Thunderbird Resources has completed a systematic review of historical exploration data revealing significant high-grade gold and antimony assay samples at its newly acquired Rockvale and Kookabookra gold and antimony projects near Armidale in New South Wales.
The projects comprise five leases in the New England Orogen. Four of the tenements - covering 358 square kilometres - make up the Rockvale project and sit in particularly good company, neighbouring Larvotto Resources’ exciting Hillgrove gold and antimony project.
Larvotto’s project has a resource of 7.2 million tonnes grading 4.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold with 1.3 per cent antimony. It is the eighth biggest antimony deposit in the world and currently Australia’s largest occurrence of antimony mineralisation.
Results collated from historical workings and dozens of gold and antimony occurrences at Rockvale make compelling reading.
At the Taits Gully-Four Shafts prospect, a high-grade hit from rock chip samples discovered during the company’s desktop studies came in at 49.8g/t gold in addition to 4.1 per cent antimony.
The new hit adds to an historic uber-high sample of 76g/t gold and 1.39pc antimony, which was reported by Thunderbird when it announced the Rockvale acquisition last year.
At the Union Jack-Silver Spur workings, 27.65g/t gold with 1.4pc antimony were reported including an eye-popping intercept of 1.64 kilograms per tonne of silver.
Rock chip samples of greater than 1g/t gold have also been regularly recorded at the Union Jack-Silver Spur prospect, which lies across a north-south trending formation of almost 800m in strike length. The mineralisation appears to sit in quartz veins within Rockvale monzogranite - the same rocks that host the Hillgrove mine.
Another hit recorded at the Camperdown Road prospect came in at 7.1g/t gold and 0.49pc antimony.
These results, when overlaid with previously collected geochemical and aeromagnetic data have now revealed the identity of 12 priority targets ripe for on-ground field work.
Management says it is increasingly excited by the historical workings on the leases, suggesting they are usually a key indicator of rich mineral systems in the area and are ripe for a new discovery with the help of modern exploration technology.
Thunderbird Resources executive chairman George Ventouras said: “The team has now identified several potential initial exploration targets which is where the initial on-ground work will be focused. Thunderbird will undertake its own ground reconnaissance to confirm previous results and to ensure it is targeting the most suitable locations for future drilling.”
Geological interpretation at Kookabookra, the company’s second project area, appears to suggest the mineralisation occurs in quartz veins in a similar monzogranite to Rockvale and could be associated with an intrusion-related gold system (IRGS).
IRGS deposits potentially have the firepower to deliver big tonnage, low-grade gold systems, which can host multi-million-ounce discoveries similar to Fort Knox in Alaska and Kidston in Queensland.
Historical drilling data at the Mt Secret prospect within the Kookabookra project area came in with several noteworthy hits including 17m running at 0.43g/t gold from 10m and 6m at 0.67g/t gold from 69m.
At the Mannix prospect, 1.6 kilometres south of Mt Secret, similar hits were reported, including 12m grading 0.53g/t gold from 10m and 15m running at 0.37g/t gold from 7m.
Despite the relatively low grade, the company believes the broader system could host a major gold orebody. With just one hole drilled below 60m, the real prize could be waiting at depth.
As Thunderbird gears up to get boots on the ground in March at both projects, the company says most of its landowner agreements have been executed with a few still outstanding due to delays over the holiday season.
The company’s exploration efforts have coincided with a rampaging gold price, sitting just shy of its all-time highs of $4650 an ounce, and a surging antimony price, currently trading above $86,000 a tonne on the back of a Chinese export ban.
Thunderbird has made a bold statement picking up some of the most prospective ground in Australia for large-scale gold and antimony discoveries. Given the stellar performance of its neighbour, Larvotto, whose share price has surged more than 1200pc in the last year, punters are likely to be watching closely for any hint of news in the coming months that might deliver copycat results.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By James Pearson
