Tanami Gold nails 3.8m at 268.34g/t gold in Northern Territory

This edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits examines some notable drill intercepts revealed on the ASX, including Tanami Gold’s Central Tanami project that intersected 3.80 metres at 268.34 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 317m. James Bay Minerals’ Independence gold project in Nevada, Lode Resources’ Montezuma antimony project in Tasmania and Titan Minerals’ Dynasty project in Ecuador also reported interesting drilling hits last week. Let’s dive in.

Tanami Gold NL 

Jims gold mine, Central Tanami project, Northern Territory.

Hit: 3.80m at 268.34g/t gold from 317m

A four-hole reverse circulation pre-collar/diamond core tail drilling program was completed by Tanami Gold at Jims gold mine in the Northern Territory during the 2024 field season for a total of 1712.50m of drilling to better define mineralisation in the northern part of the mine’s principal deposit.

In addition to the headline hit, all three remaining holes reported multiple significant intercepts, including a second-best run of 11.96m at 2.34g/t gold from 260.66m and 11.45m assaying 2.24g/t gold from 276.05m.

The third best hole yielded 2m going 6.20g/t gold from 250m, 1.67m at 7.27g/t gold from 322.52m, 7.25m running 3.57g/t gold from 342.75m and a final hit of 10.79m assaying 3.79g/t gold from 361.46m.

The fourth hole gave up 6.5m at 1.73g/t gold from 247m and 12.41m going 1.69g/t gold from 256.77m. 

The program formed part of an extensive drilling campaign undertaken last year across multiple targets within the company’s Central Tanami project, which is a 50:50 joint venture between Tanami Gold and Northern Star Resources.

The joint venture was established to advance exploration across the 2108 square kilometre tenement area the company holds in the Northern Territory’s Tanami region. 

It primarily aims to develop and mine the Groundrush gold deposit, along with any other gold deposits that may be defined within the Central Tanami project ground.

The drilling results offer valuable insights into the tenor, geometry and extent of the gold mineralisation within the targeted area, most notably the incidence of very high gold grades associated with a kilometre-long, north-south trending structure where results indicate a shallow northerly plunge. 

The gold deposits at Jims gold mine lie on the northeastern side of an interpreted north-northwest trending regional fault. The mineralisation is hosted by pillow lavas and undifferentiated basalt intercalated with minor sediments. 

The mineralised trend at the Jims main deposit strikes north-south, initially dipping moderately to steeply west in the upper portion of the deposit before transitioning to a steep to eastward dip below about 80m depth. 

The main ore zone varies significantly in true thickness from 15m to 25m and, in some areas, expanding to 60m. The strike length of the Jims main zone is about 300m and it is currently interpreted to extend to 250m below surface.

Tanami Gold views the drilling results as justifying further exploration and is already planning exploration for its 2025 field season, with drilling expected to kick off in the Central Tanami project in May.

James Bay Minerals

Independence project, Nevada, United States

Hit: 51.8m at 0.9g/t gold from 12.2m, including 3.1m at 7.9g/t gold with a peak run of 1.5m assaying 9.4g/t gold.

James Bay Minerals drilled a best run of 51.8m at 0.9g/t gold from 12.2m, including 3.1m at 7.9g/t gold with a peak run of 1.5m assaying 9.4g/t gold from one of five reverse circulation drill holes put into its Independence project in Nevada.

The program tested for additional mineralisation adjacent to the company’s current mineral resource estimate. 

Including the headline hit, all five holes met their objectives, identifying gold mineralisation in two discrete areas outside the envelope of the mineral resource estimate, including from the company’s first and only hole in a priority area south of its Rebel Peak target.

Four holes put into the western Yukon Hill area primarily targeted high-grade mineralisation within intrusion-related breccias, gaps within the mineral resource estimate and high-grade gold mineralisation in structures adjacent to intrusive dykes.

All four holes at Yukon Hill intercepted gold, including the 51.8m headline hit. Generally, wide intercepts of near-surface mineralisation were intercepted, with internal structurally controlled high-grade elements.

