Azure Minerals Moving Andover Apace

COMMODITY CAPERS: One would have had to have been hiding under a weighty rock over the past year or so to not hear about the advancement of Azure Minerals (ASX: AZS) Andover nickel-copper-cobalt project in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Azure Minerals rounded out a successful 2021 by claiming a new discovery at the Andover project (60% Azure / 40% Creasy Group).

Azure Minerals announced diamond drilling had discovered a new zone of nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation at the Skyline prospect located approximately 300m to the west of the VC-23 prospect.

The drilling also intersected substantial massive nickel and copper sulphide mineralisation in the VC-07 West mineralised system.

Up to that time, 133 diamond drill holes had been completed on the Andover project, with 102 holes drilled at VC-07 East, 20 holes at VC-07 West, 8 holes at VC-23 and 3 holes at Skyline.

The first three Skyline drill holes intersect nickel and copper sulphide-rich mineralisation coincident with electromagnetic (EM) conductors, encountering:

ANDD0129
7.4 metres of disseminated nickel-copper sulphides from 55.5m;
6.4m of disseminated nickel-copper sulphides from 64.2m; and
6.7m of disseminated nickel-copper sulphides from 81.4m

ANDD0131
2.9m of disseminated nickel-copper sulphides from 70m; and
1.8m of disseminated nickel-copper sulphides from 73.8m

ANDD0132
2.6m of disseminated nickel-copper sulphides from 106.8m; and
13.7m of blebby and disseminated nickel-copper sulphides from 115.2m.

“We’re very pleased that our regional exploration drilling has got off to such a great start with a new nickel-copper sulphide discovery made at the Skyline prospect,” Andover Minerals managing director Tony Rovira said at the time.

“The first three holes all intersected nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation coinciding with EM conductors, confirming that on the Andover project, electrical conductance continues to be associated with sulphide mineralisation.

“Meanwhile our drilling continues to intersect substantial nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation within the VC-07 mineralised corridor, with the latest massive sulphide intersections at VC-07 West also coinciding with electromagnetic conductors.

“With multiple mineralised drill hits and extensions of the EM conductors that have yet to be drilled, VC-07 West looks promising for hosting significant nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation.”

In February, Azure Minerals reported receiving assay results from the final 14 drill holes of the mineral resource drill-out of the Andover deposit, which it subsequently sent off to its consultants to be included in the prospect’s maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), which is expected to be released in late March 2022.

The company then turned its attention to drilling at the Ridgeline nickel-copper sulphide prospect, which it announced this week had returned multiple high-grade nickel and copper intersections.

Nickel-copper sulphides intersected at Ridgeline returned high-grade assays, including:

ANDD0134
6.3 metres at 3.59 per cent nickel, 0.21 per cent copper and 0.17 per cent cobalt from 459.2m downhole, within 12.6m at 2.17 per cent nickel, 0.46 per cent copper and 0.10 per cent cobalt from 459.2m;

ANDD0128
4.9m at 3.5 per cent nickel, 1.34 per cent copper and 0.17 per cent cobalt from 542.8m downhole, within 14.5m at 1.84 per cent nickel, 0.88 per cent copper and 0.09 per cent cobalt from 537m; and

ANDD0127
0.9m at 4.45 per cent nickel, 0.19 per cent copper and 0.17 per cent cobalt from 356.6m downhole, within 4.1m at 1.4 per cent nickel, 0.6 per cent copper and 0.06 per cent cobalt from 356.6m.

A geologically targeted step-out drill hole, ANDD0147, collared approximately 140m along strike to the west of Ridgeline intersected a three-metre-wide zone of nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation, including two intervals of massive nickel-copper sulphides.

Nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation at Ridgeline starts approximately 200m along strike to the west of the Andover nickel-copper deposit and extends to the west for at least 600m.

Azure has drilled 32 holes at Ridgeline, intersecting several distinct horizons of sulphide mineralisation.

While attending the recent 2022 RIU Explorers Conference, Azure announced staking of two new Exploration Licence Applications (ELAs) in the Kookynie gold district and application for an additional two new ELAs to the south of the company’s Barton tenement package.

Azure made application for two Exploration Licences located within the Kookynie gold district.
The tenements are:

• Christmas Well ELA 40/421 69sqkm Azure is sole applicant;
• Two Dees ELA 40/432 33sqkm Azure is sole applicant.

Christmas Well is thought to have potential for Kookynie-style gold mineralisation and Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) mineralisation (copper-zinc-lead-gold-silver).

