Centaurus Metals (ASX: CTM) has announced a highly positive update on the resource drilling program at the Onça Preta Deposit of its Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project in Northern Brazil.
The company reported that shallow drilling at the Onça Preta Deposit, part of the Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project in Brazil, has intersected semi-massive to massive nickel sulphides.
A significant intercept includes 14.9m at 2.94% Ni, 0.21% Cu and 0.13% Co from 56.8m in JAG-DD-20-021, including 9.6m at 4.19% Ni, 0.29% Cu and 0.16% Co from 62.2m.
The company said that shallow Resource drilling at the Jaguar South Deposit continues to successfully intersect multiple zones of semi-massive to massive nickel sulphides, extending the strike of the Central Zone to beyond 350m and remaining open in both directions and at depth.
New results from outside the historical resource envelope include 15.3m at 1.24% Ni, 0.04% Cu and 0.02% Co from 98.2m in JAG-DD-19-012; and 11.5m at 1.45% Ni, 0.03% Cu and 0.02% Co from 149.5m in JAG-DD-19-014.
CTM said that three rigs currently working double-shift at Jaguar, with drilling ongoing at the Onça Preta and Jaguar South deposits, as well as the newly-discovered Onça Rosa Prospect.
The company said that FLEM and DHEM survey work is also ongoing.
Jaguar project
Jaguar Nickel Sulphide is a hydrothermal nickel sulphide deposit located near Tucumã in the Carajás Mineral Province of Brazil. The project includes one exploration licence (856392/1996) for a total of circa 30km2.
The Project hosts a historical (non-JORC) Mineral Resource estimate comprising 40.4Mt at 0.78% Ni for a total of 315kt of contained nickel metal.
The key deposits are Jaguar South, Jaguar North, Jaguar West, and Onça-Preta.
Onça-Preta is a 300m long sub-vertical lens hosted in gneissic rocks, open at depth and soil anomalies suggest that it could be open along strike.
Drilling at Onça-Preta
The company had commenced drilling at Onça-Preta as part of the company’s ongoing resource drilling program.
CTM reported that the drill-hole JAG-DD-20-021 was collared in the centre of the ridge and was designed to test the mineralisation near-surface but beneath the base of oxidation, while two additional shallow drill holes were completed 50m east and west of JAG-DD-20-021.
Outstanding drill results from Onça-Preta
The company announced that the drilling at Onça-Preta has returned outstanding high-grade nickel sulphide intersection from just 56.8m down-hole.
Result include 14.9m at 2.94% Ni, 0.21% Cu and 0.13% Co from 56.8m in JAG-DD-20-021, including 9.6m at 4.19% Ni, 0.29% Cu and 0.16% Co from 62.2m.
Further highlights from the new assay results from the Onça Preta Deposit include 4.9m at 2.25% Ni, 0.11% Cu and 0.09% Co from 170.5m in JAG-DD-20-018; and 10.4m at 0.68% Ni, 0.04% Cu and 0.05% Co from 34.0m in JAG-DD-20-021.
Centaurus said that the recent drilling, coupled with results from the preliminary ground magnetics survey, demonstrates that the Onça Preta body extends over a strike length of 250m and is coincident with strong FLEM and magnetic anomalies. Onça Preta remains open to the east and down-dip, with the deepest drilling down to +300m depth.
The company said that the results from JAG-DD-20-018 show the Onça Preta orebody remains open at depth and importantly supports the premise that the grade appears to be increasing with depth.
The deepest drill hole at Onça Preta to date, PKS-JAGU-DH00014, returned 18.0m @ 2.19% Ni including 9.4m @ 2.96% Ni from 318m depth as well as 7.9m @ 2.18% Ni including 5.7m @ 2.72% Ni from 352m depth.
Centaurus said that it sees significant potential to extend the deposit at depth, with DHEM conductor plates continuing down-dip below these intersections.
The company said that future step-out drilling will be completed with the aid of new DHEM survey work.
Drilling at Jaguar South
The company announced that all drilling completed to date at the Jaguar South Deposit has hit semi-massive and stringer to massive nickel sulphides.