A second hole drilled 50m west of the headline hole nailed 12.2m assaying 1g/t gold from 89.9m and 16.8m at 0.8g/t gold from 115.8m, including 1.5m at 4g/t gold. 

A third hole probed about 140m southeast of the headline hole reported low-level gold in three intercepts, including 3m at 0.3g/t gold from 57.9m, 1.5m at 0.3g/t from 100.6m and 3m at 0.4g/t from 105.2m.

A fourth hole drilled about 50m south of the top hit landed a 53.3m intercept going 0.5g/t from surface, including 3.1m at 1.8g/t gold. 

Most previous drilling has focussed on near-surface high-level epithermal-style mineralisation across the southwestern half of the project spanning the Yukon Hill and South Hill targets.

In the east of the project area, close to and south of Rebel Peak, recent rock chip sampling identified previously unrecognised high-grade mineralisation, with results including 16.6g/t gold, 14.5g/t gold, and 11.7g/t gold.

James Bay put in its fifth drill hole - about 285m east of the previous four holes at Yukon Hill - to follow up those high-value rock chip samples in the southern arm of the Rebel Peak high-priority target area, on a separate but parallel structural trend that runs for 335m northwards to Rebel Peak.

That hole was close to a cluster of previous rock chip samples with a peak value of 1.1g/t gold on an already-cleared north-south road that extends along-strike south from Rebel Peak. 

It was the company’s first hole to test for mineralisation in the Rebel Peak trend along the eastern side of the project area. It returned a meaningful 18.3m going 1g/t gold from 36.6m, including 3.1m assaying 2.7g/t gold and represents a pierce-point 520m up-dip from historic intercepts. 

Based on the single hole result and the scattered associated high rock chip grades, the company is planning a phase two drilling campaign for the current quarter to further test the high-priority and largely untested Rebel Peak area.

Near surface mineralisation at Independence is best described as a high-level epithermal system formed as a leakage halo above the Independence gold skarn, both related to emplacement of granodiorite porphyries and related faults in the Eocene age (55.8 million to 33.9m years ago). 

The project contains a foreign mineral resource comprising two parts, the first being a 3.8 million tonne inferred skarn component averaging 6.53g/t gold for 796,200 ounces.

It also contains a more significant near-surface resource with silver as the second contributing metal, comprising a measured 8.7mt at 0.39g/t gold for 125,000 gold equivalent ounces, an indicated 19.3mt at 0.36g/t gold for 249,000 ounces gold equivalent and a further inferred 5.2mt at 0.30g/t gold for 55,100 ounces gold equivalent.         

The company’s drilling has so far focussed on expanding near-surface oxide mineralisation across Yukon Hill and, with the phase one assays in hand, it is now planning for the 2025 exploration season. 

Future drilling will target oxide mineralisation extensions in the northern half of the project and at the Rebel Peak area where multiple rock chip samples have also returned exceptional high-grade gold beyond the current mineral resource. 

Management says the easternmost hole, drilled under a 1.1g/t gold rock sample south of Rebel Peak, returned grades more than double the current near-surface mineral resource, which points to potential for additional future drilling to uncover significant mineralisation beneath other previous high-grade rock samples on the Rebel Peak trend. 

Logging and sampling of available historic diamond drill core is ongoing and will help plan future diamond drilling plans to explore polymetallic mineralisation. Assay results are expected in the first half of the year. 

Diamond core results are expected to be received in February and will include those from a diamond drill hole put in recently to test 400m down-dip from the single reverse circulation intercept at Rebel Peak.

Lode Resources

Montezuma antimony project, Tasmania

Hit: 18.23 per cent antimony, 612g/t silver and 1.30g/t gold over 0.8m 

^{Lode Resources has kicked off development face sampling of its portal box-cut and exploration drive into the company’s Montezuma antimony-silver-gold deposit in Tasmania. Credit: File}

Lode Resources has identified a new batch of high-grade assays from previous drilling at its recently acquired Montezuma antimony project in Tasmania’s premier West Coast mining province, including one intercept of 18.23 per cent antimony, 612g/t silver and 1.30g/t gold over 0.8m.

