Pilot Mountain drill results confirm zones of high-grade tungsten

[Redator]

Nevada- focussed explorer Guardian Metal Resources (LON:GMET) (OTCQX:GMTLF), announced Wednesday further assay results from the ongoing drilling campaign at its 100% owned Pilot Mountain tungsten project.  

Laboratory assay results from drill core samples have been received from the final batch of drillholes at the Desert Scheelite zone, with results confirming further high-grade tungsten mineralisation over significant widths, the company said. 

Key defense metal  

In July, the US Department of Defense awarded $6.2 million to Guardian Metal Resources to advance the Pilot Mountain project, southeast of Hawthorne. Guardian is the only company with US-based tungsten assets to receive an award and is also advancing another tungsten project in Nevada: Tempiute. 

Tungsten is a critical mineral for a key defense application — penetrators — which are high-density, armour-piercing projectiles. It’s also required in US Department of Defence (DoD) contracts. 

Tungsten production in the US ceased in 2015, when it was no longer commercially viable due to low prices and competition from China. 

China dominates global tungsten production, accounting for over 80% of last year’s total output of 81,000 tons, according to the USGS. 

At the Pilot Mountain project to date, a total of 82 drillholes have completed, with 61 drillholes at Desert Scheelite, including 49 resource holes, 7 geotechnical holes and 5 metallurgical holes. At the Garnet Zone all 20 planned resource drillholes have previously been completed and at Porphyry South a single drillhole has been completed, the company said.  

Of significance within this batch of results is the mineralised widths (>0.10% WO₃) encountered throughout several holes as well as the intersection of multiple broad mineralised intervals, the company said.  

These include a mineralised 21.6 m interval in PM25-043, a 33.9 m interval in PM25-045, a 45.7 m interval in PM25-047 and a 24.4 m interval in PM25-051 as well as multiple others throughout the holes reported.  

“We are very pleased to now have all of the results in hand from the Desert Scheelite resource drilling, marking another important step toward our goal of delivering Mined in America tungsten to the United States market,” Guardian Metal CEO Oliver Friesen said in a news release.  

 “This latest batch of assays has confirmed zones of high-grade tungsten, copper, silver and zinc, with numerous holes returning significant widths of tungsten mineralisation,” Friesen said. 

“We now eagerly await initial results from our inaugural Garnet Zone drilling and look forward to commencing drilling at Tempiute in the coming weeks, with multiple rigs soon to be mobilised across our Nevada based co-flagship tungsten projects.”