THE DRILL SERGEANT: In the lead-up to MOD Resources (ASX: MOD) managing director Julian Hanna presenting at the Brisbane Mining 2016 conference the company announced further assay results from the Phase 1 resource area at T3.

T3 is part of a Joint Venture MOD shares with AIM-listed Metal Tiger (30%) in the Kalahari copper belt of Botswana.

The JV has received assays from two batches of samples for seven deeper holes undertaken in the northeast part of the T3 Phase 1 resource area.

Six of the latest resource holes intersected encouraging widths of copper and silver, similar to previously announced intersections in this area.

Recent intersections include:

MO-G-26D
26.4 metres at 1.3 per cent copper and 11 grams per tonne silver from 131m downhole;

MO-G-28D
42m at 1.1 per cent copper and 11g/t silver from 127m downhole;

MO-G-29D
34.8m at 1.2 per cent copper and 14g/t silver from 128m downhole;

MO-G-31D
11.9m at 2.3 per cent copper and 42g/t silver from 181.9m downhole and 5m at 1.9 per cent copper and 51g/t silver from 211m downhole.

According to MOD only one hole (MO-G-32D) failed to intersect noteworthy widths of copper and silver values.

The company explained the drill-out of the Phase 1 resource, on an initial 100m by 100m drill pattern, is nearing completion to meet its target to finalise a maiden resource at T3 by the end of September.

The recent assay results are in line with MOD’s expectations and include intersections of copper and silver grades up to 42m estimated true width.

These results are now being forwarded to an independent resource consultant in South Africa to compile and use for the resource estimate.

“Each drill hole is not only contributing to the resource but also improving the understanding of the geology and controls of the mineralisation at T3, which we hope will be a template for further discoveries along the T3 Dome,” Julian Hanna said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Once the Phase 1 resource drilling is complete, the exploration team will start focusing on other targets along the T3 Dome which remains virtually unexplored.”

MOD took the opportunity to inform the market it has also completed the first deep diamond hole at T3 (M0-T3U-01D) to test the source of an IP anomaly approximately 400m down dip from the resource drilling.

The hole lifted 20 degrees and as a result, intersected the target sequence above the IP anomaly.

M0-T3U-01D intersected 48m of green siltstones and mudstones with weak finely disseminated chalcocite and bornite sulphides between 446.7m and 494.8m down hole depth.

MOD indicated it is now waiting on assay results to provide an indication of grade while a second drill hole is being considered to test the IP anomaly.

Website: www.modresources.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) announced the intersection of additional massive nickel‐copper sulphide mineralisation at the Cathedrals prospect within the company’s Mt Alexander project in Western Australia.

St George completed hole MAD35 to a downhole depth of 95.4m, intersecting:

4.18 metres, from 60 to 64.18m, of ultramafic with disseminated, blebby and some stringer sulphides; and

1.86m, from 64.18 to 66.04m, of massive sulphides (average XRF values of 8.3 per cent nickel, 3.6 per cent copper) and then 15cm of ultramafic with stringer sulphides on contact with granite.

St George explained the intersection of massive nickel‐copper sulphides in MAD35 to be down‐dip from both previous holes MAD15 and MAD16, with mineralisation open to the north.

“With high grades of nickel, copper, cobalt and PGEs already confirmed at Cathedrals, we are very pleased to see more massive nickel‐copper sulphides being identified in this area,” St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The Cathedrals ultramafic extends for over 400 metres and remains underexplored.

“The latest drilling success provides confidence that ongoing infill and extensional drilling at Cathedrals will continue to identify further nickel‐copper mineralisation.”

St George drilled hole MAD35 to test an off‐hole EM conductor identified from a DHEM survey completed in MAD16 in May.

MAD16 intersected approximately 9.5m of the Cathedrals ultramafic from 51.7m including an interval of 2.25m at 1.05 per cent nickel, 0.31 per cent copper and 1.14g/t PGEs from 59m.

St George indicated it intends to carry out a DHEM survey in MAD35 to investigate the potential for further mineralisation around this drill hole.

Website: www.stgm.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Vimy Resources (ASX: VMY) announced the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has recommended approval of the company’s Mulga Rock project (MRP) in Western Australia.

Vimy said the EPA has assessed the company’s proposal and prepared an Assessment Report that has been sent to the Minister as required under the Western Australian Environmental Protection Act.

The company said the Assessment Report recommends the proposal may be implemented and specifies the conditions and procedures to which implementation should be subject as required by the EP Act.

Vimy explained the Mulga Rock project is also being assessed under an Assessment Bilateral Agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and Western Australia made under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation, under which the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment relies upon the environmental impact assessment processes of WA in assessing actions under the EPBC Act.

This means the Assessment Report will form the basis of the Commonwealth Minister’s assessment and subsequent decision in relation to this project.

Any person that disagrees with the content of, or any recommendation in, the Assessment Report is able to lodge an appeal within 14 days of publication of the report.

Vimy said it expects there will be appeals while noting the Appeals Convenor aims to have 80 per cent of appeal reports submitted to the Minister within 60 days of receiving final responses and that such a schedule would be consistent with the Minister reaching a final decision and publishing a statement setting out the implementation decision before the end of this year.

“This is a fantastic outcome, the EPA has undertaken a very efficient and thorough assessment and concluded that our project should be implemented and we see no reason why the State and Federal Ministers would not agree with that assessment, Vimy Resources CEO and managing director Mike Young said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This is a project which results in no significant residual impacts to the environment.

“We set out how we would manage the project to achieve that outcome and now we have a positive recommendation with conditions that require us to do what we said we would do – and of course we will exceed those expectations.

