Fire Assays set Impact Minerals alight

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THE INSIDE STORY: There has been much activity, resulting in highly-encouraging results, at Impact Minerals’ (ASX: IPT) Broken Hill project in New South Wales.

Impact believes the project could, potentially, host over one million ounces of platinum Group elements (PGEs) with associated nickel and copper from three exploration licences.

The licences cover a 40 kilometre trend of rocks prospective for nickel-copper-PGE and lead-zinc-silver in ‘Broken Hill-style’ deposits.

Two licences are 100 per cent-owned by Impact with the company waiting on Ministerial approval for to acquire the third licence, E7390 (via its wholly-owned subsidiary Siouville Pty Limited), from Golden Cross Resources (ASX: GCR).

This deal will entitle Impact to 100 per cent of the nickel-copper-PGE rights, previously in Joint Venture with Golden Cross and will cost just $60,000 cash and a one per cent gross production royalty on all metals, to which Impact and/or Siouville has the rights for.

Impact also has the right to buy back the royalty for $1.5 million at any time up to a Decision to Mine, or leave the royalty uncapped during any production.

The acquisition of E7390 will also take Impact to an 80-20 JV for Broken-Hill style mineralisation with Silver City Minerals (ASX: SCI) and free-carry that company’s 20 per cent interest to a Decision to Mine with a payment to Silver City of $50,000 cash.

Having come on to the company shareholder register in July with a cornerstone $3 million investment with the possible injection of a further $2.3 million subject to results, Squadron Resources, the private mining investment vehicle of the Andrew Forrest-led Minderoo Group, also has the right to invest $1 million for a 19.9 per cent interest in the nickel-copper-PGE rights.

This would bring Squadrons total investment to $7.3 million if all goes according to plan.

A fully subscribed rights issue raised a further $1.9 million, sending Impact out into the field, potentially armed with around $9.3 million.

“Raising such an amount by a junior explorer in the current climate is no mean feat, however it was missed by some sections of the investment community,” Impact Minerals managing director Dr Mike Jones told The Resources Roadhouse.

“Private equity groups, such as Squadron are constantly presented with investment opportunities by companies with similar exploration potential as us, however this investment is a clear statement of the potential of Impact’s projects to deliver major discoveries.

“Our main focus is to use these funds wisely to progress exploration on all of our projects, in particular at Broken Hill where to our knowledge, we encountered the highest grades of platinum group metals ever recorded in Australia.”

Impact wasted little time in hitting both the ground and mineralisation at Broken Hill, with first drilling efforts on EL E7390 encountering extremely high-grade platinum group metals, gold, copper, nickel and silver from Hole RHD012.

RHD012 returned true width of 1.2 metres at:

10.4 grams per tonne platinum, 10.9g/t gold, 294g/t (9.5 ounces) palladium, 7.4 per cent nickel, 1.8% copper and 19g/t silver

WITHIN a thicker zone of:

3.5m at 5g/t platinum, 6g/t gold, 144g/t (4.6 ounces) palladium, 2.9% nickel, 2.3% copper and 14.5g/t silver, and also including 0.5m at 5g/t platinum, 6.6g/t gold, 141g/t (4.6 ounces) palladium 1.3% nickel, 10.4% copper and 82g/t silver.

High-grade assays of the same metals were also achieved from RHD008, which returned unknown true width of 29m at:

2.7g/t platinum, 0.5g/t gold, 5.5g/t palladium, 0.5% nickel, 2.4% copper and 57.8g/t silver.

These samples were originally assayed using the fire assay technique at the Intertek laboratory in Adelaide.

The company sent sample pulps for repeat assays for the rare PGM’s, again using the fire assay technique with nickel sulphide-collection, this time at the Intertek laboratory in Perth.

The repeat assays (three in total) confirmed previously reported palladium, platinum and gold grades returning gold ranges from 10.8g/t to 14.8g/t, platinum from 10.3g/t to 12.5g/t and palladium from 280g/t to 300g/t.

