Junior explorer Octava Minerals (ASX:OCT) has launched a maiden drilling program at its Yallalong Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project in Western Australia.
The company plans to test several ‘significant’ anomalies in the project area that it identified through a collaboration with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
Octava’s Yallalong project, which lies roughly 220km northeast of Geraldton, covers an exploration area of 63km-square.
According to the company, the nickel-copper-cobalt mineralisation in the area is related to mafic-ultramafic intrusion along the Darling Fault that borders the Yilgarn Craton, similar to Chalice Mining’s (ASX:CHN) Julimar discovery to the south.
Chalice’s assets highlight the potential for ‘layered instructions’ as hosts for magmatic-derived mineralisation at Yallalong, Octava says, with similar intrusions identified within the area.
Octava Managing Director Bevan Wakelam says: “We are really pleased to have the drill rig onsite to test some significant Ni-Cu-Co anomalies we have identified at Yallalong through our partnership with the CSIRO.
The Western Yilgarn is an unexplored mineral province, and we look forward to the progress of this initial exploration drill campaign and will provide further updates as the program progresses.”
Yallalong straddles the northern part of the Darling Fault — a regional structure spanning more than 1500km that forms the western margin of the Yilgarn Craton.
While Yallalong exploration is Octava’s immediate focus, the Talga Lithium Project in Western Australia’s East Pilbara region remains the company’s flagship asset. Talga comprises 8 granted exploration licences of which Octava fully owns 2.
The company is farming into an 80% interest in the other 6 Talga tenements through a deal with fellow ASX-listed First Au (ASX:FAU).
Images: Octava Minerals
