Thunderbird is go with boots on-ground at NSW gold, silver, antimony play

With gold, silver and antimony rocketing right now, Thunderbird Resources has kicked off exploration at the company’s Rockvale and Kookabookra gold, silver and antimony projects in the New South Wales’ northern Tablelands after gaining access to priority target areas. 

The company’s initial reconnaissance work in the areas will focus on targets that have historical high-grade assay results.

Thunderbird believes Kookabookra’s geological structure has similar characteristics to intrusive-related gold mineralising systems akin to the deposits that delivered multi-million-ounce gold hauls at the Fort Knox mine in Alaska and Kidston in Queensland. 

The company says it has also made a considerable effort to engage with local farmers and landowners to sign off on land access agreements for the Rockvale and Kookabookra tenements, which it acquired in 2024.

It will tackle further targets when additional land access agreements are reached and will launch a more detailed rock chip and soil sampling program in the next three months to identify potential drill targets. Management aims to start drill testing in the second half of the year.

Thunderbird Resources executive chairman George Ventouras said: “Access to the ground is a major milestone and we are looking forward to gaining more access to our tenement package as the team finalises further land access agreements. With the market for gold, antimony and silver still positive and prices rising, we are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the interest and focus on these commodities.”

Thunderbird is doubling down on its gold presence in NSW after it assayed high-grade gold and antimony from rock chips at its Rockvale and nearby Kookabookra projects, which included a headline 48.0 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 4.1 per cent antimony from its Taits Gully/Four Shafts prospect.

Other promising rock chips include 27.65g/t gold and 1.4 per cent antimony at its Union Jack/Silver Spur prospect and 7.1g/t gold and 0.49 per cent antimony intercepted at its Camperdown Road prospect.

Earlier in March, Thunderbird moved to further expand its gold footprint in NSW by lodging an application for a further 130 square kilometres of ground to strategically extend Kookabookra, immediately to the east.

The new licences will bring the project total to 250 square kilometres and the new ground is underlain by Permian/Triassic intrusive rocks that are considered prospective for intrusion-related gold mineralisation.

Thunderbird’s exploration efforts coincide with a rampaging gold price and follow the stellar performance of its near-neighbour Larvotto Resources, with its emerging 7.3 million tonnes at 4.4g/t gold and 1.3 per cent antimony Hillgrove project. 

Hillgrove, in the active New England Orogen, is 50km south of Kookabookra and 100km south of the nearby 397,000-ounce Timbarra deposit. Historical records from Timbarra suggest the goldfield and the quartz veins at Kookabookra reach daylight for up to 150m across the project. 

Beyond NSW, Thunderbird is racking up uranium targets in a portfolio across Canada’s mighty Athabasca Basin, where electromagnetic surveys have identified prominent basement conductors over its flagship Cluff Lake project.

With antimony and silver prices rising – and the gold price at sky-high levels – the well-funded Thunderbird appears to be in the right commodities at the right time – a thematic that Larvotto discovered when it rocket from 12.5c to touch $1.07 in March this year on the back of its revered antimony and gold play. 

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