Cassini Resources Supports Exploration Aspirations
THE INSIDE STORY: Cassini Resources (ASX: CZI) strengthened its ‘explorer in its own right’ credentials with drilling results from the company’s wholly-owned West Arunta zinc project in northern Western Australia.
The drilling is separate to Cassini’s West Musgrave Project (WMP), the largest undeveloped nickel – copper project in Australia, that is being developed under a three-stage $36 million Farm-in/Joint Venture Agreement with OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL).
The WMP Joint Venture provides a clear pathway to a decision to mine and potential cash flow for Cassini.
Cassini Resources completed an Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) survey, complementing gravity, magnetics and soil geochemistry datasets at West Arunta that provided a new geological interpretation to assist its targeting for the drill program.
The AEM survey enabled Cassini to map stratigraphic horizons within the sedimentary basin focussing on the ‘Dione Horizon’, which it interpreted to be a discrete stratigraphic unit of sulphide or graphiterich, and perhaps locally mineralised, that sits within the broader Bitter Springs Formation.
The company considers such horizons to be favourable targets for base metal mineralisation.
The new AEM data has verified existing conceptual targets of Mimas and Janus to be supported by several anomalous features drawn from independent datasets making them the highest priority targets for the current drill program.
The Mimas prospect is a discrete AEM anomaly and the most conductive along the Dione Horizon.
It has delivered the strongest magnetic response in the basin coincident with the AEM anomaly, possibly representing iron sulphide mineralisation, magnetite alteration or perhaps gossan formation over a sulphide orebody.
The data also highlighted the favourable position in the axis of the Dione Horizon of the Janus prospect.
Janus appeared as the peak of a residual gravity anomaly that is thought to be structurally controlled, potentially representing a dense sulphide body.
As a discrete, isolated AEM anomaly, coincident with a small geochemical anomaly, Cassini has identified Janus to be is a structurally favourable position of the type often associated with sedimentary mineralisation.
“Our West Musgrave Joint Venture has had several recent successes with new discoveries at Nebo, Babel and Yappsu,” Cassini Resources managing director Richard Bevan said.
“The Pre-Feasibility Study is well on track and we look to provide further updates on this shortly.
“Now we’ve commenced a drill program to look for a new zinc province in one of the last mineral frontiers in Australia.
“Our strategy is to provide our shareholders exposure to both short-term exploration success and the medium-term development of a nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide project, timed perfectly to capture rising battery metal demand.”
Leading up to the commencement of the latest round of drilling at the West Arunta project, Cassini had enjoyed a run of positive news emanating from a fleet of drill rigs turning at the WMP in Western Australia.
The work being carried out at the WMP is funded under the Earn-in/JV Agreement Cassini has with OZ Minerals.
The JV claimed a new discovery while conducting a program of resource extension drilling at the Nebo deposit within the WMP that was part of an ongoing Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) on the Nebo-Babel deposits as well as a regional exploration program.
The new high-grade lode position – known as the Angie Lode – was discovered by the PFS resource infill drilling, for which several holes had been designed to target potential high-grade extensions of mineralisation on the peripheries of the current Nebo resource.
Cassini has previously reported success in this program at the H-T Lode at Babel.
The more recent program also targeted positions on the eastern margins of the Nebo deposit with success enjoyed from the first round of drilling.
The most successful of these was been drill hole CZD0084, intersecting:
50.35 metres at 0.62 per cent nickel, 0.54 per cent copper, 0.02 per cent cobalt and 0.15g/t PGE from 170.85m, including a high-grade core of 5.6m at 2.68 per cent nickel, 2.09 per cent copper, 0.09 per cent cobalt and 0.33g/t PGE from 186.95m.
Elsewhere, recent drilling targeting the Yappsu prospect at the WMP encountered a substantial intersection of nickel and copper mineralisation.
Assays for diamond drill hole CZD0079 confirmed a broad zone of nickel and copper sulphide mineralisation.
The hole hit a narrow, disseminated zone of mineralisation returning 5.75 metres at 0.28 per cent nickel, 0.63 per cent copper, 0.01 per cent cobalt, 0.3g/t PGE and 0.15g/t gold from 545m.
An underlying broad disseminated zone of disseminated mineralisation was encountered of: 70.25m at 0.48 per cent nickel, 0.44 per cent copper, 0.02 per cent cobalt, 0.34g/t PGE and 0.08g/t gold from 555.05m.
This included a massive sulphide zone of 0.8m at 4.39 per cent nickel, 0.11 per cent copper, 0.13 per cent cobalt, 1.45g/t PGE and 0.02g/t gold from 555.75m.
Including the barren interval between the two main zones, the diluted intercept came in at 80.3m at 0.44 per cent nickel, 0.44 per cent copper, 0.02 per cent cobalt, 0.32g/t PGE and 0.09g/t gold, which is the thickest intercept of mineralisation the JV has drilled so far.
The JV has intersected thickness, grades and continuity of massive sulphide mineralisation in almost every hole at Yappsu drilled to date, which has been interpreted to indicate the overall potential for the system to host additional large accumulations of massive nickel sulphides.
The excitement surrounding the intercept in CZD0079 is understandable, as it complements earlier results.
Together the results confirmed Cassini’s belief that historical drilling failed to intersect the core of the mineralised system.
The Yappsu mineralisation has now been shown to continue over 250 metres down plunge and remains completely open at depth and untested by current Downhole Electromagnetic (DHEM) or surface Moving Loop Electromagnetic (MLEM) systems.
The analysis of these two holes has resulted in the development of a new interpretation of the host intrusion with geological modelling suggesting the Yappsu intrusion to be a slab-like body, striking east-west and plunging to the west.
The JV has interpreted the massive sulphide mineralisation intersected to date to be hosted within a bulge or flexure of the host intrusion, with the flexure and massive sulphide mineralisation striking in a north-westerly direction.
Cassini has reasoned the currently defined mineralisation probably only represents a small fraction of the entire magmatic system as both the up-plunge and down-plunge interpreted positions have not been tested by any previous drilling.
Cassini considers the JV’s revised interpretation presents two immediate targets for follow-up drilling, being:
The up-plunge position could represent a ‘pinch’ position, that could host an economic body of disseminated mineralisation, amenable to open-pit mining given the relatively shallow depth; and
The down-plunge position is where substantial massive sulphides could have accumulated and is the main priority for exploration.
Both targets represent opportunities for the WMP and have been declared priorities ahead of close-spaced drilling around the known mineralisation of CZD0076B and CZD0079.
Further drilling is underway at Yappsu to identify up-plunge and down-plunge extensions of the host intrusion where a minimum of three holes will be drilled with results expected in early Q4.
Two up-plunge holes will test for near surface mineralisation and to assist interpretation of the geological model while testing for near-surface mineralisation.
A single down-plunge hole will test the more likely mineralised position to provide a platform for DHEM surveying.
Cassini Resources Limited (ASX: CZI)
…The Short Story
HEAD OFFICE
10 Richardson Street
West Perth WA 6005
Phone: +61 8 6164 8900
Email: admin@cassiniresources.com.au
Web: www.cassiniresources.com.au
DIRECTORS
Mike Young, Richard Bevan, Dr Jon Hronsky, Phil Warren, Greg Miles
