Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) is intensifying exploration activity at its high-grade Little Gem prospect in Western Australia, with recent drilling results significantly expanding the mineralised footprint of the Sapphire lodes.

The company has completed more than 360 drill holes between Little Gem and Sunraysia and is targeting delivery of a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) later this year. The upcoming MRE will be a key milestone for the Little Gem prospect, providing the first formal quantification of the gold inventory across both the Gem and Sapphire lode systems.

On the Gem lodes, ongoing drilling along the Gem line of lode has returned additional strong intercepts, including 18.0 metres at 3.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 16.1 metres at 3.5 g/t. These results confirm the widths and grades identified in previous drilling campaigns. The Gem lode system is currently defined over 4,700 metres of strike and to approximately 750 metres below surface, with mineralisation remaining open both at depth and along strike.

The Sapphire lodes, discovered 200 metres east of the Gem lode system, have been the primary focus of recent drilling. Mineralisation along the Sapphire lodes currently extends south from the British Lion prospect to the Little Jewel prospect — a strike length exceeding 2.6 kilometres. A recent intersection at Little Jewel returned 1.2 metres at 25.6 g/t gold.

Ora Banda Managing Director Luke Creagh said the Sapphire lodes, similar to the Gem lodes, present as several parallel lodes with moderately southerly plunging high-grade shoots.

"We continue to be excited by the ongoing exploration success across the Little Gem prospect, with the discovery and subsequent expansion of the system along the Sapphire lodes supporting its potential to host substantial, high-grade gold mineralisation," Creagh said.

Intercepts at the Sapphire lodes included 5.0 metres at 18.1 g/t, 7.0 metres at 10.1 g/t, and 13.0 metres at 3.2 g/t, which the company said indicate significant potential for both open pit and underground mining. While depth extents have yet to be fully explored, the high-grade plunges and widths already defined are expected to provide substantial targeting opportunities at depth.

The results come amid sustained strength in global gold prices, which have traded near record levels through 2024–2025, supporting the economic case for advancing new gold discoveries in Western Australia's established mining districts. With mineralisation open along strike and at depth across both lode systems, further drilling results and the maiden MRE will be closely watched as indicators of the project's overall scale.

Ora Banda Mining shares closed up 6.67% at $1.12, with a market capitalisation of approximately $2.024 billion.