Shares in base and precious metals player Rumble Resources Ltd (ASX: RTR) are stepping lower today and are now trading around 3% in the red at 36.5 cents.
Today's decline extends a 2-month long downside move for the Rumble share price, having come off a high of 56.5 cents in October to now trade at half-yearly lows. As such, shareholders have endured a 35% loss on their investment in that time.
The trend has continued this week, even after the company provided a set of positive updates on its Earaheedy project.
Investors haven't responded positively to this company announcement on Monday where Rumble advised it had intersected a new zinc-lead-silver (Zn-Pb-Ag) discovery at the Earaheedy site. Here are the details.
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What's up with the Rumble Resources share price?
Rumble advised that the ongoing scoping drill program at the Earaheedy Project has led to a new Zn-Pb-Ag discovery named "Tonka". The site is located only 8km southeast of the Chinook Discovery, per the release.
As a result of this discovery, the 2021 drilling program has now been expanded to over 50,000 metres in order to define the limits of the new zone at Tonka.
Rumble says that the mineralised footprint is 1.7km (strike) by 1km (dip length) and is open in all directions. Assay results have already been received and compiled for the first 17 drill holes.
With respect to the drill results, an intercept of 22 metres at 4.27% Zn+Pb, 5.40g/t Ag from 110 metres was reported in one hole, whilst drilling 1200m to the northwest of the main section intersected 16m at 1.38% Zn+Pb, 6.39 g/t Ag from 49 metres.
Further, a large fault system heading from north to south has been interpreted to occur along the southwest portion of Tonka, Rumble says.
Broad and "significant low-grade Zn – Pb mineralisation" was intersected and is associated with "extensive fracturing of a purple siltstone and shale unit that underlies a clastic sedimentary unit made up of siltstones and shales, sandstone and marl". The company terms this unit the Navajoh Unconformity Unit or NUU for short.
This new style of Zn-Pb mineralization with elevated copper is associated with wide zones of "small pervasive sulphidic veinlets" within the purple siltstone and shale, the release notes.
The large fracture zone of this Zn-Pb mineralization hosted in the Purple Shale/Siltstone represents "a very significant target with the potential for large-scale structural positions".
Management commentary
Speaking on the announcement, Rumble Resources managing director, Shane Sikora said:
As predicted, our expanding broad spaced regional scoping drilling is uncovering further mineralisation and potential new large-scale Zn-Pb deposits within this very fertile district. Like the Chinook Discovery, the exciting new Tonka Discovery has the potential to significantly increase in size from its current 1.7km x 1km footprint, due to its open shallow flat lying orientation, association with a regionally extensive unconformity and is open in all directions.
Sikora added:
The ongoing regional scoping drilling success has emphasized the potential for more discoveries in multiple host
units throughout the 45km's of strike, highlighting we have only started to scratch the surface of unlocking the world class potential of the Earaheedy Project. We look forward to announcing further assay results from the drilling program as they are received over the coming weeks.
Despite the short-term downside, the Rumble Resources share price is still up more than 204% in the last 12 months, after rallying another 217% this year to date.
