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Here are some geological "tricks" that investors should be wary of when examining exploration results in ASX announcements.

The ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) has strict guidelines for the reporting of exploration results, primarily under the JORC (Joint Ore Reserves Committee) code. However, companies may still attempt to present their results in the most favourable light, or in some cases, use tactics that could mislead investors from poor results.

Selective Reporting: Companies often promote their best drill holes front and centre in the highlight page of their announcement, often leaving fewer promising results in the shadows. It's essential to dig into the detail, especially the Drill Result Table, this is where all the assayed drill holes will be reported and where you will get the full colour of the results, there is lots of clues in here which we discuss further down. Be cautious of omitted negative drill results, a red flag for potential bias.
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Always look at reported assays in their surrounding context

It’s important to look at the context of the promoted drill results. Always look at the cross sections or long sections for this to better put the interval in context, if there is no cross section or long section provided then this is a big red flag.

Company XYZ hits 30m @ 6g/t Au, sounds great, but what are the drill holes around it saying?

You need to look at the drill holes above, below and along strike from the reported high-grade interval, this will put the results the company is promoting in better context. Does the mineralisation grade and width continue down dip (below) or does it get thinner and/or drop off in grade, this is important to understand as it would indicate that the excellent grade & width doesn’t continue or may just be a small high grade pod or they’ve struck it on a sub optimal angle which has skewed the results.

High grade hits should always be taken with a high degree of caution, because the reality is homogenous deposits are rare and its far easier to mislead an investor than to find an outstanding mineral body.