GreenTech Holds 30% in West Coast Silver’s Adjacent Silver Prospect
Key Takeaways
- WCE has been granted Prospecting Licence P47/2033 covering the Elizabeth Hill West (EHW) prospect, held 70% by WCE subsidiary Crest Silver and 30% by GreenTech Metals (ASX: GRE), sitting immediately adjacent to the Elizabeth Hill Mine Lease.
- Historical operators at EHW focused on nickel, copper and PGEs — of 521 drill samples, only 7 were tested for silver above detection limits, leaving the silver prospectivity of the ground almost entirely unassessed.
- Existing historical results already show silver anomalism, including 5 m @ 5.2 g/t Ag with 19,000 ppm Cu and 220 ppb Pd from Trench C52, and 1 m @ 11 g/t Ag from 65 m depth in RC hole EHRC11.
- EHW sits along the same Munni Munni Fault Zone corridor where JV partner GreenTech Metals recently confirmed a high-grade platinum discovery, reinforcing the structural prospectivity of the contact zone.
- WCE now holds a contiguous 180 km² tenement package across the Munni Munni Fault system, with EHW filling the gap west of the Elizabeth Hill mine lease and strengthening the company's near-mine exploration pipeline.
West Coast Silver secures priority silver ground directly adjacent to Elizabeth Hill
West Coast Silver Limited (ASX: WCE) has been granted Prospecting Licence P47/2033, covering the Elizabeth Hill West (EHW) Prospect immediately adjacent to the Elizabeth Hill Mine Lease M47/342. The tenement is held 70% by Crest Silver Pty Ltd, a wholly owned WCE subsidiary, and 30% by GreenTech Holdings Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of GreenTech Metals (ASX: GRE). EHW adds a new priority near-mine silver target to WCE’s exploration pipeline within 1 km of the historical Elizabeth Hill silver mine.
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Why Elizabeth Hill West matters
Location and geological setting
EHW lies immediately west of, and shares a boundary with, the Elizabeth Hill Mining Lease (M47/342), along the contact between the Munni Munni Intrusion and the Cherratta Granitoid Complex. Several prominent structures intersect this contact zone, including a regional fault subparallel to the mineralisation-hosting Munni Munni Fault Zone (MMFZ).
GreenTech Metals, the 30% JV partner in EHW, recently confirmed a high-grade platinum discovery at Munni Munni, reinforcing the PGE prospectivity of the broader fault system that the Elizabeth Hill West prospect sits along.
From a landholding perspective, securing EHW fills the gap west of the Elizabeth Hill mine lease, enabling natural organic exploration expansion across tenement boundaries into the most prospective surrounding ground.
What the historical data already shows
EHW is not a greenfields conceptual target. Historical operators identified mineralisation across the prospect, and key results include:
- 5 m @ 5.2 g/t Ag, 19,000 ppm Cu and 220 ppb Pd (Trench C52, ECM 1997) along the ultramafic-granite contact (note: historical trench intervals are considered approximate)
- 1 m @ 11 g/t Ag from 65 m downhole (RC hole EHRC11, within ultramafics)
- Coherent surface silver anomalies spatially associated with interpreted structures and the ultramafic-granite contact
The critical context: previous operators focused on Ni, Cu and platinum group elements (PGE), and silver was frequently not even analysed. Of 521 historical drill samples tested for silver, only 7 returned results above detection limits. This is not a negative signal — it reflects the incomplete nature of historical silver assaying and underscores the untested potential that WCE intends to systematically address.
A fresh silver-focused lens on underexplored ground
Why the historical data was incomplete
Historical work at EHW was predominantly directed toward nickel, copper and PGE mineralisation. Silver assaying was inconsistent or absent across many programs. In plain terms: previous explorers were looking for different metals, so they often didn’t test for silver at all.
This creates a genuine re-evaluation opportunity. WCE can apply the geological and structural understanding it has developed at the adjacent Elizabeth Hill project to systematically reassess ground that has never been subject to a silver-focused exploration program. The anomalism is real and already defined — the question is what a targeted approach will reveal.
Sergei Smolonogov, CEO, West Coast Silver
“The tenement has been a longstanding missing piece of known silver anomalism and base metal mineralisation adjoining the Elizabeth Hill Mining Lease… Much of the earlier work was focused on nickel, copper and platinum group elements, providing an opportunity to undertake a more systematic silver-focused evaluation of the prospect.”
The three-phase exploration workflow
WCE proposes to advance EHW through a staged exploration programme designed to progressively refine and test the highest-priority silver targets:
- Phase 1 — Consolidate/Validate: Compile and reinterpret historical drilling, trenching, geochemistry and geophysics; reassess holes not previously assayed for silver; undertake field mapping, geological validation and targeted surface sampling
- Phase 2 — Define Drill Targets: Targeted IP and other geophysical surveys (CSAMT, Gravity, EM) across priority structural corridors; integrate geochemistry, historical drilling and geophysics to rank discrete silver targets and determine potential drill orientations
- Phase 3 — Test EHW: Subject to outcomes of target-definition work, design and undertake first-pass scout drilling (aircore and/or RC) on the highest-ranked targets
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Elizabeth Hill West within WCE’s broader exploration pipeline
The Elizabeth Hill Silver Project — a high-grade foundation
Elizabeth Hill is one of Australia’s highest-grade silver projects based on historical production grades, with a proven production history. A total of 1.2 Moz of silver was produced from just 16,830t of ore at a head grade of 2,194 g/t (70.5 oz/t Ag). Mining operations ceased in 2000 as a result of low silver prices (approximately US$5/oz).
The Elizabeth Hill deposit remains open at depth and along strike, with resource expansion potential. The project is located approximately 12 km from the Artemis Resources Radio Hill processing facility.
EHW adds to a growing near-mine pipeline
The table below summarises the key historical results at EHW that define the silver and multi-element opportunity:
| Result Type | Sample / Hole ID | Key Assay Result | Commodity Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historical trench (approximate interval) | Trench C52 (ECM 1997) | 5 m @ 5.2 g/t Ag, 19,000 ppm Cu, 220 ppb Pd | Silver, copper and palladium along ultramafic-granite contact |
| RC drill intersection | EHRC11 | 1 m @ 11 g/t Ag from 65 m | Silver within ultramafics at depth |
| Surface soil geochemistry | Combined WCE/ECM dataset | Coherent silver anomalies along northwest- to west-trending ultramafic-granite contact | Structurally controlled silver target zone |
| Multi-element anomalism | Various trenches and RC holes | Anomalous Cu, Ni and Pd across multiple holes and costeans | Cu, Ni and Pd targets complementary to silver focus |
The addition of EHW also strengthens WCE’s broader near-mine exploration position. Through consolidation of surrounding land packages, the company holds a contiguous 180 km² tenement package across the Munni Munni Fault system, with EHW now the newest priority near-mine addition to a suite of regional targets being advanced across the wider project area.
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