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Brought to you by Bulls N’ Bears
Doug Bright
Litchfield Minerals has wrapped up a boots-on-the-ground reconnaissance sweep across its 165 square kilometre Silver Valley project area, a polymetallic lead-silver-copper-gold-zinc exploration play in the Northern Territory centred on historical lead-silver workings on the Murray Downs Dome.
The dome is a major geological structure in southern Davenport Province, about 325 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs.
Historical high-grade rock chip samples previously returned values up to 25 per cent lead, 11.9 per cent copper and 470 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, with occasional gold and zinc. The earlier work also noted the mineralisation was associated with later-stage quartz veins, felsic volcanics and mafic intrusives.
Curiously, despite extensive surface expressions of mineralisation that would normally draw modern explorers deeper into hunting for the next vein-hosted silver-lead-copper play, no modern drilling or systematic geophysics has ever been conducted at the project.
‘Our focus will shift to a ground-based Induced Polarisation survey across Silver Valley 1–3 and Chablo.’
Litchfield Minerals managing director Matthew Pustahya
Litchfield sees strong upside in exploring the broader dome structure for a bigger concealed system using modern exploration methods.
The two-day field reconnaissance at Silver Valley took in four key prospects. Three out of four targets lie within two kilometres of each other – dubbed targets One, Two and Three – while the fourth, Chablo, sits about seven kilometres east of the main group, near the eastern margins of the tenement area.
Initial investigation of the prospects uncovered clear evidence of a potentially large, structurally-controlled mineralised corridor. The field crew mapped well-developed quartz reefs and vein systems and identified visible sulphide minerals in outcrop that included chalcopyrite – a principal ore of copper – and galena, a key lead ore.
Mapping also confirmed extensive veining that ranged in scale from narrow vein sets and splays to major reef structures with potential for good strike continuity and repetition of mineralisation.
Litchfield Minerals managing director Matthew Pustahya said: “This reconnaissance visit was a success for Litchfield. We were able to get boots-on-ground across Silver Valley 1, 2, 3 and Chablo, and what we saw confirmed the scale and prospectivity of the vein system. Many of the quartz reefs are well developed and we observed clear signs of mineralisation, including visible sulphides such as chalcopyrite and galena, which is exactly what we want to see in a system of this style.”
Silver Valley Two stole the show, boasting the strongest outcropping and most extensive historic workings noted during the visit. Strong east-west trending quartz reefs stood out alongside north-south veining, old trenches and mine shafts up to about eight metres deep.
Litchfield carried out selective rock chip sampling in areas with the strongest copper, lead and iron staining to gauge the extent and style of mineralogy.
Silver Valley Three revealed widespread old diggings and quartz scree over about 280 metres of strike, with a more prominent zone of visible galena sampled.
Silver Valley One showed solid white quartz veins; however, the signs of mineralisation were weaker and no sampling was undertaken.
At Chablo, geos grabbed two rock chip samples – one from iron-manganese float and another from a quartz vein in sandstone with fine yellow flecks – and also completed a small 12-sample soil sampling grid spaced at 200m x 200m.
The company says the latest observed geology at all four prospects appears to tie neatly into the Murray Downs Dome – a big Proterozoic structural feature, long recognised by the old timers for its proliferation of vein-hosted lead-silver-copper-gold systems.
Across the ground, the same signals kept flashing – chunky quartz reefs, oxidised gossans – a rust-coloured clue betraying sulphides at depth – along with visible chalcopyrite and galena next to vein systems.
The presence of sulphides has boosted Litchfield’s confidence that electrical geophysics could uncover mineralised extensions under shallow cover.
Overall, the mineralisation appears to be more than just a modest one-off showing. The field visit has highlighted repeating vein sets along a distinct corridor with potential for parallel or stacked vein repetitions – all classic geological indications that demand systematic follow-up.
Historical prospecting and mining also support the upside. Small-scale mining from the 1950’s targeted lead-rich veins, with handpicked ore reportedly running 20–25 per cent lead and up to an impressive 20 ounces per tonne of silver.
Available stream sediment sampling data also points to a multi-kilometre scale metals halo, hinting at broader scale under cover.
To follow up on the encouraging first-pass findings, Litchfield plans to run a gradient array induced polarisation (GAIP) geophysical survey in late February. Planetary Geophysics will undertake the study after it has finished its current work at the company’s Oonagalabi project, as announced yesterday.
That quick IP campaign, once complete, should enable the company to map chargeable sulphide zones and resistive quartz veins, triggering a higher-resolution geophysical follow-up to deliver drill targets for the later 2026 season.
Silver Valley offers early-stage exposure to a historic high-grade polymetallic mineral district with visible mineralisation, proven bonanza hits and a clear path to geophysics-defined targets. While the recent project review has been at the scout level so far, the dots are starting to line up, highlighting greater potential.
Including its Oonagalabi project, Litchfield is continuing to build momentum across its Northern Territory portfolio. With its Silver Valley reconnaissance delivering the goods visually and with strong historic support, the imminent first-pass geophysics may hint at whether the system is capable of stacking up at scale.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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