Two Dees is considered prospective for gold mineralisation considered similar to Genesis’ nearby Ulysses and Admiral-Butterfly-Clark gold deposits.

Azure has also made applications for two new Exploration Licences further south from Kookynie:

• Cranky Jack ELA 31/1310 173sqkm Azure is sole applicant; and
• Yarri ELA 31/1314 208sqkm Multiple applications, pending ballot.

Azure Minerals expects to eventually hold a large, strategically-situated portfolio of tenements within the Kookynie district with potential extensions to the south, comprising:

• One granted Exploration Licence (E40/393: 198sqkm);
• Six ELAs (totalling 483sqkm) with Azure as the sole applicant; and
• Four ELAs (totalling sq336km) where Azure is a competing applicant, and will go into a Mining Warden’s Court ballot to decide ownership.

 

 

 

 

 

Email: admin@azureminerals.com.au

Web: www.azureminerals.com.au

Musgrave Minerals Enjoys Freedom to Explore Home Ground

COMMODITY CAPERS: Musgrave Minerals has been making the most of the freedom bestowed upon it to focus on the company’s 100 per cent owned tenure at the Cue gold project in Western Australia after Evolution Mining elected to act as earn-in manager over the pair’s Joint Venture from Day one of 2022.

This week, Musgrave Minerals reported further high-grade gold assay results from RC drilling at the Mosaic Lode.

The new intersections were achieved when testing along strike from the original Mosaic discovery intersection announced in December 2021, and include:

22MORC052
4 metres at 79.6 grams per tonne gold from 20m, including 3m at 105.4g/t gold from 20m;

22MORC053
4m at 8.9g/t gold from 61m;

22MORC001
3m at 6.5g/t gold from 50m;

22MORC047
2m at 7.8g/t gold from 92m; and

22MORC051
2m at 5.8g/t gold from 58m.

Elsewhere on the company’s 100 per cent ground two RC pre-collar drill holes at Break of Day intersected gold mineralisation in previously untested locations outside the current Mineral Resource Estimate boundary.

New extensional intersections from composite sampling included:

22MORC066
2m at 10.4g/t gold from 138m to EOH with the RC pre-collar terminating in high-grade mineralisation, in an area poorly drill tested.

The intercept is approximately 80m south of the current Break of Day Mineral Resource boundary and a diamond tail is pending for this hole.

22MORC066
6m at 2.4g/t gold from 66m was encountered in an area not previously drill tested and approximately 100m south of the current Break of Day Mineral Resource boundary.

22MORC071
6m at 4.3g/t gold from 84m was hit within the broader Break of Day Mineral Resource area but approximately 20m away from a currently defined lode.

 

 

“These results from the new Mosaic Lode at White Heat continue to highlight the upside potential of the project,” Waugh said in the company’s recent ASX announcement.

“The near-surface high grades intersected at Cue are some of the best, recent near-surface exploration hits in the Yilgarn.

“We are continuing to grow our understanding of the system and the controls on mineralisation and have confidence in our ability to grow the Mineral Resource base.

“We are on track to deliver a maiden Mineral Resource for Big Sky and White Heat-Mosaic in late Q2 2022.”

This followed up news in February, when Musgrave Minerals reported gold assay results from reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling of prospects on its, then new, Mosaic target located just south of the earlier White Heat prospect discovery.

The newly discovered Mosaic Lode returned high-grade gold results, including:

21MORC414
9m at 110.5g/t gold from 42m, including 3m at 307.3g/t gold from 45m; and

21MODD041
2.8m at 122.2g/t gold from 72m, including 0.8m at 381g/t gold from 74m.

The drill rigs were busy at Mosaic, following up on strong assay results achieved from resource infill drilling at the Big Sky prospect that included.

21MORC259
3m at 22.6g/t gold from 68m, including 1m at 62.6g/t gold from 69m;

21MORC260
2m at 9.1g/t gold from 64m; and

21MORC241
8m at 4.3g/t gold from 23m, including 1m at 30.9g/t gold from 23m.

 

“Our Cue gold project continues to deliver with more exceptional near-surface gold results in both RC and diamond drilling,” Musgrave Minerals managing director Rob Waugh said at the time.

“We think there is a lot more gold to be found in this district.

“These results again demonstrate the upside of the project.

“Even modest tonnages at these sort of near surface grades could have a positive impact on the future project economics.

“The company currently has three drill rigs on our 100 per cent tenure and one on the Evolution JV.

“The immediate focus is on building the resource base and delivering a Mineral Resource Estimate update in late Q2 2022.”

