Lodestar Minerals (ASX: LSR) has reported further encouraging assay results from a reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme at the Central Park prospect, located within the Ned's Creek gold project in Western Australia.

The drilling campaign, completed in early 2026, comprised 106 RC drill holes totalling 12,417 metres over a two-month period. Results from the programme continue to support the company's exploration target and highlight areas that remain open for mineralisation extension.

In December 2025, Lodestar published an exploration target for Ned's Creek of 250,000 to 300,000 ounces of gold.

CEO Coraline Blaud said the high grades and thick oxide mineralisation returned from Central Park further support the potential to expand the mineralisation footprint at Ned's Creek.

"Importantly, Ned's Creek continues to demonstrate very strong growth potential in the oxide zone and in fresh rock. This is shown by the identification of new mineralised lodes sub-parallel to those previously recognised, mineralisation extending from the supergene zone into the underlying fresh rock and mineralisation intersected at or beyond the limits of the exploration target," Blaud said.

"Pending results are eagerly awaited to finalise the data collection required to support advancement of the asset towards a Maiden MRE this calendar year."

Ned's Creek sits within the Yilgarn region of Western Australia, one of the world's most prolific gold-producing provinces and home to several major operating gold mines.

LSR personnel have completed the first round of resampling of the 4.0-metre composite results that returned values above 0.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold. Currently, 1,085 resamples are at the laboratory awaiting analysis, with additional samples expected once the final 4.0-metre composite samples are received within the next four weeks.

Blaud said the drilling campaign will support the company's maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) for Ned's Creek later in CY2026 and underpin a mining lease application planned for early 2027.

For a junior explorer, defining a maiden mineral resource estimate represents a key de-risking milestone, providing the first formal quantification of an asset's contained metal and often serving as a prerequisite for advancing studies toward development decisions.

The CEO told shareholders that current results indicate the project is tracking within the exploration target range.

Shares in LSR were up 12.5% at 0.9 cents, giving the company a market capitalisation of $11.65 million.