Australia-based exploration and tin production company, Aus Tin Mining Limited (ASX: ANW) has released impressive drill results from its Mt Cobalt cobalt‐nickel project in Queensland.
The recent diamond drilling results include high‐grade nickel intersections up to 1.6%Ni near surface at Mt Cobalt. ANW said that the existence of shear‐zones north of previous drilling extends target zone to 500m long x 25m wide and open at depth.
Aus Tin Mining said that a high silver assay averaging 116 g/t over a 13m interval from surface were reported for sludge samples.
The Company said that it will focus the next phase of exploration at Mt Cobalt to further field reconnaissance and mapping for shear zones west of the target zone in order to develop further drill targets.
Mt Cobalt Project
Aus Tin Mining’s 100%-owned Mt Cobalt project is located 40km west of Gympie in Queensland. The Company has identified a new cobalt target south of Mt Cobalt centred on a recently identified historic mine, and this new zone extends the overall cobalt target to approximately 800m in length.
Diamond Drilling Program
In April 2019 ANW completed a program of five diamond drill holes for a total 153.6m to test potential extensions of mineralisation below and along strike from historic workings at Mt Cobalt. The latest program employed HQ triple tube diamond drilling but recovery was lower than desired in areas of broken ground associated with the shear zone.
The company said that the sampling was selective over the length of the holes reflecting intervals of poor core recovery (HQ) due to the extremely broken ground.
Shallow High‐grade Intersections
The company said that results from this most recent drilling confirm the occurrence of high‐grade nickel at relatively shallow depths in a new zone north of where previous drilling has been conducted. Interestingly, elevated cobalt or manganese assays were absent in this latest program.
The significant intersections include:
- 0.4m @ 1.19% Ni, 149ppm Co from 11.6m;
- 0.9m @ 1.62% Ni, 125ppm Co from 16.4m; and
- 0.4m @ 0.97% Ni, 222ppm Co from 13.1m & 0.4m @ 1.02% Ni, 155ppm Co from 13.6m, 1.0m @ 1.10% Ni, 152ppm Co from 16m, 0.5m @ 1.14% Ni, 229ppm Co from 40.2m & 0.2m @ 1.10% Ni, 285ppm Co from 44.8m.
Meanwhile, sludge samples were collected for selected intervals and notable was a high silver assay averaging 116 g/t over a 13m interval from surface.
Target Zone Extended
Aus Tin Mining said that the shear zones observed in the latest drilling program support the previous interpretation of a possible continuation of the shear zone in a north west direction and possible extension of the target zone.
It may be noted that in 2018, a 350m target zone was defined over a sinusoidal folded and sheared zone in the host serpentinite. This latest drilling has extended the target zone by a further 150m, to a total 500m long x 25m wide and open at depth.
ANW said that it will continue to explore this northern extension in due course.
Future Plans
The Company announced that it will focus the next phase of exploration at Mt Cobalt to further field reconnaissance and mapping for shear zones west of the target zone in order to develop further drill targets.
In the 2018 program, a sludge sample from the southern end of the target zone had returned a silver grade of 247 g/t over 43m from surface. Currently, the company is examining any potential connection between the latest sludge sample result and the 2018 result.
The Company said that it also plans to examine the results against the high‐grade copper‐silver Silver Valley prospect located two kilometers south‐east of Mt Cobalt where historic drilling results have included 21m @ 1.0%Cu, 99g/t Ag including 1.5m @ 6.2%Cu, 582 g/t Ag4.