Lightning Minerals Confirms Expanding High-Grade Tungsten System With Drill Program Ahead
Key Takeaways
- Phase 2 rock chip sampling returned 5 of 6 samples above 1% W, with a peak of 5.5% W from surface vein quartz — establishing Warby as a genuinely high-grade tungsten system, not a marginal one.
- Soil anomalies across four lines remain open to the northeast, southwest, north, and west, meaning the system boundaries have not yet been defined and the mineralised footprint is still expanding.
- Drainage pan concentrate sampling across 4.3 km² returned peak assays of 44,800 ppm W and 41,700 ppm Sn, confirming regional-scale tungsten-tin dispersion well beyond the historical WW1-era workings.
- The 13-kilometre Angore Granite contact — the prospective structural corridor hosting the mineralisation — remains largely untested, representing the primary scale upside for the project.
- Phase 3 soil extension and infill sampling has been immediately commenced to vector a maiden drill program, making a drill catalyst the clear near-term milestone for L1M investors.
Phase 2 confirms a much larger tungsten system at Warby
Lightning Minerals (ASX: L1M) has released integrated Phase 2 exploration results from its 100%-owned Warby Tungsten Project in North Queensland, approximately 25 kilometres north of Mount Surprise, confirming a mineralised system substantially larger than previously interpreted. The results — drawn from 149 total samples comprising 91 soils, 17 pan concentrates, 20 rock chips, and 21 reference samples — show soil anomalies open in multiple directions with no boundaries yet defined, and rock chips returning up to 5.5% W with 5 of 6 Phase 2 samples exceeding 1% W. A Phase 3 soil extension program has been immediately fast-tracked to vector a maiden drill program.
These WW1-era workings are being tested with modern exploration techniques for the first time, and what Phase 2 reveals is that the known historical workings represent only a fraction of the broader vein swarm.
The initial tungsten discovery at Warby established the project’s geological foundation, with Phase 1 work identifying the WW1-era vein swarm as a target warranting systematic modern exploration for the first time.
Managing Director Troy Brice
“Importantly, what began as a tungsten target is now showing the hallmarks of other minerals, with gold, tin and copper emerging alongside exceptional tungsten grades of up to 5.5% W. This adds material optionality for shareholders as we advance the project…”
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What the Phase 2 results actually show
Three distinct data streams — soil geochemistry, drainage pan concentrates, and rock chip sampling — collectively build a picture of a mineralised footprint that extends well beyond the known workings.
Soil geochemistry
Reconnaissance soil lines were spaced approximately 250 metres apart, with samples collected at 25 metre spacing. A value above 30 ppm W is considered strongly anomalous at this stage; values above 100 ppm W are interpreted as proximal to bedrock mineralisation.
The results across four lines indicate multiple concealed veins beneath poorly outcropping terrain:
- Lines 1 and 2 returned continuous >50 ppm W anomalism over approximately 200 metres and 125 metres respectively, with both zones open to the northeast
- Line 3 returned a peak of 41 ppm W with adjacent anomalous samples, interpreted as a likely concealed vein response
- Line 4 returned contiguous anomalous W values including 72 ppm W and 55 ppm W, indicating another likely vein at depth
Critically, anomalies remain open in multiple directions. The system boundaries have not yet been defined.
Drainage pan concentrates
Panned concentrate sampling covered approximately 4.3 km² of active drainage systems, confirming significant tungsten-tin dispersion across a regional footprint extending well beyond the historical workings. Peak assays reached 44,800 ppm W and 41,700 ppm Sn.
The broader Angore Granite contact zone extends 13 kilometres, with the majority of this prospective strike length still untested.
Rock chip highlights
Phase 2 rock chips delivered a standout strike rate: 5 of 6 samples returned greater than 1% W, with a peak result of 5.5% W from Sample 106165, described as milky white vein quartz with abundant coarse wolframite blades. This is not a single exceptional outlier — it reflects consistent high-grade tungsten vein mineralisation at surface.
Sample 106161 returned 2.22 ppm Au, 0.21% Sn, and 1.31% W, confirming a multi-element W-Sn-Au association approximately 50 metres west of a Phase 1 sample. Two primary tungsten minerals — wolframite and scheelite — have been confirmed in veins, with scheelite also recorded in wall rock via UV fluorescence, indicating potentially higher in-situ grades.
