Right Resources has identified a tungsten exploration target near Tumbarumba in southern New South Wales after mapping a mineralised structural corridor stretching for more than 3km at its Moonlight prospect.
Early rock-chip sampling at the Blue tungsten-gold-bismuth project returned grades of up to 0.61 per cent tungsten trioxide, with anomalous gold of as much as 0.25 grams per tonne. Several samples contained more than 0.1 per cent tungsten trioxide.
The corridor trends north-west and reaches up to 500 metres wide in places. Right Resources said the results had outlined several priority areas for further investigation.
Ongoing fieldwork has also located additional quartz lodes, veins and pegmatites containing visible scheelite, a tungsten-bearing mineral. Newly identified lodes measuring up to 2m thick have been sampled, although laboratory assays are still pending.
Moonlight prospect becomes drilling priority
The company has accelerated surface mapping and sampling after completing the Right to Negotiate process under the Native Title Act 1993. The work is intended to define and rank targets ahead of drilling.
Right Resources managing director Graham Howard said the initial findings confirmed tungsten mineralisation at surface within the broader shear zone.
“These initial results provide a strong start to our evaluation of Moonlight, confirming tungsten mineralisation at surface and returning multiple results above 0.1% WO3 within the northwest-trending shear zone,” Mr Howard said.
“Importantly, our mapping is continuing to identify additional scheelite-bearing lodes, veins and pegmatites within this broader structural setting, with assays from a number of these newly identified areas still pending.”
Moonlight is being advanced as the company begins a maiden 2,000m air-core drilling programme across the wider Blue project. The project covers 2,459 square kilometres through 10 wholly owned licences in the Lachlan Fold Belt.
Right Resources’ other major asset in the Tumbarumba region is the Pilot gold project. The historic Pilot Reef mine is reported to have produced 2,662 tonnes of ore grading 38 grams of gold per tonne, while recent metallurgical testing of material from a mullock dump produced recoveries of up to 90 per cent.
Management believes Pilot may form part of a reduced intrusion-related gold system, a geological setting that can also be associated with tungsten. The company has completed widely spaced diamond drilling across an area measuring 2.4km by 2.9km, supported by geological mapping and geophysical work.
Tungsten is classified as a critical mineral in Australia, the United States and Europe. Its hardness and high melting point make it important in industrial, aerospace and defence applications, including cutting tools and armour-piercing munitions.
Right Resources is now awaiting further assays from the newly sampled Moonlight lodes as it assesses the prospect’s potential and prepares to advance its priority targets towards drilling.
