Sirius uncovers new nickel province
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Sirius Resources has claimed the discovery of a new nickel province after striking nickel and copper sulphide mineralisation in the first reverse circulation (RC) drill holes to be conducted at the company’s 70 per cent-owned Fraser Range project in Western Australia.
The company has named the discovery the Nova deposit.
The Nova deposit is located in a previously unexplored and inaccessible area, beneath transported overburden.
Sirius said it was discovered with the first drill hole it had designed to test a large electromagnetic (EM) conductor – one of three EM conductors it has identified at the Eye prospect.
Cross section showing the uppermost tip of EM conductor 1 showing
intersections relative to the extent of conductor. Source: Company
announcement
The first hole (SFRC0024) – hosting the discovery intersection – intersected 4 metres at 3.8 per cent nickel and 1.42 per cent copper where the EM model predicted it would.
A subsequently drilled step-out hole (SFRC0026) intersected 15 metres of similar matrix to massive style sulphide mineralisation some 55 metres up-dip from the discovery hole.
Sirius is curently awaiting assay results on this hole.
According to Sirius the EM model indicates sulphide mineralisation may continue for a further 200 metres down dip from the discovery hole on this drill section.
The company indicated these intersections to be at the uppermost edge of a large (1,000 long x 300 metre wide) EM anomaly, which it considers to indicate potential for the Nova discovery to be a very large massive nickel-copper sulphide deposit.
“This appears to be a major new nickel-copper discovery, of a new deposit style in an entirely new province,” Sirius Resources managing director Mark Bennett said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“It is very gratifying to start from scratch in a new frontier doing what we do best and make a discovery.
“This success vindicates our somewhat unfashionable corporate strategy of seeking to identify early stage exploration opportunities with low entry cost in safe jurisdictions and creating real value through discovery and definition of significant resources.
“It is very early days but it ticks all the boxes. The mineralogy looks ideal for the production of a high quality concentrate because there are none of the troublesome silicate minerals which can cause recovery problems in the typical Goldfields-style nickel deposits, and its location relative to port is second to none.”