Taiton Resources Ltd (ASX:T88) has snapped up the 310.2-square-kilometre Kingsgate Quartz Project in northern New South Wales, obtaining a high-purity quartz asset that has already produced results of up to 99.99% silicon oxide with impurities of less than 100 parts per million (ppm).
Quartz is a critical mineral, with high-purity material serving as feedstock for silicon used to manufacture solar panels, semiconductors and a wide variety of future technology applications.
The project – which also has potential for molybdenum and bismuth mineralisation – covers the EL 9636 and EL 9641 licences about 20 kilometres east of the town of Glen Innes on the Northern Highlands of NSW.
The town sits on a major highway, 600 kilometres north of Sydney and 250 kilometres south of Brisbane.
Access gained
Executive director Noel Ong said: “This is a very exciting time for Taiton as we have finally gained access to what is a high-value asset.
"Although these are preliminary assessment samples, they offer encouraging indicators for the potential presence of high-purity quartz within the Kingsgate project.
"With the recent acquisition of the Kingsgate property, Taiton has commenced focused exploration programs targeting both molybdenum-bismuth-tungsten and high-purity quartz/high-purity silica (HPQ/HPS) using existing data, including drill hole records, geological maps, and geophysical datasets.
"Taiton is also actively negotiating with landholders across the broader Kingsgate project area to secure exploration access. Preliminary discussions with landholders have been positive."
Kingsgate Quartz Project
While assessing the Hammond acquisition on EL9636, T88 had the opportunity to collect 11 float samples from a trial mining pit developed by Auzex Resources Limited in 2008.
The company found the quartz samples graded between 99.53% and 99.99% with impurities ranging from 99 ppm to 4,100 ppm.
Taiton says the project area holds multiple quartz pipe structures, with widths up to 8 metres and thicknesses of up to 10 metres, observed in historical drilling data from Auzex’s efforts.
T88 personnel are currently on-site, sampling and mapping the known quartz pipes and beginning exploration efforts in earnest.
The samples collected so far have been particularly clear, demonstrating glass-like, opaque and smoky appearances.
A growing business
"The high-purity quartz industry is a growing business and the source of quality HPQ is not something that is replicable. The key component to establish a HPQ source is the lack of impurities.
"Historically, the Kingsgate quartz is well known for being a supply of piezoelectric quartz crystals and it is well known for its clarity.
"There has been limited research on the quality of the quartz and it was Auzex Resources Limited in 2008, who had identified a large volume of high-quality quartz present at the Kingsgate project.
"The trial mining conducted by Auzex had identified at least 100,000 tonnes of quartz that could be mined annually over a 10-year period.
"Taiton views the Kingsgate project as its flagship project now and the company will work earnestly to bring this project into a mining stage as soon as practicably possible.
"The unique nature of the quartz pipe, its size of around a diameter of up to 20 metres with the likelihood of an underground mining environment, and its value proposition means that the potential footprint will be significantly smaller than conventional mining."