Auroch Minerals Progressing Nicely at Saints Nickel Project
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Auroch Minerals (ASX: AOU) has been making progress of late at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Saints nickel project in Western Australia.
Auroch Minerals recently received all assay results from an infill drilling program undertaken at Saints, which its claims to have confirmed high-grade massive and semi-massive nickel-copper sulphides.
The company will use the results in an upgrade of the Saints Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), which is underway and expected to be completed in approximately 4 to 6 weeks.
Auroch explained the update of the Saints MRE is focussed on using the assay results and geological information from the infill drilling to upgrade a large portion of the current Saints Mineral Resource of 1.02 million tonnes at 2 per cent nickel for 21,400 tonnes of contained nickel from an Inferred Resource to an Indicated Resource category.
The company considers the expected upgrade in resource classification a critical step in the Saints Scoping Study and will result in a higher level of confidence in the financial modelling of the potential underground mining scenario.
Other recent work has involved ongoing metallurgical testwork on the nickel sulphide mineralisation at Saints.
The first-pass test of two bulk composite samples from the recent drilling was carried out, one from the Saint Patricks mineralisation and the other from Saint Andrews, following the traditional flow sheet of ‘Kambalda-style’ nickel sulphide deposits.
Both metallurgical samples produced very good concentrate grades over 14 per cent, with initial concentrate grades up to 24 per cent nickel and 5 per cent copper as well as demonstrating a healthy iron to magnesium oxide ratio (Fe:MgO)
“We are extremely encouraged with the initial results from the metallurgical testwork at Saints,” Auroch Minerals managing director Aidan Platel said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“The tests have shown that the sulphide mineralisation at both Saint Patricks and Saint Andrews can produce a very clean, high-grade nickel-copper-cobalt concentrate with excellent iron:magnesium oxide (Fe:MgO) ratios, which would make it a desirable ore source for any nickel sulphide beneficiation facility in the region.
“We are also pleased to have commenced work on upgrading the MRE at Saints.
“These two work streams will provide critical inputs into the Saints Scoping Study and, importantly, will result in a higher level of confidence in our financial modelling of the potential underground mining scenario at Saints.
“We look forward to the results of this work and to finalising the Scoping Study later this quarter.”
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Email: info@aurochminerals.com