THE DRILL SERGEANT: KBL Mining (ASX: KBL) has produced saleable lead and zinc concentrate from the initial ore mined from the A lode at the company’s Mineral Hill mine in New South Wales.

KBL has carried out a one week process trial to produce a saleable lead and zinc concentrates, from which it said preliminary results indicate the performance through the plant is meeting expectations.

Feed grades from the initial A lode ore have been in line with grade control assays for the 1040 level at 6.3 per cent lead and 2.7 per cent zinc.

Assay results the company has received so far have confirmed recoveries at 87 per cent for lead and 55 per cent for zinc.

The final concentrates contain 45 per cent lead and 46 per cent zinc.

“These initial results are considered highly encouraging with further improvements, particularly for zinc recovery expected from optimisation now in progress,” KBL Mining said in its ASX announcement.

“The ability to process polymetallic ore from the recently exposed A lode is a major milestone for Mineral Hill mine.

“With minimal changes to the existing process plant, the copper circuit was converted to a zinc circuit, while the lead circuit remained unaltered.

“Concentrate production of the lead and zinc is then campaigned through the existing filter.”

KBL explained it will revert the zinc circuit to a copper circuit once the trial has been completed to produce saleable copper and lead concentrates.

The company indicated it intends to implement permanent modifications to the plant to cater for the production of all three concentrates (copper, lead and zinc), which it expects to be happen in the next few months.

Website: www.kblmining.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Rumble Resources (ASX: RTR) has encountered disseminated sulphides during a maiden drill program being undertaken at the company’s Big Red project in the Fraser Range of Western Australia targeting nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation.

Rumble has completed four Mud Rotary/Diamond drill holes with the program, which was designed to test a two kilometre EM conductor the company had identified from a high powered ground EM survey.

As previously reported the first hole reached 240m but was abandoned through difficult drilling conditions.

However, all three subsequent holes reached target depth, intersecting sulphide zones within gabbros of the Fraser Range Complex.

The company described the sulphide zones to be of considerable widths and has interpreted this to indicate the conductor to be a substantial mineralised system.

Hole BRDD002 intersected two zones of gabbro, the first from 359.7m to 374.1m contained 14.4m of disseminated sulphides dominated by pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite (copper) towards a mylonitic faulted contact.

A second zone was intersected from 386.2m to 399.9m, which also intersected 13.7m of sulphides in layered gabbro with similar sulphides towards a mylonitic lower contact zone.

BRDD003 was drilled some 200m to the North of hole BRDD002 with a thin zone of disseminated pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite from 339.3m to 340.3m along with a thin gabbro unit from 360.7 to 362.5m.

Rumble explained this hole is closer to the original Teck hole which contained gabbro with only slightly elevated sulphur and copper.

BRDD004 was then drilled 300m to the south of BRDD002 which intersected the broadest gabbro unit.

It intersected two units with the upper unit from 183.6m to 190.6m containing disseminated pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite sulphides.

A much broader zone was identified from 245.6m to 284.6m containing similar disseminated to blebby sulphides near the lower contact.

The drill core was logged onsite and is being transported to ALS for cutting, assaying and petrology.

“Intersecting copper sulphides within Fraser Range gabbro units has enhanced the prospectivity of the Big Red project for both nickel and copper massive sulphides to be present,” Rumble Resources CEO Shane Sikora said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“These sulphide zones are of considerable widths and indicate the conductor to be within a large mineralised system.

“The three drill holes have only tested a small section of the two kilometre bedrock conductor highlighting the area’s potential.

“We are fast tracking a downhole EM program targeting areas that represent the highest conductance which may represent massive sulphide accumulations.

“An off hole conductor would represent a compelling target for the next phase of drilling.”

Email: enquiries@rumbleresources.com.au

Website: www.rumbleresources.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Flinders Mines (ASX: FMS) has increased the Mineral Resources at the company’s Pilbara iron ore project (PIOP) to in excess of 1 Billion tonnes.

The upgrade is a result of increases in the Mineral Resource estimates for the Delta, Paragon and Badger deposits.

The updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Delta deposit is 257.7 million tonnes at 56.4 per cent iron.

The majority (96%) of this Mineral Resource is now in the Indicated or Measured categories.

Infill drilling undertaken throughout 2014 at the Paragon deposit has resulted in an updated Mineral Resource estimate of 37.1 million tonnes at 56.9 per cent iron.

Flinders said the majority of this Mineral Resource is also now in the Indicated category.

The updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Badger deposit is 11.3 million tonnes at 57 per cent iron.

The total Mineral Resource estimate for the PIOP now stands at 1,040 million tonnes at 55.6 per cent iron.

 

Pilbara Iron Ore Project Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource summary. Source: Company announcement

 

“Significantly, 84 per cent of the total Mineral Resource is reported in the Indicated or Measured categories,” Flinders Mines said in its ASX announcement.

“This will form the basis for further mine planning and optimisation studies as part of the ongoing Bankable Feasibility Study.”

Although the majority of this total Mineral Resource is reported to JORC 2012 standards, Flinders indicated the Ajax deposit and the Anvil tenement deposits have been reported to JORC 2004 standards.

The company explained the Ajax deposit is in the process of being updated to JORC 2012 after recent infill drilling but the Anvil deposits have not been updated on the basis that the information available has not materially changed since it was reported in November 2011.

