ASX-listed exploration company Thomson Resources (ASX:TMZ) has uncovered ‘high-grade’ gold and silver results from rock chip sampling across various prospects at the Lachlan Fold Belt Project in New South Wales.
‘Strong’ results recorded include gold assays up to 98.2g/t Au at Pikes, 9.1g/t Au at Buddigower, 7.5g/t Au at Four Mile, 3.8g/t Au at Kildary, and silver (Ag) assays up to 610g/t Ag at Buddigower.
The company says all mineralised samples are from mullock dumps next to historical workings dating from the early 1900s. Thomson also notes no effective drilling has occurred at any of these locations.
Commenting on the results, Thomson Resources Executive Chairman David Williams says: “It is great to see these results from other areas within our Lachlan Fold Belt (LFB) portfolio. This is a very underexplored area of the LFB and to see such strong gold and silver results demonstrates how much potential there is in the project in addition to the tin which has been and continues to be our focus.”
“This is a very underexplored area of the LFB and to see such strong gold and silver results demonstrates how much potential there is in the project in addition to the tin which has been and continues to be our focus”
Thomson reports 37 rock chip samples were collected at the Buddigower prospect in 2022, mainly from spoil heaps. Combined with exploration data recorded in the 1900s, 1960s, and 1990s, the company says surface sampling appears to show separate mineralised areas for gold and silver. Silver tends to follow the Buddigower Granite boundary, with gold located deeper in the granite.
Thomson also reports the area is truly polymetallic with ‘strong’ zinc, lead, bismuth, tungsten, gold, silver, and tin anomalies. The company also notes 42 holes have been drilled at Buddigower, however the deepest hole was only 18m. These holes were not assayed for silver, and 9 were assayed for gold. The company is planning a comprehensive test of the geochemical and geophysical anomalies by drilling.
At the Kildary Prospect Thomson collected 20 samples mainly from spoil heaps with patchy results, only 2 of the samples assayed more than 1g/t Au, with a maximum of 3.8g/t Au.
The company also notes drilling is planned to test the continuity of the ‘good’ drill intercepts recorded by Golden Hills Mining in the 1990s, and to test for other gold anomalous locations not yet drilled.
Thomson says very little is known about the Pikes prospect. However, there are extensive workings scattered over a 1.2km by 1.2km area on a low ridge. In the 1980s, the Geological Survey of New South Wales documented 5 shafts and several shallow pits in quartz veined Ordovician shales and sandstones with names such as Pikes Reef, Sheathers, Dixons, and Brangalgan Mines.
Thomson collected 28 samples from spoil heaps with variable results. The company says 22 of the samples assayed less than 0.5g/t Au, but there were 3 ‘high-grade’ results including 98.2g/t Au, 11.1g/t Au, and 5.4g/t Au in quartz vein material.
The company says the workings do not show a coherent pattern or trend, so the follow-up planned is a pattern of shallow aircore drilling around, and between the known workings to establish trends, connections, and deeper targets.
Thomson Resources is an ASX-listed company focused on its ‘aggressive’ New England Fold Hub and Spoke consolidation strategy in the New South Wales and Queensland border region. The company also holds the Yalgogrin, Harry Smith Gold, and Bygoo Tin projects in the Lachlan Fold Belt in central New South Wales.
Images: Thomson Resources Ltd