Southern Cross Gold Begins Underground Drilling at Sunday Creek With 14 Rigs Running and Plans to Reach 24

Southern Cross Gold Consolidated Ltd (TSX: SXGC, ASX: SX2) has started underground diamond drilling at its 100%-owned Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project in Victoria, Australia, mobilising two underground rigs into the decline to bring the total active rig count to 14. The company is now ramping toward a planned ceiling of 24 rigs, which would position Sunday Creek as one of the largest pre-development drill-outs globally.

The underground program marks a major operational step forward for Sunday Creek. The exploration decline, constructed by PYBAR Mining Services under a contract awarded in May 2026, reached the point of first underground drilling following the portal blast fired in late June 2026. The shift from surface-only to combined surface and underground drilling is expected to improve drill-hole angles, targeting the high-grade gold-antimony veins that underlie the project area in Victoria, one of the most significant western-world gold and antimony discoveries in recent years.

In a separate development, Sun Valley Minerals (TSXV: SUNV) reported trench results from its Taruman Main target, with the best intercepts including 23.65 metres at 10.03 grams per tonne gold, 64.60 metres at 2.61 g/t gold, and 127.30 metres at 1.16 g/t gold. The company said first drill samples from the project are scheduled for dispatch, signalling the program is advancing toward an initial drill phase.