Pantoro Limited (ASX:PNR) has reported that it has intersected a ‘major’ PGE system from surface during drilling at the Lamboo ultramafic complex within its Halls Creek Project.
Drilling has so far tested 600m of the project’s 20km of prospective basal contact, with ‘strong and consistent’ PGE mineralisation occurring in wide, shallow intersections.
Key results from current drilling, plus reassaying of samples previously untested for PGE include:
- 31m @ 2.42 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from surface
- 38m @ 2.34 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from 1m
- 26m @ 1.42 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from 9m
- 34m @ 2.02 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from surface
- 40m @ 0.98 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from surface
- 15m @ 0.93g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from 62m
- 41m @ 1.68 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from 1m
- 16m @ 0.93 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from 44m
- 39.4m @ 1.54 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from 8.4m inc.
- 24.7m @ 1.80 g/t Pt +Pd +Au from 9.4m
- 16m @ 0.92 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from 54m
- 32m @ 0.90 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from 14m
- 50m @ 1.37 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from 11m
- 30m @ 1.56 g/t Pt +Pd +Au (3E) from surface
PGE mineralisation has been identified via previous exploration undertaken in the Lamboo ultramafic complex, with early results coming from Thundelarra Exploration in 2006 during gold exploration activities at the complex’s Edison prospect. Results at the time indicated that the basal contact was ‘unusually enriched’ in PGEs, with potential for bulk mineralisation over wide zones from surface.
Cross section displaying shallow, wide strikes within PGE mineralisationDrilling by Thundelarra achieved intersections across a ‘significant’ distance along strike from the Edison prospect, with additional strikes to the west and south.
Pantoro reports that earlier drill holes at the project were not tested for platinum and palladium, with pulps currently being located for further assay work.
Work is set to commence on a 2,500m drill program in September to test drill targets identified along strike and west of the Edison prospect, with a goal of identifying further mineralisation within the Lamboo ultramafic complex.
Production + exploration at Halls Creek
The Halls Creek Project, located in Western Australia’s Kimberley Region, is home to the Nicolsons and Wagtail mines along with a range of exploration and development prospects.
The project was acquired by Pantoro in 2014, with first production achieved at the Nicolsons mine in mid 2015.
The project contains a mineral resource of 393,000 ounces of gold, with exploration ongoing to test extensions at Nicolsons and Wagtail, in conjunction with brownfields targets.
Exploration at Halls Creek is underpinned by a modern, commercial scale processing facility located on site, which is the only one of its kind in the Kimberley Region.
“The mineralisation is only a few kilometres from Nicolsons Gold Mine…existing infrastructure provides a perfect platform to advance exploration within these deposits”
Management comments
Pantoro Managing Director Paul Cmrlec said “These PGE results are an example of the huge untapped potential of the Kimberley region which has seen a small amount of exploration activity when compared to other more mature mineral fields within Western Australia. The mineralisation identified in the Lamboo Ultramafic Complex is only a few kilometres from Nicolsons Gold Mine, and Pantoro’s existing infrastructure provides a perfect platform to advance exploration within these deposits. In addition to the deposits identified at Lamboo, tenure that we have acquired around the Grants Creek Project in recent years provides additional outstanding prospectively proximal to the Panton Sill deposit which has a current Mineral Resource of 2.4 Moz @ 5.2 g/t PG”
Images: Pantoro Limited
