Krakatoa Resources Ltd. is nearing the restart of drilling operations at its Zopkhito antimony-gold project in Georgia, following a highly successful 2025 campaign and a regulatory win.
Preparations for the 2026 field season are nearing completion, with site access and snow clearance well advanced. Surface and underground drilling activities are expected to commence later this month.
The imminent restart comes on the heels of a legislative breakthrough for the company. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze recently signed a formal decree granting Krakatoa a two-year extension to undertake exploration activities over Zopkhito’s existing mining licence, which runs until 2042. Krakatoa holds an exclusive option to acquire up to an 80 per cent interest in the 1,779-hectare project.
The 2025 drilling program confirmed high-grade antimony and gold mineralisation well beyond historical workings, validating the project’s extensive historical database. It also confirmed the presence of an extended gold alteration system alongside high-grade quartz-antimony veins.
The upcoming 2026 program will pivot toward resource definition drilling, metallurgical optimisation test work, and preliminary mining studies.
Ultimately, these work streams are designed to fast-track Zopkhito toward a maiden JORC-compliant mineral tesource estimate. Environmental baseline studies and permitting activities will continue in parallel to support future development.
Krakatoa CEO Mark Major said the government’s extension was a highly positive development for the company’s regional ambitions.
“The 2025 drilling program delivered strong results and further demonstrated the high-grade antimony and gold potential at Zopkhito,” Major said.
“Securing an additional two-year exploration extension gives us the runway to build on this momentum and gives us added flexibility as we move the project forward.
“With site access and snow clearance well advanced, we are on track to restart drilling in the coming weeks.”
Zopkhito contains a foreign resource estimate of 225,000 tonnes at 11.6 per cent antimony and 7.1 million tonnes at 3.7 grams per tonne for 815,119 ounces of gold, establishing it as a highly prospective asset in the critical minerals sector.