Historical drilling results show that deeper holes generally return the highest grades within the Jaguar South deposit, including 18.0m @ 1.73% Ni (including 11.0m @ 2.54% Ni) in PKS-JAGU-DH00041.
The drilling has been relatively shallow as the program to date has only drilled down to 220m.
CTM said that the resource in-fill and extensional drilling at the Central Zone of the Jaguar South Deposit continues to confirm the consistency of the high-grade nickel sulphide mineralisation from near surface.
The Central Zone features more than 350m of strike extent, is a continuous sub-vertical semi-massive and massive breccia zone that is up to 20m wide and extends from surface to more than 300m depth. The orebody remains open along strike to the west and down-dip.
Importantly, diamond holes JAG-DD-19-012 and JAG-DD-20-014 returned intersections including 11.5m at 1.45% Ni and 15.3m at 1.24% Ni on a section 50m to the west of the Central Zone, outside the historical resource envelope.
Encouraging assay results
Highlights of the new assay results from the Central Zone of the Jaguar South Deposit include 12.1m at 1.28% Ni, 0.05% Cu and 0.03% Co from 64.6m in JAG-DD-19-012, including 3.7m at 2.07% Ni, 0.05% Cu and 0.04% Co from 68.2m; 15.3m at 1.24% Ni, 0.04% Cu and 0.02% Co from 98.2m in JAG-DD-19-012; 11.7m at 1.16% Ni, 0.03% Cu and 0.02% Co from 118.2m in JAG-DD-19-012; 6.0m at 1.09% Ni, 0.04% Cu and 0.03% Co from 92.0m in JAG-DD-19-014; 11.5m at 1.45% Ni, 0.03% Cu and 0.02% Co from 149.5m in JAG-DD-19-014, including 5.2m at 2.72% Ni, 0.04% Cu and 0.05% Co from 149.5m in JAG-DD-19-014; 4.6m at 1.16% Ni, 0.08% Cu and 0.06% Co from 48.0m in JAG-DD-20-016; 15.0m at 1.10% Ni, 0.02% Cu and 0.03% Co from 88.7m in JAG-DD-20-016; 6.8m at 1.48% Ni, 0.05% Cu and 0.03% Co from 165.2m in JAG-DD-20-016, including 2.0m at 3.40% Ni, 0.11% Cu and 0.08% Co from 167.6m in JAG-DD-20-016; 5.5m at 1.37% Ni, 0.06% Cu and 0.02% Co from 79.0m in JAG-DD-20-019; and 8.0m at 1.00% Ni, 0.04% Cu and 0.02% Co from 196.0m in JAG-DD-20-019.
DHEM surveys
DHEM surveys have now been completed on the new Jaguar South drilling and the conductor plates demonstrate that the mineralisation is continuous at depth. Step-out drilling to test the plates and potentially higher-grade mineralisation at depth is already underway.
Updates and next steps
The company announced that Electro-magnetic (EM) geophysical surveys are ongoing. CTM reported that metallurgical sample is being taken periodically and sent to Australia for test work.
Centaurus said that the in‐fill and extensional drilling within the known deposits to test the continuity of high-grade zones is ongoing. There are currently three drill rigs at the Project working double shifts.
The company said that resource samples are being sent in batches of 150-300 sample and will be reported once the batches are completed.
Management statements
CTM commented: “The results from JAG-DD-20-021 are exceptional in any circumstances, but to have such high grades so close to surface really bodes well for potential start-up pits as we begin to think about possible development scenarios. Importantly, this clearly shows that there is abundant high-grade, high-quality nickel sulphide mineralisation close to surface at the Jaguar Project.
I was fortunate to be on site when we drilled this hole, and to see wide intervals of fresh sulphides – which have now assayed 14.9m at 2.94% nickel including a high-grade core of almost 10m at over 4.0% nickel – so close to surface is extremely pleasing.
We’re also seeing further strong results from drilling at the Jaguar South Deposit. We have now extended the strike length of the main structure to over 350m, with the zone remaining open to the west and down dip.”