Western Mines Group (ASX:WMG) has discovered two “high-grade” zones at its flagship Mulga Tank Project, with drilling revealing the “best high-grade intersection ever drilled”.
Geochemical assay results received from a phase-three drilling program show broad zones of nickel sulphide mineralisation, with all three holes ending in mineralisation.
The reverse circulation program returned a peak hit of 193m @ 0.33% nickel and 152 parts per million (ppm) cobalt from 107m in hole MTRC046, which included sections of higher grades up to 1.92% nickel.
All holes showed elevated nickel and sulfur coincident with highly anomalous copper and platinum group elements, according to Western Mines.
The company says MTRC046 is the standout hole with high-grade intersections of 4m @ 1.14% nickel, 501ppm cobalt, 803ppm copper and 0.14 grams per tonne (g/t) platinum and palladium from 224m; 5m @ 0.61% nickel, 258ppm cobalt and 0.49% copper from 229m; and 5m @ 1.92% nickel, 711ppm cobalt, 0.21% copper and 0.18g/t platinum and palladium from 283m.
The two new zones confirm the extension of mineralisation to the south of hole MTRC032, which previously returned a continuous interval of 198m @ 0.28% nickel and 145ppm cobalt from 108m, ending in mineralisation.
This included 1m @ 1.08% nickel and 602ppm cobalt from 131m and 6m @ 1.01% nickel and 0.32% copper from 254m.
The two new zones appear to correlate between the holes and are possibly thickening and enriching towards the south.
Managing Director Caedmon Marriott says the latest results are further validation of the extensive Mulga Tank nickel sulphide mineral system and the potential the complex could hold.
“The more we drill the more we’ve become increasingly convinced of the hybrid nature of the system and potential to host higher grade massive sulphide,” he says.
“A very large, low-grade, open-pitable deposit has been defined within the complex by the various phases of drilling so far but within that a number of these high-grade pods/zones are starting to emerge as we increase drilling density.”
Marriott adds that all three holes fall outside the area of previous drilling used to define Western Mines’ exploration target of 350 million to 2.2 billion tonnes @ 0.24% to 0.35% nickel and 120 to 150ppm cobalt.
“Whilst the mineralisation in holes MTRC044 and MTRC045 wasn’t quite as robust as recent results for the core area, they certainly contain significant mineralisation and demonstrate the system remains open to the south,” he says.
“We’ll follow-up on hole MTRC046 with downhole electromagnets and further RC and diamond drilling in this area.”
Another phase-three hole MTRC051 has been drilled a further 150m to the south, with results pending.
Western Mines, which has a market capitalisation of about $20 million, has so far drilled 6,002m across 19 holes of the 7,000m, 23-hole, phase-three RC program.
An additional five-hole, 2,000m regional RC program has also been planned, the first to test the interpreted komatiite channels in tenement E39/2134.
The Mulga Tank Project spans 425km2 and is located 190km east-northeast of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields Province of the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia.
The eastern Yilgarn contains major komatiite-hosted nickel deposits including Kambalda (35Mt at 3.1% nickel), Perseverance (50Mt at 2.3% nickel) and Mt Keith (643.7Mt at 0.58% nickel).
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Western Mines Group
