Impact Minerals kicks off big year of exploration
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Impact Minerals (IPT: ASX) signalled the commencement of a year of aggressive exploration to include drill programs on all three of the company’s Australian precious and base metal projects.
The company said the decision to fund and accelerate work simultaneously on the three projects over the next 12 months follows exploration successes across the portfolio.
This, in turn, led to a recent capital investment from Squadron Resources, the private mining investment vehicle of the Minderoo group, (Andrew and Nicola Forrest), which is investing up to $7.3 million in Impact that includes an initial cash injection of $3 million.
Impact indicated these funds, together with government co-funding awards of $353,000 and funding of up to a further $1.9 million from a recently announced 1-for-6 rights issue will enable it to accelerate its exploration programs to progress each of its projects.
At the Broken Hill high grade copper-nickel-platinum (PGM) joint venture project a drill program will follow up Impact’s discovery of some of the highest grades of PGM ever reported in Australia in a 25 to 30 metre thick near-surface layer of copper-nickel-PGM mineralisation.
This program will in part be funded by a grant of $78,000 towards direct drill costs awarded to Impact in 2015 as part of the New South Wales Government New Frontiers Co-operative Drilling initiative.
At the Mulga Tank nickel-gold project east of Kalgoorlie, exploration has re-commenced with an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey covering the entire 425 square kilometre project area.
The survey is already 60 per cent complete and the data will be used together with follow up ground electrical and soil geochemistry surveys to refine drill targets identified at the Mulga Tank Dunite and Panhandle prospects where Impact has received $275,000 for co-funding of drilling in two awards as part of the Western Australian government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme.
At the Commonwealth gold-silver-zinc-lead-copper project north of Orange in New South Wales, Impact has defined a maiden Inferred Resource of 720,000 tonnes at 2.8 grams per tonne gold, 48g/t silver, 1.5 per cent zinc, 0.6 per cent lead and 0.1 per cent copper including 145,000 tonnes at 4.3g/t gold, 142g/t silver, 4.8 per cent zinc, 1.7 per cent lead and 0.2 per cent copper.
The resource is open along trend and at depth and further resource definition drilling is required, which will necessitate further down hole geophysical surveys to help guide the drilling.
Impact has also identified a number of targets for follow up drilling for precious and base metals at the nearby Silica Hill and Doughnut prospects.
Further field checking, ground geophysical and geochemical surveys throughout the Commonwealth project area are scheduled to commence in October.
“With at least one drill program on all three of our Australian projects in the next 12 months, shareholders can now look forward to the most exciting period in our company’s history as we try to unlock their upside potential,” Impact Minerals managing director Dr Mike Jones said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“The fact that we also have an almost unprecedented amount of $353,000 from Government drilling co-fund initiatives to fund two of our planned programs is an independent testament to the projects’ potential.
“This is an excellent outcome in these difficult times for our industry.”
Email: info@impactminerals.com.au
Website: www.impactminerals.com.au