A versatile time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) target drilling program at Iltani Resources’ (ASX:ILT), Orient Silver-Indium Project has demonstrated potential to materially increase the mineral resource.
Speaking to Mining.com.au on the sidelines of the Noosa Mining Investor Conference, Managing Director Donald Garner says the first hole (ORR128) in the 10-hole shallow VTEM program delivered multiple thick intersections of silver-lead-zinc-indium mineralisation.
“The system is much bigger as we expected. So the resource we’ve got already will likely substantially grow,” Garner tells this news service.
“Plus we’ve got the rest of the results in the VTEM drilling to come. So it’s a really good result for us and for our shareholders.”
ORR128 was collared 450m north of the Orient East mineral resource, and to have intersected multiple zones of mineralisation, which remain open along strike and down-dip, Garner notes demonstrates the potential of the larger Orient system to deliver a much larger mineral resource.
Garner says the results from ORR128 were far more significant than what could be expected from the minor surface expression of mineralisation, intersecting multiple zones of economic-grade mineralisation.
The down dip projections matched the surface structural mapping and also coincided with the modelled VTEM plates within the expected margin of error.
Of significance is that the hole was pushed deeper than the planned depth after the rig geologist recognised strong alteration persisted at the planned end of the hole, eventually intersecting broad ‘high-grade’ mineralisation that has no surface expression of mineralisation.
Iltani is still receiving assay results from the remaining VTEM program, and is planning the next round of drilling. It is also starting a surface EM survey program to follow up multiple deeper anomalies generated by the airborne VTEM survey.
“The rest of the results will be coming out … over the next few weeks. We’ll probably batch them up and release them in batches,” Garner tells this news service.
“(Iltani) is currently moving to an exploration and development phase, with the funding we’ve received from the QIC (Queensland Investment Corporation’s Critical Minerals and Battery Technology Fund), the $8 million in funding,” he continues.
“The QIC and the Queensland Government want us to build a project. We’ve already started the permitting and application work, plus the supporting studies on the mining lease application for Orient base case, which is basically the current resource.
“So while we’re doing that, we’ll also be exploring the rest of the system to find more tonnes in grade, which will enhance the base case. So this strategy will play out over the rest of this year and into 2026.”
In 2026, Iltani will be looking at drilling targets inside the Caldera Complex including the Boonmoo gold and Union Jack base metal targets, and will seek to map the Orient and Antimony Reward projects.
“Once we understand the controls of the mineralisation, we might go back to Antimony Reward but our main focus is at Orient. At the end of the day, we want to create value for our shareholders, and we believe Orient is the project that will do it,” Garner tells Mining.com.au.
Iltani’s Herberton Project covers 340km2 and sits in the Herberton Mineral Field, which is a highly prospective terrain with a long history of mining. Tin deposits were discovered in the area in 1880 and more than 2,400 old mines and prospects are known in the Herberton-Mt Garnet region.
The Noosa Mining Investor Conference is being held between 12-14 November 2025, at the Peppers Noosa Resort. Mining.com.au is a media partner for this year’s event.
Write to Adam Orlando and Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Iltani
