Thanks, Jordan. With a commitment to exploration and ultimately mining, Patronus Resources has a bright future. We have the leadership, experience, and technical capability to take our projects from exploration through to production, while continuing to create value through smart deals and disciplined execution. Last August, we progressed the merger with PNX Metals and changed our name from KIN Mining NL to Patronus Resources with the ASX code PTN. We're a diversified resources company with a pipeline of exploration assets in gold, uranium, silver, and base metals in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. We're also strategic investors and continue to focus on what we see as undervalued opportunities. That said, we're not only after corporate outcomes; we're actively exploring with ambitions to mine what we find. Over the past year, we've deliberately reshaped Patronus into something bigger, stronger, and more future-facing.
The merger with PNX Metals was a turning point. It gave us scale in the NT and marked a new chapter for the company. The rebrand to Patronus wasn't just cosmetic. It signaled a commitment to a bigger and bolder strategy. Today, Patronus Resources is a multi-commodity, multi-project company operating in Tier 1 jurisdictions. We're building a portfolio that balances gold, uranium, silver, and base metals, commodities that all play a role in global growth, decarbonization, and energy security. What unites all of this is the simple strategy: build a diversified pipeline of opportunities that gives our shareholders multiple shots on gold, not just one project, not just one commodity, but a platform that can deliver value across cycles. Why Patronus? What makes us stand out from a crowded junior space? Firstly, is our balance sheet. At 30 June, we held around $70 million in cash and liquid investments.
That means we're one of the best-funded juniors on the ASX. This gives us resilience, and it gives us flexibility. Second is our track record. We've shown that we can act decisively, whether that's the PNX merger or taking strategic stakes in companies like Ormonde, Brightstar, Emmerson, Geopacific, and Matsa. We know how to identify undervalued opportunities and unlock value. Third is our approach. We're known for being proactive. We don't sit on the sidelines waiting for things to happen. We look for opportunities, react quickly, and we back ourselves to create value. This means that we are seen as an active participant in the sector, and that's why good opportunities often come our way. Finally, and most importantly, our team's exploration expertise. We've got a track record of making discoveries, of growing resources, and of doing the hard technical work that turns targets into real projects.
That capability underpins everything we do and gives credibility to the growth story we're building. Patronus is fortunate to have two genuine growth engines. In Western Australia, we've got Cardinia and Mertondale in the Leonora district, a gold hub with proven resources, infrastructure, and strong upside potential. In the Northern Territory of the Pine Creek Belt, a vast, underexplored province with scale across gold, uranium, and base metals. These two regions give us balance. WA offers near-term development optionality and resource growth, while the NT provides long-term scale and discovery upside in a world-class mineral province. One of the real strengths of Patronus is our people. We have a highly experienced and well-balanced Board and management team that brings together deep technical expertise, commercial acumen, and operational know-how.
Our Chairman, who's with me today, Rowan Johnston, is a mining engineer with decades of experience leading successful ASX-listed companies and overseeing project development and turnarounds, and was most recently Chair for Spartan Resources. Supporting him are our Non-Executive Directors with a diverse skill set. Hans Plaggemars has an international corporate governance and finance background and is our major shareholders' representative. Joe Graziano, a Chartered Accountant, who brings strength in compliance, finance, and corporate strategy. As part of the PNX merger, we welcomed Graham Ascough, a seasoned geophysicist and resources executive to the Board. Then, of course, myself. I'm a geologist with over 25 years' experience across exploration, operations, and corporate activity. On the mining side, our CFO and Company Secretary, Stephen Jones, has more than 25 years in finance, feasibility, and permitting.
Our Chief Geologist, who also joins me here today, Leah Moore, has 15 years of multi-commodity experience and helped grow Bellevue Gold's resource base from 1 million oz to 3 million oz. She's backed by our highly capable Exploration Managers, Rhea Brabham, WA, and Jed Williams in the NT. Together, we've assembled a team that's done this before: discovery, development, and delivery. With that foundation in place, the strategy, the funding, and the team, let's take a little closer look at our projects themselves. In Western Australia's Leonora district, our flagship is the Cardinia Gold Project. It's a 1 million ounce open-pittable resource sitting right in the heart of a world-class gold camp. We're surrounded by infrastructure and third-party operations, including Genesis and Vault. This gives us multiple development pathways, whether as a standalone project or through toll treatment.
Earlier this year, we upgraded the Mertondale resource, and I'll let the numbers tell the story here: a nearly 20% increase in grade, a 30% increase in indicated ounces, and now more than 300,000 oz in the indicated category. Significantly, more than 60% of contained ounces at Mertondale are now in that high confidence classification. That's real progress in de-risking this asset. The upgraded resource at Mertondale and those at Cardinia are the basis of a scoping study currently underway. This will guide us on how we want to develop this asset moving forward. Exploration is where it gets even more exciting. At Koi and Merlin , both of which are along trend and immediately north of existing resources, we're seeing strong results, which warrant further drill testing.