The current resource estimate for the Cue gold project totals 6.4 million tonnes at 3.2g/t gold for 659,000 ounces, including the Break of Day deposit (797kt at 10.2g/t gold for 262koz contained gold) and the Lena deposit (4.3Mt at 2.3g/t gold for 325koz contained gold) located 130m to the west of Break of Day.

The new gold discoveries at White Heat-Mosaic and Big Sky are both outside the existing resource areas.

All this didn’t mean Musgrave took its eye of the Cue Joint Venture with Evolution Mining over Lake Austin ball with the JV announcing new assay results in January from aircore and diamond drilling programs.

The aircore results continued to extend the large regolith gold mineralisation at the West Island prospect and the diamond drilling returning high-grade basement gold mineralisation.

Diamond core intercepts from the December 2021 quarter included:

21MODD025
4.26m at 41.5g/t gold from 160.74m, including 0.41m a 400.2g/t gold from 160.74m; and

21MODD033
6m at 2.7g/t gold from 125m;

Evolution had initially committed to a $5 million exploration spend to fund further drilling at Cue in FY22 but has increased the JV budget for the second half of the year.

The intent is to accelerate exploration and to delineate the scale of the gold system at West Island, to test additional gold-in-regolith aircore anomalies and define new diamond drilling targets through aircore drilling.

“The gold system at the Cue JV with Evolution continues to deliver strong results with diamond drilling confirming the potential for multiple high-grade basement gold lodes within the dolerite sill at West Island,” Musgrave Minerals managing director Rob Waugh said.

“Evolution increasing the exploration budget in H2 2022 and electing to act as Earn-in Manager from 1 January 2022 is a positive move and an indication of the upside potential of the Joint Venture ground.”

 

 

Email: info@musgraveminerals.com.au

 

Web: www.musgraveminerals.com.au

 

White Rock Minerals Chasing Global Commodities

COMMODITY CAPERS: White Rock Minerals (ASX: WRM) describes itself as being a near-stage gold producer and poly-metallic and precious metals explorer.

The company’s aspirations are spread across a portfolio of three projects: the Woods Point gold project in Victoria, the Red Mountain silver-zinc VMS and Last Chance IRGS gold projects in Alaska USA, and the advanced gold and silver Mt Carrington project in News South Wales.

White Rock believes its portfolio provides investors with diversification through high-quality projects at differing developmental stages, exposed to different commodities, in two first world jurisdictions.

White Rock recently updated the Inferred Mineral Resource estimate for the Red Mountain project thanks to a doubling of the Dry Creek deposit high-grade Inferred Mineral Resource to 4.9 million tonnes at 8.4 per cent zinc equivalent or 393 grams per tonne silver equivalent (at a 3% Zn cut-off).

Dry Creek joins the West Tundra Flats as the most significant deposits within the Red Mountain project combining for a high-grade Inferred Resource of 11.6 million tonnes at 12 per cent zinc equivalent or 555g/t silver equivalent (at a 3% Zn cut-off).

The global Inferred Mineral Resource for Red Mountain now stands at 21.3 million tonnes at 8.5 per cent zinc equivalent for 1.8 million tonnes of contained zinc equivalent or 393g/t silver equivalent for 207 million ounces of contained silver equivalent.

Much of White Rock’s attention of late, however, has been focused on advancing its Woods Point gold project north-east of Melbourne in Victoria, which the company acquired in 2021.

Woods Point contains 660 square kilometres of highly prospective exploration ground that has seen historical production of more than 1,600,000 ounces of gold.

Along with the land holding, Woods Point also contains the Morning Star gold mine, which came complete with mining licenses, operational shaft and winder, underground workings, and a gold processing plant.

Over its lifetime, the Morning Star mine produced over 883,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 26.5g/t.

 

 

 

 

With production now halted, White Rock has taken on the project with its focus on in-mine exploration, with the goal of following up high-grade gold potential in specific zones of the mine to define a long-term resource and mine plan, before considering a restart of production.

The most recent news from Morning Star came from an underground drilling foray that produced further assay results from the Kenny’s target area.

The Kenny’s target area includes multiple high-grade gold structures including the Whitelaw Reef, the Upper and Lower Burns Reefs, and the Upper and Lower Campbell Reefs.

This target area is located between 6 Level and 9 Level, where existing development provides access to the Whitelaw Reef and the immediate high-grade target area that White Rock is currently assessing for its future mining potential.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent drill intersection assay results from the Whitelaw Reef, include:

22KPL9002
4.3 metres at 9.3 grams per tonne gold, including 0.3m at 68.3g/t gold (true width); and

22KPL9004
0.2m at 56.6g/t gold (true width).

