Centaurus Metals (ASX: CTM) announced that it has confirmed a number of priority drill targets at the Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project in Carajás Mineral Province of northern Brazil, after receiving highly encouraging initial results from re-processing of historical EM survey data.
The company said that the re-modelling of existing EM data confirms large surface and down-hole EM conductors including a 600m long plate coincident with a historical intercept of 7.9m @ 5.27% Ni.
CTM reported that exceptional initial results were received from re-processing of existing FLEM and DHEM survey data from the Jaguar project, done by geophysical consulting group, Southern Geoscience.
The company said that the re-processing of the data’s initial results confirmed a 400m long FLEM conductor at the Onça-Preta Deposit and a 600m long EM conductor plate at the Onça-Rosa Target.
CTM reported that Southern Geoscience continues to work on the FLEM and DHEM survey data from the remaining Jaguar Deposit area with more results expected in the coming weeks.
The Company announced that its maiden diamond drilling program is planned to commence towards the end of October with holes to test the newly-identified EM conductor plates.
Centaurus said that significant opportunity exists at the Jaguar Project to establish a high‐grade JORC Mineral Resource over the coming months, with multiple shallow high-grade zones delineated by previous drilling, including 34.0m at 3.31% Ni from 56m; 42.4m at 2.20% Ni from 76m; and 31.4m at 2.47% Ni from 15.3m.
Jaguar project
Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project is located in the Carajás Mineral Province, Brazil. The project is located just 35km north of the regional centre of Tucuma with a 230kVA substation located only 15km south-east of the Project at Vale’s Ona-Puma Nickel Plant.
Jaguar contains a global foreign resource of 40.4Mt at 0.78% Ni for a total of 315,000 tonnes of contained nickel, based on more than 55,000m of diamond drilling.
Centaurus had recently acquired the Jaguar project from Vale SA through an innovative deal that included an asset swap arrangement on the Salobo West Project.
High-grade historical drill results
Within the historical resource drilling, multiple shallow massive to semi-massive sulphide zones were identified at Jaguar, with outstanding high-grade intersections such as 34.0m at 3.31% Ni from 56m.
Re-processing historical FLEM and DHEM survey data
CTM had recently engaged leading Perth-based geophysical consulting group Southern Geoscience to re-process historical Fixed-Loop Electromagnetic (FLEM) and Down-hole Electromagnetic (DHEM) survey data at Jaguar.
Vale had completed 72 EM survey lines over 68 fixed-loops and a further 34 DHEM surveys across the project area, assembling an extensive and high-quality geophysical dataset.
Southern Geoscience has now completed the re-processing work over the Onça-Preta Deposit and Onça-Rosa Target in the northern part of the Project. This work comprised the analysis and modelling of eight loops, 69-76.
Southern Geoscience is currently continuing to work on the FLEM and DHEM survey data from the Jaguar Deposit area to the south, with results expected in the coming weeks.
Outstanding initial results from re-processing
Centaurus said that the results to date have been outstanding, demonstrating clearly that the EM conductors identified in both the FLEM and DHEM surveys correlate extremely well with the high-grade nickel sulphide zones intersected in the historical drilling.
Onça-Preta Deposit
At the Onça-Preta Deposit, CTM reported that a strong 400m long FLEM conductor was modelled, correlating very well with existing nickel sulphide intersections from multiple drill holes within the deposit.
PKS-JAGU-DH00014, the deepest historical drill hole into the deposit, had returned intercepts of 18.0m at 2.19% Ni and 7.9m at 2.18% Ni.
CTM said that the FLEM plates extend more than 150m below the deepest drill hole, demonstrating that the deposit remains continuous and open at depth.
Onça-Rosa Target
The Onça-Rosa Target is located 500m west of the Onça-Preta Deposit. Here, Southern Geoscience had modelled a 600m long EM conductor plate, which is coincident with a magnetic anomaly and high Ni/Cr soil geochemical ratios which are indicative of nickel sulphides.
The company reported that the Onça-Rosa Target was tested by Vale with only three drill holes. Two of the holes intersected the EM conductor plate.
Both holes had returned nickel sulphide mineralisation with the best result coming from PKS-JAGU-DH00158, which returned an outstanding intercept of 7.9m at 5.27% Ni, 0.26% Cu and 1,096ppm Co from 247m down-hole.
The Company expressed confidence that it can generate similar high-grade intercepts to the historical intersection by targeting the 600m long continuous EM conductor plate.
Untested new targets
The company said that multiple new targets, like the Leão target and un-named magnetic anomalies east of Onça-Preta, have been identified where discrete magnetic anomalies are coincident with high Ni/Cr soil geochemical ratios and which remain completely untested.
Updates and future plans
Centaurus reported that it will focus initial drilling and project development efforts on near-surface high-grade targets with in‐fill and extensional drilling designed to improve the understanding of the high-grade mineralisation and add additional high-grade nickel tonnes to the current foreign resource.
The near-term project milestones includes continuation of re-processing of historical ground and airborne geophysical survey data; re-logging and re-interpretation with a focus on the structural controls and plunge of the high-grade zones; Ground Magnetic and Electro-Magnetic (EM) geophysical surveys (to start in September); landowner agreements and drill access licensing; in‐fill and extensional drilling within the known deposits to test the continuity of high-grade zones; completion of a maiden JORC Resource estimate; and metallurgical testwork and process route determination.
Centaurus is also conducting an extensive review of all data and the existing foreign resource estimate. The company said that it has engaged an independent resource specialist to review and update the current resources to JORC 2012 compliance.
Management comments
Centaurus’ Managing Director, Darren Gordon, said: “It’s great to see such positive results from this early stage of work at Jaguar. EM geophysics is the preferred methodology globally for targeting high-grade nickel sulphides, and we are very encouraged to be able to confirm at a very early stage in our exploration program that both surface and down-hole EM works well at Jaguar.
This gives us confidence in the data we already have to hand and gives us significant momentum as we head towards our first drill program.
At the Onça-Rosa Target, we have a 600m long EM conductor plate with only two historical holes into it, one of which returned 7.9m at 5.27% Ni.
This is an exceptional nickel sulphide exploration target by any measure, and we are really looking forward to getting some additional holes into it as soon as we possibly can, given the outstanding potential to deliver some high-grade results in the near term.
Jaguar has 55,000m of drilling and an extensive high-quality database that underpins a near-surface resource of 40.4Mt at 0.78% Ni for 315,000t of contained nickel.
Our immediate focus will be on identifying the high-grade portions of the mineralisation – and we expect that EM will be an important tool to help us do this.
We look forward to delivering more results from the re-processing work over the coming weeks and then from the project ground FLEM and Mag surveys that are planned to start in September.
All results will support the company’s maiden drill program which is planned to commence towards the end of October.”
