Lode Resources Ltd (ASX:LDR) has commenced drilling at the Webbs Consol Silver Project in exploration licence (EL 89233), one of Lode’s three drill ready exploration projects in NSW, Australia.
Approximately 1,500m of diamond drilling is planned, testing high grade silver mineralisation sampled at surface and extensions of mineralisation mapped in underground workings at the Webbs Consol main shaft.
In addition, a tracked RC drill rig has been contracted to commence drilling at Lode’s Uralla Gold Project on October 25.
Webbs Consol Silver Project Sampling
Rock chip description logging, sampling and mapping has revealed extensive occurrences of silver and lead mineralisation over a 2,000m north-south strike.
date 30 chip/grab sample silver assays grading > 20 g/t have averaged 73 g/t (up to 289 g/t) from an area of interest approximately 2,000m long in a north-south orientation1,2. Chip/grab sampling is a spot sample technique and assay grade is not regarded as being representative of the grade of the mineralised occurrence in general nor an indication of the width of the mineralised occurrence.
Three prospects have been defined, that being Webbs Consol North, Lucky Lucy and Webbs Consol Central. Each of these targets are to be drill tested in the current programme.
Mineralisation at the Webbs Consol Silver Project appears to spatially related to the contact between the Webbs Consol Leucogranite and the Emmaville Volcanics. It is not unusual for mineralised structures to develop along the contact between rock units of differing competency. Generally, most surface samples that returned silver values also returned high lead values, however zinc values were generally quite low. This may reflect either the depletion and dispersion of zinc due to surface weathering effects or vertical zonation of metal distribution, or both.
Soil sampling on three traverses north of Webbs Consol North returned highly anomalous lead values, indicating the potential for mineralisation to extend a further 300 metres north below soil cover along the Webbs Consol Leucogranite/Emmaville Volcanics contact.
Two selective grab samples were taken from the Webbs Consol main shaft waste dump. Sample R176 graded a spectacular 2,230 g/t silver and 32.5 % zinc1. Whilst this sample was taken selectively the silver mineralisation appears to have a strong association with zinc mineralisation (sphalerite) in addition to the usual association with lead mineralisation (galena).
Metallurgical tests and petrological studies are planned for drill intercepts of unweather mineralisation to further investigate this metal association, however these preliminary assays are supported by pre-JORC code historical selective sampling3 of Webbs Consol underground workings at 60 metres depth where high grade silver also appears to be associate with both high grade zinc and high grade lead mineralisation.
Located 16km west-south-west of Emmaville, Webbs Consol was discovered in 1890 with intermittent mining up to the mid-1950s. The Webbs Consol Silver Project (EL8933) contains several small, but high grade, silver-lead-zinc-gold deposits hosted by the Webbs Consol Leucogranite which has intruded the Late Permian Emmaville Volcanics and undifferentiated Early Permian sediments.
Several mine shafts were worked for the high-grade galena and silver content only with high-grade zinc mineralisation discarded. Mineral concertation was via basic Chilean milling techniques and sluicing. Some subsequent rough floatation of galena was carried out with no attempt to recover sphalerite.
Ore mineralogy includes galena, sphalerite, marmatite, arsenopyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, minor bismuth and gold. Chief minerals generally disseminated but also high grade “bungs” where emplacement is a combination of fracture infilling and country rock replacement. Gangue mineralogy includes quartz, chlorite and sericite with quartz occurring as veins and granular relicts.
Historical sampling shows potential for high grade silver and zinc mineralisation at Webbs Consol. It was reported that 12 samples taken from the lowest level of the main Webbs Consol shaft (“205’ Level” or 60m depth) averaged 210g/t silver, 22.6% zinc and 2.74% lead. Epithermal style mineralisation occurring in ‘en échelon’ vertical pipe like bodies at intersection of main north-south shear and secondary northeast-southwest fractures. No leaching or secondary enrichment identified.
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