The company is planning to release a resource update or upgrade in early December 2024. Pic: via Getty Images
Sunshine Metals aims to add Gap Zone to Liontown copper-gold resource by Christmas
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- Sunshine Metals flags positive assays at Gap Zone at Liontown project
- The prospect is smack bang between the Liontown and Liontown East resources
- Company is planning to include in a resource update next month
Special Report: Sunshine Metals looks set to announce a resource update at Liontown, part of the Ravenswood Consolidated Project in Queensland, after receiving more positive assays from the Gap Zone prospect.
The Gap Zone is between the Liontown (2.94Mt at 10.55% zinc equivalent) and Liontown East (1.47Mt at 10.96% zinc equivalent) resources that is ~400m long and has only been lightly drilled.
Diamond drilling at the Gap Zone returned results of:
- 9m at 2.08% copper, 1.29g/t gold, 2.02% zinc from 302.1m, including 1.6m at 4.41% copper, 3.76g/t gold, 3.54% zinc from 302.1m;
- 1m at 4.95g/t gold, 1.57% zinc from 327m; and
- 1m at 1.14% copper, 0.67g/t gold, 2.71% zinc, 1.08% lead from 350.9m.
Sunshine Metals (ASX:SHN) expects these results to significantly grow the project resource, with an update/upgrade anticipated in early December 2024.
Liontown resource focus
“We took control of the Greater Liontown Project ~14 months ago,” SHN managing director Dr Damien Keys said.
“Within that time at Liontown, we have processed and assayed 14,764m (77 holes) of drilling, delineated a high-grade gold panel within a broader, under-drilled footwall zone, improved gold-copper metallurgical recoveries and now identified our next resource target growth area with targeted geophysics.
“This is a huge volume of successful work in a short timeframe.”
Dr Keys says the Gap Zone diamond drilling has provided 20 significant intercepts above the resource cut-off grade of >5% zinc equivalent in an area ~160m long x ~200m deep, between the Liontown and Liontown East Resources.
“Our next significant milestone is to update/upgrade the Liontown resource,” he said.
“The resource update will be a culmination of the 14 months’ work and is scheduled for release in early December 2024.”
In addition to the Gap Zone results, successful gold-focused RC drilling and metallurgical testwork will be included into the resource update/upgrade.
Even more growth on the horizon
The company is also confident of more resource growth in the future, with an electromagnetic (EM) conductor identified ~100m beyond the current resource at Liontown West.
Notably, a previous RC hole finished at the approximate target depth and intersected gold mineralisation in the last metre drilled of 1m at 1.84g/t gold from 99m to end of hole.
Among the nearest drilling to the FLEM target, results include 6m at 8.54g/t gold, 0.80% copper, 2.70% zinc from 73m, 5m at 27.91g/t gold, 1.75% copper from 20m and 2m at 6.81g/t gold from 12m.
The company says this EM target appears to be an extension of the historic Carrington gold workings and is a clear opportunity for shallow resource growth in 2025.
Looking ahead, the company is using copper:zinc ratios to map out potential mineralisation ‘hot zones’ which could be most likely to host copper-gold rich mineralisation for drill targeting – and has already identified two which coincide with the historic Carrington workings.
This article was developed in collaboration with Sunshine Metals, 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.
