THE DRILL SERGEANT: IMX Resources (ASX: IXR, TSX: IXR) has updated the Mineral Resource estimate for the part of the company’s Ntaka Hill nickel sulphide project now referred to as the Sleeping Giant deposit.

The Ntaka Hill project is part of the company’s Nachingwea exploration project, located in south-eastern Tanzania.

IMX said the Resource estimate update provides further confirmation of the prospectivity of the area and the opportunity for future project development.

IMX said drilling completed in 2012 has confirmed the Sleeping Giant, L Zone, H Zone and NAD-013 deposit form one large mineralised system, which the company now refers collectively to as the Sleeping Giant deposit.

 

Plan view zoomed into the Sleeping Giant deposit, showing drill hole
collars and surface projection outline of resource estimate of
mineralisation. Source: Company announcement

 

The updated Mineral Resource for the Sleeping Giant deposit is comprised of:

–     An Indicated Mineral Resource of 17,200,000 tonnes at 0.49 per cent nickel for 84,280 tonnes of contained nickel; and

–    An Inferred Mineral Resource of 29,000,000 tonnes at 0.70 per cent nickel for 203,000 tonnes of contained nickel.

“We are pleased to release this updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Sleeping Giant deposit at our Ntaka Hill project,” IMX Resources managing director Neil Meadows said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The improved grade of the inferred portion of the resource is significant as is the demonstration of the linkage between the various zones referred to previously as being separate.

“In addition, current, near surface drilling has continued to expand the open pit potential at Ntaka Hill, while future planned drilling is aimed at investigating the area down plunge of the high-grade shoots within the Sleeping Giant deposit shown in the model output.”

Following a review in 2013 of the geological setting and structural controls of the project, IMX said it had applied a more conservative approach to applying material to the Measured and Indicated categories.

As a consequence, contained nickel in these categories has been reduced by 36,920 tonnes, however, contained nickel in the Inferred Resource category has increased by 99,500 tonnes at substantially improved grades.

The company has also applied a cut-off grade of 0.3 per cent nickel for the 2013 Mineral Resource models, as it considered this was more likely to represent an economic cut-off for open pit mining in either the current or forecast nickel price environments.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Metals of Africa (ASX: MTA) has claimed discovery of a new high-grade lead base metal prospect, situated within the company’s 100 per cent-owned Rio Mazoe project, located in the Tete Province of Mozambique.

Metals of Africa (MoA) said it had identified a surficial occurrence (rock outcrop) of high grade lead mineralisation at Rio Mazoe in an area which is yet to be explored, but which the company considers to be prospective for Broken Hill Type-style mineralisation.

 

Location map of the Rio Mazoe and Changara projects showing the
recently discovered Rulio prospect together with the existing Meque and
Cocodeza prospects. Source: Company announcement

 

The company has recorded elevated lead grades ranging from 6.45 per cent to 79.9 per cent, with an average 44.2 of per cent lead from analysis of rock chip samples, utilising a portable XRF machine.

These rock chip samples have been sent for independent laboratory analysis.

The mineralised outcrop was discovered by the company’s geologists during a soil sampling program over an area it had identified due to its geological and structural setting.

MoA explained the mineralisation appears to be hosted on the contact of a medium grained quatzite unit and biotite-garnet-sillimanite schist, which at surface appears to be up to 1.5 metres wide.

This is largely covered by soil and MoA said detailed geological mapping followed by drilling will be required to determine the depth extent and dimensions of the mineralised occurrence.

“The discovery of outcropping high-grade lead within Proterozoic aged rocks displaying high-grade metamorphism and a complex deformation history is extremely encouraging because it ticks all of the right boxes for our search of a Broken Hill Type deposit,” Metals of Africa executive director Cherie Leeden said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“We are continuing on with a regional soil sampling program, which to date has identified some impressive new surficial base-metal anomalism such as this lead discovery and the high grade copper outcrop announced last week.

“This work is a lead up to drilling and we’re expecting to have a number of exciting targets”.

MoA currently has a team of 12 people in the field at the Rio Mazoe project and at its neighbouring Changara Joint Venture project, conducting soil sampling and geological mapping of high-priority geochemically anomalies in areas that displayed elevated lead, zinc, silver, and/or copper during previous soil sampling programs.

The aim of the soil sampling is to discover mineralisation and define drill targets.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Millennium Minerals (ASX: MOY) has received results from reverse circulation (RC) drilling carried out at the company’s Nullagine gold project, located in the East Pilbara district of Western Australia.

Millennium completed a combined total of 51 RC holes at the Au81 prospect and Golden Eagle deposit.

The company said the drilling had confirmed high-grades at the Au81 prospect, which it considers to demonstrate potential to form the next deposit at the Nullagine project.

The Au81 prospect is situated within two kilometres of the Golden Eagle processing facility.

 

Nullagine project location plan. Source: Company announcement

 

Highlights from the recent gold intercepts include:

–    22 metres at 12 grams per tonne gold from 14 metres, including 5 metres at 32 grams per tonne gold from 21 metres;

–    37m at 6.15g/t gold from 17m, including 7m at 12g/t gold from 18m; and

–    16m at 4.91g/t gold from 22m, including 2m at 17g/t gold from 31m.