These results followed previous drilling results from the Whitelaw Reef, which included:

21L7006
0.8m at 34.1g/t gold, including 0.3m at 107g/t gold (true width); and

MS402
0.6m at 74.8g/t gold (true width).

White Rock has since moved the underground drill rig to the southern end of the mine, still on 9 Level, where it is completing definition drilling on extensions to the recently mined McNally Reef with a view to re-commencing mining in the near term.

The underground drill rig will then resume drill testing the prospective Gap Zone between 10 Level and 14 Level in conjunction with continuing to drill nearer-term production targets above 9 Level as it progresses through different drill sites along 9 Level.

While the McNally Reef is being drilled, White Rock will undertake a mining assessment of the Whitelaw Reef to determine whether it can be included in future development and production plans or requires additional drilling to reach a decision point.

The company believes these current drill programs potentially deliver four working areas for future mining, dependent on the outcome of an assessment of drilling results for each, providing a pathway to recommence mining at:

1. McNally Reef extensions where development is in place to commence mining immediately;

2. Dickenson Reef where sufficient development is in place to commence mining in the short term;

3. Stacpoole / Age of Progress Reefs where development is in place and minor infrastructure requirements will allow mining to commence in the short term; and

4. Whitelaw Reef where minor development is required, and more substantial infrastructure is needed to enable mining to commence in the mid-term.

 

Email: info@whiterockminerals.com.au
Web: www.whiterockminerals.com.au
Directors: Peter Lester, Matt Gill, Jeremy Gray, Lord Christopher Wellesley, Paul McNally

 

Bulletin Resources Identifies New Lake Rebecca Gold Targets

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Bulletin Resources (ASX: BNR) has defined numerous priority exploration target areas within the company’s 80 per cent-owned (20% Matsa Resources (ASX: MAT)) Lake Rebecca project outside Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

Bulletin Resources identified the new targets by way of a recently commissioned geological and geophysical study of the Lake Rebecca project to identify and advance priority gold target areas after a recent buy of up of new land tenure.

A key outcome of the study was the identification of what has been informally named the Rebecca Complex geological unit.

Of note is that the new unit hosts all of the gold deposits of Bulletin’s neighbour, Apollo Consolidated (ASX: AOP), as well as Bulletin’s healthier drill intercepts of late.

This same unit is recognised in Bulletin’s ground both along strike of AOP’s deposits as well as further north.

“The abundance of targets generated from this study and recognition of extensive areas of prospective geology in Bulletin’s ground supports the Board’s view to progress exploration as quickly as we can,” Bulletin Resources chairman Paul Poli said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Bulletin looks forward to continuing work and finding success in this exciting area.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Email: admin@bulletinresources.com

 

Web: www.bulletinresources.com

 

White Rock Minerals Sees Red Mountain Potential in Alaska

THE INSIDE STORY: White Rock Minerals (ASX: WRM) is based in the historic mining town of Ballarat in Victoria, yet is exploring in New South Wales and Alaska.

White Rock Minerals owns the Red Mountain project in central Alaska – a high-grade zinc-silver-lead-gold project – and the advanced Mt Carrington gold-silver project in NSW.

Red Mountain has a Mineral Resource estimate of 9 million tonnes at 13 per cent zinc equivalent.

The company describes Red Mountain as being a quality advanced exploration project in an established mining district with plenty of potential to discover large zinc-silver-lead-gold-copper deposits in addition to extending the known zinc-silver-lead-gold deposits at Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats deposits.

There are already two high-grade deposits at the Red Mountain project, with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 9.1 million tonnes at 12.9 per cent zinc equivalent for 1.1 million tonnes of contained zinc equivalent at Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats.

This VMS polymetallic Resource zinc equivalent grade is made up of 5.8 per cent zinc, 2.6 per cent lead, 157 grams per tonne silver and 0.9g/t gold.

Recent drilling at Dry Creek intersected 1.4 metres at 13.9 per cent zinc, 4.4 per cent lead, 115g/t silver, 0.8g/t gold and 0.3 per cent copper for 21.6 per cent zinc equivalent.

White Rock reported assays from this drill core confirmed high-grade mineralisation had been intersected in massive sulphide over 200 metres down-dip from its previous drilling efforts.

The company interpreted this deepest intersection in the Dry Creek deposit to indicate a possible steeper dip to mineralisation than first interpreted, suggesting the deposit could be wide open down dip along its entire 1,200 metre strike length.

The massive sulphide intersected was interpreted to be the extension to the high-grade Fosters lens, the upper of two lenses in the Dry Creek deposit.

