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Australia’s Rumble Resources (ASX: RTR) said on Monday its Western Queen gold project located near Mt Magnet could be host to a tungsten discovery after receiving assay results from its drilling completed three years ago.
Selected pulp samples of reverse circulation drilling in 2021 returned significant intersections such as 12 metres grading 0.56% WO3 (tungsten oxide) and 0.46 gram per tonne gold, including a higher-grade section of 2 metres at 2.48% WO3 and 0.12 g/t gold, and also 12 metres 0.34% WO3 and 3.22 g/t gold, with a higher-grade section of 7 metres at 0.49% WO3 and 4.71 g/t gold.
The Australian junior added that these assay results complement the high-grade intersection in a recently reported drill hole highlighted by 4.05 metres grading 4.58% WO3 and 0.72 g/t gold, including 2.05 metres at 8.71% WO3 and 1.38 g/t gold and 0.65 metre at 18.35% WO3 and 2.97 g/t gold.
“The discovery of tungsten at Western Queen has demonstrated the huge optionality that we have in our extensive tenement portfolio. The assay results from the 2021 drill pulp samples have confirmed that we have made a significant tungsten discovery at Western Queen,” Rumble Resources managing director Peter Harold said in a news release.
The company now plans to further analyze historical drilling including RC drill pulps and a substantial diamond core library held in storage for tungsten, which it believes will likely constitute the bulk of the data required to classify an initial resource estimate.
“Best case scenario, positive results from this future analysis could allow us to calculate a resource without any additional drilling,” Harold added.
Tungsten is classified as a critical raw material, with the metal serving as a key input in both the energy and defense sectors. The supply of tungsten is currently highly dependent on China, which accounts for over 80% of the global supply.
In Australia, tungsten is being produced on a small scale at King Island by Group 6 Minerals (ASX: G6M). The Dolphin mine (King Island) has produced tungsten from scheelite intermittently since 1917 and is considered Australia’s largest and highest-grade deposit with a current resource of 9.6 million tonnes grading 0.9% WO3.
Beyond tungsten, the Western Queen project already holds substantial gold resources, currently estimated at 2.1 million tonnes grading 2.42 g/t gold for a total of 163,268 oz., including 1.1 million tonnes at 1.95 g/t gold for 67,145 oz. in the indicated category.
