Latest news with #TarugaMinerals
West Australian
10 hours ago
- Business
- West Australian
Patience pays as Taruga wins rich Gascoyne base metal, gold ground
After almost a year's wait, patience has paid off for Taruga Minerals: The company's applications for three new exploration leases, collectively covering 385 square kilometres of tasty real estate in Western Australia's northern Gascoyne region, have been granted. Taruga believes it has stitched together a compelling base metal and gold exploration play, with the three contiguous exploration licences now joining the company's existing and adjacent Thowagee project. One of the new permits covers the Uaroo West grounds, while the other two enclose the Uaroo East area – and all are peppered with historic high-grade mines that once produced spectacular lead, silver and copper grades. At Uaroo West, records show miners pulled 2.95 tonnes at a thumping 26 per cent copper from a hydrothermal vein in 1964. Across at Uaroo East, the old Uaroo-Hill mine delivered almost 20t at an astonishing 77.7 per cent lead and 301 grams per tonne (g/t) silver in the 1950s. Meanwhile, the Donelly-Kooline mine - dubbed Emu – at one time produced ore running at 55.8 per cent lead and 129g/t tonne silver. Historic reports also flag the presence of gold and copper in both systems. The Moodong Well prospect, in the north-east of the Uaroo East lease, adds another dimension with three historic copper workings traced along north-south dykes. Pegmatitic-styled rocks and particularly light-coloured leucogranites in the area also point to lithium and rare earths potential – an enticing kicker for a market increasingly hungry for critical minerals. Despite the eye-watering grades associated with the old mine workings, modern exploration has barely scratched the surface. No systematic drilling for base or precious metals has ever been completed across the permits, meaning the rocks remain wide open. Taruga says the geology is working in its favour, with most of the old mines on its patch showing up as vein or shear-hosted deposits. The Goordeman and Uaroo faults also slice through the leases to act as natural highways for mineral-rich fluids and traps for high-grade ore. The broader region has seen plenty of historic activity. Mount Alexander to the north of Taruga, stretches across 15km of banded iron formation and is regarded as prospective for lead and zinc deposits akin to the Broken Hill-style mineralisation. At three prospects close to Mount Alexander called Cyprus Gossan, Galena Cave and Dozer Cut, old-timers uncovered wide zones of base metals, with sections grading up to 3.19 per cent lead and 2.38 per cent zinc, while one 2m slice came in as high as 62 per cent lead and 420 parts per million silver. The historic Monte Carlo mine, lying to the south of Taruga, was discovered in 1928 and contained gold, copper and tantalite. It sits on the same north-south trending structure as Mount Alexander and both anchor a five-kilometre corridor of polymetallic riches that cuts right through Taruga's ground. Adding to the area's prospectivity, Talisman Mining's rock chip sampling at Uaroo West in 2010 returned anomalous gold numbers from within Taruga's ground, peaking at 0.43g/t. Outside the company's permits, the same structure has coughed up grades as high as 3g/t gold. Taruga is wasting little time getting boots on the ground, with low-impact exploration due to begin shortly. The company will start with rock chip and soil sampling to verify the old mine locations and test for extensions. Taruga will also check for lithium and rare earths, with the nearby Moorarie clustered granites already known to host rich, mineral-packed systems. With high-grade historic production, underexplored terrain and modern exploration yet to be applied, Taruga now has the keys to a mineral province that could turn out to be far more prospective than previous explorers ever dreamt of. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
West Australian
31-07-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Taruga hot on the trail of buried WA multi-metal prize
Taruga Minerals has lit up the geophysical radar with a red-hot electromagnetic anomaly at its Thowagee project in Western Australia's underexplored Gascoyne region. The company is now treating the conductor as a top-priority drill target. The versatile time-domain electromagnetic (VTEM) anomaly sits just one kilometre south of the main Thowagee polymetallic prospect and has made a compelling case for closer inspection. Tantalising evidence of visual base metal sulphides, including galena and sphalerite, has shown up in the core of a recently completed four-hole slimline diamond drilling program to test the walls and floor of nearby historic workings. These markers are classic hallmarks of lead-zinc mineralisation. Assays are now in the lab and results - expected within weeks - will be eagerly awaited. Adding to the target's credentials, an earlier magnetic survey shone a light on a comparable anomaly with sniffs of galena grading as high as one per cent and malachite poking through in rock chips at surface. The same survey also picked up an adjacent shear zone, which lit up with elevated gold and arsenic numbers, including a standout hit of 92 parts per billion gold, when