Southern Cross Gold Receives Work Plan Approval for Exploration Tunnel at Sunday Creek
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On November 27, 2025, Southern Cross Gold (SXGC) announced it has received Work Plan approval from Earth Resources Regulation, the Victorian state regulator, for the construction and operation of an underground exploration tunnel (decline) at its Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project. The company stated this is a pivotal milestone, marking a transition from exploration towards potential mine development. The decline will enable more efficient underground drilling to better define and expand the high-grade mineralization. Upon completion of the decline, which is estimated to take 6-9 months, the company plans to add 12 underground drill rigs to the 10 currently operating on surface, for a total of 22 drill rigs.
This news is a material positive development and a major de-risking event for the Sunday Creek project. It represents the successful execution of a key strategic objective that was a cornerstone of the company's C$143 million financing completed in May 2025.
- Execution on Strategy: Management has delivered on a critical promise made to shareholders. The financing's primary uses of proceeds included funding for this exploration decline, and receiving the permit approval confirms the company is advancing the project exactly as planned.
- Project Acceleration: The approval unlocks the ability to dramatically accelerate the ongoing 200,000-meter drill program. Increasing the rig count from 10 to 22 will significantly shorten the timeline to delivering a maiden mineral resource estimate, which is the next major value-creating catalyst for the company.
- Operational Efficiency: For a deep, steeply-dipping system like Sunday Creek, underground drilling provides better angles to target mineralization, improves geological understanding, and is ultimately more cost-effective for defining ounces at depth compared to drilling long holes from surface.
- Permitting De-risking: Securing this key permit from the Victorian regulator is a significant vote of confidence in the project and the company's operational capabilities. While full mining permits are a separate, future process, this approval is an important and necessary first step that reduces overall permitting risk.
- Social License: As mentioned in prior releases (March 11, 2025), moving drilling operations underground will reduce surface impacts like noise and light, which is a positive for community relations and maintaining a social license to operate.
In the context of the year's progress—which includes consistently spectacular drill results, a doubling of the exploration target, and a successful TSX uplisting—this permit approval is the operational lynchpin that allows the company to deploy its large cash balance to rapidly advance Sunday Creek on the development curve.
Southern Cross Gold is a mineral exploration and development company focused on its 100%-owned Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project, located 60 km north of Melbourne in the Tier-1 mining jurisdiction of Victoria, Australia. The project is notable for its epizonal, high-grade "Golden Ladder" style mineralization. The company has demonstrated mineralization continuity over a 1.5 km strike length and to depths of over 1,100 meters. The project contains significant antimony, a critical mineral, which adds strategic value. The company's current NI 43-101 Exploration Target (as of March 3, 2025) is 8.1 - 9.6 million tonnes grading 8.3 - 10.6 g/t AuEq for a contained 2.2 - 3.2 million ounces of gold equivalent. The flagship project is 100% owned with no royalties.