Great Pacific Gold Corp. has begun diamond drilling at the Magiabe Vein target within its flagship Wild Dog Project in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, after completing its maiden drilling campaign at the Kasie Ridge prospect.
The company said one of its two diamond drill rigs had been relocated to Magiabe, the fourth exploration target to be drilled at Wild Dog this year. The programme forms part of an approximately 8,000-metre drilling campaign planned for the second half of 2026 across the Kavasuki, Magiabe, Mengmut, Morgan and EK targets.
The initial programme at Magiabe comprises up to 11 diamond drill holes covering around 2,240 metres to test the Magiabe and the newly identified Magiabe West veins. Hole depths are expected to range from about 150 metres to 280 metres.
Recent exploration identified the previously undrilled Magiabe West Vein, where rock-chip sampling returned grades of up to 137 grams of gold per tonne, 76 grams of silver per tonne and 3.97 per cent copper. Channel sampling also returned 8 metres grading 17.10 grams of gold per tonne, including 3 metres grading 45.26 grams per tonne. Historical drilling at the main Magiabe Vein intersected gold grades of up to 23 grams per tonne over 1.6 metres.
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"Magiabe is one of the strongest near-term drill targets in the Wild Dog corridor," Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Exploration Callum Spink said.
"The first two holes have been deliberately designed to answer the key geological questions quickly. Together, these holes will give us an early indication of the scale, orientation and continuity of the multi-vein system and help guide the remainder of the programme," he added.
Spink said Magiabe represents an important next step in systematically testing the broader high-grade potential of the Wild Dog Project, with two drill rigs now operating across the Main Zone.
Meanwhile, the company has completed the second drill hole at Kasie Ridge to a final depth of 346.6 metres, concluding the current two-hole maiden drilling programme at the target. Assay, multi-element geochemical and X-ray diffraction mineralogical results from both holes remain pending.
Great Pacific Gold said geological observations from the second hole indicate extensive silicification and sulphide-bearing hydrothermal alteration consistent with a well-developed high-sulphidation epithermal system, although laboratory results are still awaited. The company expects to release a comprehensive update incorporating assay and mineralogical results later this month.