“This aggressive step-out drill hole at Dry Creek has shown that the deposit is wide open with fantastic high-grade zinc and silver persisting over 200 metres deeper than previously drilled,” White Rock Minerals managing director Matt Gill said when announcing the results.

“While this particular intersection is narrow, we know that typical VMS lenses pinch and swell along strike and down dip, as evidenced by previous drilling where true width intersections of up to 40 metres at the Fosters lens have been recorded.

“The majority of the current Inferred Resource is drilled to a depth of just 200 metres so a further step out of over 200 metres suggests considerable upside is possible in expanding the size of the deposit.

“Furthermore, ground conditions and the onset of winter terminated the drill hole prematurely with the high-grade Discovery lens remaining untested at this depth.

“This leaves considerable additional potential to this down dip position in the deposit, especially when considering the Resource footprint extends for 1,200 metres of strike.

“A targeted drill program early in the 2020 field season could unlock just how significant the Resource expansion potential could be.”

White Rock’s Mt Carrington project is underpinned by a Mineral Resource estimate of more than 340,000 ounces of gold and 23 million ounces of silver.

The Mineral Resources are situated in seven surface deposits, all located on granted Mining Leases and with developed infrastructure.

The company completed at Pre-Feasibility Study for Mt Carrington in late 2017, from which it has commenced progressing Mt Carrington through a Definitive Feasibility Study and permitting process prior to a Decision to Mine, at which point a construction and commissioning finance package is available, subject to certain conditions.

 

Email: info@whiterockminerals.com.au

 

Web: www.whiterockminerals.com.au

 

Rex Minerals Spreads Exploration Across the Globe

THE INSIDE STORY: Rex Minerals’ (ASX: RXM) exploration aspirations cover the search for copper in Australia and gold in the United States of America.

Rex Minerals’ Hillside copper project is located on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia.

The JORC Code 2012-complaint Mineral Resource estimate for the Hillside project consists 337 million tonnes at 0.6 per cent copper and 0.14 grams per tonne gold, equating to approximately 2 million tonnes (4.3 billion pounds) of copper, 1.4 million ounces of gold.

Of the 2 million tonnes of contained copper classified as a Mineral Resource, approximately 65 per cent has been classified as Measured and Indicated Resources.

The Mineral Resource remains open at depth and towards the north and south.

The company claims the Mineral Resource for the Hillside project to be one of Australia’s largest open pit copper Mineral Resources.

In August 2019, Rex Minerals completed the acquisition of Hog Ranch Group Pty Ltd giving it ownership of the Hog Ranch gold project in Nevada, USA.

The company wasted little time in announcing an Inferred Mineral Resource at Hog Ranch of 44 million tonnes at 0.6 grams per tonne gold for 0.83 million ounces of gold.

The Resource was based on a large historical drilling database containing a total of 2,678 drill holes, a large percentage of which was completed by Western Mining Corporation (WMC) that operated an open pit and heap leach operation there from 1988 through to 1991.

“The acquisition of Hog Ranch and the rapid delivery of a maiden Mineral Resource of over 800,000 ounces of gold (the documentation and reporting of which has been independently peer reviewed by Peter Stoker of AMC Consultants Pty Ltd), demonstrates how positively we view Hog Ranch and its potential,” Rex Minerals managing director Richard Laufmann said when announcing the Resource.

“Hog Ranch offers Rex investors immediate exposure to the gold sector in one of the world’s most well‐ endowed gold regions.

“Nevada is a proven destination for successful gold exploration, discovery and production.

“The current database of 2,678 drill holes, which is included within the Mineral Resource estimate, has a total combined length of over 200,000 metres.

“At replacement, this drill data base alone would cost over $30 million.”

The Inferred Mineral Resource is based on large shallow disseminated gold mineralisation that exists from surface at Hog Ranch and extends to 175 metres below surface as well as on the historic database.

Outside of the Inferred Mineral Resource, Rex has defined a broad alteration system that stretches for over 20 square kilometres, which the company considers to highlight the potential scale and opportunity at Hog Ranch.

Deeper high-grade vein hosted gold targets at Hog Ranch that were intersected by earlier explorers remain untested.

 

Email: rex@rexminerals.com.au

 

Web: www.rexminerals.com.au

 

Superior Lake Firing up Canadian Zinc Project

THE INSIDE STORY: Superior Lake Resources (ASX: SUP) is focused on the redevelopment of the Superior Lake zinc project in North Western Ontario, Canada.

