Octava Minerals is preparing to kick off a gravity and seismic program ahead of a drilling campaign at its Yallalong project 220km northeast of Geraldton in Western Australia in the hunt for antimony.
With initial fieldwork including mapping and rock-chip sampling already under its belt, the first work will involve detailed geophysical surveys to refine and improve the understanding of the underlying geology. In particular, the surveys will be looking for shear zones and boundaries between rock types to target the most likely areas for evidence of mineralised fluids.
Yallalong encompasses two granted exploration licenses with historical drilling and prospector workings, confirming potential antimony mineralisation along a vast 10km corridor. The company has identified 4 main targets on the north-south structural trend of which two, the Discovery and the Central prospects have already secured heritage clearance.
When the drill bit gets turning it will test extensions of high-grade zones identified at Discovery in 2016 after a reverse circulation (RC) program intersected two uber-high-grade hits of 13.6 per cent and 11.5 per cent antimony across one metre sections close to surface. The company believes further high-grade sections are waiting to be found given the relatively under-explored nature of the ground.
Although the Central prospect, along with Octava’s Northern and No. 4 prospects have shown historical signs of prospector activity - with some rock chips reported to contain up to 60 per cent antimony - they remain almost entirely undrilled. Heritage surveys for the No. 4 and North prospects are scheduled for December, setting the stage for additional drilling in early 2025.
Octava’s elevated interest in antimony has largely been brought on by an eye-watering spike in the silvery-grey metal’s price since 2020, tripling to US$25,000 a tonne. Inevitably, it has found a place in the renewable energy technology sector which has pushed demand, however it has also seen increased interest from the defence sector during the current increased geopolitical instability given its traditional use in ammunition.
It is now on the official critical supply lists of both the US and Europe who are looking to combat China’s dominant position in the market
However, it wasn’t until late August that antimony took centre stage after China revealed it was going to cease exporting antimony, sending the market into a tailspin.
Notably, the Yallalong project has some of the highest ever recorded historic hits of antimony and when Octava sought to remind the market of that fact in September, its share price promptly surged 200 per cent to 13.5c.
At the same time as its planned work at Yallalong, Octava will be getting its teeth stuck into the Byro project southeast of Carnarvon which shows significant potential for large-scale, low-cost rare earth elements (REE) and lithium extraction.
With previous soil sampling and RC drilling by Geological Survey WA revealing wide areas and hits of mineralisation across a 30km strike, Octava has applied for heritage clearance in preparation for metallurgical core drilling, set to begin in mid-November.
Freshly topped up with cash from a $1 million capital raise, Octava has set itself a busy schedule in the next few months with various surveys and drilling at two projects.
No doubt, the market will be watching to see if Octava can produce any more assays with uber-high grades like the previous batch.
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By James Pearson
