Riedel Resources has nailed down a maiden inferred resource for the Tintic deposit at its Kingman project in Arizona, revealing a total of 494,000 tonnes at 4 grams per tonne gold for 64,000 ounces and 43.4g/t silver for 689,000 ounces – all within the top 40m of ground above the top of fresh rock.
The company says the metrics offer a cheap and fast “free-dig” pathway to project development using shallow open-pit mining methods and toll treatment through a third-party mill. Management says the resource estimate is based on 135 reverse-circulation (RC) holes, with the final batch of assays now back and incorporated into the estimate.
The assays include 1.52m at 4.22g/t gold and 16.6g/t silver from 3.05m, 1.52m at 4.96g/t gold and 17.15g/t silver from 7.62m, 0.76m at 0.5g/t gold and 734g/t silver from 28.96m, 0.76m at 0.65g/t gold and 57.3g/t silver from 41.91m and 1.52m at 1.42g/t gold and7.65 g/t silver from 71.63m.
The company says it now plans to kick off a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the project in next year’s first quarter. A PEA is similar in nature to an Australian JORC scoping study.
This study will serve as the cornerstone for our permit application, scheduled for submission in Q2 of 2024, with a goal to commence mining in 2025 – a goal not too distant. Subsequently, we will be in a position to explore further opportunities within the Tintic area and the broader Kingman Project, with the aim of transitioning from explorer to operator in a short timeframe. Riedel Resources chief executive officer David Groombridge
Groombridge also said that while the company had a firm focus on fast-tracking the short-term mine development, its fieldwork for next year would be aimed at discovering additional high-grade prospects close to surface from multiple unexplored targets in it project area. It would also investigate the source of epithermal mineralisation, to assess the potential for a substantial copper porphyry system at greater depths.
Kingman sits about 90 minutes south of Las Vegas, in an area mined for high-grade gold and silver from the 1880s until the onset of World War II. The area has seen limited exploration and drilling since the war, until 11 diamond holes were drilled in the 1990s and then again in a second exploration drive three years ago, which intersected high-grade zones of gold, silver and lead from shallow depths.
The area’s prospectivity lured Riedel, which acquired a 51 per cent interest in the project just six months ago via its subsidiary, Flagstaff Minerals (USA). Management says the Tintic deposit may still have room to grow, with the potential for follow-up step-out drilling to expand the resource and mineralisation remaining open along strike and at depth.
The company says multiple zones of mineralisation have been picked up by exploration drilling presenting “walk-up” targets as part of a significant, large-scale hydrothermal system that is the source of Kingman’s mineralisation.
The first systematic testing of conceptual targets at the Kingman project was completed in October and comprised six RC holes for a total of 589m. Riedel says all holes successfully identified anomalous gold and silver mineralisation beneath transported cover.
Assays from two holes in the north-west and south-east of Kingman, at Tuckahoe and Jim’s workings, went as high as 0.76m at 0.3g/t gold and 5.6g/t silver from 12.19m and 0.76m at 0.44g/t gold and 1.2g/t silver from 136.4m.
The Silver Fox prospect to the east of the area gave up assays including 0.76m at 36g/t silver and 0.04g/t gold from 16.77m and 2.29m at 87g/t silver and 0.17g/t gold from 24.38m, including 0.76m at 126g/t silver and 0.17g/t gold from 24.38m.
Two holes at the Bobcat prospect in the south-east of the project area, about 5km from Tintic, went 0.76m at 0.59g/t gold and 0.6g/t silver from 20.57m and 0.76m at 0.33g/t gold and 0.9g/t silver from 52.58m, representing a significant step-out.
Earlier this month, rock chips from the company’s Calico Silver prospect, about 3km north of Tintic, came back at 678g/t silver and 0.07g/t gold, 58g/t silver and 0.27g/t gold, 68 g/t silver and 1.13 per cent copper and 64g/t silver and 0.78 per cent copper.
United States company Origin Mining, a subsidiary of Waterton Copper, operate the Mineral Park silver, molybdenum and copper mine that neighbours Tintic. Riedel says Mineral Park is being mined at depth beneath the Kingman project and is chipping away at a 389-million-tonne ore body grading 0.14 per cent copper and 31 million ounces of silver.
Management says metallurgical testwork on its Tintic deposit ore is underway, with results anticipated to feed into the PEA. Riedel says it plans to then lodge mining permitting applications the following quarter.
The company hopes to compare several toll treating process plant scenarios during the PEA to identify optimal conditions. Following the PEA, the company says it expects to provide an evaluation of the production potential at its Tintic deposit during next year’s June quarter.
The Tintic resource represents a significant milestone for the company, with shallow gold grade in a tier-one mining jurisdiction at a time when the gold price is cracking through $3000 per ounce.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: office@bullsnbears.com.au