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Andrew Todd
Viking Mines has unlocked high-grade tungsten hits by digitising historical data at its flagship Linka project in Nevada, revealing the systemโs true scale and setting the stage for detailed drilling to come.
The company says its ongoing effort to convert old records into digital form is now more than halfway done, with data from 38 historical exploration holes covering nearly 2000 metres of drilling now integrated.
Revealing impressive high-grade tungsten intercepts at its Linka Main and Hillside areas, including a 7.9m zone grading 0.9 per cent tungsten trioxide starting from just 7.6m, another 1.5m section at 1.2 per cent from 4.6m and a thicker 9.8m hit running 0.5 per cent tungsten trioxide from 62m.
The findings continue to build the picture at Linka, with earlier surface sampling suggesting substantial extensions beyond past mining areas and an open system in several directions.
โThe high grades and thick zones of mineralisation identified in the historical drilling dataset are extremely encouraging.โ
Viking Mines managing director and chief executive officer Julian Woodcock
Historical drilling, limited by 1970s technology, averaged only about 51m deep, leaving much of the deeper potential untouched.
At Hillside, the data points to strong potential east of an old shaft, with intercepts like 1.5m at 1 per cent from 12m and 3.1m at 0.6 per cent from 17m, suggesting plenty of meat on the bone.
For context, typical producing mines have a resource grade of 0.3-0.4 per cent, with anything over 0.6 per cent in drilling considered high-grade mineralisation.
The company notes that past vertical drilling ran somewhat parallel to the mineral trend โ a less effective angle โ so future efforts will use angled holes better to cross the host rocks and the intrusive contacts.
The mineralisation sits in tungsten-bearing skarns at Linka, which were formed when hot fluids altered the surrounding limestones and then concentrated the minerals.
Viking says the area between Linka Main and Hillside is also showing promise, with an anomalous 16.8m zone coming in at 0.1 per cent tungsten trioxide, suggesting there are whiffs to follow up in the untouched zone.
The company says its remaining data from 32 holes from its Conquest prospect will be finalised and released in short order.
Viking Mines managing director and chief executive officer Julian Woodcock said: โThe high grades and thick zones of mineralisation identified in the historical drilling dataset are extremely encouraging for the prospectivity of the Linka Project. Results such as 1.2 per cent Tungsten Trioxide at Hillside and thick zones at Linka Main up to 9.8m wide validate our belief in the Projectโs potential scale.โ
Linka forms part of Vikingโs wider Nevada tungsten holdings, which it acquired late last year.
The Nevada portfolio boasts a combined past output of around 123,000 tonnes of ore at 0.54 per cent tungsten trioxide from four sites.
By digitising and georeferencing these old maps and logs, Viking has gained a clear edge in pinpointing targets hidden under cover for its maiden drilling campaigns.
The tungsten market is white hot right now, with prices up around 500 per cent in the past year, driven by supply shortages from recycled materials, export curbs from China and US policies restricting imports.
Viking believes it has a genuine shot at locking in a big tungsten resource at Linka amid tightening global supplies for defence and industrial needs.
An April drill bit assault will be the true test, as Viking pushes ahead to expand its high-grade targets and find out just how far Linkaโs hidden gems really reach.
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