geochemically tested. Adding to the intrigue, a freshly completed soil and rock chip blitz has zeroed in on a gold-arsenic trend, stretching nearly a kilometre from northeast to southwest and slicing through the project's southeast corner, where known sulphides are already showing up in shallow core. As well as tracking with the regional structure, the trend appears to run in lockstep with the VTEM and magnetic anomalies. Taruga has now moved quickly to roll out further testing. A fixed-loop electromagnetic survey is being run directly over the VTEM target, with ground gravity and magnetic surveys also underway over a 5.5-square-kilometre zone to improve image resolution. By employing a multi-method approach, the company expects to refine the anomaly's depth, geometry and continuity ahead of potential drilling. The initial spark for the new investigation came from a 2017 VTEM survey commissioned by Squadron Resources and later made public through the WA Government's WAMEX archive. Taruga's recent independent reinterpretation of the data has now breathed new life into the anomaly, which couldn't come at a better time for a company eager to unearth its next big prize. The Thowagee prospect is part of a broader landholding covering more than 400 square kilometres controlled by Taruga. It's always a bullish sign when an area is peppered with historic workings, especially when modern exploration tools start lighting up ground that's barely been scratched. Not surprisingly, the company's ground appears to fit that description well. Back in the 1950s, old timers at Taruga's Uaroo-Hill prospect ripped out nearly 20 tonnes of ore packing a jaw-dropping 77.7 per cent lead and 301 grams per tonne (g/t) silver. Not far away at Donelly-Kooline, it was much the same story, where shallow digs in 1952 delivered lead at 55.8 per cent and silver grades of 129g/t. Meanwhile, over at Uaroo West, a small 1960s copper operation reportedly delivered 2.95t at 26 per cent copper. Of late, the Gascoyne region has become a hotspot for high-grade base and precious metals, fuelled by a string of wins such as Black Cat Syndicate's reopening of the Paulsens gold mine. Other projects include Dreadnought Resources' headline-grabbing Gifford Creek critical metals play and its Star of Mangaroon gold find. With assays due soon, multiple geophysical datasets in hand and field crews on the ground, Taruga looks poised to pull the trigger on a maiden drill campaign to test its high-priority VTEM target. If the geology beneath matches the story above, Thowagee could be ready to deliver something special. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
The Australian
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Australian
TAR makes high-grade silver hit at Thowagee
Taruga Minerals flags 170g/t silver hit from rock chip sampling at Thowagee project Project hosts numerous historical satellite mines Company targeting mineralisation along strike Special Report: Taruga Minerals says rock chip results from its Thowagee project in WA have returned the highest silver result to date of 170g/t. Thowagee includes two sites of historic mining (Thowagee Mine and Thowagee Bore) with high-grade polymetallic mineralisation occurring in outcropping veins and gossans. Apart from returning the highest silver hit to date, the rock chip sampling from satellite historical miner workings has also extended the strike, now extending over 900m along a north-northeast trend and over 1000m along a north-northwest direction Best results include: 12.2% lead, 170g/t silver, 0.7% zinc 13.0% lead, 102g/t silver 13.4% lead, 69g/t silver, 0.6% zinc 11.4% lead, 81g/t silver, and; 11.1% lead, 117g/t silver The results build on previous assays which had already confirmed an outcropping high-grade lead and silver system at Thowagee, and Taruga Minerals (ASX:TAR) expects to receive additional assay results from soil sampling in the coming weeks. Looking beyond historical workings Exploration at Thowagee has now been expanded to include mapping, rock and soil geochemical sampling programs. 'Importantly, the highest-grade silver result to date is another example of mineralisation occurring as a halo to the main quartz vein system that was the focus for historical small-scale mining,' director David Chapman said. 'Rock chip THRK023 (12.2% Pb, 170 g/t Ag, 0.7% Zn) is a darker altered vein sample, which is similar to previously released schist wallrock sample THRK015 (12.9% Pb, 103g/t Ag, 0.8% Zn, 0.9g/t Au) in exhibiting a more fine-grained sulphide style than the mineralised quartz first identified in workings. 'Further work is ongoing to understand the extent of the halo mineralisation found surrounding the main historical workings quartz focus – and its impact on potential scale to the project.' Additional Thowagee rock sample and historical workings location. Source: TAR. In addition, TAR has issued the vendors of the project with an option exercise notice to acquire 100% ownership of Thowagee. The company says this acquisition complements the existing Taruga application portfolio, which now consists of 416.5km2 of contiguous acreage in the Northern Gascoyne province of WA. This article was developed in collaboration with Taruga Minerals, 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.
