Australia-headquartered St Barbara has quietly assembled a substantial exploration portfolio in Nova Scotia, Canada, over the past two financial years, positioning the company to extend mine life around its proposed 15-Mile Processing Hub project.

The ASX-listed miner has built an exploration target pipeline covering 47 841 ha along prospective anticlines within a 75 km radius of the 15-Mile hub, identifying 44 exploration targets aimed at extending production beyond the current 11-year mine life.

The company’s landholding covers 164 km of prospective anticlines, including 75 km where the highly favourable Moose River Formation is exposed at surface or lies beneath shallow cover. More than 66 km of the Touquoy–15-Mile and Cochrane Hill anticlines remain sparsely tested, with drill spacing exceeding one kilometre.

St Barbara has also assembled a regional tenement position outside the 75 km radius, totalling 21 921 ha and covering 12 additional exploration targets.

The company said it capitalised on weak market sentiment to secure prospective ground at low cost, spending less than C$0.5-million on acquisitions over the past two years. This included the purchase of 34 exploration licences for C$0.4-million and the acquisition of a further 21 licences at no cost.

"While exploration sentiment was low in Nova Scotia, we have taken the opportunity to acquire and peg attractive targets within 75 km around the 15-Mile Processing Hub project," said MD and CEO Andrew Strelein.

Fieldwork planned for the May to September 2026 season includes reverse circulation drilling, regional till and rock-chip sampling and the integration of newly acquired geophysical data into a structural review of priority targets.

St Barbara’s Atlantic portfolio now comprises one mining lease and 174 exploration licences, covering about 69 763 ha. The mining lease hosts the Touquoy processing plant, tailings storage facility and related infrastructure.

During the 2025 and 2026 financial years, the company acquired 1 789 claims and surrendered 1 906 claims, resulting in a net reduction of 117 claims, reflecting an active portfolio optimisation strategy.

The company said the expanded landholding provides an “unparalleled” platform for targeting extensions to known deposits, including Touquoy, Beaver Dam, Cochrane Hill and 15-Mile, and supports its long-term growth strategy in eastern Canada.