Southern Cross Gold (ASX: SX2) Strikes Bonanza 47% Antimony at Sunday Creek as Critical Minerals Story Gains Momentum

Key Highlights

• Southern Cross Gold reports bonanza antimony assays of up to 47.0% Sb and gold grades of 127.0 g/t Au from the Golden Dyke prospect.
• Latest drilling continues to confirm high-grade gold and antimony mineralisation directly beneath the planned exploration decline.
• Eleven drill rigs remain active, with 69 drill holes awaiting assay results.
• Results strengthen the strategic importance of Sunday Creek as both a gold and critical minerals project.

Southern Cross Gold Consolidated (ASX: SX2 | TSX: SXGC) has strengthened the investment case for its flagship Sunday Creek Project after reporting another round of exceptionally high-grade gold and antimony results from Victoria, with some of the highest individual antimony assays seen to date.

The latest drilling targeted the upper section of the Golden Dyke prospect, directly below the planned exploration decline portal. While gold continues to underpin the project, the growing antimony story is increasingly attracting attention as Western governments search for secure supplies of critical minerals used in defence, semiconductors and energy storage.

Among the standout results was Hole SDDSC233, which intersected 7.9 metres at 19.9 g/t gold equivalent (AuEq), including 3.7 metres at 37.5 g/t AuEq. Within the same hole, laboratory assays returned an extraordinary 47.0% antimony (Sb) and 20.1 g/t gold over 0.13 metres.

Another highlight came from Hole SDDSC228, which returned 0.4 metres at 86.2 g/t AuEq, including 34.9% antimony, while a separate interval in the same hole intersected 8.3 metres at 11.4 g/t AuEq, including 3.0 metres at 28.7 g/t AuEq.

Although the highest grades occur over narrow intervals, the broader drilling continues to intersect multiple mineralised zones, reinforcing confidence in the continuity of the Golden Dyke system.

The results also arrive just days after Southern Cross Gold blasted the first portal for its exploration decline, marking the transition from surface exploration towards underground development. That decline is expected to provide direct access to some of the project's highest-confidence drilling targets.

The latest assays continue to support the geological model at Sunday Creek. The project sits within the Melbourne Structural Zone of the Lachlan Fold Belt and hosts an epizonal gold-antimony system, where geologists expect antimony concentrations to increase closer to surface while gold becomes more dominant at greater depth.

At the time of writing this article SX2 shares were trading at $ 9.83, up by 5.5%. | Source: StocknessMonster

President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Hudson said the latest drilling confirmed both the geological model and the strategic importance of the antimony mineralisation.

"What these results tell us is the antimony story at Sunday Creek is strong and is strategically significant, alongside the gold story. In epizonal systems like ours, antimony concentrates in the upper parts of the mineralized system, and by definition near to surface, and that is exactly what we are seeing in the highest-density drilled zone of the project, directly below the current planned base of our exploration decline."

He added:

"We have drilled this part of Golden Dyke more than anywhere else on the project, and every time we put a hole in, the antimony numbers confirm what the geology predicts. Individual assays up to 47% Sb are not an anomaly, they are a feature of this system. SDDSC233 returned our best result from this release at 7.9 m @ 19.9 g/t AuEq, with antimony grades up to 47% Sb in the same hole."

Hudson also highlighted the broader strategic opportunity.

"The critical mineral potential of this project is real, it is shallow, and it sits directly in the path of our decline. Sunday Creek is shaping up as a project where the antimony alone would attract serious attention, quite apart from the gold which forms 80% of the in situ recoverable value. With eleven rigs turning and 69 holes pending, there is a great deal more to come."

The announcement comes as antimony has emerged as one of the world's most strategically important critical minerals. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), China dominates both global antimony mining and refining capacity, prompting Western nations to prioritise alternative supply chains for defence, semiconductor manufacturing and energy technologies. 

Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026; IEA Critical Minerals Market Review.

Southern Cross Gold's preliminary metallurgy also adds another positive dimension. Test work completed by ALS Burnie Laboratories indicates overall gold recoveries of 93% to 98% and antimony recoveries of 83% to 93%, producing a clean antimony concentrate grading around 50% Sb with very low arsenic content. Such recoveries suggest the mineralisation may be amenable to conventional processing methods, although further studies are still required.

Exploration momentum also remains high. Since late 2020, the company has completed 268 drill holes covering 129.6 kilometres, with drilling defining more than 122 individual mineralised vein sets across a strike length of approximately 1.55 kilometres. Importantly, 11 drill rigs continue operating on site as part of a 200,000-metre drilling campaign scheduled to run into the first quarter of 2027.

Shares in Southern Cross Gold rose 5.47% to A$9.83 following the announcement. The company now commands a market capitalisation of approximately A$2.65 billion, while remaining around 19% below its 52-week high of A$12.08. Over the past year, the stock has gained 43.5%, reflecting growing confidence in both the Sunday Creek gold system and its emerging strategic antimony potential.

Source: Southern Cross Gold ASX Announcement (6 July 2026); U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026; International Energy Agency Critical Minerals Market Review.