West Australian
15-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Taruga builds polymetallic story in Gascoyne with new rock chips
Taruga Minerals has unveiled a bevvy of compelling new rock chips from its recently acquired polymetallic Thowagee project in Western Australia's Gascoyne region that point to silver as one of the dominant minerals. Highlighted assays from two distinct mineralised trends at the project have returned peak grades up to a solid 170g/t silver and as much as 13.4 per cent lead, alongside zinc up to 0.7 per cent. The assays build on earlier results up to 19.7 per cent lead and even featured copper and gold mineralisation up to 3.4 per cent and 0.9g/t respectively, indicating Thowagee's prospectivity as a true polymetallic system. Taruga says its two distinct mineralised trends at the project extend for around 900 metres along a north-northeast strike and 1000m along a north-northwest strike, both associated with historical workings and open for further expansion. The Thowagee project lies just west of the old Thowagee mine and now forms part of Taruga's rapidly expanding Gascoyne portfolio, which has ballooned to 416.5 square kilometres after its latest acquisition. Recent mapping and sampling have identified a potential precious metals halo surrounding the historically targeted quartz-galena veins. The company says samples exhibit a finer-grained sulphide style in altered veins, suggesting a broader gold and silver-rich system that may have been overlooked by previous owners. Taruga has intensified its exploration efforts, with an expanded program encompassing geochemical soil sampling, additional rock chip assays and analysis of geophysical datasets, including magnetics, gravity, and VTEM. Soil sampling results are expected in the coming weeks, with geophysical data to prioritise targets for a potential maiden drilling campaign expected shortly thereafter. The new project dovetails with the company's broader strategy to lock up a dominant ground position in one of WA's most underexplored and highly prospective polymetallic belts. The absence of modern drilling for base or precious metals across Taruga's tenements highlights the untapped potential of the region, particularly as precious metals prices soar. With a dominant landholding and new management coming off a $1.5 billion polymetallic success at Adriatic Metals, Taruga is well-placed to unlock the full potential of the Gascoyne, with the latest findings of precious metals poised to guide the next phase of exploration. The company is now hurtling towards the first ever modern testing of perhaps WA's most promising polymetallic region. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
West Australian
01-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Taruga nabs Gascoyne lease with high-grade polymetallic punch
Share trading volumes in Taruga Minerals spiked significantly higher today with over 4M shares changing hands after the company officially pulled the trigger on its option to acquire 100 per cent of the high-grade Thowagee polymetallic project in Western Australia's booming Gascoyne region. Under the option deal struck in November last year, Taruga will issue the vendors $85,000 worth of shares (priced off the 14-day VWAP prior to settlement) in exchange for full ownership of the project. Taruga Minerals has wasted no time sealing the deal after unearthing a string of eye-watering rock chip assays that lit up the prospect like a Christmas tree. One standout sample returned a scorching 26.3 per cent lead, 130 grams per tonne silver, 14.5 per cent zinc, 3.4 per cent copper and nearly 1g/t gold in a high-grade cocktail of base and precious metals. Hot on its heels, another chip threw up a spectacular 19.7 per cent lead, 130g/t silver, 3.4 per cent copper and a tidy 0.1g/t of gold. A third sample taken from altered schist adjacent to an old quartz vein working delivered 12.9 per cent lead, 103g/t silver, 0.8 per cent zinc and another near-gram gold result rounding out a trifecta of metal-rich hits that appears to scream further exploration upside. Initial sampling across the Thowagee tenement has confirmed a juicy, outcropping polymetallic system, with two distinct mineralised trends already mapped. Historic workings and high-grade hits stretch over 800 metres along a north-northeast trend and 350 metres along a north-northwest strike, suggesting serious scale potential. The Thowagee project lies just west of the old Thowagee mine and now forms part of Taruga's rapidly expanding Gascoyne portfolio, which has ballooned to 416.5 square kilometres after the latest acquisition. In the 1950's the Thowagee mine produced more than 15t of lead and nearly 6 kilograms of silver, with rock chip assays lighting up for lead, silver, copper, zinc—and a dash of gold. The new tenement dovetails with the company's broader strategy to lock up a dominant ground position in one of WA's most underexplored and highly prospective polymetallic belts. With Thowagee now under its belt, Taruga says it is keen to hit the ground running with further fieldwork and data crunching now underway. The company is actively following up the exciting surface results with soil geochemistry, further rock chip sampling and analysis of a suite of high-quality geophysical datasets including magnetics, radiometrics and VTEM. Of particular interest are the gossanous zones and the structures controlling mineralisation around the Thowagee Mine area, which could point to a larger concealed system at depth. Notably, no drilling has yet tested the new targets, setting the stage for a potentially transformative maiden drill campaign once geochemistry and geophysics refine the most compelling zones. Taruga appears to be quickly proving that there's plenty of metal left to be found in the Gascoyne. With Thowagee now officially in its arsenal, punters will likely be watching closely as the company's exploration goes into overdrive in the hunt to unearth the region's next big polymetallic find. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
