Diablo Resources (ASX: DBO) has exercised its option over 101 patented claims at the Horn Silver Project in Utah, bringing the core project tenure under a single, coordinated exploration strategy as the company works to rank targets and prepare for maiden drilling.
The option, exercised through Diablo’s 80 per cent-owned subsidiary Antler Resources Limited, covers the patented claims surrounding the historic Horn Silver Mine in Beaver County and complements the company’s existing interest in a further 101 unpatented claims.
The combined project now spans 13.2 square kilometres across 202 patented and unpatented claims.
Bringing the broader tenure together gives Diablo a single framework for exploration planning across the historic mine and a growing pipeline of near-mine and regional prospects.
The company can now coordinate target ranking, permitting and future drilling across the entire project area, rather than managing patented and unpatented ground separately.
The centrepiece remains the historic Horn Silver Mine, credited with historical production of approximately 17 million ounces of silver and 30,000 ounces of gold.
Exploration targets extend well beyond the mine itself, including interpreted Horn Silver Mine extensions, the untested Gossan IP anomaly, Buckhorn and a series of regional copper-silver skarn prospects.
Recent reconnaissance sampling across the unpatented claims has added further targets to that pipeline, returning high-grade silver, gold and copper mineralisation across several prospects.
At Buckhorn, sampling returned up to 4,190 g/t silver, 1.40 g/t gold and 2.41 per cent copper, while Washington returned results including 1,475 g/t silver, 7.57 g/t gold and 3.37 per cent copper.
Michigan produced up to 18.05 g/t gold, 199 g/t silver and 2.07 per cent copper.
The spread of results across Buckhorn, Washington, Accrington and Michigan has broadened the exploration focus beyond the immediate Horn Silver Mine, supporting Diablo’s interpretation of a larger polymetallic system containing multiple structural corridors and target styles.
Diablo CEO Lyle Thorne said the consolidation was a significant step for the project.
“Exercising the option over the patented claims marks a major milestone for Diablo and provides a clear pathway to advance systematic exploration across the broader Horn Silver Project,” said Thorne.
He added that the recent high-grade rock sampling had strengthened the case for further work, and pointed to the company’s parallel progress at its nearby Star Range Project.
“With Horn Silver and Star Range located approximately 15 kilometres apart, we are building a concentrated critical-minerals exploration position in Utah and can pursue a coordinated strategy across both projects,” said Thorne.
Thorne said the company’s focus was now on systematically ranking and testing the highest priority targets across Horn Silver while progressing drilling at Star Range, with the two projects together offering multiple opportunities for exploration success across Diablo’s Utah portfolio.
The Utah portfolio sits within a strengthening US critical minerals policy backdrop.
Silver and copper were included on the United States’ final 2025 List of Critical Minerals, alongside antimony, lead and zinc, meaning the principal commodities targeted across Diablo’s Utah ground are formally recognised as critical minerals in the US.
A July 2026 US Executive Order covering critical material supply chain mapping and measures aimed at accelerating the testing and qualification of new domestic sources adds further weight to that backdrop.
Diablo will now begin regional mapping, sampling and structural interpretation across priority Horn Silver corridors, while integrating historical geophysical, geochemical and geological datasets to refine and rank drill targets.
Work will also focus on the interpreted extensions around the historic mine and the Gossan IP anomaly.
The company is preparing for a maiden 2026 drilling program at Horn Silver, covering drill hole planning, permitting, contractor engagement and mobilisation.
In parallel, maiden drilling will continue at North Star within the Star Range Project, with results expected to guide geological interpretation and follow-up exploration across Diablo’s broader Utah portfolio.
