Iltani Resources Expands High-Grade Silver-Indium Mineralisation at Orient West

Iltani Resources (ASX: ILT) has returned further high-grade silver-indium mineralisation from ongoing reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its Orient silver-indium project near Herberton in North Queensland.

The latest assays cover a number of drill holes completed at Orient West as part of an infill program targeting increased grade, tonnage, and confidence in the current Orient mineral resource.

Peak results included 1 metre at 192 grams per tonne silver, 925g/t indium, 1.8% lead, and 13.9% zinc for 1,390g/t silver equivalent from 104m.

Iltani has now completed 65 RC holes for 12,297m from an initial planned 110-hole program across Orient West and Orient East, with further assay results expected through coming months.

High-Grade Veins Continue

Iltani’s latest results intersected high-grade silver-indium-rich massive sulphide veins and multiple broader zones of silver-lead-zinc-indium mineralisation at open-pittable depths.

ORR151 returned 1m at 358g/t silver, 213g/t indium, 7.6% lead, and 7.3% zinc for 1,092g/t silver equivalent from 49m, while ORR158 delivered 1m at 46g/t silver, 811g/t indium, 0.1% lead, and 12.9% zinc for 1,080g/t silver equivalent from 242m.

Holes ORR148 to ORR151, ORR153, and ORR155 thru ORR158 stepped out from the central area of Orient West to the north-east to better define resource margins and test extensions.

ORR152 and ORR154 tested mineralisation extensions to the south-west, while ORR156, ORR157, and ORR158 targeted relatively untested Veins 5 and 6 at shallow depth.

Iltani expects the drilling to support a resource category upgrade and provide greater confidence for initial scoping studies and future feasibility studies for an open-pittable resource.

Increasing Indium Focus

Managing director Donald Garner said the latest Orient West results continued to demonstrate the strength of the system.

“With an increasing focus on the critical role of indium in high-technology applications, it is good to see the drilling continue to intersect high-grade massive sulphide indium-rich vein systems,” Mr Garner said.

“These results continue to reinforce the Orient investment case—Australia’s largest known silver-indium deposit with the potential to be one of the largest suppliers of indium rich concentrate globally.”

“With this high level of activity and about two more months of drilling to complete, we expect to have results flowing through the coming months as we work to fill the gap between Orient East and West, extend mineralisation along strike, and improve grades and confidence.”

Further Drilling Planned

Iltani will continue infill drilling at Orient West to drill out the high-grade core area on 50m section spacing before testing extensions to the north-east and south-west.

Based on historical workings and outcrop sampling, the company has identified 900m of known mineralisation along the north-east trend, that has not been comprehensively drill tested.

With two RC rigs on site, Iltani has also started infill drilling at Orient East ahead of planned testing of the Link Zone between Orient East and Orient West, Vein 1, Orient North, and a number of airborne electromagnetic targets.

A wheeled rig is nearing completion at Orient before moving to regional targets including Boonmoo Epithermal, Boonmoo Bonanza, and Union Jack.