“We can see the end of the approvals process and more importantly, offtake partners and financiers with whom we are engaged, can see it as well.

“This de-risks perceptions and is a very significant step towards achieving the conditions required for the final investment decision.

“We said back in March that we expected that this stage of the process would be completed and the report published in August – and we have delivered!”

Email: info@vimyresources.com.au

Website: www.vimyresources.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Impact Minerals’ (ASX: IPT) decision earlier this year to focus on expanding the already established Resource at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Commonwealth gold-silver-zinc project, located 100 kilometres north of Orange in New South Wales, has already started to pay off.

Recent drilling at Silica Hill has resulted in the discovery of a 75 metre thick zone of vein and disseminated sulphide mineralisation.

The mineralisation was encountered by Hole CMIPT043 from 99 metres to 174 metres down hole.

Impact released assays for the first 60m of the zone drilled by reverse circulation drilling.

The last 15m of the zone was diamond drilled with the company still awaiting assay results.

The assays revealed the mineralised zone to have an upper silver-rich and a lower gold-base metals rich part, containing a number of higher grade intercepts – mostly associated with the veins.

Assay included:
60m at 0.4 grams per tonne gold, 51g/t (1.6 ounces) silver, 0.2 per cent zinc and 0.1 per cent lead or 1.3g/t gold equivalent from 99m;

This included:
30m at 0.1 g/t gold and 77 g/t (2.5 ounces) silver, 0.2 per cent zinc and 0.1 per cent lead or 1.3g/t gold equivalent from 99m; and

10m at 2g/t gold, 38g/t silver (1.2 ounces), 0.4 per cent zinc and 0.2 per cent lead or 2.9g/t gold equivalent from 149m (to end of RC hole at 159m).

Six higher grade intercepts were encountered within these broad zones, which Impact considers, together with the diamond drill core, demonstrate the presence of numerous veins containing very high-grades of silver and probably other metals.

The upper silver-rich part of the zone also included intercepts of note including:
1m at 122g/t (4 ounces) silver and 0.2g/t gold from 108m;

1m at 146 /t silver (5 ounces) and 0.1 /t gold from 118m;

2m at 373g/t (12 ounces) silver, 0.2g/t gold, 1.8 per cent zinc and 0.9 per cent lead from 123m, including 1m at 525g/t (17 ounces) silver, 0.1g/t gold, 2.1 per cent zinc and 1.1 per cent lead from 124 m; and

1m at 0.1g/t gold and 337g/t (11 ounces) silver from 134m.

The lower part of the zone produced the first significant gold assays from the Silica Hill prospect with higher grade intercepts within a 10m thick zone including:

1m at 2.3g/t gold, 64g/t (2 ounces) silver, 1 per cent zinc and 1.1 per cent lead from 153m; and

1m at 6.4g/t gold and 18g/t silver (0.5 ounces) from 155m.

“This new discovery by Impact at Silica Hill is a very significant development for the Commonwealth project,” Impact Minerals managing director Dr Mike Jones said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“It demonstrates that very thick widths and also high grades of mineralisation exist outside the Commonwealth deposit and to get an intercept like this in our early drilling at the prospect is very encouraging.

“Together with the very high-grade intercepts of massive sulphide recently announced from the northern end of the Commonwealth deposit itself, this should lead to an increase in the project’s resource.

“We are now keen to test this new discovery along trend and at depth where potentially it may even connect to the underlying massive sulphide.”

Impact has interpreted the new newly-discovered zone connects to previous thick intercepts in two drill holes drilled uring previous campaigns at Silica Hill.

CMIPT011 returned:
20m at 44g/t silver from 122m ending in mineralisation; and

CMIPT026 which returned:
39m at 0.3g/t gold and 16g/t (half an ounce) silver (0.6g/t gold equivalent) from 5m.

According to Impact, there has now been significant silver-gold mineralisation defined by drilling over an area of 200m by 100m down to 200 metres below surface.

The mineralisation is open in all directions, including up-dip towards surface.

Impact has now moved the diamond drilling rig with the intention of re-entering hole CMIPT011.

Interpretation of previous results has determined this hole to have intersected the top of the mineralised intercept encountered in Hole CMIPT043.

Impact is hopeful that deepening the hole with diamond core will allow the company to glean further insights into the trend and nature of the newly discovered mineralisation.

Email: info@impactminerals.com.au

Website: www.impactminerals.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Aeris Resources (ASX: AIS) managing director Andre Labuschagne was under siege as he decommissioned the company’s booth on Day Three of the Diggers and Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie.

The kerfuffle was the result from the company’s announcement of updated Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve Estimates for the Tritton deposit, located within the company’s Tritton copper operations in New South Wales.

The updated Proved and Probable Ore Reserve Estimates for the Tritton deposit currently stands at 6.4 million tonnes at 1.6 per cent copper for 100,000 tonne of contained copper metal.

Aeris said the new estimate represents a 32 per cent increase, (by contained metal), on the previous public reported Ore Reserve estimate from June 2015 of 4.4 million tonnes at 1.7 per cent copper for 76,000 tonne of contained copper and is after depletion by mining in the year of 28,000 tonne contained copper metal.

The increase results follow resource drilling Aeris completed early this year, which has also contributed to an update of the Mineral Resource estimate.

The Tritton deposit remains open at depth and Aeris indicated it has further resource drilling planned for when suitable underground drill locations become available.

“The updated Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates for the Tritton deposit underpin an extension of the mine life at the Tritton Operations to 2023,” Aeris Resources executive chairman Andre Labuschagne said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

Website: www.aerisresources.com.au