Artemis Resources (ASX: ARV) has provided an update on the maiden drill program at the Osborne Nickel Prospect, a joint venture project owned 100% by Artemis with GreenTech Metals Ltd (ASX: GRE), the project manager, earning up to 51%.
Artemis and its JV partner and Project Manager GreenTech announced on 30 June 2022 that it had commenced the first reverse circulation (RC) drill hole designed to test the shallowest portion of the Osborne nickel sulphide target.
The drill program to test the Osborne nickel target consisted of two holes for a total of 598.5m, including 198.5m core drilling.
Drilling successfully intersected the modelled electromagnetic (EM) conductor in the first RC drill hole with sulphides visually observed in RC chips over a 7m interval from 173m depth.
In consultation with technical consultant Newexco, a decision was taken by GreenTech to utilise the second RC drill hole as a pre-collar for a diamond drill ‘tail’.
The diamond drill core provided greater detail of the host rocks and the nature of the sulphide mineralisation associated with this conductive horizon. RC samples from the first drill hole were sent to the ALS laboratory in Perth for multi-element analysis.
Although the nickel and copper potential of the sulphides was initially confirmed by handheld pXRF analyser, no significant nickel or copper results were reported in the laboratory analyses. Similarly, no significant nickel or copper mineralisation was identified in the drill chips and core from the second drill hole using a pXRF analyser.
Following a review of all the drilling and geophysical data, Newexco has recommended that further geophysical interpretation be undertaken prior to any follow-up drill programs at Osborne.