Octava Minerals (ASX:OCT) has entered into a collaboration with premier science agency Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to begin an exploration program at the Yallalong Ni-Cu-PGM Project in Western Australia.
The company says the recently undertaken exploration program has been made possible through the CSIRO Kick-Start program, which represents an initiative for innovative Australian start-ups and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). The program provides funding support and access to CSIRO’s research expertise and capabilities to help grow and develop businesses.
Octava reports this collaboration with CSIRO will utilise statistical and machine learning models from the pre-soil survey stage through to the final stage of interpretation of geochemical analyses, with exploration expected to better-define areas of interest and exploration targets at Yallalong.
The company notes the mafic intrusions hosted at the project have not been explored in any detail but have returned ‘significant’ nickel-copper-platinum group metal and antimony geochemistry.
The company also notes the collaboration has come following its announcement last week (5 May 2023) that its joint venture partner Future Metals (ASX:FME) will begin a drilling program at the Panton West Ni-Cu-PGM prospect within the Panton North Project in Western Australia.
Octava announced that drilling had been designed to target previously recorded and untested ‘significant’ soil and rock geochemistry, as well as the embayment feature (BC1) that sits across the tenement boundary between Future Metals’ wholly owned Panton mining lease and the Panton North tenement.
With exploration now underway, Octava Minerals announces it will update the market once results are received.
Commenting on the collaboration, Octava Minerals Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director Bevan Wakelam says: “It is great to be collaborating with Australia’s premier science agency, CSIRO, to use technology to improve our exploration targeting for critical metals at Yallalong.
“It is great to be collaborating with Australia’s premier science agency, CSIRO, to use technology to improve our exploration targeting for critical metals at Yallalong”
By applying machine-learning to landscape domaining, sampling design, and soil sample data interpretation, we can reduce our search space and decrease our on the ground impact.”
Octava Minerals is an ASX-listed Western Australia-based green energy metals exploration and development company with 3 strategically located projects in geographically proven discovery areas. The company’s Yallalong Project lies about 220km to the northeast of the port of Geraldton within the Yallalong Basin on the western margin of the Yilgarn Craton.
The project is considered prospective for gold mineralisation associated with structures related to the crustal scale Darling Fault and nickel-copper-platinum group metal mineralisation related to mafic-ultramafic intrusions.
Images: iStock
