Sheffield Resources confirms HMS mineralisation
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Bulk minerals exploration play Sheffield Resources announced results from a 90 hole drilling program at its West Mine North heavy mineral sand (HMS) project.
The West Mine project is located six kilometres west of Eneabba in the Mid-West region of Western Australia.
In its announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange Sheffield said these latest results confirm a zone of high grade mineralisation measuring approximately 3.5km long by 250 metres wide and up to 22 metres thick.
Drilling results included:
– 22.5m at 6.87% Heavy Minerals from 16.5m;
– 12m at 8.2% Heavy Minerals from 18m;
– 7.5m at 10.9% Heavy Minerals from 24m; and
– 15m at 4.05% Heavy Minerals from 13.5m.
West Mine North is one of two advanced projects near Eneabba the Sheffield acquired from Iluka Resources earlier this year.
The other project is the Ellengail deposit, located three kilometres to the north of West Mine North.
West Mine North is on granted Mining Leases and lies wholly within cleared freehold land.
It is one of several projects within Sheffield’s large tenement portfolio in the world class North Perth Basin mineral sands province.
Sheffield resources managing director Bruce McQuitty said the excellent drill results reinforce the company’s strategy to develop multiple Heavy Metal Sands deposits in the Eneabba region of the North Perth Basin.
“Sheffield purchased West Mine North because of its potential for near-term development,” McQuitty said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“The deposit is on granted Mining Leases and is an extension of the large high grade Eneabba West deposit that was mined by Iluka in the 1990s.”
Iluka recently announced it will be resuming mining activities at Eneabba and restart a Synthetic Rutile kiln in direct response to the supply constrained titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zircon markets.
West Mine North has a relatively high value mineral assemblage, comprising 5.6% zircon, 6.3% rutile, 54.3% ilmenite (at 60.7% TiO2) and 1.6% leucoxene, based on a total of 105 mineralogical analyses performed by Iluka.
Sheffield said the high TiO2 content of the ilmenite indicates potential suitability as feed for chloride process or synthetic rutile production.
Sheffield will select representative composite samples from its recent drilling for additional mineral assemblage testwork.
Resource estimation work is scheduled to begin in August.