A privately owned explorer, funded by mum-and-dad investors, says it has "hit the jackpot" identifiying a previously unknown, multi-billion-tonne, gold-rich mineral system in its Cloncurry tenements.
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The company called Transition Resources said drilling recently confirmed the system is capable of hosting high-grade gold and new economy metals such as tungsten, cobalt, and highly sought-after heavy rare earth elements.
Transition Resources founder David Wilson said this new discovery was a game-changer for the company and would drive a new exploration focus in the Cloncurry district.
"Transition is the first to predict and then drill test this new gold-rich mineral system, with spectacular early results," Mr Wilson said.
"The system is regionally extensive and also includes new economy metals including heavy rare earths, that could supercharge the in-ground value of any resources and this discovery is an example of how, even in heavily explored brownfield areas, significant new discoveries are still possible."
Transition Resources said drilling was in its infancy, but the potential of the new mineral system is highlighted by first-pass drilling which intersected high-grade gold and tungsten.
No metal of any value is previously known to exist in the target area according to Mr. Wilson.
"The discovery process is very early and being a new style of mineral system, there is no handbook to guide the way however, it is abundantly clear that Transition has made one of the most exciting new discoveries in the Cloncurry District in decades." he said.
Transition thought the lack of discovery success of exploitable orebodies near Cloncurry in recent decades might be due to mismatched exploration methodologies, and so adopted a strong early research and development focus, aimed at progressing an alternative mineral system model.
They engaged Emeritus Professor Ken Collerson an authority on rare earth elements and technology metal mineralisation.
"By re-evaluating the accepted regional geological model and providing an alternative explanation for the source of metals, new exploration methodologies can be developed and tested, leading to new discoveries." Prof. Collerson said.
"Through this process, and by recognising what others previously failed to recognise, Transition is turning overlooked exploration tenements into fertile new discovery opportunities."
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
