Black Canyon (ASX:BCA) is conducting a diamond drilling campaign at its Wandanya Project in Western Australia to connect manganese and iron mineralisation delineated from reverse circulation drillholes.
The company will drill up to 500m, with manganese samples to be tested for material classification, mineralogy, density-based beneficiation, recovery trends and potential product specifications.
Black Canyon previously returned concentrate of 44% manganese from initial heavy liquid separation testwork when using a specific gravity or liquid density of 2.85 grams per cm on a reverse circulation drill chip sample, achieving an overall recovery of 80%.
Meanwhile, iron oxide samples will be collected to determine physical characteristics, chemical specifications of potential products and for grade uplift studies, which will follow crushing and screening activities.
The company will conduct a heritage survey at the end of the month, ahead of infill and extensional reverse circulation drilling scheduled for 2026, after the wet season.
Managing Director Brendan Cummins says this drilling campaign will be complemented with a detailed metallurgical assessment and pre-development activities.
“The success of our exploration programs at Wandanya continues to reinforce the consistency and predictability of the high-grade manganese and iron mineralisation identified to date,” Cummins says.
“This next phase of work will provide critical data to refine our processing and product specification knowledge, building on the strong results from earlier beneficiation testwork that delivered a premium manganese concentrate using simple, low-cost methods.
“With our pre-development activities advancing in parallel with exploration and strong funding support in place, we are well positioned to continue unlocking the value of the Wandanya Project and progress it toward future development.”
As reported by Mining.com.au, Black Canyon finalised its acquisition of privately held Ndalamo Platinum last week, buying into six tenements surrounding the Wandanya Project.
The company is currently compiling datasets to expedite drilling at the tenements. Drilling intends to test outcropping and potential southern extensions to the Wandanya system.
Black Canyon is a manganese-focused developer and explorer focused on advancing its Western Australian assets.
The company will be attending this week’s Noosa Mining Investor Conference, held between 12-14 November 2025, at the Peppers Noosa Resort. Mining.com.au is a media partner for this year’s event.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Black Canyon
