Legacy Minerals (ASX:LGM) reports the receipt of diamond drilling assays by its exploration alliance partner Earth AI at its Fontenoy Project warrants follow-up work after encountering ‘strong’ nickel-copper-platinum group element anomalism.
The $13.70 million market capitalisation company says there is an opportunity to follow-up with electrical geophysics for future drill targeting, alongside surface geochemical surveys which will target platinum group element (PGE)-related mineralisation that may further define drill targets for testing.
Diamond drilling is also being planned to follow-up on these results.
Legacy is undertaking the work after receiving diamond drilling assays from Fontenoy by its exploration alliance partner Earth Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Christopher Byrne says the driving force behind this discovery is the implementation of AI through Earth AI.
“In their search for magmatic-related nickel-copper sulphides and PGE’s, this is genuine frontier exploration in an area previously known for its scandium-nickel-cobalt laterite deposits.
What is also impressive is that this is the first confirmed discovery of magmatic-related nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation in the 700km long ultramafic belt that hosts the Fontenoy Project.
Whilst the Earth AI team is at an early stage in the discovery, the grades, width and extensive prospective strike length mean this discovery is wide open for further exciting news to come.”
Earth AI completed drilling with 3 holes for 1,633.7m at Fontenoy, alongside implementing its AI deposit targeting system which generated a range of drill targets across the tenement.
Through ground-truthing, the potential for magmatic-related nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation was identified.
Legacy reports drillhole EFO7D recorded 34m @ 0.5 grams per tonne (g/t) 3E PGE, including a ‘higher grade’ zone of 10m @ 1.2g/t 3E PGE, 0.2% nickel and 891 parts per million copper from 388m.
Legacy Minerals previously announced it had signed an exploration alliance agreement with Earth AI covering its Fontenoy project. As part of the agreement, Earth AI will contribute up to $4.5 million of total exploration costs across the tenement over a 2-year period, with an option to extend for a further year.
The Fontenoy Project contains disseminated and veined copper-gold mineralisation over a 8km strike length in the Lachlan Fold Belt of New South Wales.
Earth AI is a vertically integrated metals explorer based in San Francisco, US.
Legacy Minerals is a mineral explorer focused on its gold, copper, and base metal assets in the Lachlan Fold Belt.
As of 31 December 2023, the company had $1.601 million cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Legacy Minerals
