Lode Resources Ltd. has reported a new high-grade polymetallic discovery at its Montezuma project on the West Coast of Tasmania, hitting rich tin and copper grades alongside precious metals.
The discovery was made via drill hole MZS43, which intersected a newly identified hanging-wall structure named the Moores Lode.
Assays from a 0.5-metre interval within the lode returned exceptional grades of 7.3 per cent tin, 6.8 per cent copper, 863 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, 1.8 g/t gold, 2.1 per cent antimony, and 4.0 per cent lead.
The intercept marks the addition of a fourth commodity suite at Montezuma, expanding the deposit’s known silver-antimony footprint into high-grade tin and copper.
MZS43 was the first hole drilled from the hanging-wall (eastern) side of the Montezuma Resource, successfully intersecting four distinct mineralised lodes in a single drill hole.
Assays remain pending for three additional mineralised zones intercepted deeper in the hole, including a 15.4-metre interval of base metal replacement mineralisation.
Lode Resources Managing Director Keith Mayes said that the drill results demonstrate the substantial mineral endowment of the West Coast project.
“The first assays from this highly mineralised lode have provided us with Montezuma’s highest tin and copper grades to date,” Mayes said.
“Together with extensions to the Montezuma Lode and the two replacement lodes, this drilling further demonstrates the substantial mineral endowment of the Montezuma project. We have now identified multiple new zones of mineralisation since the initial resource estimate and these have the potential to materially enhance size and overall project economics.”
The discovery of high-grade silver and antimony at Montezuma comes amid the growing importance of antimony, which is classified as a critical metal by both the federal and Tasmanian governments.
Montezuma is Tasmania’s only antimony project and one of the very few advanced antimony development assets in the Western world.
A follow-up drill hole, MZS44, is currently underway to test directly beneath MZS43. Lode Resources aims to build upon its maiden 8.2 million-ounce silver equivalent mineral resource estimate as exploration advances across its Tasmanian portfolio.