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Thunderbird Resources Limited (Thunderbird or the Company) (ASX: THB) is pleased to advise that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a highly prospective antimony and gold exploration land package in the New England Orogen of New South Wales. The high-potential exploration portfolio is located immediately adjacent to Australia’s largest antimony deposit, the Hillgrove Gold & Antimony Project owned by Larvotto Resources (ASX: LRV) (LRV) (Figures 1 and 2).
Highlights
- Thunderbird enters into binding agreement to acquire a 100% interest in a highly prospective 488km2 exploration portfolio surrounding the Hillgrove Gold-Antimony project, a Top-10 global antimony deposit.
- The package, comprising EL9053 and EL9147, including sampling grades of up to 18.2%3 antimony and 76g/t gold4, sits in the heart of the New England Orogen of NSW, which is currently undergoing a major exploration renaissance.
- EL9053, known as the Rockvale Project, covers potential strike extensions of the gold-antimony mineralisation at Hillgrove and encompasses multiple known gold and antimony occurrences, including numerous high-grade historical workings.
- EL9053 adjoins Larvotto Resources’ (ASX: LRV) Hillgrove Gold & Antimony Project, the largest antimony deposit in Australia, with a Mineral Resource of 7.3Mt @ 4.4g/t Au and 1.3% Sb for 1.04Moz of contained gold and 93kt of contained antimony1,2.
- EL9147, known as the Kookabookra Gold Project, covers multiple gold reefs in the historical high-grade Kookabookra gold field.
- Both Projects are considered highly prospective for the discovery of high-grade orogenic gold +/- antimony mineralisation and intrusion-related gold mineralisation.
- The proposed acquisition provides a low-cost opportunity to explore high-quality assets that offer exposure to very favourable commodities, with the ability to explore and generate newsflow during the northern hemisphere winter when Thunderbird’s Canadian assets are less accessible.
- Antimony is a critical metal used for producing high-tech and defence products, including flame retardant materials, semiconductors and superhard materials. Antimony prices have been rising strongly since China, which dominates global supply, imposed export restrictions earlier this year.
Figure 1: Map showing location of EL9053 (Rockvale) and EL9147(Kookabookra) (shown in red outline).
Thunderbird has entered into a binding share purchase agreement with the shareholders of Kooky Resources Pty Ltd (Kooky Resources) to acquire all the issued share capital of Kooky Resources (Proposed Acquisition).
Kooky Resources holds a 100% interest in exploration licences EL9053 and EL9147, which offer strong prospectivity for high-grade antimony and gold mineralisation.
EL9053 lies directly adjacent to the Hillgrove Gold & Antimony Project held by LRV, which represents the largest antimony deposit in Australia with a Mineral Resource of 7.3Mt @ 4.4g/t Au and 1.3% Sb for 1.04Moz of contained gold and 93kt of contained antimony.
The Hillgrove Gold & Antimony Project is currently being redeveloped by LRV and already has most of the surface infrastructure in place, including the process plant, power, roads, decline and substantial underground development. Leveraging this existing infrastructure, LRV recently announced a positive pre-feasibility study, targeting first ore production by early 20261.
EL9053 covers potential strike extensions of the geology and structures that host the antimony-gold mineralisation at Hillgrove.
Numerous historical prospects and occurrences are reported within EL9053 with sampling grades of up to 18.2%3 antimony and 76g/t4 gold reported. Despite the number of historical gold and antimony occurrences the area has had minimal modern exploration or drilling since the 1980s.
EL9047 covers the historical Kookabookra gold field, which has seen virtually no modern exploration, with multiple gold occurrences and potential for both orogenic gold +/-antimony mineralisation and intrusion related gold mineralisation.
This article includes content from Thunderbird Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
THB:AU
Navigating Uncertainty: How Trump's Tariffs Are Affecting the Gold Market
Read on to learn how tariffs have affected the gold market and price so far.