Further significance is lent to the work by the discovery that higher-grade antimony and silver intercepts exist within broad potentially economic grades, such as the headline intercept within its broader intercept of 7m going 3.57pc antimony, 432g/t silver and 1.03g/t gold.

Out of 14 holes re-logged, seven have been identified as carrying significant grades, particularly in antimony and silver, but also with associated gold, lead, copper and tin signatures that could significantly enhance the overall mineral endowment, if sustained throughout.

Other significant hits from a second hole include 1.9m assaying 5.36pc antimony, 913g/t silver and 0.66g/t gold within a broader zone of 9.5m running 1.86pc antimony, 291g/t silver and 0.38g/t gold. 

A third hole intercepting 1.3m grading 6.58pc antimony, 826g/t silver and 0.76g/t gold was pulled out of a longer 4.8m hit going 2.31pc antimony, 329g/t silver and 0.48g/t gold.

A hit of 5.51pc antimony, 285g/t silver and 1.33g/t gold over 0.9m was identified within a fourth hole within a 3m intercept assaying 1.79pc antimony, 101g/t silver and 0.51g/t gold. 

Lode Resources has relogged all previous drill core from the Montezuma antimony project and resampled it to JORC 2012 standards. The resulting new drill intercepts confirm the exceptionally high-grade of the Montezuma antimony deposit and also highlight broader zones of mineralisation than were previously believed to exist.

Lode has also reviewed and modelled historic soil sampling bringing to light a 500m-long tin anomaly coinciding with the modelled extension of the Montezuma structure at surface. 

Previous across-strike surface sampling of trenches at 5m intervals along a 50m exposure of the Montezuma deposit also returned impressive grades ranging from 4.36pc to 24.5pc antimony, 124g/t to 3050g/t silver and lead grades between 6.81pc and 39.08pc.

Overall average grades from the surface sampling run at 11.9pc antimony, 843g/t silver and 18pc lead.

The Montezuma antimony-silver-gold deposit is a structurally controlled lode, emplaced primarily within the well-known Montezuma fault and hosted by a sequence of turbidites, siltstones, sandstones and black shale units. 

The company sees strong potential to extend the Montezuma structure, which remains open to the north, south and at depth. It is undertaking surface mapping and sampling focussed on the coincidence of its modelled structural target and the local geochemistry. 

The antimony is contained within jamesonite, a lead-iron-antimony sulphide mineral that develops at low to moderate temperatures. The important antimony ore mineral stibnite – antimony sulphide - is also relatively abundant. 

An examination of the geochemistry reveals the project is prospective for gold, zinc, copper, tin and tungsten.

Lode Resources is in the final stages of planning an extensive diamond drilling program of up to 10,000m – or more than 40 holes - to test for lateral and vertical extensions to the Montezuma deposit. 

Montezuma is Tasmania’s only antimony project. It is accessed via the town of Zeehan, about 14km to the west and comprises a high-grade antimony-silver deposit that comes with initial development, advanced metallurgical test work and significant beneficiation infrastructure. 

It sits between several well-known mining centres including MMG’s Rosebery copper-lead-zinc project, the Renison Bell tin operation owned by Metals X Ltd and Yunnan Tin, Catalyst Metals’ Henty gold mine and Stella Resources’ tin, lead and silver Zeehan project. 

The operation also includes a variety of mining and exploration equipment and significant beneficiation infrastructure, including grid power, a cone crusher, ball mill, gravity tables, spirals, tankage, raw water and a recently constructed tailings dam. 

Lode is planning pilot-scale beneficiation of the Montezuma mineralisation when it has finalised the potential ore metallurgical parameters, flowsheet configuration and related permitting.

The company has kicked off development face sampling of the portal box-cut and exploration drive. So far, samples have assayed between 1.54pc and 21.4pc antimony, with silver grades ranging between 93g/t and 2,478g/t and lead values between 2.13pc and 44.3pc. 

Exploration drive development has recommenced with antimony mineralisation being selectively mined and stockpiled. 

Antimony is classified as a critical metal by both the federal and Tasmanian governments, as well as almost every advanced western nation. 

Titan Minerals

Resource drilling

Dynasty gold-silver project, Ecuador.

