Black Canyon (ASX:BCA) has been awarded a $122,500 co-funded drilling grant for an upcoming phase-two reverse circulation drilling program at the Wandanya Project in Western Australia.
Under the Western Australian Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme, funds are allocated to companies to encourage innovative drilling programs that can lead to discovery.
Black Canyon, which has a market capitalisation of $7.77 million, plans to drill 150 holes for 3,000m to test along strike and down dip of the Wandanya iron and manganese targets.
The Wandanya hydrothermal manganese and iron discovery represents a new exploration model on the eastern margin of the Oakover Basin, where Black Canyon has only drill tested 240m of strike of the 3km long manganese target.
Managing Director Brendan Cummins says the EIS program is highly competitive, but the company’s proposal was able to show the technical merit and innovative exploration model for the Wandanya targets to receive the funding.
“The project already has a large, mineralised footprint extending over 3km in outcrop based on mapping and rock chip sampling but has seen little drilling to date,” Cummins says.
“Our initial drill program confirmed the proof-of-concept with the discovery of consistent, well-mineralised and continuous horizons of high-grade manganese. The next phase of drilling into Wandanya will continue to test this high-grade horizon and look to extend the mineralisation down dip to the east.”
Further reverse circulation drilling is planned to test the full 3km strike potential of the outcropping targets and cross strike width between 600m and 900m. The timing of phase three will be dependent on the results from phase two.
The company’s co-funded grant comes after the Western Australian Government spent $11.2 million in the latest round of funding for the EIS.
As Mining.com.au previously reported, the state government says encouragingly, about 50% of the applicants receiving funds for drilling are targeting critical minerals while 75% of the co-funded geophysics ventures are focused on discovering new deposits.
Black Canyon has consolidated a landholding of 1,700km2 in the underexplored Balfour Manganese Field and across the Oakover Basin in Western Australia.
The company will be attending the RIU Sydney Resources Round-up being held from 6-8 May. Mining.com.au is an official media partner at this year’s event.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Black Canyon
