Venture Minerals Limited (ASX:VMS, OTC:VTMLF) has surged after a drilling campaign at the Mount Lindsay Tin-Tungsten Project in Tasmania returned a record-breaking intersection of 147 metres at 1.0% tin and 0.2% tungsten from 90 metres.
This result from ML340M includes high-grade zones of 45 metres at 2.5% tin and 0.3% tungsten from 93 metres and 9 metres at 5.9% tin and 0.3% tungsten from 183 metres and the hole is still open with further assay results expected.
Recognising the strong results at a time when supplies of tin and tungsten are critically low, investors sent VMS shares as much as 30.6% higher to A$0.047 with almost 129 million shares changing hands.
Critical metals
Tin and tungsten are listed as critical minerals by several countries around the world, with less than two days’ global supply of tin held in stockpiles by the London Metal Exchange (LME).
Understandably, given those market conditions, the metal is trading at around US$39,000/tonne – four times the price of copper (around US$9,500/tonne).
Mount Lindsay is one of the largest undeveloped tin projects in the world, containing in excess of 80,000 tonnes of tin metal and, within the same mineralised body, a globally significant tungsten resource of 3,200,000 MTU (metric tonne units) of WO3.
Location map of Mount Lindsay Project.
Tungsten is listed as a critical mineral in Australia.
Extensive diamond core drilling
More than 100,000 metres of diamond core drilling has been conducted at the project, mostly by Venture, which hosts a JORC-compliant resource – 70% of this falls into measured and indicated categories.
The intersections from ML340M are:
- 147 metres at 1.0% tin and 0.2% tungsten or 1.2% tin equivalent from 90 metres including
- 114 metres at 1.2% tin and 0.2% tungsten or 1.5% tin equivalent from 93 metres, or
- 99 metres at 1.4% tin and 0.2% tungsten or 1.6% tin equivalent from 93 metres, or
- 45 metres at 2.5% tin and 0.3% tungsten or 2.9% tin equivalent from 147 metres, or
- 9 metres at 5.9% tin and 0.3% tungsten or 6.2% tin equivalent from 183 metres.
“Exceptional value”
The company is thrilled with these results.
“This new drilling at Mount Lindsay, focused on the high-grade zones, is starting to unveil the exceptional value that Mount Lindsay truly holds,” managing director Andrew Radonjic said.
“At current metal prices, this 147-metre drill intersection has an average recovered value of A$680 per tonne, taking into account metallurgical recovery test-work from our previous feasibility study.
“This high value per tonne makes Mount Lindsay a very attractive proposition for underground mining.”