Zinc, lead and silver prices are flying. Zinc prices has held steady over the past month, but bulk COVID stimulus packages in construction, transport and infrastructure have pushed the price up an incredible 48% from the same time last year.

It’s not alone. Lead is flying higher too — up 8% over the past month and an impressive 29% over the past year. And then there’s silver, which is currently trading at $US26.05/oz — a 43% gain on the same time last year.

Lead, zinc, and silver news on the ASX

BOAB METALS (ASX:BML)

The company has just extended its Phase V drilling at Sorby Hils after encouraging core logging results with more drillholes planned to follow up lead mineralisation intervals intersected 500m to the west of the Norton deposit – including a zone of zinc dominated mineralisation within a major fault breccia from 75m.

The aim of the drilling game is to try to increase the mine life and proposed production capacity at Sorby Hills as part of the ongoing DFS.

NAVARRE (ASX:NML)

Navarre has just raised $14.9 million and plans to aggressively explore the potential of the Morning Bill gold, silver and base metals discovery – which it believes is part of a much larger porphyry system.

A geophysical survey has kicked off to test the broader porphyry and epithermal potential and help understand the ‘bigger picture’ of the Morning Bill system.

The program is expected to provide a high-quality 3D model to plan an aggressive drilling program which will begin by the end of 2021.

ZENITH MINERALS (ASX:ZNC)

Then there’s Zenith  and operating partner Rumble Resources (ASX:RTR) – who just doubled the size of the mineralised envelope of the Chinook discovery to over 3km by 1.8km at their Earaheedy zinc-silver-lead project.

Assays included 38m grading 2.78% zinc and lead, 4.6% manganese and 2.9 grams per tonne (g/t) silver from 23m from the first four holes.

“The new zones of thick zinc mineralisation from just 4 holes already point towards a significant expansion of the mineralised envelope,” chairman Peter Bird said.

“The important next steps advancing the Chinook zinc-lead discovery consists of broad spaced, step out drilling into new untested areas looking to find the edges of the mineralisation.”

AUKING MINING (ASX:AKN)

Explorer Auking is set to begin its first drilling program at Koongie Park copper-zinc project at the end of the month, with a minimum 7,000m combined RC and diamond drilling planned to test mineralisation at depths of between 130m and 900m.

The company just raised $7 million in its IPO and chief executive officer Paul Williams says program is intended ”to provide the basis for regular result updates over the coming weeks and months before establishing the platform for an updated JORC resource before the end of the year.”

ST GEORGE MINING (ASX:SGQ)

The company reckons its Paterson project in WA has significant exploration upside for base metal and gold deposits.

SGQ has completed 18 drill holes (3,338m) of the maiden 10,000m drill program at the Project, with basement rocks intersected highlighting the potential base metal and gold mineralisation.

And XRF analysis indicates elevated levels of pathfinder elements including highly anomalous bismuth, arsenic, copper, zinc, lead, molybdenum and vanadium.

“Given these highly encouraging results, we are seeking to source a diamond rig to complete deeper drilling to further test these emerging high-value copper and gold targets,” executive chairman John Prineas said.

CRITICAL RESOURCES (ASX:CRR)

The company is planning 2500m of drilling the Halls Peak project in NSW where historical drilling has intersected, and workings have mined, near surface, high grade, massive sulphides containing zinc, lead, copper, silver and gold.

“These targets represent a very exciting opportunity for the Company to potentially delineate large-scale massive sulphide mineralisation,” CEO Alex Biggs said.

Drilling will initially twin an existing hole for the purpose of validating previous drill results, providing results that are JORC QAQC compliant and to act as infrastructure to allow for downhole electromagnetic surveying – which will then inform the next targets at depth.

 

 

LODESTAR (ASX:LSR)

Lodestar has just begun an airborne EM survey at its Imbin base metals project in the Earaheedy province in WA –  just up the road from Rumble Resources.

The survey will cover 178km2, focusing on the 20km long corridor where previous exploration has identified extensive copper-gold anomalies in surface sampling and shallow drilling.

Notably, Lodestar’s tenements also contain 20km of strike of the Frere unconformity, a key feature of the SEDEX style zinc-lead mineralisation discovered by Rumble – but never subjected to systematic exploration at Imbin.

 

RESOURCE BASE (ASX:RBX)

And last but not least is RBX, who is set to IPO on Monday – with big plans to explore its Black Range base metals project in north-west Victoria.