Source : THE AGE NEWS
Viking Mines has kicked off a suite of detailed ground geophysics programs at its flagship Linka tungsten project in Nevada, as it seeks to unlock the strategic subsurface potential of the high-grade skarn system.
The company says it has mobilised contractors to conduct a highly detailed ground gravity survey to identify the key target contact between sedimentary and intrusive rock units where the skarn deposition is most likely.
The testing will scour for direct signatures from the denser tungsten-bearing skarn mineralisation against the lighter host rocks, while a broader magnetic survey sweeps the area at the same time.
Together, the two geophysical surveys are designed to better define the key target horizon and map geological structures beneath the Bates Mountain Tuff – a volcanic lid sitting over the older mineralised system – as well as across the older exposed host rocks along the Linka mineralised corridor.
Historical work points to a large mineralised system hiding beneath cover, with the known zone already poking out at surface along an impressive 820 metres of strike.
‘These surveys will provide key new datasets to build our 3D geological model and identify the most prospective zones prior to drilling.’
Viking Mines managing director/CEO Julian Woodcock
Viking says it is also assessing the potential for an Induced Polarisation (IP) survey to exploit resistivity contrasts in the rocks, which could deliver precise 3D vectors for eventual drill targeting.
Geophysics is scheduled to wrap up within about two weeks, with initial results anticipated by late February. The company says its precision-led approach will ensure everything is ready for a maiden April drilling programme targeting the highest-value interpreted parts of the mineralised system.
Viking Mines managing director and chief executive officer Julian Woodcock said: “These surveys will provide key new datasets to build our 3D geological model and identify the most prospective zones prior to drilling. We are testing for specific density and magnetic contrasts that, if successful, will serve as a direct targeting tool across our entire claim block.”
The Linka project sits within Viking’s broader Nevada tungsten portfolio, which the company scooped up in December last year.
The acquisition covers six projects with a combined historical production of around 123,000 tonnes of ore at 0.54 per cent tungsten oxide from four of the sites.
Linka itself features mineralisation across three old mines along the outcropping 820m of strike, with extensions emerging to the northeast and southwest beneath shallow cover.
Previous work by the company at Linka has already delivered impressive high-grade channel-sampling results, including a 6.1-metre section grading 1.50 per cent tungsten oxide, a 6.1-metre sample at 0.96 per cent and 1.5m running at 2.11 per cent. These numbers sit alongside drill intercepts such as 10.1m at 0.79 per cent tungsten oxide from 39.6m.
Recent face rock sampling has reinforced the upside, with standout assays reaching a whopping 14.7 per cent tungsten oxide at Conquest, an old timer’s pit.
The historic production pedigree adds weight to the story. Linka supported a 360-tonne-per-day mill back in 1955 that processed ore from the three mines, with high-grade stopes reporting up to three per cent tungsten oxide.
Tungsten’s official status as a critical mineral in the United States, coupled with tightly concentrated global supply chains and firm pricing over the past year, is creating a powerful macro backdrop for the Linka project.
Add in its home-ground advantage in a Tier-1 mining jurisdiction — with clear pathways to potential government backing for strategic materials — and the project starts to look as geopolitically important as it is geologically compelling.
With modern high-resolution geophysics now in the field, the company is accelerating its path towards drilling to test the full extent of the high-grade Linka system as the April truth test fast approaches.
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