Taiton Resources Ltd (ASX:T88) has confirmed molybdenum and silver mineralisation during surface sampling at the Merino Porphyry Prospect within the Highway Project in South Australia's Gawler Craton.
The best results included 1,300 parts per million (ppm) molybdenum and 27 ppm silver in porphyry-style brecciated, veined surface rock chips.
Taiton has observed that the alteration and mineralisation signatures suggest that the Merino Prospect has the hallmarks of the ‘world-class’ Climax-type molybdenite porphyry deposit.
This news comes riding on high demand for molybdenum, which is trading at US$90.50 per kilogram, outperforming all other metal commodities in 2023.
New mineral system
Taiton managing director Noel Ong said: “Today’s announcement is additional evidence that Taiton is unravelling a new mineral system in our Highway Project in South Australia.
“Field sampling is now supporting our belief that we have a hydrothermal magmatic porphyritic source of mineralisation.
“Following our last announcement where we showcased the hydrothermal textures in rock chips, we are now confirming the fertile nature of the system with the anomalous molybdenum assays.
“The nature of the Merino prospect is now clearly an overlooked province with a clear sight of mineralisation.
“We have historical drilling showing strong molybdenum mineralisation and now, we are clearly seeing distribution in outcropping samples.
“In summary, our work is showing that the Merino Prospect and potentially the whole Highway Project, has been incorrectly classified in terms of age, mineralisation fertility and geology."
Forward plan
At the Merino prospect, induced polarisation and magnetotelluric field surveys by the geophysical resources and services are in progress.
Analyses and modelling of data and interpretation of results with regard to Climax-style porphyry mineralisation will provide targets for drill hole locations.
Consequently, the company has contracted Mitre Geophysics to undertake modelling and interpretation.
Meanwhile, at Lake Barlee, AirGeoX has kicked off an aeromagnetic survey, following up on the success of the first survey conducted at the project in 2022.
AirGeoX has been contracted to extend the survey along the strike extent of the greenstone belt to the tenement boundary.
The survey will enable targets to be refined and prioritised for drilling in consultation with Mitre Geophysics.