Mark Creasy-backed company, Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX: GAL) has announced an encouraging update from the RC drilling at the Lantern Prospect within the Fraser Range province in Western Australia.
The company reported that the RC drill hole at the Lantern prospect intersected disseminated nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation.
GAL said that the drill hole LARC003 returned significant intersection of 12m @ 0.38% Ni, 0.33% Cu from 124 metres down hole including 5m @ 0.49% Ni, 0.46% Cu from 126m.
The company said that the mineralisation occurs on the contact zone of an ultramafic rock unit with the drill intersection open in all directions. GAL reported maximum values over one metre of 0.66% nickel and 0.75% copper (LARC003 127-128m).
The company said that drill results indicate potential for a large mineralised system with over two kilometres of untested strike length.
Fraser Range project
The Fraser Range project covers exploration licences totalling 492 km2 in the Albany-Fraser Orogen in WA.
Fraser Range project is located across two areas – the northern Kitchener zone which hosts the company’s Lantern and Nightmarch prospects, and the southern Yardilla zone, which holds the Empire Rose and Yardilla South prospects.
RC drilling at Lantern Prospect
The company reported that it has completed three Reverse Circulation (RC) drill holes LARC001, LARC002, and LARC003, around an existing geochemical anomaly generated from aircore drilling undertaken in 2019.
Gal said that two drill holes (LARC001 and LARC002) confirmed the geochemical anomaly while the third drill hole (LARC003) identified the source of the anomaly by intersecting nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation in fresh rock.
The company said that disseminated sulphide mineralisation in LARC003, with an estimated maximum of 12 per cent sulphide over a one metre interval, occurs at a contact zone between a mafic/ultramafic intrusion and the host country rock.
Significant nickel and copper intersections
The company said that the RC drilling at the Lantern Prospect has intercepted significant nickel and copper assays.
Results reported at a 0.1% copper cut-off grade for the three drill holes include 10m @ 0.21% nickel and 0.14% copper from 62m (weathered rock) at hole LARC001; 21m @ 0.19% nickel and 0.18% copper from 59m (weathered rock) at hole LARC002; and 12m @ 0.38% nickel and 0.33% copper from 124m (sulphide) and 5m @ 0.13% nickel and 0.13% copper from 150m (sulphide) at hole LARC003.
Mineralisation on the contact zone of an ultramafic rock unit
The company noted that the drill results are particularly important as the disseminated sulphide intercept may be close to a zone of increased sulphide mineralisation (massive, semi-massive or net textured) with the capacity to contain higher grades of nickel and copper.
The drill hole intersection occurs on the edge of a magnetic feature which is interpreted to represent the contact between the prospective intrusive rocks and the host country rock.
GAL said that over two kilometres of strike length remains to be tested for mineralisation and the intersection is open at depth.
>2 km untested strike length indicates potential
The company reported that ultramafic target at Lantern is one of a number of prospective intrusions within an area of approximately 10km by 8km.
GAL said that a separate EM conductor occurs two-and-a-half kilometres north of drill hole LARC003 and is the current subject of RC drilling for the purpose of down hole EM surveying.
The company said that additional intrusive targets within the area have been developed from detailed magnetic and gravity data sets, and aircore drilling programs have been designed to look for geochemical anomalism using the same methodology as that which led to the initial discovery of sulphide mineralisation at Lantern.
The Lantern prospect is approximately 100km from the operating Nova nickel mine and 40 km along strike from Legend Mining’s Mawson Prospect.
What’s next?
Galileo said that its upcoming work programs planned for the Fraser Range Project include down hole EM surveying at the recent sulphide discovery (LARC003) and at the previously announced EM anomalies; step out aircore and RC drilling around the discovery hole LARC003; aircore drilling at the newly identified magnetic and gravity targets to search for more geochemical anomalies associated with prospective rock units; and diamond core drilling of key targets.
Management comments
Galileo Managing Director Brad Underwood said: “This is an excellent result from the first ever RC drilling program at the Lantern Prospect. We have now discovered a fertile mineralised system containing nickel and copper sulphides.
Our next step is to define the extent and quantity of the target metals and, given that we have over two kilometres of untested strike length at this one target alone, the potential for a large discovery is outstanding.”