Email: info@flindersmines.com

Website: www.flindersmines.com

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Encounter Resources (ASX: ENR) has completed a round of diamond drilling at the Millennium prospect, which has intersected zinc sulphide mineralisation in all four holes drilled.

The Millennium prospect is located approximately 35 kilometres north east of the BM1-BM7 copper discoveries on the company’s Yeneena project in Western Australia.

The company conducted the first ever RC drilling program at Millennium in September 2014, which demonstrated strengthening of near surface zinc mineralisation the company understood to support its interpretation of the sub-basin margin at Millennium being more proximal to the core of the system.

Subsequently the company’s initial two diamond hole program at Millennium was expanded to four diamond holes, which has now been completed.

All four holes drilled intersected visible zinc sulphide mineralisation in the form of sphalerite.

“Mineralised intervals varied from broad zones of shale-hosted disseminated sphalerite as well as brecciated and vein hosted sphalerite within a carbonate host and at the carbonate / shale,” Encounter Resources said in its ASX announcement.

“The single line of diamond drilling at Millennium is located 3km south-east of the BM2 prospect where massive zinc sulphide mineralisation was discovered in a similar geological setting in late 2013”

According to Encounter the latest drill program has confirmed the presence of a large scale zinc mineral system at Millennium that remains open in all directions and at depth.

Drill core is currently being cut and sampled and is expected to be delivered to the laboratory for analysis in the next two weeks.

Assay results from these four holes are anticipated to be reported in December 2014.

The Millennium drilling program is co-funded under the WA Government Exploration Incentive Scheme (up to $150,000).

Website: www.enrl.com.au

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Each week any number of junior exploration plays set out to drill their ground. Here’s a small selection of what’s been happening this week.

Drilling at Apollo Hill and Stockdale

Peel Mining (ASX: PEX) is currently aircore drilling at Apollo Hill and a new prospect known as Stockdale.

The Apollo Hill drilling is designed to test for extensions to existing gold mineralisation; with a minimum of 12 drillholes planned to test for a north-western extension to the Ra Zone mineralisation, and a minimum of six drillholes planned to test for a south-eastern extension of the Apollo Hill Main Zone mineralisation.

The Stockdale prospect is located about 15km southeast of the Apollo Hill deposit and is a part of Peel’s Mud Hut project area, which comprises new ELAs contiguous with Peel’s Apollo Hill tenements and covers ground the company considers prospective for further gold mineralisation.

Drilling copper targets in the NT

Core Exploration (ASX: CXO) has commenced drilling at a number of copper targets on the company’s 100 per cent‐owned Albarta project, north east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling is underway at the Virginia prospect and will then move to additional copper targets in the Copper Royals district.

Recent AEM (Airborne Electromagnetics) surveys have delineated a conductive drill target below the outcropping copper mineralised zone at Virginia.

On completion of the drilling at Virginia a number of copper targets will also be drilled in the Copper Royals district located approximately 20km to the west of Virginia.

Recommencement of Drilling at Mt Windarra

Poseidon Nickel (ASX: POS) has recommenced underground drilling at Mt Windarra.

The purpose of the drilling is to test extensions to the Upper G shoot zone which were developed during the company’s last drilling program.

Poseidon said the defined region of the mineralised ore body may provide early cash flow as it is close to the existing decline at a level already fully rehabilitated.

The program is designed to speed up first ore deliveries in advance of when the main deeper C, D and G Shoot ore bodies can be mined.

Poseidon has estimated this drilling program could reduce the development time to first ore by two months down to a total of four months.

Redback RC Drilling Program Commenced

Tychean Resources (ASX: TYK) has commenced a 20 drill hole, Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program at the Redback prospect within the company’s wholly-owned Spargoville gold project in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

The RC drilling is designed to extend and infill the high-grade Eastern Zone mineralisation which has been intersected over a collective strike extent of 100 metres.

All results from the RC drilling are expected to be received by the end of December 2014.

Drill program to commence first week of December

Mithril Resources (ASX: MTH) is gearing up to commence a reverse circulation drill program to test four priority copper-nickel targets at the Nanadie Well project scheduled for the first week of
December 2014, subject to a successful completion of a current Rights Issue.

Nanadie Well is located 80 kilometres south east of Meekatharra in Western Australia and includes the Stark copper-nickel prospect and the Nanadie Well copper deposit (151,506 tonnes copper metal).

The drill targets are located at, and along strike from Stark (the Northern, Central and Southern EM conductors) and the Nanadie Well deposit (Nanadie Well North).

Stark is a recently identified 800m long zone of sub-cropping, copper-nickel-PGE mineralisation (where recent auger bedrock sampling returned up to 0.94 per cent copper, 0.28 per cent nickel, and
1,240ppb platinum + palladium- PGE’s) within weathered mafic rocks.

Mithhril’s recent electromagnetic (EM) geophysical surveying identified three new conductors (termed the ‘northern’, ‘central’, and ‘southern’ conductors) at, and immediately along strike from Stark; none of which have been previously drilled.

Drilling underway at Turner River base metals project

De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG) has commenced its planned drilling program at the Turner River zinc and silver base metal project.

The six hole RC program is expected to take two weeks to complete drilling.

First assay results from the drilling program are expected prior to Christmas with the remainder to come after then.