Golden Deeps wants to conduct a metallurgical test to discover how it can recover the high-grade gallium, germanium, and antimony identified in the Nosib project.
The company has identified gallium as gallium trioxide, grading up to 538 grams per ton, alongside copper, vanadium, lead, silver, germanium and antimony.
Gallium trioxide grades of more than 100g/t are considered high-grade.
Golden Deeps says gallium occurs from intersections with a depth of 50 metres, which is associated with copper, vanadium, lead, silver, germanium, and antimony.
The company identified the gallium when it reviewed historical channel sampling in 2014, and previous drilling done from 2012 to 2023.
Golden Deeps’ review of previous intersections indicates assays of 23 metres at 168g/t Ga2O3, 0.72% copper, 0.54% vanadium, 53.97% lead, and 1.8g/t silver from four metres.
Golden Deeps also found a bulk sample excavated from the surface, featuring 102 g/t Ga2O3, 8.75 Cu, 1.7% Pb, and 27g/t Ag.
Golden Deeps will conduct further sampling and carry out a full assay to identify prospect areas and define new targets across the project.
The company wants to define mineral resources for copper, silver, zinc, lead, vanadium, gallium, germanium and antimony. Golden Deeps CEO Jon Dugdale says the identification of the critical metals enhances the potential value of the polymetallic discovery.
“This gives us scope to significantly build our existing critical metals minerals resources base and enhance the value of our projects for development in an area uniquely endowed with a range of metals critical to the world’s high-tech industries,” Dugdale says.
China produces the world’s 98% gallium used in electronics, solar cells, and semiconductors
