Canadian mineral exploration company Thunderstruck Resources Ltd. has commenced diamond drilling at its Liwa gold-silver project in southern Viti Levu, Fiji, in the first systematic test of approximately two kilometres of prospective strike extent.
In a statement dated 20 October, the company said the initial programme would target three of four known gold-silver prospects: Liwa Ridge, Jensen’s and Lower Vatuvatulevu.
The first four drill holes are expected to be completed by mid-December 2026, weather permitting, with initial assay results expected shortly afterwards.
Previous rock-chip and float sampling at Liwa returned elevated gold and silver values, including 41.6 grams per tonne of gold and 1,205 grams per tonne of silver from a float sample at Lower Vatuvatulevu.
The drilling programme is being undertaken by contractor Huakan Group using a track-mounted HYDX-6F rig.
Thunderstruck President and Chief Executive Officer Bryce Bradley said successive field campaigns had generated several high-quality targets for systematic drilling.
“Successive field campaigns at Liwa by Thunderstruck have generated a series of high quality gold-silver targets which we now have the opportunity to drill test in a systematic fashion for the very first time,” Bradley said.
He said the company, in partnership with its new major shareholder, Zhaojin International Gold Co. Ltd, and contractor Huakan Group, aimed to improve its geological understanding of the project and assess its resource potential.
The company interprets the mineralisation at Liwa as an intermediate-sulphidation style, with gold-silver deposits often controlled by northeast-trending fault zones and associated with kaolinite-poor argillic alteration.
Subject to weather conditions, Thunderstruck expects to move its drilling programme to the Korokayiu zinc-copper volcanogenic massive sulphide project in the first quarter of 2027.
Further drilling at the adjacent Rama porphyry copper-gold cluster and Nakoro zinc-copper massive sulphide targets is expected later in 2027.
Thunderstruck holds 100% ownership of two granted Special Prospecting Licences covering approximately 336 square kilometres in southern Viti Levu. The licences include the Liwa gold-silver, Rama copper-gold, Nakoro zinc-copper and Korokayiu zinc-copper projects.
The company also announced the grant of 200,000 incentive stock options to employees and consultants. The options were granted at an exercise price of C$0.11 and were initially stated to have a five-year exercise period, with an expiry date of 10 November 2028.
It also corrected an earlier announcement dated 30 June 2026, stating that 2.45 million options had been granted, rather than the 2.55 million initially reported.
Separately, the company said it had terminated a previously announced private placement of common shares at C$0.15 each. It anticipates a future fundraising in the fourth quarter of 2026, with details to be announced when determined.
Thunderstruck is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol AWE and on the US over-the-counter market under THURF. Its exploration portfolio focuses on copper-gold porphyry, epithermal gold-silver and base-metal deposits in Fiji.
