FPX Nickel (TSX-V:FPX) has started a 4,000m diamond drilling program to test the Birchy North and Wolverine targets at its Advocate Nickel Property in Newfoundland, Canada.
The inaugural campaign follows an airborne magnetic survey that FPX says has improved its understanding of the host geology and extended prospective zones beneath areas with limited surface exposure.
Birchy North has returned up to 0.13% Davis Tube recoverable (DTR) nickel from top-of-bedrock sampling across an 800m by 350m area. Interpretation of the magnetic data has expanded the target footprint to 2.6km by 700m.
FPX says it plans to drill multiple sections across up to 1.2km of strike at Birchy North.
Meanwhile, Wolverine is associated with a magnetic high extending for 7km and measuring up to 1km wide. Surface sampling returned up to 0.14% DTR nickel across an area measuring about 2.4km by 650m.
Initial drilling at Wolverine will focus on higher DTR nickel values identified across 800m of strike, the company notes. FPX says successful results would warrant a larger follow-up program along the broader magnetic feature.
VP Exploration Keith Patterson says the targets are comparable with those at FPX’s Baptiste Nickel Project in British Columbia.
“The large-scale, high-grade awaruite targets at Birchy North and Wolverine are similar in size and surface DTR nickel grades to those at the Baptiste deposit, and we look forward to confirming Advocate mineralisation with the drill bit,” Patterson says.
The drilling campaign follows a 2,226 line-kilometre magnetic survey covering more than 30km of prospective ultramafic rocks. The survey used lines spaced 50m apart, tightening to 25m over known targets.
Total nickel values from ultramafic samples collected at Advocate range from 0.18–0.30%, averaging 0.23%. However, FPX notes these figures do not represent potentially recoverable nickel. The DTR results indicate nickel within the target areas is primarily hosted in awaruite with grains sufficiently coarse for magnetic separation.
The 12,175-hectare property covers more than 45km of the Advocate complex ophiolite. FPX can acquire up to a 100% interest from Shoreline Exploration, while the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security can earn 60% under its generative alliance with FPX.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
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