At the end of August, 53 drill holes had been completed for 13,300m, unhampered by the wet season, with the results of 38 drill holes received so far.

The highlights from the newest 18 core holes included 19.5m at 3.4g/t gold from 193.4m; 19.5m at 3g/t Au from 224.6m, including 9m at 5.6 g/t Au from 235.1m; 25.5m at 2.3g/t Au from 247.5m and 19.5m at 2.3g/t Au from 229.2m.

Other good results were 15m at 2.3g/t Au from 239.7m; 19.5m at 2g/t Au from 232.1m and 10.5m at 2.3g/t Au from 247.2m.

Toro expects to release the final assay results in mid-October.

The aim of the programme is to investigate the potential to extend the openpit life through exploration of the main mineralised lode beneath the current final pit design.

The company also drilled some deeper holes to see whether there was the potential for underground mining at the plunging zones of mineralisation at the southwest and northeast of the project's Petowal lode.

Toro chief exploration officer Howard Bills said the main Petowal lode had continued to yield encouraging results and the drilling data would be used with 10 months of in-pit mine geology data to prepare an updated independent mineral resource estimate in the December quarter.