iTech Minerals has delivered a standout drill intercept of 36m at 5.6 g/t gold and 1.2% antimony at its Sabre Prospect in the Northern Territory, reinforcing the potential scale and grade of the Reynolds Range Project.
- 36m at 5.6 g/t gold and 1.2% antimony intercept at Sabre
- Continuous steeply dipping mineralisation open at depth and along strike
- Follow-up drilling targeting deeper and northeast extensions underway
- Reynolds Range covers 791 km2 with lithium JV alongside gold-antimony rights
- Metallurgical testing in progress to assess recoveries and gold equivalent potential
Outstanding Drill Intercept Highlights Sabre Prospect Potential
iTech Minerals Ltd (ASX:ITM) has reported a significant breakthrough at its Reynolds Range Project in the Northern Territory, with reverse circulation drilling at the Sabre Prospect returning a thick, high-grade gold and antimony intersection. The highlight hole, SBRC26-001, hit 36 metres grading 5.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 1.2% antimony starting from 81 metres downhole. This includes an 8-metre core at 13.41 g/t gold and 1.9% antimony, and a 2-metre interval with 8.3 g/t gold and 7.7% antimony, underscoring both the thickness and exceptional grade of the mineralised zone.
Continuous Mineralisation Open at Depth and Along Strike
The drilling campaign has confirmed a continuous, steeply dipping gold-antimony system that remains open at depth and along strike to the northeast. Additional drill holes SBRC26-002 to SBRC26-004 have returned consistent gold mineralisation, including 13 metres at 1.3 g/t gold and 10 metres at 0.81 g/t gold, reinforcing the continuity of the deposit. Assay results from two further holes are pending, which may further extend the known mineralised footprint.
Managing Director Michael Schwarz emphasised the importance of these results, noting that the mineralisation is increasing in both grade and thickness at depth, which provides strong confidence as the company advances its drilling program. This latest intercept is the best at the project to date and confirms the strong spatial association between gold and antimony, with individual metre samples reaching peak grades exceeding 63 g/t gold and nearly 14% antimony.
Project Scale and Strategic Lithium Joint Venture
The Reynolds Range Project spans 791 square kilometres across four granted exploration licences, situated 90 to 230 kilometres north-northwest of Alice Springs. iTech Minerals holds 100% of the project, with a joint venture in place granting SQM International Pty Ltd the option to earn up to 70% of the lithium rights, while iTech retains full ownership of gold, antimony, and other commodities. This dual-commodity focus positions Reynolds Range as a strategically significant asset in the battery materials and critical minerals sector.
Metallurgical test work is underway to determine gold and antimony recoveries and to assess the potential for reporting a gold equivalent grade, which could enhance the economic understanding of the mineralisation. The mineralisation style at Sabre is consistent with epizonal orogenic gold-antimony systems, akin to prominent Victorian deposits such as Sunday Creek, Fosterville, and Costerfield, suggesting potential for significant depth extensions.
Next Steps Focus on Deep and Strike Extensions
Following the improved geological understanding gained from the recent drilling, iTech has commenced follow-up drilling targeting deeper down-dip extensions and strike extensions to the northeast, which remain open. Once this phase is complete, the drill rig will move to the nearby Falchion Prospect to test for extensions to mineralisation identified in recent drilling, with assay results from nine recent holes awaited.
The company also plans detailed soil sampling along extensions of the structures hosting Sabre and Falchion, alongside acquiring additional drone magnetic surveys to refine exploration targets. These efforts aim to build on the >42-kilometre Stafford Gold Trend and the expanded strike length of gold-antimony structures recently identified at Reynolds Range.
Bottom Line?
iTech Minerals’ thick, high-grade intercept at Sabre sets a strong foundation for expanding the Reynolds Range gold-antimony system, but pending assays and metallurgical results will be crucial to defining its economic potential.
Questions in the middle?
- Will follow-up drilling confirm the depth and strike extensions suggested by current results?
- How will metallurgical recoveries impact the feasibility of developing a gold-antimony operation?
- What implications does the lithium joint venture with SQM have for prioritising Reynolds Range’s multiple commodities?