The project is a high-grade zinc deposit with a JORC resource of 2.35 million tonnes at 17.7 per cent zinc, 0.9 per cent copper, 0.38 grams per tonne gold and 34g/t silver and a Probable Ore Reserve of 1.96 million tonnes at 13.9 per cent zinc, 0.6 per cent copper, 0.2g/t gold and 26.2g/t silver.

The Superior Lake Zinc project is located east of Thunder Bay in the province of Ontario and covers 175 square kilometres, consisting two deposits – Winston Lake and Pick Lake.

In August 2019, Superior Lake released a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS), which outlined an operation at Superior Lake that would produce 34,000 tonnes per annum of contained zinc metal with All in Sustaining Operating Costs of US$0.47 per pound, ranking the project in the lowest cost quartile of zinc projects globally.

The BFS assumed mine access via a new decline from surface instead of rehabilitating the old Winston shaft.

The numbers were based on a 1,000 tonnes per day operation, with a total upfront capital cost of US$87 million (plus US$10M pre-production and Owner’s costs).

Superior Lake is expected to produce over life-of-mine an average of 32,000 tonnes per annum of zinc concentrate and 5200 tonnes per annum of copper concentrate.

At this stage, production is expected to commence in 2021 for a mine life of nine years.

The company believes several advanced exploration targets exist that present an opportunity for a potential extension to the mine life.

Key highlights from the study include:

Financial returns:

C1 Cost – US$ 0.35/lb zinc
AISC Cost – US$ 0.47/lb zinc
NPV8 pre-tax US$157 million (A$224M)
IRR 31 per cent (pre-tax)

Key production figures include:

Plant throughput 325,000 tonnes per annum
Total 2.2 million tonnes treated
Average grade: 13.7 per cent zinc
Average zinc recovery: 96 per cent
Initial capital expenditure of US$86 million (A$106M) excluding owners and pre-production
Life of Mine of nine years
Annual production (after ramp-up) of 38,000 tonnes per annum contained zinc and 1400 tonnes per annum contained copper

“The purpose of this BFS was to validate Superior Lake becoming a viable zinc operation,” Superior Lake CEO David Woodall said when the BFS was released.

“This was clearly achieved, as the Study demonstrates the project will generate strong cash flow throughout the nine-year mine life.

“The driving factor for the result was the low AISC (LOM – US$0.47/lb), which, if brought into production, would rank the project in the lowest quartile of producers globally.

“The development of the project has been completed with the future in mind, as the decline will be in close proximity to each of the major geophysical anomalies that were identified in the 2019 exploration program, all of which are expected to be tested in the near future.

“A discovery at any of these anomalies would significantly change the parameters of the project both in terms of mine life as well as production profile.

“In the coming months, the company will focus on finalising off-take, equity and debt financing as well as completing an Optimisation Study whereupon a decision to mine will be made.”

 

Email: info@superiorlake.com.au

 

Web: www.superiorlake.com.au

 

Azure Minerals Commences Mining Operations at Oposura Project in Mexico

THE INSIDE STORY: Azure Minerals (ASX: AZS) has commenced mining operations at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Oposura zinc-lead-silver project, located in Sonora, Mexico.

Azure Minerals is mining easily accessible, high-grade mineralised material, from which it anticipates achieving monthly production of between 1,500 tonnes to 3,000 tonnes at grades between 10 per cent to 15 per cent combined zinc and lead.

All mineralisation to be mined is classified as Indicated Mineral Resources.

Azure said it anticipates starting to process this ore in September under a toll treatment agreement with a third-party sulphide flotation processing plant.

The subsequent delivery of positive cash flow to the company will support the ongoing Feasibility Study into a full-scale mining and on-site processing operation and provide general working capital.

“We acquired Oposura in August 2017, and to be commencing an early-stage, low-cost, high-grade mining operation within 24 months is a great achievement,” Azure Minerals managing director Tony Rovira said.

“This operation allows Azure to realise early cash-flow that will help fund the ongoing Feasibility Study, which will ultimately see Oposura in full-scale production.”

Oposura is a relatively small-scale mining operation, focused on mining easily accessible, high-grade, massive sulphide mineralisation from the project’s East Zone Mineral Resource.

Azure is to undertake the mining in two phases, initially by open pit, which is currently in progress, to be followed by underground extraction.

During July, Azure mobilised an open pit mining contractor to the Oposura site.

Work completed to date includes refurbishing of an approximately six-kilometre-long access road between the main highway and the mine site, prestripping overburden from above the massive sulphide horizon, grade control drilling, and mining and stockpiling of ore.

Phase 1 mining is removing, via open pit, fresh massive sulphide mineralisation situated on the eastern side of the East Zone mineral resource.