Millennium indicated the results achieved at Au81 confirm the Main Zone high-grade shoot, with core gold grades of half to one ounce per tonne, saying the results validate historical intersections, confirm dips and highlight grades while demonstrating potential to form an economic deposit with further drilling.

The company also took delivery of results from drilling conducted at Golden Eagle.

This drilling encountered new intersections Millennium said had proven continuity of the Golden Eagle deposit footwall and main zone mineralisation at depth as well as demonstrating upside potential to expanded Resources and Reserves.

Gold intercepts from Golden Eagle include:

–    10m at 2.4g/t gold from 116m and 8m at 2.53g/t gold from 129m;

–    9m at 2.48g/t gold from 93m;

–    9m at 2.38g/t gold from 121m; and

–    7m at 2.98g/t gold from 106m, including 3m at 5.07g/t gold from 108m.

“The results demonstrate down dip continuity on both the Main Zone and Footwall zone of mineralisation,” Millennium Minerals said in its ASX announcement.

“They show potential to expand the Golden Eagle Resources and Reserves in two locations.

“Both of these areas also have good potential to deepen the adjacent pit designs with further drilling, with the effect of increasing the Resource and Reserve ounces and tonnes.

“Accordingly, a 500 metre follow-up program is being designed to further test these two areas.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Core Exploration (ASX: CXO) has claimed to have identified an undrilled, one kilometre-long copper target, which has previously returned assays up to 34 per cent copper at surface.

The target is a wholly-owned exploration licence (EL) application, situated within the company’s Albarta project, north east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

 

Core’s Albarta project tenements overlain on regional geology in the Northern Territory. Source: Company announcement

 

Core explained that rock chip sampling of malachite-stained rocks on the EL by previous explorers returned values typically in the 1 to 5 per cent copper range, with one hitting up to 34 per cent copper, within a stratiform copper horizon identified over one kilometre strike at Core’s Virginia prospect.

The Virginia copper prospect occurs in a distinctive garnet gneiss band within mafic gneiss.

Core said the previous soil sampling program was carried out on five lines on 600 metre by 50 metre spacing, coincident with a zone of alteration interpreted from Landsat images.

“A strong copper in soil anomaly was returned along strike from the main Virginia outcrop in both directions,” Core Exploration said in its ASX announcement.

“Despite the exceptional results, no drilling or geophysical surveys have been undertaken on the zone.

“Core’s planned soil sampling should identify any additional outcropping zones of mineralisation.

“The company also intends to undertake detailed geophysics over known areas of mineralisation to identify potentially larger mineral bodies at depth and determine drill targets.”

Core said it anticipated being in a position to commence field exploration on Virginia and in the previously announced Copper King area once the tenement has been granted, which it expects to occur later this month.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Phoenix Gold (ASX: PXG) has received further results from drilling being conducted immediately north east of Stage 1 at the company’s Castle Hill gold project located on the Kunanalling shear zone in the Western Australian Goldfields.

According to Phoenix the drilling has extended gold mineralisation through the tonalite-basalt contact at depth and along strike of the Castle Hill resource, which currently stands at 23.54 million tonnes at 1.6 grams per tonne gold for 1,178,000 ounces.

“The more we drill at Castle Hill the greater our understanding of its potential,” Phoenix Gold managing director Jon Price said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The latest drilling within the adjoining basalt confirms continuous mineralisation within the tonalite is complemented with higher grade shear hosted mineralisation on the contact and within this basalt.

“With multiple mineralisation styles, orientations, and rocks types in this gold camp starting at surface, the endowment of this area is very robust and clearly justifies our large investment into this emerging new development centre.”

 

Castle Hill Stage 1 cross section 5. Source: Company announcement

 

During the recently-completed June Quarter Phoenix drilled a total of 53 Reverse Circulation drill holes totalling 7,444m immediately north east of Castle Hill Stage 1.

The company’s aim for the program was to test the mineralisation in the basalt contact and the basalt itself to the east of the Kintore Tonalite.

Highlighted mineralisation intercepts include:

–    70 metres at 1.7g/t gold from 113 metres;

–    10m at 6.6g/t gold from 67m;

–    31m at 2.7g/t gold from 16m;

–     79m at 1.2g/t gold from 48m;

–    47m at 1.8g/t gold from 107m;

–    2m at 24.7g/t gold from 126m;

–    33m at 1.8g/t gold from 178m; and

–    3m at 11.3g/t gold from 49m.

Phoenix said the drilling has also shown the supergene mineralisation in this area to be more extensive and higher grade than previously identified and provided confidence in the continuity of the high grade quartz veins within the sheared basalt.

The company considers the results to demonstrate mineralisation extends well beyond the Kintore Tonalite showing continuous grade and widths along strike and at depth as well as providing potential for the Stage 1 resource to grow both laterally and at depth with mineralisation remaining open in all directions.