We've defined significant exploration targets at both Koi and Merlin, and most importantly, this trend remains open to the north with anomalous gold mineralization intercepted in historical drilling. We've recently completed a drilling program up there, and we look forward to updating the market when those results are available. From a greenfields exploration perspective, the Cardinia project continues to deliver exciting new targets. At Cardinia South, a recent air core hit returned 12 m at over 12 g per tonne from just 20 m depth. That is truly the kind of intercept that gets our exploration team jumping out of bed in the morning. We've also recently finished a small RC program targeting this intercept, and again, look forward to updating the market when we have results available. More significantly, Cardinia and Mertondale aren't just static resources. They're growth engines, and they're open in multiple directions.
Now let's move north to the NT and the Pine Creek Origin. This is one of the most underexplored yet richly endowed mineral provinces in Australia. It has a 20 million ounce gold endowment and is also one of the world's great uranium belts. Additionally, it's a proven belt for base metals, particularly volcanogenic massive sulfide or VMS deposits. We now hold belt-scale tenure across Pine Creek, and we're applying modern exploration techniques to ground that in many cases hasn't seen systematic work in decades. A key step we've taken here is launching a belt-scale lag and geochemical sampling program. This is important because it gives us a systematic, scientific foundation to target the next generation of discoveries rather than relying only on historical drilling or small-scale prospecting.
By combining geochemistry with new structural models and geophysics, we're building a pipeline of fresh, high-quality regional targets that simply haven't been tested before. First assay results are expected soon, and they'll be crucial in pointing us towards large-scale gold, uranium, and VMS systems across our grounds. On the gold side, we already have around 300,000 oz in potentially open-pittable resources at Fountain Head, Glencoe, and Mount Porter. These are shallow deposits, which means they can be expanded quickly and efficiently with further drilling. Mineralization remains open along strike and at depth, giving us confidence that there is plenty of room to grow beyond the current resource base. Fountain Head in particular is compelling because it comes with mining and processing approvals already in place. That's a huge head start in terms of optionality. We know we can develop if and when we choose. Just as importantly, there's clear exploration upside.
The system remains open with shallow high-grade hits and immediate expansion potential around Fountainhead and Tallyhoe. It's not just a permitted project. It's a platform we can grow while keeping the fast-track development option on the table. On the uranium front, we have Thunderball, a high-grade discovery in a district that's produced globally significant deposits like Ranger and Jabiluka. Historic drilling at Thunderball has delivered bonanza intercepts, including 10 m at 2.5% uranium oxide. This year, we've been back drilling for the first time in nearly 15 years with a seven-hole program designed to extend the mineralization and test structural controls. Results from this program are imminent, and we again look forward to updating the market when they're available. Of course, there's base metals at Hayes Creek.
We already have a global resource of nearly 200,000 tonnes of zinc and 16 million ounces of silver, with potential for significant gold and other base metal credits, and more than 40 km of prospective stratigraphy ahead of us to test. The NT is about scale. It's about optionality. It's about building the next generation of projects in a proven district. Alongside our own projects, we also invest strategically in others. We target undervalued juniors, the strong ground positions, or complementary opportunities. We take meaningful stakes, we support management, and can bring our technical and commercial expertise to the table. For shareholders, this approach builds optionality. It gives exposure to a broader pipeline of discoveries and creates leverage. If our investees succeed, Patronus shareholders succeed alongside them. This strategy has already paid dividends. We've backed companies like Genesis, Brightstar, Emmerson, and Matsa, all of which have grown.
We'll continue to do this, but with discipline. It's about value creation, not scattergun bets. Why should investors be looking at Patronus right now? First, the macro backdrop. Gold is in demand as a safe haven asset. Uranium is experiencing a renaissance as nuclear energy takes center stage in the decarbonization story. These are powerful tailwinds. Second is the leverage. Patronus offers exposure to both of these commodities, as well as silver and base metals. Few juniors can offer that kind of commodity diversity. Third is the platform. We've already got more than 2.4 million ounces in gold and gold equivalents across WA and the NT. We've got high-grade uranium. We've got base metal resources, both with serious growth potential. Crucially, we have the balance sheet to fund exploration, project development, and opportunistic acquisitions without needing to come back to market.
Over the short term, we look forward to releasing results from drilling at new discoveries at Cardinia and Mertondale, development studies at Cardinia and Mertondale, results from the Thunderball Uranium Programme, and assays from the Pine Creek regional sampling. This means strong news flow and multiple points for value uplift. The timing is right, the platform is in place, and the opportunity is clear. I hope you now have a better knowledge and understanding of Patronus Resources. The presentation is available on our website. I'm here with Rowan and Leah. Please come and see us at our booth with any questions you might have. Thanks.