St Barbara Limited has announced a substantial escalation in its Nova Scotia exploration campaign, with exploration spending increasing 64 percent from A$2.5 million in FY26 to A$4.1 million in FY27. The company has doubled its exploration workforce and signaled further team expansion for FY28, underscoring management confidence in the Nova Scotia asset’s potential and commitment to extending the production pipeline at the 15-Mile Processing Hub Project.
The acceleration comes as St Barbara advances development of what it describes as an 11-year-plus production centre. With 46 exploration targets identified within a 75-kilometre radius of the processing hub, the company is positioning itself to capture resource extensions and greenfield discoveries that could materially extend mine life beyond current reserve estimates. This geographic concentration of targets around existing infrastructure significantly reduces development risk and capital intensity for any discoveries.
The near-term work program commencing in Q4 FY26 and extending to June 2027 encompasses ambitious drilling activities, including up to 105 reverse circulation and interface reverse circulation holes totaling 4,400 metres across five to seven targets. Specific focus areas include resource extension drilling at 15-Mile and exploration drilling within the processing hub’s catchment area at Dufferin, Lower Seal Harbour and Isaacs Harbour, with reconnaissance work at Patton, Falcon and Little Meander. This systematic approach balances near-mine exploration, which typically carries lower discovery risk, against greenfield reconnaissance designed to unlock new mineralized trends.
Beyond drilling, St Barbara is deploying advanced geophysical methodologies to refine targeting. The company plans to acquire high-resolution UAV magnetic survey data across approximately 50 square kilometres, generating detailed magnetic images and 3D inversion models for four key deposits. A specialist structural review by external consultants will integrate diamond drilling data to define additional near-ready targets associated with extensions to known deposits. Complementing these activities are over 2,000 planned till and rock chip samples across 14 targets, with emphasis on the 15-Mile Processing Hub area.
Perhaps most strategically significant is a Nova Scotia-wide gold prospectivity and targeting study covering the entire Meguma Terrane, exceeding 40,000 square kilometres. This regional work is designed to enhance prioritization of the current pipeline of 58 exploration targets and identify emerging opportunities within St Barbara’s tenement position. Such macro-scale geological assessment can unlock value beyond near-mine extensions by revealing new district-scale mineralization patterns.
For investors, the announcement demonstrates management’s conviction in the Nova Scotia portfolio’s enduring value and discovery potential. The doubling of exploration personnel, coupled with the diversified work program spanning deposit-scale definition, near-mine targeting and regional reconnaissance, suggests a disciplined, risk-managed approach to value creation. Success in extending the currently envisaged mine life could meaningfully enhance project economics and shareholder returns. The key metrics to monitor are drilling results, which should emerge over the coming quarters, and the company’s ability to transition exploration targets into economic resources. St Barbara’s announcement is flagged as price sensitive and has been lodged with the ASX as material information.
View the full ASX announcement (PDF)
About St Barbara Limited (ASX: SBM)
St Barbara Limited is an Australian-based gold mining company with operations in Canada and Papua New Guinea. The company operates the Atlantic Operations in Nova Scotia, Canada, which includes the Touquoy mine, and the Simberi Operations in the province of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. The company engages in the exploration, development, mining, and sale of gold, with additional interest in silver exploration.
If you would like to discuss this announcement or how it might affect your portfolio, request a callback or call us on 1300 889 603.
