Recently-listed Lunnon Metals (ASX:LM8) has hit a previously-unrecognised gold structure during diamond drilling at the Foster Mine within its Kambalda Nickel Project in Western Australia, with partial assay results from the first hole delivering 7.84m @ 1.5 g/t Au from 166m.
The company notes that there is a close association between nickel and gold at the Kambalda/St Ives camp, with total historical production estimated at 1.6 Mt Ni + ~15 Moz Au.
“It is always exciting to intersect structures with gold potential, especially given the significant gold endowment surrounding the KNP”
Commenting on the result, LM8 Managing Director Ed Ainscough said: “It is always exciting to intersect structures with gold potential, especially given the significant gold endowment surrounding the KNP. The Victory-Defiance Complex and the Argo-Hamlet-Athena camp are to our immediate north and south, just 1.0km and 1.5km respectively. Importantly though from a nickel perspective, to discover a new structure, follow up and hit the same structure in three other holes does give us confidence that these structures are real and supports our hypothesis that the prospective nickel contact may have been faulted or “shuffled”, a key premise behind the targeting of this initial campaign”.
As part of the first diamond drilling campaign at Foster Mine, two holes were planned and drilled targeting nickel in the ~500m gap between the end of the Foster Decline, and the current 16,000 tonnes of nickel in the JORC mineral resource at Foster South.
Map of the Kambalda Nickel Project displaying the gap (circled orange) between the Foster Decline and Foster South. Image: Lunnon Metals LimitedPrevious RC holes were re-entered and extended with diamond core, intersecting the structure at anticipated down-hole depths. Assay results from a further three holes remain pending.
Lunnon Metals reports that down hole transient electro-magnetic surveys are set to be completed on two holes to identify possible proximal concentrations of massive nickel sulphides not otherwise observed in the two drill holes at the prospective komatiite-basalt nickel contact.
Detailed analysis of the newly-recognised structure will also be completed to better understand the magnitude and direction of off-set. Repeat screen fire assays will be completed on sample rejects to enable an assessment of the presence of coarse gold, and therefore the potential that the assays received have under or over reported the gold grades.
Based on these results, the company plans to assess the significance of this new structure before determining if drilling is warranted to delineate a potential gold resource.
