Taiton Resources Ltd (ASX:T88) has received approval for exploration licence application (EL 9636) at its Kingsgate Project in New South Wales, setting the company on a path towards production of a high-grade molybdenum and high-purity quartz project.
Identified as being prospective for high-grade molybdenum and high-purity quartz, the EL9636 licence area measures 104.7 square kilometres and is around 20-kilometres east of Glen Innes in the Northern Highlands of NSW. Glen Innes is about 600 kilometres north of Sydney situated on a major highway between Sydney and Brisbane.
Kingsgate comprises two exploration licences, EL 9636 and ELA 6702, with Taiton awaiting the approval of ELA 6702 to complete its tenure at the project.
“Exciting” potential
Taiton executive director Noel Ong said: “The granting of EL 9636 is the beginning of Taiton’s goal of bringing value to shareholders. Projects like Kingsgate allow Taiton to go down the production pathway and create a potential future income for all shareholders.
“The journey for that comes with the granting of the tenement. We at Taiton are excited with the potential of the Kingsgate project. The projected rising demand for both Molybdenum and high-grade silica, give us the confidence of moving the asset forward into production.
“The team accepts that this path is not going to be easy technically, but the greatest asset of the project is that Auzex had done a significant amount of work towards the same pathway which will reduce our potential operating expenses.
“What makes Kingsgate so prospective is that geologically, we are in a Molybdenum mineralisation sweet spot. The regional and local geology are clearly creating the source of the wide distribution of tin, molybdenum, tungsten and gold in this region.
“The current state of the equity market may appear to be a hindrance but the team at Taiton understand that the critical nature of Molybdenum and high-grade silica is the real value.
“Investors in ASEAN continue to demand raw materials and our work in the capital market is progressing well as ASEAN investors only understand mining assets. “
Extensive historical work
Auzex Resources Ltd undertook extensive work at the project between 2006 and 2010, while historical production was undertaken in the late 1880s and early 1900s within EL 9636. Taiton has obtained historical data from the project that is now being processed.
Most of Auzex’s work was concentrated within the central zone of the old Kingsgate Mine area.
Historical drilling of the “Kingsgate Mine” within EL 9636
The occurrence of molybdenum extends over an 8-kilometre strike length and a majority of known quartz pipes contained high-grade molybdenum. Auzex described these Molybdenum occurrences as occurring in “pipelike” bodies and in disseminated form:
The region has also been well documented to contain high purity quartz which has been identified by Auzex in their exploration activities.
According to Auzex, a total of over 100 pipes are known to exist (over 50 pipes having been production in the past) which occur within the Kingsgate granite along its eastern contact with adjacent sediments and older granites.
The Kingsgate area has been a significant historical producer of tin and molybdenum with production estimated at 300,000 tonnes and 450 tonnes respectively. The area is known for its high-grade nature and nuggets of Molybdenite are commonly found in the entire Kingsgate to Emmaville region.
Exploration pathway
Taiton will now plan exploration strategies to advance the project. One strategy is a quick course of action to establish a production status through the advanced stage of Auzex’s work over the years.
Auzex had established trial mining, a scoping work and a feasibility study, which will allow Taiton to fast track the development towards a production story.
Taiton plans to first establish an understanding of what’s needed to establish a pathway towards the mining of both molybdenum and the high-grade quartz.
The second step is to understand the regional aspect of the project and see if it can find other clusters of mineralised pipes.
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