Quarterly Activities Report - December 2013
Sydney, Jan 22, 2014 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Thomson Resources Limited (
ASX:TMZ) Annoucnes the Quarterly Activities Report for the period ending December 2013 with the following highlights.
- New ELs applied for: prospective for tin, gold and base metals
- Previous widely spaced shallow holes at the Mt Jacob Intrusion Related Gold prospect all intersected extensive gold anomalism
- Best intercepts at Mt Jacob include 88m at 0.4g/t Au from surface to end of hole and 9m at 1. 4 g/t Au from surface
- The adjacent Basin One prospect is a tin-copper skarn with intercepts including 16m at 0.3% Sn, 1.5% Cu from 4m depth
- The most recent drilling at either prospect dates from 1982.
- The significant tin occurrence builds Thomson's tin portfolio, with the Wilgaroon and Victory Tin prospects reported last quarter
- Top 10 targets in the Thomson Fold Belt identified
Exploration
Mt Jacob Project
Thomson continued to review Intrusion-Related Gold and granite-related tin opportunities during the quarter. The work has generated an attractive new project located 40km west of Kempsey, where previous exploration had identified tin skarn (Basin One prospect) and Intrusion-Related Gold mineralisation in the Mt Jacob - Willi Willi area (Figure 1 in link below).
A wealth of exploration information is available from previous explorers - BHP up to 1986, CRA Exploration up to 1995 and PlatSearch NL up to June 2013. Thomson Resources has applied for an Exploration Licence (ELA 4961) over the area.
Basin One Tin Skarn Prospect
At the Basin One prospect work by CRA Exploration defined a skarn hosted tin-copperzinc deposit over an area of 500m by 300m adjacent to the old Willi Willi copper mine.
The mineralisation consists of chalcopyrite, cassiterite, sphalerite, pyrite, and arsenopyrite, and is essentially stratiform, dipping to the northwest at about 30 degrees.
The Basin One tin skarn mineralisation is hosted by early Permian Yessabah Formation limestone that has been metamorphosed to calc-silicates. These rocks have been intruded by highly fractionated I-type intrusive rocks of the coastal suite, the likely source of the mineralising fluids for skarn development.
Significantly, all drilling by CRAE in the area intersected tin-copper-zinc mineralisation. The deepest hole was only 100m deep and included a best intercept of 6.5m at 0.22% tin and 2.3% copper from 90.5m. Many of the holes were very shallow and were abandoned whilst still in mineralisation and a number of the intersections are wide. Table 1 in link below lists these intersections, which include narrower zones of higher grade. The drill pattern was influenced heavily by terrain, but is equivalent to an 80m x 100m drill spacing with 18 holes drilled in the mineralised area. Petrology carried out by CRAE determined that the tin is present as free fine cassiterite, usually 0.1mm in size. The tin and copper occurs in a sulphide-rich zone, together with manganiferous clay, a few metres above the base of the Yessabah Limestone Formation.
The work carried out to date by previous explorers - geology including petrology, surface geochemistry and drilling - allows an exploration target to be estimated at the Basin One prospect. The target is for a mineralised zone extending 500m in strike, 300m in dip and between 5 to 15m in width. The average width of the intercepts in Table 1 is 15m, but some are narrower and these are downhole widths, approximately 80% of true width.
The weighted average grade of all intercepts in the area is 0.11% Sn and 0.3% Cu.
However 7 of the 18 holes have tin grades of over 0.2% Sn and 0.5% Cu over at least 5m width. In addition, surface rock chip sampling of the exposed mineralised horizon over a 200m strike length yielded average tin values of 0.22% and copper values of 0.47%.
The exploration target estimated is 1.8 to 4.9 million tonnes with grades of between 0.1%-0.2% Sn and 0.25%-0.5% Cu (between 1,800 and 10,000 tonnes of tin and between 4,500 and 24,000 tonnes of copper). The potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource. CRAE estimated similar numbers in report GS1979/348, available from the NSW Geological Survey.
To test the validity of the exploration target it is proposed to carry out further reverse circulation drilling to reduce the drill spacing to a nominal 50m x 80m spacing - about 18 holes to a depth of 50 to 100m (approximately 1,500m). Some metallurgical work needs to be done to test recoveries of tin and copper, as well as minor zinc and silver which are also present. This work would be carried out in the first two years of the term of the exploration licence, if and when it is granted.
The exploration target above does not include possible extensions. There is potential down dip, as well as further afield. Shallow hole PD81WW30, located 400m to the northeast, returned 4m at 0.2% Sn from a depth of 9m, while at the Basin Two prospect 1km to the southwest, shallow hole PD81WW33 intersected 8m at 0.35% Sn from 10m depth.
To view the full quarterly activities, please visit:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-TMZ-778755.pdf
About Thomson Resources Ltd
Thomson Resources Ltd (ASX:TMZ) is an NSW active mineral explorer. Thomson has several tin projects (including an advanced project near Ardlethan), as well as gold, copper and zinc targets in a range of settings. Thomson has a good record of discovery, with multiple new Intrusion-Related Gold (gold with copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, tungsten) systems discovered in the Thomson Fold Belt in the NW of the state.
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