Torrens Mining – waking the sleeping giant at Mt Piper
Insight
25 June
The last few weeks have been touch and go for Victoria’s business community thanks to the latest Covid-19-induced lockdown but as the fog lifted, Torrens Mining put boots on the ground and delighted investors by delivering on its January IPO promise of getting the drill bit spinning at its Mt Piper gold project in the Central Victorian Goldfields.
Torrens’ (ASX: TRN) exploration pedigree was affirmed last week when shares skyrocketed, doubling in value off news of strong IOCG intercepts at the Elizabeth Creek copper JV project in South Australia. Torrens first acquired the licences to Elizabeth Creek in 2015, with Coda Minerals (ASX: COD) beginning the farm-in and joint venture in 2017. Torrens currently retains a 30 per cent stake in the project.
It should come as no surprise then that investors continued the pile-on and drove the share price further on the news that the first diamond drilling to be conducted in more than 30 years at the Northwood Hill prospect – part of the Mt Piper project – had commenced.
Torrens’ share price closed the week at 27.5c per share.
Torrens is among a handful of standout juniors turning investor heads around the country.
Argonaut released a research note on St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) this week, recommending a speculative buy at 8¢ per share and stating that it remains “strongly bullish” on companies exposed to nickel-copper sulphide exploration.
“SGQ is well funded, and we will expect to see progress towards the development of the Strickland deposit and/or new discoveries in the next 6-12 months,” the note said. St George closed the week at 7.8c.
Hastings Technology Metals (ASX: HAS) has proved the potential of the Simon’s Find deposit at its Yangibana Neodymium Praseodymium (NdPr) rare earths project in WA’s Gascoyne region. Test work confirmed that, after beneficiation, up to 57 per cent of Simon’s Find TREO is NdPr – a ratio unrivalled in any known deposit in the world. Hastings closed the week at 15c.
BMG Resources (ASX: BMG) is hot on the roadshow trail as it gears up to begin drilling at the Abercromby gold project near Wiluna in WA. Abercromby shares the close company of the Wiluna, Jundee and Bellevue gold mines. BMG hit high-grade gold on its initial 2021 drilling campaign, and mineralisation remains open. BMG closed the week at 5.2c.
Torrens’ Mt Piper gold project is in the neighbourhood of the Costerfield gold mine and Australia’s most profitable gold mine, Fosterville, in the Central Victorian Goldfields.
Torrens’ managing director Steve Shedden called Northwood Hill “a classic sleeping giant in the Victorian sense”.
On 3 June, Torrens launched a fixed-wing aeromagnetic program over Northwood Hill to conduct a 3,922 line-km survey, which is now being followed up by the drilling campaign.
Mr Shedden said, “Without doubt, developing a structural model in tandem with new in-ground drilling data will exponentially improve our chances of success”.
“Torrens is at the starting gate in anticipation of an exciting gold discovery journey,” he said.
Phase one of drilling at Northwood Hill consists of about 1,100m within a 5km-long gold anomalous corridor and will test for depth extensions of interpreted “high-grade vertical gold rich shoots”.
The gold corridor was previously identified by Perseverance Mining in the early 90’s. Historical gold intercepts include 7m@ 2.37g/t gold from 20m and runs into the eagerly anticipated Puckapunyal exploration licence application.
Torrens said Puckapunyal is a “uniquely unexplored” 44km2 tenement area bracketed by operating gold mines, historical goldfields, significant modern gold prospects, and underlain by prospective gold structures”.
Assays, aeromagnetic data and structural interpretation from the drilling and aeromagnetic programs are due from July to September 2021.
Mr Shedden said that the commencement of drilling at Northwood Hill was a major milestone for Torrens.
“Had this 5km long gold anomalous trend been located in Western Australia, it would have already been thoroughly explored,” he said.
Communicating your story to all stakeholders, including shareholders and prospective investors, is key. To discuss your strategic communications needs, contact Cannings Purple’s Director of Investor Relations Peter Klinger.