How have tariffs affected the gold price?
The gold price has been on the rise since the beginning of the year. After briefly touching the US$3,500 per ounce level in May, it has pulled back and was trading just under US$3,400 as of Tuesday (August 26).
Gold price, January 1 to August 26, 2025.
Chart via TradingEconomics.
Although some of its increase is attributable to the points mentioned above, a significant portion is owed to a lack of information surrounding US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Initially there was no clarity on what or who was being tariffed, or when the levies would ultimately be implemented, and investors started to move into gold for greater stability and portfolio diversification.
Uncertainty about whether gold would be tariffed also had an effect, prompting traders in the US to import physical gold; this created a price differential between New York futures and the London spot price.
Concerns dissipated as the Trump administration began to nail down tariffs, but were reignited once again when US Customs and Border Patrol posted a ruling on July 31 indicating that the 39 percent tariffs against imports from Switzerland would include 1 kilogram and 100 ounce gold bars.
The news caused spot gold to spike more than 3 percent, from US$3,290 to US$3,398, and sent December futures to an all-time high of US$3,549. Meanwhile, traders halted imports of Swiss bars.
After several days of turmoil, Trump said the ruling was incorrect, and the bars would not be included in the tariff measures being applied to other Swiss imports; the gold price then retreated.
How would gold tariffs have impacted the market?
Gold functions as both a commodity and an essential part of the world’s financial system.
One kilogram and 100 ounce gold bars are used to back futures trading, and regular shipments of the metal are needed to settle contracts once they come due. A 39 percent tariff on gold from Switzerland would have been particularly disruptive, as Swiss refineries account for approximately 70 percent of the world’s gold.
According to the UN Comtrade database, in 2024, Switzerland exported more than 1,400 metric tons of unwrought gold worth more than US$106 billion, representing nearly 30 percent of the country’s total exports. Tariffs would have forced US buyers to pay a significant premium for the precious metal versus buyers in London or Shanghai.
Because gold is often used as a store of value in times of uncertainty, any kind of disruption could have had broader implications for investors looking to add stability to their portfolios.
In an email to the Investing News Network (INN), Lauren Saidel-Baker, CFA, an economist with ITR Economics, explained that gold stands out as a unique investment mechanism:
“There are psychological nuances to gold, which is commonly viewed as a safe store of value during uncertain times and an inflation hedge. Overall, the tariff would have added another facet to the already elevated policy uncertainty."
If the tariffs had remained in place, the US gold price would have had to rise to around US$4,700 per ounce to cover levies, while international prices would have remained closer to the US$3,500 mark.
“Tariffs have already complicated supply chains across industries, and this gold tariff would have been another example of added cost and complexity — but in this case, one with the potential to more directly impact investment activities,” Saidel-Baker went on to explain, emphasizing that US investors would have felt the pinch.
Could gold tariffs happen in the future?
Given Trump's unpredictability, especially when it comes to tariffs, it's possible that gold levies could enter the conversation again. However, by and large experts agree that the matter is closed.
“I think it’s pretty clear at this point that there’s no intention to put tariffs on physical gold imports, and I think that would be very damaging and destructive if they did,” Stefan Gleason, CEO of Money Metals, told INN.
Keith Weiner, founder and CEO of Monetary Metals, offered another perspective, saying that although the gold tariff threat is over, the tumult could have long-term effects on the market.
"Once you've put the scare into everybody, you can't just say, 'Oh, sorry, just kidding.' You can't really do that. And so now we've done damage, and we'll see what happens to that spread over time. We'll see how users of the futures market adapt. There are other markets in the world that would be competing for," he explained.
"This hedging business, you know, maybe it moves to Singapore, maybe it moves to Dubai, maybe it moves to London, and the US loses not only a little more trust, but also a little bit of volume on what had been the biggest — or what is currently the biggest — futures market," Weiner added to INN.
Market participants will be watching closely for future impacts on the yellow metal.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.