Krakatoa deploys second drill rig at Georgia’s Zopkhito project Both drill rigs are focused on antimony and gold zones adjacent to and beneath historic underground workings. Credit: Reyhan Reynardot/Shutterstock.com. · Mining Technology · Reyhan Reynardot/Shutterstock.com. Shree Mishra Wed, October 14, 2026 at 10:09 AM EDT GC=F -1.50% KTA.AX +25.00% Krakatoa Resources has deployed a second operating drill rig at the Zopkhito Antimony-Gold Project in Georgia in an effort to speed up the 2026 exploration programme.
The project, located in the Racha region, operates under an exploration-mining licence valid until March 2042.
The dual-rig programme is centred on resource definition work intended to underpin a Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC)-compliant mineral resource estimate for the project.
Both rigs are targeting antimony and gold mineralisation in zones that lie adjacent to and beneath a network of historical underground workings.
According to the Russian GKZ resource estimate, the project is reported to contain 225,000t at 11.6% antimony, for a total of 26,000t of the metal, and 7.1 million tonnes (mt) at 3.7 grams per tonne gold, amounting to 815,119oz of gold.
Additional exploration in past decades has included more than 20km of legacy underground adits and more than 30,000 channel and geochemical samples.
The company's previous drilling in 2025 identified high-grade mineral deposits extending beyond established underground workings, an expanded gold alteration system and notable quartz-antimony vein structures.
Ongoing work with the second rig in 2026 has continued to intersect antimony and gold across several target zones, with results reported to align with the historical geological model for the site.
Krakatoa CEO Mark Major said: "Having a second drill rig operating on-site is a positive step in advancing the project into the next stage in a timely manner.
"Operating in tandem, the two rigs along with the underground core and channel sampling will be invaluable in advancing our efforts to modernise the historical foreign resource to a JORC-compliant mineral resource."
Alongside drilling activities, Krakatoa is gathering bulk samples intended for metallurgical testwork.
This work will examine ore sorting and flotation methods to further assess metal recovery potential for both antimony and gold.
Environmental and permitting studies are also in progress to facilitate any future project development.
Krakatoa has an exclusive option to acquire up to an 80% interest in the Zopkhito project.
"Krakatoa deploys second drill rig at Georgia's Zopkhito project" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.
