Critical minerals explorer Thunderbird Resources is set to acquire a highly prospective gold-antimony exploration land package in the New England Orogen of New South Wales.
The portfolio comprises 488km2 of landholding and is located immediately adjacent to Larvotto Resources’ Hillgrove gold-antimony project, a top 10 global antimony deposit that boasts a maiden ore reserve of 606,000 ounces of gold equivalent at six grams per tonne.
The package contains the Rockvale gold-antimony project and the Kookabookra gold project, both of which are wholly owned by Kooky Resources.
Thunderbird described both projects as being highly prospective for high-grade orogenic gold and antimony mineralisation and intrusion-related gold mineralisation.
Rockvale specifically covers potential strike extensions of the geology and structures that host the antimony-gold mineralisation at Hillgrove.
Thunderbird hopes to conduct modern exploration and drilling at both projects, since Rockvale hasn’t seen exploration and drilling since the 1980s and Kookabookra hasn’t seen modern exploration and drilling at all.
Thunderbird’s exploration programs will focus on the historical workings and prospects at Rockvale and Kookabookra and consider unexplored areas using modern airborne geophysics to develop new targets.
To acquire Rockvale and Kookabookra, Thunderbird will acquire all the issued share capital of Kooky Resources.
“This proposed acquisition provides an enormously exciting, low-cost opportunity for Thunderbird to acquire highly prospective exploration tenements in the heart of Australia’s emerging antimony district,” Thunderbird executive chairman George Bauk said.
“The projects surround Larvotto Resources’ Hillgrove gold-antimony project, a top ten antimony resource globally and scheduled to commence production in early 2026.
“Notably, the geological structures that host Hillgrove’s deposits potentially extend north-west into Thunderbird’s newly acquired tenements, which also host numerous historical prospects and targets with significant antimony results, including 18.2 per cent antimony.”
Considered a critical mineral in Australia, antimony is a key material for solar panels, a central input for high-tech and defence applications, and a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries. These uses have led to the commodity’s price soaring.
Bauk said acquiring Rockvale and Kookabookra provides Thunderbird with a low-cost opportunity to explore high-quality assets that offer exposure to very favourable commodities.
“Importantly, these new tenements also provide an opportunity for Thunderbird to undertake exploration throughout the year, providing news flow and share price catalysts for the company during the northern hemisphere winter when our Canadian exploration assets are less accessible,” Bauk said.
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