Mineralisation in this area occurs within five metres of surface and in some places is already fully exposed.

Overburden consists of weathered rock which is being stripped by bulldozer with no drilling and blasting required, ensuring low mining costs.

Since mining started, over 1,200 tonnes of ore have been excavated and stockpiled.

Based on mineral resource drilling within the mined area, where hole spacing is approximately 25m by 25m, the grade of this material is estimated to be between 10 per cent and 15 per cent combined zinc and lead.

The mineralised horizon of massive sulphides ranges in true thickness between one and four metres.

Open pit mining is expected to continue throughout July and August with several thousand tonnes of high-grade ore expected to be produced.

The western wall of the open pit will be cut back to enable access directly into the historical Tunnel D drive.

The underground mining contractor should mobilise to site in August to commence Phase 2 mining.

Initially, a portal will be established in the western wall of the open pit to access the Tunnel D drive which will then be side-stripped to provide 3m by 3m mechanised access to the western high-grade zone.

Underground mining will be carried out by the room and pillar method to ensure maximum ore recovery while minimising dilution.

Ore transport to the San Javier flotation plant will start in August and processing under the toll treatment arrangement is expected to commence in September.

 

Web: www.azureminerals.com.au

Middle Island Resources Limited (ASX: MDI)

Middle Island Resources has outlined a schedule of exploration and corporate activities focused on its stated intentions of recommissioning its 100 per cent-owned Sandstone gold processing plant at the earliest opportunity.

Middle Island’s exploration to date at the Sandstone project has been largely focussed on assessing brownfields targets, such as the Two Mile Hill deposit.

This has left the majority of greenfields targets untested or inadequately tested.

Advancing the Two Mile Hill deposit will remain a priority, but while that carries on, further exploration will hone in on identifying and quantifying additional open pit deposits of sufficient gold grade to facilitate a recommissioning decision.

Identification of the targets to be drilled goes back to 2017 when a Weights of Evidence (WoE) targeting study of the Sandstone gold project was carried out by structural geologist Dr Brett Davis that identified and ranked prospective areas within the project area.

Of these targets only one target, the Davis prospect, has so far been tested.

Two traverses of reconnaissance RC holes (5 holes) were drilled across the Davis East and Davis West anomalies to determine the nature and tenor of associated saprolitic mineralisation, encountering broad zones of ferruginous quartz veining within saprolitic ultramafic rocks.

Initial results included a best intercept at Davis West of:

MSRC259
1 metre at 1.88 grams per tonne gold from 23m depth.

The new program of eight RC holes will test the two blind gold anomalies that were not drilled previously, and to follow up on the results from the previous RC drilling.

Other WoE targets were identified besides the Davis target, situated within the southern portion of the Sandstone project.

Historical exploration activities in this area were restricted to broad spaced soil sampling and limited shallow vacuum and RAB drilling that failed to adequately test beneath the transported cover.

A planned program of geochemical auger and aircore drilling, comprising approximately 200 holes, will test eleven WoE targets across the southern portion of Mining Lease M57/129.

Other proposed work will follow up a 2018 program of geological mapping, rock chip sampling, and soil sampling on the Dandaraga tenement.

Three cohesive gold in soil anomalies were identified as the Agnes, Enigma and Central (Swede) gold anomalies.

A 20-hole RC drill program is proposed to test these gold soil anomalies for a mineralised bedrock source.

Drilling will comprise several East-West orientated sections across the trend of the soil anomalies, these will also test the extension along strike of mineralisation associated with historic gold workings at Swede, Agnes, and Enigma.

Middle Island recently acquired the 158.4 square kilometre Well Exploration Licence (E57/1102), subject to finalising a heritage agreement that occupies the southern end of the western limb of the Sandstone anticlinorium.

The tenement has received minimal exploration activity in the past, and what was done was mainly broad spaced soil sampling across the northern third of the tenement.

An initial, more systematic, low cost programme of geological mapping, rock chip sampling and soil sampling is proposed to determine to gold potential of the tenement.

Results from a 2018 RC program on the McIntyre project have encouraged Middle Island to test the extensions of the intersected mineralisation.

“A recommissioning decision for the Sandstone gold operation is predicated on defining adequate gold resources, at an acceptable grade, to justify the modest recommissioning costs and ensure sustainable production,” Middle Island Resources managing director Rick Yeates said.

“This is being progressively achieved via a dual approach; systematic exploration on Middle Island’s own tenure and engagement with neighbouring companies to consolidate adjacent deposits.”

Middle Island recently reached out to neighbour Alto Metals (ASX: AME), offering an all scrip off‐market take‐over offer for all that company’s issued ordinary shares.

