Other first results also supported a broader gold system, including:
- 9.15m @ 1.99g/t Au
- 9.15m @ 1.73g/t Au
- 79.25m @ 0.78g/t Au, including 33.53m @ 1.04g/t Au
Figure 1: Map depicting the first four drillholes, which targeted the core of the historic drilling.
The model just got better
Modern drilling has also shifted Manhattan’s understanding of where the main shear actually sits.
The company now believes the structure lies around 20–30m northwest of where historical records had placed it, giving the team a better shot at targeting the interpreted high-grade shoots directly.
Technical Advisor Eric Sondergaard said the first results materially lift the scale and grade potential at Jaws.
What’s next
The 2026 program has already passed 3,000m, with more Jaws assays pending.
The rig has also moved onto Spectre, where historical drilling returned copper-zinc-silver-gold mineralisation, including 10.51m @ 2.91% Cu, 6.70% Zn and 95.67g/t Ag.
For Manhattan, the maiden program has done exactly what a first campaign needs to do.
It has made Jaws bigger, higher grade and easier to target.
