Western Mines Group (ASX:WMG) is planning phase five of drilling at the Mulga Tank Project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.
The next phase of drilling will follow the completion of the remaining few phase four reverse circulation holes expected this week, with 32 holes planned for a total area of 10,000m.
Phase five will include a combination of reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling at the Mulga Tank complex, targeting nickel intersections and infill drilling for the current resource estimate.
Drilling will be partially funded by two Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) grants, totalling $400,000, to test a 1.5km long mineralised komatiite body.
Managing Director Caedmon Marriott says the company is well funded for exploration during a time of a “good tick up in the nickel price”.
Trading Economics reports the price of nickel marked at US$17,200 ($24,493) per tonne as of 9 February 2026, representing a 10.43% increase for this year over year.
“Phase five follows a familiar pattern with a combination of further RC and diamond drilling. A focus of the program is the ongoing hunt for higher grades that we believe this extensive system can produce,” Marriott says.
“We’ll try to get a better look at the 1-2% nickel intersections around holes MTRC032, MTRC038 and MTRC046 with some shallow diamond and further RC holes, as well as test the extent of 0.4% nickel around phase four hole MTRC066.
“Also looking for those shallow 0.4% nickel tonnes to optimise an open-pit mine plan, we’ll look to test a few new areas of the complex, hoping to snag the up-dip continuation of the upper active zone we recently saw in MTRC011.
“Finally, we’ll be able to have a good crack at the Panhandle in E39/2134 with seven outstanding EIS holes there, including testing a few new ideas on the back of the recent MLEM survey.”
The Mulga Tank Project is an extensive magmatic nickel sulphide mineral system with an initial resource of more than 5.3 million tonnes of contained nickel.
Western Mines Group is a junior mineral explorer focused on a range of critical and battery minerals in Australia.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Western Mines Group
