Aim-listed Wishbone Gold is exercising its exclusive option to acquire the Silver Lake high-grade silver project, in the Carnarvon basin of Western Australia.

To exercise the option to acquire Silver Lake, Wishbone will issue 3.5-million new ordinary shares at a price of £0.29 apiece, which equates to £1.035-million, to pay the vendors by May 29.

“We believe Silver Lake has the potential to be a high-value opportunity which complements our exploration work at Red Setter and gives us an exciting project that we can work all year round.

“Silver Lake broadens the company’s commodity exposure in the precious metals and strengthens its exploration pipeline,” says Wishbone chairperson Richard Poulden.

Historic drilling and chip sampling has identified very promising shallow silver mineralisation along a 35 km corridor. The historical data of Silver Lake highlights multiple opportunities for follow-up exploration. Rock chip sampling, for example, has returned silver grades of 847 g/t at the Tarrawarra deposit and 410 g/t at the Cardabia Creek 7 deposit.

The Gibraltar-headquartered company’s total issued and voting share capital upon admission of the new ordinary shares will comprise just under 38-million shares.

Wishbone believes the stratigraphic nature of mineralisation has significant scale potential, with prospects identified up to 4.7 km from potential causative fault structures. Current models suggest a 35-km-long by 10-km-wide basin.

Poulden expects silver demand to rise substantially owing to major increases in its use for electric vehicles, AI infrastructure and data centres, and solar panels. These industries already account for around 50% of global consumption and are projected to increase beyond this.

Additionally, he explains Silver Lake is an easily accessible location close to main roads and a seaport. The tenement terrain is flat and with the subtropical climate, the area lends itself well to near-year-round drilling.

Silver Lake is located approximately 1 000 km north of Perth, 135 km south of Exmouth and 200 km south-west of Onslow, the main port for the region’s iron and liquefied natural gas exports.

In respect of next exploration steps, Wishbone has appointed Apex Geoscience for compilation and reinterpretation of historical geological, geophysical and drilling results, with a field crew expected to be on site in June to start active exploration efforts.

The exploration will focus on validation of previously identified mineralised structures and targets, which will enable the finalisation of a drill programme to test priority targets through auger or air-core drilling during the third quarter.