The company cautions that rock chip samples are selective in nature and may not represent average grades or continuity of mineralisation across the broader system.
| Dataset | Key Result | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Soils | Contiguous >30 ppm W anomalism | Known and potential concealed veins detected under poor outcrop conditions |
| Drainage | Widespread W and Sn; peak 44,800 ppm W and 41,700 ppm Sn | Mineralised footprint extends well beyond known historical workings |
| Rock chips | 5 of 6 Phase 2 samples >1.00% W; peak 5.46% W | Confirms high grades at surface within tungsten quartz vein mineralisation |
Why tungsten matters right now
Tungsten is one of the most strategically significant metals you may never have heard of. It holds the highest melting point of any metal and combines that with exceptional hardness, making it indispensable in cutting tools, drill bits, aerospace alloys, and armour-piercing applications. There is no practical substitute for it in many of these uses.
Several Western governments have classified tungsten as a critical mineral precisely because the global supply chain is dangerously concentrated. China dominates the production and processing of tungsten, and recent export restrictions imposed by China have tightened global supply conditions considerably. That creates a structural problem for manufacturers and defence industries in stable Western economies.
The response has been an intensifying focus — from both governments and industry — on securing alternative tungsten supply from politically stable jurisdictions:
- Tungsten is classified as a critical mineral by multiple Western governments due to its importance across industrial manufacturing, infrastructure, and defence
- China remains the dominant global supplier of processed tungsten products
- Recent Chinese export restrictions have tightened supply conditions for Western consumers
- Government and industry attention is increasingly directed at identifying supply from stable Western jurisdictions
- Warby’s location in North Queensland positions L1M directly within this supply-security narrative
For investors, the macro tailwind here is not speculative. It is driven by policy, procurement, and geopolitical reality — and an Australian tungsten project at this stage of discovery sits at a compelling point in that story.
Phase 3 fast-tracked: vectoring a maiden drill program
The word “immediately” in Lightning Minerals’ announcement is doing real work. Phase 3 has not been scheduled — it has been commenced, with soil extension and infill sampling already underway to define anomalies that remain open to the northeast, southwest, north, and west.
The numbered sequence of next steps is clear:
- Phase 3 soil extension and infill program commenced immediately to delineate the full extent of open anomalies
- Phase 3 results will be used to vector a maiden drill program
- Subject to Phase 3 results: additional pan concentrate drainage sampling along the 13 km Angore Granite contact; LiDAR data acquisition to assist in delineating concealed historical workings; prioritisation of areas for trenching and drilling
The significance of the 13 km Angore Granite contact being largely untested cannot be overstated for scale purposes. The known workings — WW1-vintage artisanal operations that have largely collapsed with limited surface outcrop — represent only a fraction of what may exist along this contact. Phase 2 has confirmed the system is bigger than the workings. Phase 3 is designed to find out how much bigger.
Eight distinct vein systems have now been identified across the Warby project area, a structural pattern consistent with the broad soil anomalism and drainage dispersion confirming that the mineralised footprint extends well beyond the historically worked zones.
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The investment case for L1M
Three threads run through the Warby story, and Phase 2 has strengthened all of them.
The first is grade. Rock chips at 5.5% W at surface, with a strike rate of 5 of 6 samples exceeding 1% W, establish Warby as a high-grade tungsten vein system. The second is scale. Soil anomalies open in multiple directions, a 13 km prospective granite contact largely untested, and regional W-Sn dispersion across more than 4 km² of drainage — none of this has a boundary yet. The third is optionality. The confirmed W-Sn-Au-Cu association means Warby is not a single-commodity story; it is a multi-element system in an early-stage discovery phase.
The asset is 100%-owned, located in a Tier 1 Australian jurisdiction, and has never been subjected to systematic modern exploration before this year. A maiden drill program sits on the near-term horizon as the logical next catalyst, contingent on Phase 3 results defining the priority targets. For investors following the critical minerals supply-security theme, L1M’s Warby project offers direct exposure to an expanding, open-ended tungsten system at exactly the stage where discovery value is typically created.
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