ASX mining shares struggled across the board today. The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) has closed Wednesday down 1.68%.
But one ASX mining share was on fire amid an update from the company's silver project.
The Thomson Resources Ltd (ASX: TMZ) share price surged 18% to 5.4 cents in earlier trade, only to retreat after midday. Still, it was an impressive result for Thomson Resources, posting a 14.29% gain at close of trade. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell 0.5% on Wednesday.
So why was this ASX mining share so red hot today?
'Outstanding' silver and base metal intersections
Thomson advised that the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Webbs silver deposit is now well advanced. This project, located in northern New South Wales, is said to be one of the highest grade undeveloped silver projects in Australia.
The company reported "outstanding" silver and base metal intersections and positive metallurgy at the project.
Thomson provided silver and base metal intersection estimates from a newly validated historic drill hole database.
Highlights at the 30 grams per tonne AgEq (silver equivalent) cut off included:
- 6.33 metres (m) at 735 grams per tonne (g/t) AgEq
- 6.62 m at 793 g/t AgEq
- 7.79 m at 613 g/t AgEq
At the 150 gram per tonne AgEq:
- 1.86 m at 2,152 g/t AgEq
- 2.97 m at 1,326 g/t AgEq
- 1.81 m at 2,078 g/t AgEq
And boy, did investors want to share in this ASX mining company's good tidings.
Comment from management
Executive chairman David Williams said:
We have not just rubber stamped previous published resources. We have gone through from scratch, gone through all of the available historic information, and added in new data and studies where there have been gaps.
What we will end up with is an MRE that we will have a lot of confidence in. Our better understanding of the geological setting again throws up clear target areas for exploration drilling to expand and extend the resource.
Of particular importance is the very favorable metallurgy that integrates with our own work from the Texas district and will support integration of the Webbs high-grade silver and base metal project into the Company's central processing strategy.
The company plans to deliver the mineral resource estimate in the second quarter of 2022.
Share price snapshot
The Thomson Resources share price has crashed nearly 56% in the past year, while it has fallen 28% in the year to date.
The company's shares have slid 12% in a month, but they are up nearly 9% in the past week.
For perspective, the benchmark ASX 200 has returned nearly 9% over the past year.
The ASX mining share has a market capitalisation of $26.96 million based on its current share price.
