Black Canyon (ASX:BCA) has received further infill drilling results, which represent an “important” step in increasing the KR2 prospect’s geological and grade confidence.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, Managing Director Brendan Cummins says the KR2 prospects — located within the Balfour Manganese Field Project in Western Australia — have an inferred mineral resource, but once the classification is elevated to the higher confidence indicated or measured category it can be used in more detailed studies.
“In our case should the KR2 resource be upgraded to indicated, we can then re-examine the impact of scheduling shallow, higher grade feeds into the financial model and then determine how that affects the cashflow in the all important early years of an operation,” Cummins tells this news service.
Black Canyon is currently engaging with Consultant Resource Geologists to begin the updated resource estimate for KR2 prior to reviewing the mine schedule and updating the Scoping Study financial metrics. The results of the MRE are expected in Q2 2025.
KR2’s resource currently totals 24 million tonnes @ 11.9% manganese for 2.9 million tonnes of contained manganese.
Cummins says the resource estimate was considered an integral part of the company’s previously conducted Scoping Study that delivered a pre-tax net present value of $340 million and an internal rate of return of 70% over a 16-year mine life.
Some of the latest drilling results from KR2 include 36m @ 12.9% manganese, 36m @ 15.5% manganese, including 17m @ 17.2% manganese, and 33m @ 13.6% manganese, including 12m @ 16% manganese.
Black Canyon says the results provide further thick, shallow manganese enriched shale intercepts and continue to show widespread mineralisation.
The infill drilling program was designed to increase data density to improve the understanding of the geological and grade continuity of KR2.
“With the infill drilling completed, we can now focus on completing the KR2 resource re-estimation that can then feed the updated mine schedule into the KR2 and KR2 Scoping Study,” Cummins adds.
Additionally, Black Canyon is focusing on getting the reverse circulation drill rig back on site at the Wandanya Project in Western Australia.
Cummins says the company is completing an additional heritage survey, scheduled for late March, and expects to get a drill rig onsite shortly after.
“The initial drilling at W2 consistently encountered high-grade mineralisation over 240m strike and we have a mapped 3km zone of mineralisation, so getting more drillholes in this target will be exciting to demonstrate potential scale,” he explains to this news service.
In parallel, the company is planning to drill several kilometres of hematite mineralisation from surface, which has not been drill tested.
Black Canyon is attending RIU Explorers Conference, held between 18 and 20 February 2025, at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle, Western Australia.
Mining.com.au will also be attending this year’s event.
Black Canyon holds a landholding of more than 2,000km2 in the underexplored Balfour Manganese Field and across the Oakover Basin in Western Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Black Canyon
