Tungsten Mining’s Hatches Creek drilling returns “encouraging” tungsten, copper hits

Tungsten Mining drilling intersects significant tungsten, copper mineralisation at Hatches Creek ahead of maiden resource estimate.

Tungsten Mining’s Hatches Creek drilling has intersected significant tungsten and copper across multiple prospects ahead of a maiden resource estimate. Pic: Getty Images

• Tungsten Mining’s Hatches Creek exploration drilling intersects high-grade tungsten and copper

• Drilling extends mineralisation at Hit or Miss prospect, confirms continuity of high-grade tungsten at Treasure

• Company to define maiden resource estimate in the March 2025 quarter

Special Report: Tungsten Mining’s recently completed exploration drilling program at its Hatches Creek project in Northern Territory has intersected significant tungsten and copper mineralisation at multiple prospects.

Tungsten has the highest melting point of all elements except carbon and is a key element across the aerospace and defence, electronics, automotive, extractive and construction sectors with uses in cemented carbides, high-speed steels and super alloys.

And like so many other critical metals, its production is dominated by China (80%) which rather predictably added tungsten to its list of critical metal export restrictions to the US as part of their ongoing trade war.

For Tungsten Mining (ASX:TGN), this makes the high-grade drill hits from its latest drilling all the more welcome.

At the Hit or Miss prospect, extensional drilling returned results such as 17m at 0.43% tungsten oxide (WO₃₎ and 5m at 0.94% WO₃, which confirmed the continuity of mineralisation from 320m to 600m of strike. Hit indeed.

Meanwhile, infill drilling at the appropriately named Treasure prospect confirmed the continuity of high-grade tungsten mineralisation over 350m of strike with intersections of up to 5m at 2.05% WO₃ and 7m at 1.39% WO₃.

Drilling at Green Diamond intersected multiple zones of tungsten-copper mineralisation over 300m of strike that remains open to the west, east and downdip.

This included narrow, high-grade zones hosted by sediments with results of up to 4m at 1.45% WO₃ and 2m at 1.84% WO₃ and 0.62% copper.

Substantial thick zones of low to medium grade tungsten-copper mineralisation associated with the Pedlar Gabbro/Sediment contact were also assayed including 37m at 0.14% WO₃ and 0.3% copper, and a single, high-grade copper intersection of 3m at 6.3% copper from a down-hole depth of 68m.

Likewise, drilling at Black Diamond intersected multiple mineralised structures over 200m of strike that is open to the west, east and downdip with hits of up to 6m at 0.36% WO₃ while Bonanza drilling returned hits of up to 5m at 1.51% WO₃ over 160m of strike and remains open in the same directions.

Drilling at Hatches Creek. Pic: Tungsten Mining

Encouraging results

“We are pleased to announce these encouraging drilling results at our Hatches Creek project that have identified significant tungsten and copper mineralisation,” chairman Gary Lyons said.

“The maiden mineral resource estimate is underway, which hopefully will add value and propel the Hatches Creek project towards development.”

Haches Creek is 375km northeast of Alice Springs and hosts multiple high-grade polymetallic tungsten prospects and demonstrated potential for high grade tungsten, with high grade stockpiles from historical mining.

Workings once ran at grades that would be considered staggering by today’s standards, producing 2840t at 65% tungsten oxide from 1915-1957.

Besides having stockpiles that could potentially be processed prior to embarking on new mining operations, mineralisation at the project appears to consist predominantly of wolframite, which is less complex to process than the other tungsten bearing mineral scheelite.

TGN plans to complete a maiden resource estimate in the March quarter.

This article was developed in collaboration with Tungsten Mining, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Tungsten Mining’s Hatches Creek drilling returns “encouraging” tungsten, copper hits