Thunderbird Resources has kicked off its first grid-based soil sampling exploration program at its 100 per cent-owned Rockvale gold-antimony project in New South Wales.
The initial program is focussed on sampling at the Achill gold-antimony prospect, which lies 13km along strike and within the Hillgrove-Chandler fault corridor extending from Larvotto Resources’ flagship Hillgrove gold-antimony mine.
Historical shallow workings at Achill extend to 15m depth and host quartz-filled breccia mineralisation featuring standout assays in rock samples that posted some impressive grades, up to 4.65 per cent antimony, 265g/t silver and 0.35g/t gold.
Other rock-chip samples from Achill have delivered grades to 4.13 per cent antimony and 0.57 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
The occurrence is supported by samples from nearby Thorpleigh, about 3.5km north-northwest of Achille, where historical rock-chip samples yielded 1.25 per cent antimony and 1.57g/t gold, leaving little doubt its Rockvale project is fertile for the regional antimony-gold style of mineralisation.
The sampling program will deploy a nominal 400m x 100m grid across an area measuring about 10km east-west by 5km north-south, centred on Achill, with an initial provision for about 950 samples in that pattern.
With good site access and favourable sampling conditions, the program is expected to wrap up inside three weeks, with assays anticipated in late December or early in the new year.
The company is proposing follow-up infill sampling to refine any anomalies identified in the initial program before a possible maiden program to probe drill-worthy targets.
This program is building momentum for Thunderbird at Rockvale which, apart from its tantalising antimony-gold assays, attracts increased attention due to its proximity to Larvotto’s Hillgrove operation, which is Australia's largest antimony resource, hosting a current 1.7 million ounce gold-equivalent resources at a gold equivalent grade of 7.4g/t.
At Hillgrove, Larvotto is advancing toward a production restart in Q2 2026, backed by a seven-year offtake deal for antimony concentrate and recent high-grade drilling hits. The company also just knocked back an unsolicited $720-750 million takeover bid from United States Antimony Corporation late last month.
With antimony prices surging amid global supply constraints, Hillgrove is poised to deliver 7 per cent of the world’s antimony needs, a prodigious result from a Western jurisdiction.
Thunderbird's program positions its nearby Rockvale venture to tap into the high-value district, taking advantage of Achill's promising antimony-gold geochemistry for possible near-term discoveries in what is plainly a critical minerals hotspot.
As the company’s soil results unfold, Thunderbird stands ready to unlock Rockvale's potential with aspirations of hopefully mirroring Hillgrove's meteroric ascent and bolstering Australia's strategic antimony pipeline for a resource-secure future.
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By Doug Bright
