By: OrePulse

AIM-listed Lexington Gold has substantially expanded the drilling dataset supporting its Kroonstad gold exploration target in South Africa, boosting the number of primary drill holes from 12 to 64—a fourfold increase—while also cataloguing 73 drill deflections.

The company expects to complete JORC-compliant exploration target estimation for Kroonstad in the fourth quarter of 2026. Harmony Gold, listed on the JSE, has given Lexington access to a historic core area, which could provide further opportunities to verify the project's geological data.

The broader goal of the expanded JORC exploration target program is to dramatically grow Kroonstad's existing non-code-compliant grade-tonnage estimate — from 6 million ounces to as much as 62 million ounces of gold, at grades ranging from approximately 5 to 11 grammes per tonne.

Lexington Gold's CEO, Dr Bernard Olivier, said adding 64 primary drillholes to the database, up from just 12 previously, gives the company a much stronger technical basis for establishing a credible JORC exploration target at Kroonstad. Chairperson Ed Nealon added that the work positions the company to better direct future drilling efforts and continue advancing what the company sees as a potentially major Witwatersrand gold opportunity, extending beyond the exploration target phase itself.

Environmental consultancy Shango is handling the remaining technical work, which includes digitising data, gathering historical records, confirming borehole collar locations, performing quality assurance and control checks, correlating stratigraphy, building 3D geological models, and estimating tonnage and grade ranges. Lexington says it will share further progress updates throughout the fourth quarter of 2026, along with recommendations on how to shape future drilling efforts.

The magnitude of the increase in Kroonstad's dataset — combined with the scale of the target Lexington is pursuing, more than ten times the project's existing non-code-compliant estimate — highlights just how early-stage this Witwatersrand-basin project still is. A finalised JORC-compliant target remains a prerequisite before issuing any formal resource or reserve statement.

Access to Harmony Gold's historic core area may prove valuable, allowing Lexington to compare its drilling data against legacy records from one of South Africa's largest gold producers — a step that could bolster confidence in the geological model behind the expanded target. With Shango's remaining work, ranging from data digitisation to 3D geological modelling, expected to continue through year-end, investors will likely be watching Lexington's upcoming updates closely to see whether the larger drillhole dataset ultimately translates into a significantly bigger JORC-compliant target for the project.