• Phase 1 reverse circulation (RC) upgrade drilling on Tunkillia's high value 'Starter Pits' complete
• Drilling completed ahead of schedule and under budget, with over 300m completed per day
• First assays from highest value 'S1' area expected imminently

Barton Gold Holdings Limited (ASX:BGD, OTCQB:BGDFF, FRA:BGD3) has completed the 18,893m Phase 1 reverse circulation (RC) upgrade drilling program on the S1 and S2 pits at its South Australian Tunkillia Gold Project. The drilling was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, with over 300m drilled per day across 209 holes over 62 days. The S1 'Starter Pit' is modelled to yield 206koz Au at a cost of only A$997 / oz, producing over A$800m operating cash and repaying development 2x over during the first year of operations. The central portion of the S1 pit contains a shallow, ~300m long zone of high-grade gold mineralisation within a broad (80 - 100m wide) zone of bulk open-pittable mineralisation. Historical drilling in the S1 area has yielded broad, high-grade assays such as 10m @ 15.7 g/t Au from 54m, 9m @ 6.57 g/t Au from 72m, 17m @ 5.90 g/t Au from 79m, and 15m @ 7.64 g/t Au from 100m depth. Phase 2 RC upgrade drilling is planned for March to June 2026, targeting conversion of all other Tunkillia OSS modelled open pit mineralisation to JORC (2012) 'Indicated' category. Diamond drilling (DD) will also be undertaken to infill and expand geotechnical and metallurgical data to support further pit optimisation and feasibility studies.