Montezuma Drilling Yields Up to 3% Tin Over 9.2m Intervals

Tin Assays Boost Montezuma’s Metal Profile

Lode Resources Ltd (ASX – LDR) has announced a promising development in its Montezuma Antimony & Silver Project in Tasmania’s West Coast Mining Province. The company has received the first batch of tin assay results from an extensive drilling program currently underway, which significantly enhance the previously reported high-grade antimony and silver intercepts.

The tin assays, obtained from the initial nine drill holes of a planned 50 to 60-hole program, reveal tin concentrations up to 3% over widths as wide as 9.2 metres. These results add a new dimension to Montezuma’s polymetallic mineralisation, which already includes notable grades of antimony, silver, gold, copper, and lead. The presence of tin, a critical metal in its own right, underscores the deposit’s complex and valuable metal endowment.

Strategic Importance and Project Context

Montezuma is Tasmania’s only antimony project and benefits from strong infrastructure, including grid power, beneficiation equipment, and a recently constructed tailings dam. Antimony is classified as a critical mineral by the Australian Federal and Tasmanian governments, as well as by many Western nations, due to its strategic importance and supply risks. The recent tightening of global antimony markets, exacerbated by China’s export restrictions, has driven prices to record highs, further elevating Montezuma’s potential value.

Managing Director Ted Leschke expressed enthusiasm about the results, highlighting the unexpected strength of the tin assays and their enhancement of the project’s metal profile. He noted that every drill hole to date has intersected high-grade mineralisation across multiple metals, and that further assay results are anticipated shortly as drilling continues.

Ongoing Exploration and Metallurgical Work

The drilling program aims to delineate the extent of mineralisation both along strike and at depth, with the Montezuma lode remaining open in multiple directions. Lode Resources is also advancing metallurgical test work through ALS Metallurgy in Burnie, focusing on flotation processes that include tin and gold recovery. This comprehensive approach will help define the economic viability of extracting the full suite of metals present.

The company reports antimony and silver equivalent grades to simplify the overall metal endowment picture, though tin and gold are currently excluded from these equivalents pending metallurgical recovery data. The polymetallic nature of the deposit, combined with ongoing exploration success, positions Montezuma as a potentially significant critical minerals asset in Australia.

Regional Significance and Market Outlook

Located near established mining centres such as Rosebery, Renison Bell, and Zeehan, Montezuma benefits from proximity to skilled labour and existing mining infrastructure. The project’s strategic location and critical mineral status align well with government priorities to develop domestic supply chains for essential metals.

As antimony prices have surged and supply constraints persist globally, Montezuma’s expanding resource base and polymetallic profile could attract increasing investor and industry attention. The forthcoming assay results and metallurgical findings will be key to assessing the project’s next development phases.