Thomson Resources (ASX: TMZ) is progressing work on its fifth and final Mineral Resource Estimate for its New England Fold Portfolio as it readies a business case for the region’s ‘hub and spoke’ central processing strategy.
The MRE work for the Webbs Silver Project has included validation of historic drill holes, with ‘outstanding’ silver and base metals intersections at a 30 g/t AgEq* cut off including:
- Hole RC254 – 6.33 m @ 735 g/t AgEq or 566 g/t Ag, 1.73% Zn, 2.00% Pb and 0.66% Cu from 74 m
- Hole RC012 – 6.62 m @ 793 g/t AgEq or 646 g/t Ag, 2.83% Zn, 0.45% Pb and 0.38% Cu from 67 m
- Hole RC027 – 7.79 m @ 613 g/t AgEq or 474 g/t Ag, 2.21% Zn, 0.50% Pb and 0.49% Cu from 30 m
At a 150 g/t AgEq* cut off intersections include:
- RC254 – 1.86 m @ 2,152 g/t AgEq or 1,725 g/t Ag, 3.65% Zn, 4.54% Pb and 1.97% Cu from 80 m
- RC027 – 2.97 m @ 1,326 g/t AgEq or 1,065 g/t Ag, 3.59% Zn, 0.83% Pb and 1.13% Cu from 34 m
- DDH16 – 1.81 m @ 2,078 g/t AgEq or 1,705 g/t Ag, 5.82% Zn, 0.70% Pb and 1.48% Cu from 83 m
The company notes that the ‘high grade’ silver base metal character of the Webbs deposit is compatible with the recently-announced Conrad and Texas district deposits, which delivered combined silver equivalent indicated and inferred resources of 40.2 Moz AgEq @ an average of 86g/t AgEq.
Speaking on the update, Thomson Resources Executive Chairman David Williams said: “The final Thomson MRE for the 100% Thomson owned projects in the New England Fold Belt, the Webbs deposit, is well advanced. This has been the most complex of all the deposits with a lot of work required to fully understand this high-grade silver and base metal deposit.
Having said that, when the Webbs MRE is delivered, Thomson will have produced five new MREs under JORC 2012 in well under 12 months. This is an outstanding outcome from the team.
“This has been the most complex of all the deposits with a lot of work required to fully understand this high-grade silver and base metal deposit”
We have not just rubber stamped previous published resources. We have gone through from scratch, gone through all of the available historic information, and added in new data and studies where there have been gaps. We have again been able to leverage of the many millions of dollars of previous explorers’ investment to deliver value for TMZ shareholders in a very timely fashion.
What we will end up with is an MRE that we will have a lot of confidence in. Our better understanding of the geological setting again throws up clear target areas for exploration drilling to expand and extend the resource.
Of particular importance is the very favorable metallurgy that integrates with our own work from the Texas district and will support integration of the Webbs high-grade silver and base metal project into the Company’s central processing strategy.”
Importantly, previous metallurgical test work carried out at Webbs in 2013 resulted in a ‘very positive’ outcome with 87.3% recovery of silver, along with high recoveries of zinc, copper and lead to a concentrate grading at an average of 3,468 g/t Ag, 18.3% Zn, 10.1% Pb and 3.2% Cu.
Map displaying locations of Thomson’s New England Fold Belt hub and spoke projectsWebbs was discovered in 1884, and mined non-continuously through until 1964, with almost all output coming from the project’s south-plunging North Shoot. The South Shoot, which hosts the majority of the project’s existing resource, remains undeveloped.
During its first 17 years of operation, Webbs was mined to a depth of 210m, resulting in output of 55,000 tonnes @ 710 g/t Ag.
Moving forward, a new 3D geological model generated from surface mapping and relogging of historic drilling has provided a better understanding of the deposit, and may be used to guide further resource and exploration drilling.
Images: Thomson Resources Ltd
