- 01Orient drilling hit high-grade silver-zinc-indium.
- 02Initial sorting upgraded silver and indium.
- 03Iltani raised $4.6m; Orient resource stands at 163.8Moz AgEq.
Iltani Resources (ASX: ILT) has reported extensive high-grade silver, zinc, and indium intersections from its Orient Silver-Zinc-Indium Project in north Queensland, alongside encouraging initial ore-sorting results.
The company released assays from 65 reverse circulation drill holes during the September quarter while completing another 41 RC holes covering 7,713 metres and seven diamond holes totalling 645m.
Its drilling produced 59 intersections exceeding 1,000 silver-equivalent grade-metres, including 13 exceeding that threshold for silver alone, and 14 intervals above 1,000 grams per tonne silver equivalent.
Iltani ended September with $4.18 million in cash and subsequently completed a $4.6m placement to support continued exploration and development.
Building on Existing Resource
Located approximately 120 kilometres southwest of Cairns, Orient has an existing mineral resource estimate of 62.5 million tonnes grading 81.5g/t silver equivalent at a 30g/t cut-off.
This includes 38.8Mt in the Indicated category and 23.7Mt Inferred, with contained silver equivalent estimated at 163.8 million ounces.
The quarter’s infill and extension work intersected thick mineralised zones, including 28m grading 95g/t silver, 7g/t indium, 2.1% lead, and 2.9% zinc from 38m.
Another interval returned 19m at 111g/t silver and 67g/t indium, while a 3m interval within it graded 597g/t silver, 383g/t indium, 10.1% lead, and 13.5% zinc.
The results will inform work on the deposit beyond the current MRE, with the higher-grade portion of that estimate containing 34.2Mt at approximately 110g/t silver equivalent.
Sorting Adds Processing Option
Initial X-ray transmission ore-sorting trials conducted by TOMRA separated sulphide-rich products from both high-grade and low-grade Orient RC chip samples.
In the tested high-grade fraction, sorting upgraded silver from 130g/t to 265g/t and indium from 199g/t to 427g/t, retaining 42% of the screened feed mass in the product.
The low-grade sample yielded a product grading 325g/t silver and 437g/t indium from feed containing 26g/t silver and 27g/t indium, although only 4% of that feed mass entered the product.
These preliminary results apply only to screened particles between 6mm and 25mm rather than overall run-of-mine performance, and the seven diamond holes were drilled to supply material for further test work.
Regional Work Continues
Beyond Orient, Iltani drilled five RC holes for 800m at Boonmoo Epithermal and three for 666m at Union Jack within its wider Herberton Project.
It also applied for three Queensland exploration permits covering Damper Hill, Delaney Extended and Thunder Creek, with the latter two applications subject to competing bids.
The quarter involved $3.15m in exploration and related spending, reducing cash from $7.52m at the start of July to $4.18m at September’s end.
On 2 October, Iltani raised commitments for a $4.6m share placement at 39 cents a share, with Queensland Investment Corporation’s Queensland Critical Minerals Fund committing $1.5m.
Of the placement proceeds, $4.41m had been received during October, with the balance dependent on shareholder approval at the 2026 annual general meeting.
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