The follow-up assays of hole RHD012 returned:

3.5m at 159g/t (5.3 ounces) 6PGE+gold 2.9% nickel, 2.3% copper and 14.5g/t silver from 67.3m down hole (50 m below surface) where the 6PGE+gold equals 1.7g/t rhodium, 2.6g/t iridium, 2g/t osmium and 1.1g/t ruthenium, 5g/t platinum, 6g/t gold, 144g/t (4.6 ounces) palladium;

Including: 

1.2m at 335.8g/t (10.8 ounces) 6PGE+gold, 7.4% nickel, 1.8% copper and 19g/t silver from 68.5m where the 6PGE+gold equals 4.6g/t rhodium, 7.2g/t iridium, 5.6g/t osmium and 3.1g/t ruthenium 10.4g/t platinum, 10.9g/t gold, 294g/t (9.5 ounces) palladium.

“These results, combined with the earlier high grades of rare PGM’s were exceptional to say the least,” Jones said.

“Even on a global scale they indicate a potentially deep source exists at Broken Hill for the parent ultramafic magmas, which themselves contain evidence of having absorbed, or contaminated if you like, extensive amounts of the surrounding metasedimentary rocks.

“These two criteria, a deep source and contamination, are considered important components of models for the formation of major nickel-copper-PGM deposits and we considered them to be encouraging for further exploration to be carried out through the Broken Hill project area.”

Fortified by the early drilling success, Impact followed up with further high-grade platinum group metal (PGM) mineralisation and the first major intercept of zinc-lead-silver mineralisation from the Red Hill prospect.

The results from the drilling program were akin to a darts player throwing a succession of triple twenties, left handed, whilst blind-folded.

Drill hole RHD014 was drilled to test the western part of the ultramafic unit at Red Hill and underlying metasedimentary rocks.

The hole returned:

25.4m at 0.6gpt platinum, 1.3g/t palladium and 0.1g/t gold (2g/t Pt+Pd+Au), 0.3% copper and 0.3% nickel from 11m down hole, including 3.3m at 2.1g/t platinum, 4.9g/t palladium and 0.4g/t gold (7.4 g/t Pt+Pd+Au), 0.7% copper and 0.6% nickel from 32.4m down hole.

These results were achieved from sampling of the ultramafic In RHD014 from just 11m down hole with mineralisation open towards the surface.

Hole RHD009 was drilled to test a modest gravity anomaly immediately north west of the main Red Hill intrusion, intersected the lower contact of the ultramafic unit at 88.5m down hole and encountered:

82.5m at 0.3% zinc, 0.2 per cent lead and 1.5g/t silver from 91m down hole; including 0.8m at 4.1 per cent zinc, 4.6% lead and 18.6g/t silver from 132m; and

2.9m at 2.8% zinc, 0.4% lead and 3.7g/t silver from 141m.

This footwall sequence of rocks are part of a regional package of rocks colloquially called the ‘Broken Hill Sequence’, similar to the host rocks at the Broken Hill mine.

Impact considers the sequence to be prospective for similar mineralisation and two of these sequences have been mapped at surface at Red Hill.

“The position of these rocks in Hole RHD009 was unexpected and is likely to reflect unrecognised folds at depth,” Jones said.

“We are now drilling to test Target T2, an EM conductor interpreted to be down dip of mineralised Broken Hill sequence rocks at surface.

“The prospectivity of the Red Hill area for zinc-lead-silver mineralisation will be assessed following completion of the current drill program.”

Impact Minerals Limited (ASX: IPT)
…The Short Story

HEAD OFFICE
26 Richardson Street 
West Perth WA 6005

Ph: +61 (8) 6454 6666
Fax: +61 (8) 6454 6667

Email: info@impactminerals.com.au
Website: www.impactminerals.com.au

DIRECTORS and MANAGEMENT
Peter Unsworth, Dr Mike Jones, Paul Ingram, Dr Markus Elsasser, Aaron Hood, James Cooper-Jones, Leo Horn

MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS
Bunnenberg Family 31%
Directors 11%