Lode Resources loading up with new silver targets at Webbs Consol

Lode Resources’ (ASX: LDR) strong belief in the upside potential of the under-explored New England Fold Belt in north-eastern New South Wales continues to be justified judging on new exploration results the company has obtained at its Webbs Consol silver project.

The company has discovered several high-grade silver-base metal lodes with drilling work and generated multiple new targets with geophysics and initial geochemistry tests.

Managing director, Ted Leschke, said the activities to date have only identified the tip of the iceberg at Webbs Consol.

“To date we have only drilled below old workings and areas of mineralised outcrop. These surveys now point to a larger mineralised system than previously thought and a number of anomalies below cover with a bigger footprint than Tango West,” he said.

“We look forward to completing the current deep drilling at Tangoa West and then testing the best targets.”

Elevated metal values

The company is looking to move quickly to follow up promising initial geochemistry work carried out on one conductive anomaly which identified highly elevated metal values both in soils and outcrop over a 300m by 100m area.

Mr Leschke said soil sampling has returned assay values as high as 5.02 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, 1,780 parts per million (ppm) lead and 400 ppm zinc .

Further positive results were obtained in rock chip sampling with values measured as high as 252 g/t silver, 2.30% lead, 0.31% zinc.

“These high-grade geochemical results are highly encouraging and the highest-grade zones will be tested by initial scout drill as part of a wider drill programme,” Mr Leschke said.

“One interesting characteristic of this new discovery target is that the soil and rock chip sample results are highly anomalous in zinc values. This is unusual considering zinc is almost always highly depleted at surface due to the strong mobility of zinc during chemical weathering.”

To further define the success of Lode’s initial follow-up geochemistry, the company is now aiming to target a number of other conductive anomalies for similar testing via soil and rock sampling

Multiple exploration activities underway

Lode is also undertaking a Loupe TEM (Time Domain Electromagnetic) survey and a number of other multi-discipline geophysical activities including flying a high-resolution drone magnetic survey and conducting a high-resolution gravity survey.

Loupe technology is a ground-based time-domain electromagnetic system designed to give high quality, high spatial resolution data near surface. Lode’s Loupe survey is being acquired on a tight 20m line spacing.

To date Lode has identified multiple conductive anomalies, which the company believes may potentially represent metal bearing sulphides. Notably many of these targets are located in areas with no historical mining and are often under extensive cover.

The company is aiming to utilise data from its latest activities to define lithologies, alteration and structures in detail via a methodical step-by-step interpretation process to define structures that it believes are prospective for hosting Webbs Consol style mineralisation.

Mr Leschke said Lode is encouraged by the discovery of mineralisation zones on the eastern side of the Webbs Consol Leucogranite and it plans to undertake early-stage follow-up work in the near future.

New England Fold Belt exploration participant

Lode has a significant presence in the historic, but highly underexplored New England Fold Belt where it controls approximately 1,883 square kilometres of licenced permits.

The NSW government recently renewed its exploration licence EL8933 for the maximum permitted period of 6 years.

Exploration licence EL8933 envelops the entire Webbs Consol Leucogranite unit and, together with its EL9454 permit, provides Lode with operatorship of approximately 203 square kilometres in the Emmaville area.

Discovered in 1890 with intermittent mining up to the mid-1950s, Webbs Consol has significant multi-element upside.

The licence area contains a number of historic small, high-grade, silver-lead-zinc-gold deposits.

Historical sampling has already identified the potential for high-grade silver and zinc mineralisation at Webbs Consol.