Hit: 4.7m at 5.7g/t gold and 43.3g/t silver from 227m

Titan Minerals resource diamond core drilling at the company’s Cerro Verde gold-silver prospect has delivered multiple significant results from the Brecha-Comanche target including the headline hit.

Other significant hits at Cerro Verde include a second hole throwing up 5.6m at 3.3g/t gold and 78.2g/t silver from 13.1m.

A third hole served to extend mineralisation at depth at Brecha-Comanche, coring out 10.7m at 3.4g/t gold and 5.7g/t silver from 174.3m, including 1.9m at 17.7g/t gold and 23.3g/t silver. A separate run of 4.1m assayed 3.7g/t gold and 8.7g/t silver from 273.3m 

Titan has three drill rigs at Dynasty engaged in a 10,000m resource drilling campaign that is expected to generate a stream of results over the coming months ahead of an envisaged mid-year resource update.

The work has a two-fold focus - resource definition drilling while concurrently expanding exploration work programs into new prospective areas outside the company’s current 3.1m ounce gold and 22m ounce silver Dynasty mineral resource.

Titan kicked off its resource extension and infill diamond drilling program at Dynasty last November, completing 21 diamond drill holes for 4600m of the 10,000m resource definition program in 2024. 

The company has already received results from three of the completed holes at the Brecha-Comanche target area on the Cerro Verde prospect.

The headline hole is an infill hole to improve geological confidence and refine resource categorisation with results demonstrating strong, broad and high-grade mineralisation in predicted vein locations.

The full headline core intercept delivered 4.7m at 5.7g/t gold and 43.3g/t silver from 227m, including 2.3m assaying 11.3g/t gold and 83.3g/t silver. A separate run hit 8.9m at 1.1g/t gold and 9.8g/t silver from 259.1m, including 1.9m assaying 3.4g/t gold and 29.3g/t silver.

It also bored out a separate intercept of 1.8m going 2.7g/t gold and 3.6g/t silver from 273.7m.

A final run comprised 20.2m going 2.8g/t gold and 14.7g/t silver from 296.1m, including 5.8m running 7.1g/t gold and 42.9g/t silver. 

The headline hole also intercepted a new vein, named Koala, at 308.2m with a significant result of 5.8m at 7.1g/t gold and 42.9g/t silver, pointing to the possibility of extending the resource by testing and defining its possible up-dip continuity.

A second hole was put in to improve geological confidence and resource categorisation in the upper parts of Brecha-Comanche, the Comanche-02 vein, and to intersect a depth extension to the Comanche-01 vein. Significant results include 5.6m assaying 3.3g/t gold and 78.2g/t silver from 13.1m in the Comanche-02 vein.

A third extensional hole explored the continuity of mineralisation at depth within an already-defined inferred resource category in the eastern-most drill section at Brecha-Comanche, with results showing strong mineralisation about 40m below previously defined mineralisation, representing a worthwhile addition to the mineral resource. 

Significant results returned were 10.7m at 3.4g/t gold and 5.7g/t silver from 174.3m, including 1.9m at 17.7g/t gold and 23.3g/t silver, and a further 4.1m at 3.7g/t gold and 8.7g/t silver from 273.3m. 

The company is waiting on results for three holes completed last year at Cerro Verde and another six holes completed at Iguana, centred about 3.6km northeast, which is an epithermal gold-silver deposit with an estimated mineral resource containing 0.71m ounces of gold and 4.8m ounces of silver. 

Titan kicked off resource drilling with three diamond rigs at Dynasty on January 20 and has since punched in an additional five holes for 1580m at its Cerro Verde prospect. 

The company has slated a mineral resource update for mid-2025 when the current round of resource drilling is wound up and the geological model updated. 

The imminent mineral resource update will be a key input into the planned scoping study for Dynasty, for which several related workstreams are already underway, including metallurgical test work. 

The company remains well-funded to undertake its comprehensive drilling and resource development program and is expecting a steady stream of results over the coming months as resource drilling continues.

Expect further updates as Titan’s multiple exploration, resource and development study workstreams converge to advance its Dynasty gold project. 

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au