Sheffield Resources confirms potash at Oxley project

/in /by

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Sheffield Resources (ASX: SFX) has completed its first RC drilling program at the company’s Oxley project near Three Springs in the Mid-west region Western Australia.

The company has reported the maiden 17-hole 1,704 metre program has returned thick, high-grade potash intervals including:

–    75 metres at 8.38 per cent potassium oxide from 7 metres to 82 metres, including 17 metres at 10.1 per cent potassium oxide from 50 metres;

–    72m at 8.53 per cent potassium oxide from 35m to 107m, including 11m at 10.1 per cent potassium oxide from 40m; and
 
–    48m at 9.84 per cent potassium oxide from 3m to 51m, including 39m at 10.4 per cent potassium oxide from 6m.

The drilling tested a target measuring eight kilometres strike length, returning mineralised widths up to 75m (average 36m) and potassium oxide grades up to 9.8 per cent (average 8.4 per cent) at a six per cent potassium oxide cut-off.

 

Oxley project drill hole plan with surface geology. Source: Company announcement

 

Sheffield said coherent higher grade zones occurs within these intervals with widths up to 39m (average 15m) and potassium oxide grades up to 10.4 per cent (average 9.9 per cent) at a nine per cent potassium oxide cut-off.

Sheffield also completed three diamond drill holes at Oxley, the drill core from which is currently being processed with results expected during Q3, 2013.

The drilling program was co-funded by the State Government under its Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS).

“The results exceeded our expectations, particularly in terms of the thickness and continuity of the mineralised horizon,” Sheffield Resources managing director Bruce McQuitty said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Our Oxley potash project appears to have all the hallmarks of Sheffield’s target strategy; large-scale bulk mineral deposits within areas of established infrastructure.

“Additionally, the project is well located with respect to the high growth Australian and Asian fertiliser markets.

“The low-cost, staged approach to evaluating Oxley has proven successful to date and we will now progress to preliminary metallurgical testwork.

“Our work thus far has concentrated on only one quarter of the total strike length of the host unit and we hope to fully realise the ultimate potential at Oxley as further results become available.”