Lode on a roll with $1.63million placement

Lode Resources has completed a placement of $1.63m as it looks to a transformational year ahead in the highly prospective but underexplored New England Fold Belt.

The placement follows Lode’s (ASX:LDR) steady flow of outstanding drill results and unlocking the key to exploration at its key gold, silver and base metals projects.

The new cash complements the reserves of $2.2m held in the bank at the end of the June quarter, making Lode fully funded for its Phase II drilling plans. . It will now ramp-up development of Webbs Consol Silver-Base Metals Project and Uralla Gold Project in particular.

In a strong sign of the area’s untapped potential that the world’s largest gold company Newmont pegged several exploration licences along 160km of the western edge of the New England Fold Belt last year.

In the past few weeks FMG resources has also entered the England Fold Belts by pegging an area of 840sqkm just north of Lodes Webbs Consol Silver-Base Metals Project.

Lode’ savvy exploration strategy has been getting investors’ attention with the share price jumping 37% in mid-July after a steady flow of impressive drill results this year.

High grades near surface

Led by a team with strong geology and finance credentials, Lode’s main priority is Webbs Consol where recent drilling highlights include a high-grade interval aggregate of 5.9m at 1,074 grams per tonne (g/t) silver equivalent starting 37m down hole and within massive broader interval of 26.7m at 399 g/t silver equivalent.

These intercepts are from the Tangoa West prospect, which has never been mined or drilled despite being exposed at surface.

The impressive results also proved that the silver-lead-zinc mineralisation is not just confined to below old workings and gave Lode a diagnostic example of the Webbs Consol lode style mineralisation.

This was followed in July by Webbs Consol’s best intercepts to date, including 50m grading 284 g/t silver equivalent from only 17m at the Castlereagh prospect.

High impact drilling

Managing director Ted Leschke said: “We are very excited about the next six months’ exploration activities which we believe will be transformational for the company. After this placement the company remains fully funded for the upcoming high impact drilling programmes that should build on the exciting results achieved to date.

“Phase II drilling at the Webbs Consol Silver-Base Metal Project is designed to test depth and strike extensions of mineralised lodes discovered thus far as well as exploring for new mineralised lodes by testing mineralisation mapped at surface and geophysical targets. The company is also funded for Phase II drilling at our Uralla Gold Project which is in the planning stage.”

Webbs Consol was discovered in 1890 with only intermittent mining up to the mid-1950s.

“Thanks to drilling done to date we now know that the mineralised lodes show vertical mineralisation and alteration zonation, with the dominant mineralisation grading into the next with depth,” Leschke said.

With five mineralised lodes drill tested and the Webbs Consol mineral system extending over a 3km north-south strike, there’s strong potential for the discovery of more shallow mineralised lodes both along strike and within the area being explored.

The depth extent is a key focus of Phase 2 drilling in addition to testing newly mapped surface mineralisation.

“Silver is present in all zones but is particularly rich in the galena zone as would be anticipated. We’re looking forward to exploring below the mineralised zones we have drilled so far,” Leschke said.

Lode will also continue drilling at its Uralla gold project, where high-grade and shallow drill results early this year firmed up the project as a large intrusive related gold system.

This article was developed in collaboration with Lode Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.