Lode follows the silver in next stage for Webbs Consol

Lode Resources has started Phase II drilling at its 100% owned Webbs Consol Silver Base Metals Project following up on impressively high grade and shallow silver hits earlier this year.

Lode Resources’ (ASX:LDR) latest drilling phase is targeting extensions of the “game-changing’ Tangoa West prospect and the Castlereagh prospect just 1.5km away.

Results from the two prospects caught investor attention for the right reasons in July, a month before it emerged that FMG had pegged ground around Webbs Consol.

Lode is ramping up exploration in the highly prospective but as yet underexplored New England Fold Belt of NSW as silver demand for solar panels was last week forecast to grow by 15% this year according to independent research consultancy Metals Focus.

Hot prospects

Tangoa West yielded hits including a massive aggregate of 5.9m at 1,107 grams per tonne (g/t) of silver equivalent from two very high-grade intercepts, within a broader 27.3m at 412 g/t silver equivalent from just 30.1m.

Castlereagh returned 50m grading 314 g/t silver equivalent from a very shallow 17m.

The next stage of drilling will also test a number of new and enticing targets identified along strike of the Castlereagh and Lucy North prospects. Surface sampling close to those prospects has retuned 1,135g/t silver, 7.51 per cent lead, 0.58 per cent copper and 0.47 per cent gold.

Phase 1 finished with an impressive 22 holes intersecting significant silver, lead and zinc mineralisation from 29 drilled.

The Phase II drilling also comes just a few months after Lode completed a $1.63m placement.

In a sign that FMG may be hoping to replicate Lode’s exploration success, the Andrew Forrest-chaired company has pegged ground close to Webbs Consol.

“We’re excited to be moving into this next phase of drilling in an area that’s been underexplored since its original hey days of the 1850s,” Lode’s Managing Director Ted Leschke said.

“The outstanding results our Phase I drilling and the from moves by major mining FMG and Newmont into the New England Fold Belt are a validation of our exploration strategy.

“We’re now looking forward to seeing results from this next phase testing depth and strike extensions of previous significant intercepts at Tangoa West and Castlereagh, as well as the newly identified targets.”

Silver’s key role in green energy

It’s a savvy move for the iron ore giant hoping to reinvent itself as an industry leader in decarbonisation. That’s because silver is essential to the clean energy transition given it’s an irreplaceable component of photovoltaic (PV) cells used in solar energy as well as EVs and their charging stations.

Metals Focus last week forecast photovoltaic (PV) systems would break installation records this year as the Russia-Ukraine war underscored the need for a fast track to clean energy sources.

For example, Europe has decided to secure energy sovereignty by cutting its reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027 amid soaring electricity prices, with a cumulative solar deployment target of 320GW by 2025.

Global PV capacity is now expected to surpass 200GW this year for the first time ever. For context, it was 116GW in 2019.