Kalo Gold (TSX-V: KALO / FSE: 9M51) is exploring and developing the high-grade Vatu Aurum gold project on the northern island of Fiji, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is renowned for its large mineral deposits. In addition to the Aurum Prime target area, where CEO Terry Tucker’s company has already had high-grade drill success, the focus is currently also on the Wainikoro target area, just 5 kilometers away—and Kalo just released excellent news from there!
Because Kalo just announced that initial exploration drilling, trenching, and systematic ground geochemistry at Wainikoro have allowed the company to delineate several structural corridors stretching over kilometers in length. Particular attention is being paid to drill hole VA26-DH19, which intersected textures interpreted as indicative of the upper parts of a low-sulfidation epithermal system with boiling processes. For Kalo Gold, Wainikoro is thus no longer just another target area, but a potential key component of a much broader 40-kilometer-long gold corridor.
Kalo Gold identifies multiple target corridors at the Wainikoro target
Work at Wainikoro is focused on the so-called Nubu Graben and associated subsidiary structures. Several arsenic-in-soil anomalies have been delineated there, some of which extend for kilometers. The most significant areas include Kope Road North with an anomaly more than one kilometer long, Kope Road South with more than 750 meters, Narusa Creek with approximately one kilometer, and Wainikoro West with 300 meters. (The basis for each is an arsenic contour value of more than 20 ppm.)
These geochemical patterns are significant for Kalo Gold because they spatially coincide with structures interpreted as potential zones of hydrothermal alteration and fluid movement. Especially in low-sulfidation epithermal systems, such structures can form important pathways for mineralizing solutions. The data collected to date thus suggest that Wainikoro represents a laterally extensive, structurally controlled target area.
To date, 11,251 (!) soil samples have already been collected in the Wainikoro area, and more than 7,500 additional samples are planned. Kalo Gold is thus relying on a near-surface, data-driven approach before proceeding with further – capital-intensive – drilling. This method aligns with the geometry of the target system: broad structural corridors are first delineated through mapping, geochemistry, trenching, and geophysics before drilling targets are tested at depth.
Drill hole VA26-DH19, in particular, provides important indications
To date, Kalo has completed two diamond drill holes at Wainikoro. VA26-DH18 reached 245.7 meters at Kope Road South, and VA26-DH19 reached 270.6 meters at Kope Road North. However, certified fire assay results from laboratory analysis are still pending for both drill holes. Nevertheless, the geological observations in the core already provide important clues about the system.
Specifically, VA26-DH19 was drilled on the eastern edge of the KRN target and intersected brecciated andesitic volcanic rocks with quartz veins and sulfide mineralization within an arsenic-in-soil anomaly more than one kilometer long. Of particular relevance are foliated carbonate textures that have since been replaced by quartz and sulfide pseudomorphs. Kalo Gold interprets these textures as evidence of boiling processes and pressure fluctuations during hydrothermal fluid flow—processes that can be closely linked to gold deposition in epithermal systems.
In addition, there are multiphase quartz-carbonate veins, sulfide mineralization with arsenic-bearing phases, and elevated arsenic and antimony values with low base metal contents. This combination supports the interpretation that VA26-DH19 may have intersected the upper parts of a vertically zoned epithermal system. Samples were also submitted for QEMSCAN analysis to characterize the mineralogy in greater detail.
Surface data confirm gold occurrences
The drilling observations are supplemented by previous surface results. At Kope Road North (KRN), detectORE™ soil values of up to 1,640 dU were reported, which corresponds to approximately 1.64 g/t gold. Historical trenching results there include 32 meters at 0.56 g/t gold, including 12 meters at 1.0 g/t gold, as well as 1.73 g/t gold from hydrothermal breccia.
At Kope Road South (KRS), approximately 750 meters southwest of KRN, trenching returned 24 meters at 1.0 g/t gold, including 2 meters at 3.41 g/t gold. Soil values at that location reached up to 1,322 dU, equivalent to approximately 1.32 g/t gold. KRS lies along a secondary structure that is tentatively interpreted as a parallel structural corridor within the same hydrothermal system. The planned high-resolution magnetic aerial survey is expected to confirm this structural interpretation.
It is important to note that detectORE™ values are used solely for exploration screening. They are not certified fire assay results and are not used to estimate mineral resources or mineral reserves. However, Kalo Gold refers to internal validation work from 2025, which showed a strong correlation between dU values and fire assays in drill core and trench samples.
Vatu Aurum grows into a 40-kilometre gold corridor
Wainikoro is part of the 367-square-kilometer Vatu Aurum Project on Fiji’s northern island of Vanua Levu. The project is located in a preserved volcanic back-arc setting and encompasses a northeast-trending corridor of low-sulfide epithermal gold targets stretching from Matailabasa to Nayaroyaro. Within this trend, Kalo Gold is developing several structurally controlled target areas, including Aurum Prime and Wainikoro with KRN, KRS, and NRC.
Additional target areas are already emerging. Narusa Creek is located approximately 1.5 kilometers northwest of KRN and exhibits a 1,000-by-530-meter arsenic-in-soil anomaly with rock samples of up to 0.6 g/t gold. Wainikoro West displays an additional 300-by-200-meter arsenic anomaly. At Navialoa, ground sampling coverage is being expanded over a magnetic low known from historical regional TMI airborne geophysical data; in addition, a potential circular structure was identified there using LiDAR surveys.
The next major step is a high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric survey, and the helicopter required for this is already at camp. Kalo Gold does not plan any further drilling until this survey is completed and the data has been integrated into the exploration model. Afterward, fire assay results, additional trenching, expanded soil geochemistry, and the new geophysics will be combined to more precisely define the next drill targets at Wainikoro—thereby further increasing the chances of success. We will stay on top of this, in our view, extremely exciting story and publish a comprehensive overview of the company for our readers in the coming days!