Middle Island considers combining of the assets of the two companies would create a company with near-term cash flow potential and considerable production and exploration upside.

The company believes access to the Sandstone processing plant would provide Alto with an immediate, proximal and cost-effective processing solution for its gold resources that is not otherwise available.

“The collective Middle Island‐Alto gold assets offer a substantial growth opportunity for current and future shareholders of the Combined Group, via low capital intensity and a near-term production profile,” Yeates said.

“The further potential is to significantly extend this production profile via Middle Island’s Two Mile Hill underground deposits, consolidate further proximal deposits within a 100 kilometre radius, and amalgamate an entire greenstone belt offering significant resource and exploration upside.”

At the time of writing, Alto Metals had advised its shareholders to take no action and await further advice from the Board.

 

Email: info@middleisland.com.au
Web: www.middleisland.com.au

Directors: Peter Thomas, Rick Yeates, Beau Nicholls, Dennis Wilkins

 

Metalicity Limited (ASX: MCT)

With a bold new exploration strategy and a voracious appetite for acquiring patches of dirt in some of Western Australia’s most prolific mining regions, Metalicity is fast emerging as a junior exploration player with some serious upside.

The WA-focused base metal minnow has been running the ruler over the red-hot Paterson Province copper belt and the prolific Fraser Range, acquiring exploration license applications in both regions.

In the Paterson Province, Metalicity has generated more than 5,000 square kilometres of new Project Area Applications in close proximity to some of the names which dominate the region.

Such as the Nifty mine that has produced more than 40,000 tonnes of contained copper concentrate per annum, the Telfer mine, which hit over 425,000 ounces of gold and 16,000 tonnes of copper last financial year, as well as Rio Tinto’s new darling deposit, Winu.

Metalicity’s Desert Queen project, which consists of 679sqkm lies right amongst these giants, adjoining ground held by Rio Tinto.

Its Mandora project is even larger, containing 1,487sqkm of prime Paterson land to the north-west of Winu and adjoins tenements held by Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group.

The projects are yet to be drilled; however, the company believes its odds of a major find are enhanced by a clever piece of geological interpretation conducted by the renowned geo-consultants Corporate Geoscience Group (CGSG) on behalf of Metalicity.

The Group has used artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyse the findings of the Geological Survey of Western Australia’s 2017 SEEBASE project – a recently published project analysing the Canning Basin and adjacent Paterson Province.

While SEEBASE was primarily developed for the oil and gas industry, the consultants have used advanced technology to manipulate the data and gain a new understanding of the Province for metals prospecting.

The results have been extremely encouraging, allowing Metalicity to identify targets that are most likely to yield results with shallower cover.

Additionally, this scientific edge has influenced further project acquisitions.

In February this year the company acquired three new projects in the Paterson that have all shown promise based on data interpretation from SEEBASE.

In the Fraser Range the company has also shown a preference for data-driven project acquisitions, adding two areas of interest to its books.

The areas have received 635 metres of drilling by Kennecott Explorations during 1980, with the work searching for Olympic Dam-style mineralisation.

While the exploration failed to find an Olympic Dam deposit it did intersect a mafic-intrusive anomaly – a rock type now known to be prospective for Fraser Range style nickel-copper sulphides, found at the Nova-Bollinger Mine and the Silver Knight deposit.

Metalicity has since conducted a deep dive into the historical work, even inspecting the core from Kennecott’s drilling, which was still available at the Kalgoorlie Core Library, concluding the project areas offer a unique opportunity to target large-scale and economic deposits of nickel-copper mineralisation.

“It is very pleasing to see Metalicity build its asset base in Western Australia with some very interesting copper project additions further strengthening our portfolio of base metal assets,” Metalicity CEO and executive director Mat Longworth told The Resources Roadhouse.

“The company has been through a period of transition and is now emerging as a highly attractive prospector with a clear value proposition.”

While Metalicity has amassed a large project base it has also been inching closer to a major cash generating event through the divestment of its zinc assets.

The market junior has spent the past few years inspecting the Admiral Bay zinc project, which is one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits of zinc.

The company is currently in the process of spinning out the asset to the Canadian TSX Venture Exchange, where it aims to attract North American investors with a risk appetite for large projects.

The IPO is set to progress as soon as the global zinc market improves, providing shareholders with the tantalising prospect of investing in a market junior on the verge of a major cash windfall with a host of prospective projects.

 

Email: info@metalicity.com.au
Web: www.metalicity.com.au

Directors: Andrew Daley, Mathew Longworth, Justin Barton