Untested Depths at Highway Reward Pose Both Opportunity and Exploration Risk
Loyal Metals’ latest high-density gravity survey reveals a large, vertically extensive Copper-Gold VHMS system at Highway Reward, extending well beyond historic mining depths and highlighting multiple new undrilled targets.
- Gravity data delineates a deep, vertically continuous Copper-Gold system
- Primary anomaly extends beyond 390m depth of historic mining
- Multiple new gravity anomalies identified along strike at Police Creek, Handcuff South, and Blitz trend
- Supports a camp-scale VHMS exploration model with significant untested potential
- Company holds $5.6 million to accelerate integrated interpretation and drilling
Gravity Survey Transforms Understanding of Highway Reward
Loyal Metals Ltd (ASX: LLM) has delivered a significant upgrade to the exploration potential of its Highway Reward Copper-Gold project in Queensland. The company’s recently completed high-density gravity survey has revealed a large, vertically extensive Volcanogenic Hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) system that extends well below the deepest historic mining levels, which reached approximately 390 metres vertically.
This breakthrough comes from integrating new 2025 gravity data with historical surveys from 1987 and 1997, producing a coherent 3D model that highlights a dense sulphide system consistent with a feeder-style mineralised architecture. The gravity anomaly not only aligns spatially with known mineralisation but also remains open at depth and down-plunge, indicating substantial untested copper-gold mineralisation beneath and adjacent to the historic mine footprint.
Multiple New Targets Along the Mineralised Trend
Beyond the main Highway Reward anomaly, the survey has identified several additional discrete gravity anomalies along strike, including at Police Creek, Handcuff South, and the newly recognised Blitz trend. These anomalies share similar gravity signatures to the main system but remain undrilled at depth, suggesting the presence of multiple mineralised centres within a broader camp-scale VHMS system.
Historically, these prospects were only subject to limited surface work and shallow drilling, lacking the benefit of modern high-resolution geophysical techniques. Loyal Metals’ findings materially upgrade the scale potential of the project, shifting the narrative from a single isolated deposit to a multi-centre mineralised corridor.
Strategic Integration and Next Steps
With $5.6 million in funding, Loyal Metals is well positioned to accelerate the integration of gravity data with existing geological, geochemical, and geophysical datasets, including recently acquired 3D induced polarisation and magnetotelluric surveys. This integrated approach aims to refine and prioritise high-confidence drill targets beneath the historic mine and along the broader mineralised trend.
Managing Director Adam Ritchie emphasised the transformative nature of the gravity imaging, stating that it fundamentally upgrades the understanding of Highway Reward and reinforces confidence in the potential for significant new copper-gold discoveries at depth and across the project area.
Context and Geological Setting
The Highway Reward project is situated within the Trooper Creek Formation of the Seventy Mile Range Group, a region known for hosting significant VHMS deposits. The mineralisation is structurally controlled within a northeast-trending shear zone known as the Policeman Creek Shear, part of the broader Mount Leyshon Corridor. The deposit comprises multiple sulphide pipes with complex geology, including rhyolitic to dacitic volcanic rocks and volcaniclastic sediments, which have been historically mined but now show promising extensions at depth.
The company’s use of advanced geophysical modelling and AI-enhanced exploration tools positions it at the forefront of modern mineral discovery, enabling more precise targeting and efficient resource definition.
Bottom Line?
Loyal Metals’ gravity breakthrough at Highway Reward sets the stage for a new phase of exploration that could redefine the project’s resource potential.
Questions in the middle?
- How soon will Loyal Metals commence drilling to test the newly identified deep gravity anomalies?
- What impact will the pending renewal of mining leases have on exploration timelines?
- Could integrated AI-driven analysis accelerate discovery beyond traditional geophysical methods?
