Sheffield scores big hits at new mineral sands discovery

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Sheffield Resources (ASX:SFX) has announced further encouraging drill results from the company’s Dampier heavy mineral sand (HMS) project near Derby in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia.

The Thunderbird discovery is the first target to be drilled by Sheffield within the Dampier HMS project area.

The company said the drill results it has achieved to date underpin the discovery, in terms of both the grade and scale of mineralisation.

 

Thunderbird prospect drill collar plan. Source: Company announcement

 

The latest results come from 47 holes  and have returned high-grade mineralised intervals of up to 42 metres in width.

Highlights of the drilling include:

–     32.1 metres at 10.1 per cent heavy minerals (HM) from 9 metres, including 28.5 metres at 10.9 per cent HM from 10.5 metres;
 
–    40.5m at 7.8 per cent HM from 3m, including 18m at 13.4 per cent HM from 4.5m;

–    41.5m at 7.3 per cent HM from 9m, including 32.5m at 8.6 per cent HM from 18m;

–    42m at 6.3 per cent HM from 21m, including 31.5m at 7.6 per cent HM from 24m;

–    27m at 8.6 per cent HM from surface, including 22.5m at 9.8 per cent HM from 1.5m;

–    30m at 6.9 per cent HM from surface, including 18m at 9.2 per cent HM from surface;

–    33m at 7.1 per cent HM from surface, including 15m at 12.1 per cent HM from surface;

–    31m at 7.4 per cent HM from 4.5m, including 19.5m at 10.1 per cent HM from 9m;

–    26m at 9.6 per cent HM from 15m, including 24.5m at 10.1 per cent HM from 16.5m; and

–    17m at 12.2 per cent HM from 22.5m.

“These results have exceeded our expectations, increasing both the grade and scale of the Thunderbird discovery,” Sheffield Resources managing director Bruce McQuitty said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“There are a very few mineral sands projects worldwide with similar grades, however none that we are aware of that can boast the widths we are outlining at Thunderbird, with the added advantage of such low overburden.

“This is a very thick, very high grade and very exciting find.”

Sheffield said these results extend the thick, high-grade mineralised intervals it initially reported at the prospect earlier this month.

It said they also outline an internal high-grade zone (at 5 per cent HM cut-off) up to 32.5m thick (average 15m), with grades averaging 9.0 per cent HM.

The high-grade zone has so far been outlined over an area of 12 square kilometres and remains open in all directions.