Growth focused Western Australian nickel company St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) announced that diamond drilling has intersected thick mafic-ultramafic units with nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation at the Investigators discovery within its flagship Mt Alexander project, located in the north-eastern Goldfields of WA.
HIGHLIGHTS:
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48.7m thick mafic-ultramafic unit from 503m downhole has been intersected by MAD181 at Investigators:
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The interval includes a 10m thick ultramafic with disseminated and blebby nickel-copper sulphides (<5% sulphides with pentlandite (pn), chalcopyrite (cp) and pyrrhotite (py)) from 541m downhole.
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The 48.7m thick fertile mafic-ultramafic unit intersected by MAD181 is preserved and has not been structurally modified, supporting the potential for the presence of nickel-copper sulphide deposits that are intact and unaltered.
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MAD181 also intersected a second mineralised ultramafic from 282.6m to 288.6m with nickel-copper sulphides (<2% sulphides with pn, cy and po).
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The first deep drill hole at Fairbridge has also intersected a mineralised ultramafic at depth:
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MAD183 at Fairbridge has intersected an 11.6m thick mafic-ultramafic unit with disseminated nickel-copper sulphides (<5% sulphides with pn, cy and po) from 359.3m downhole.
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The mineralised ultramafic intersected in MAD181 and MAD183 is on the same east-west horizon and located down-dip of the significant massive nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation already discovered at shallow depths along the Cathedrals Belt.
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Diamond drilling continues 24/7:
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Two diamond rigs drilling 24/7 at Mt Alexander.
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MAD181 is currently at 770m downhole with drilling continuing.
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MAD183 was completed to 693.5m downhole, with the drill rig now commencing on MAD184 at Investigators to test a surface moving loop electromagnetic (MLEM) anomaly to the west of known high-grade nickel-copper sulphides.
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New DHEM surveys underway:
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The DHEM survey crew arrived at site yesterday and will survey MAD180, MAD181, MAD182 and MAD183 with data acquisition expected to take two days per drill hole.
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Geophysical modelling and interpretation to follow, with further drill holes to be planned once results of the DHEM surveys are reviewed.
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NICKEL-COPPER SULPHIDES DISCOVERED AT DEPTH
Two drill holes – MAD181 at Investigators and MAD183 at Fairbridge – have delivered significant exploration success with both drill holes intersecting mineralised mafic-ultramafic units at depth.
All high-grade nickel-copper sulphides discovered along the Cathedrals Belt to date are hosted in maficultramafic intrusives. The identification of further thick intrusives at depth increases confidence that additional significant nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation is present within the extensive Cathedrals Belt intrusive mineral system.
The results in MAD181 and MAD183 further validate our geological model that interprets the mineralised Cathedrals Belt commencing near surface and dipping to the north-northwest at an angle of approximately 40 degrees. Both drill holes intersected the same mafic-ultramafic intrusive unit along the target horizon.
The continuity of nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation along this structural zone is now established for more than 600m in the down-dip direction. This supports the potential for further high-grade nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation along the structure – both up-dip and down-dip from the mineralisation intersected in MAD181 and MAD183, and also along strike to the east and west.
John Prineas, St George Mining’s Executive Chairman, said: “The first two deep drill holes in the current campaign – MAD180 at Investigators and MAD182 at Cathedrals – successfully intersected intrusive-style rocks and confirmed the presence of prospective geology at depth.
“The next two holes – MAD181 at Investigators and MAD183 at Fairbridge – have provided another huge leap forward with thick intersections of mineralised mafic-ultramafic units.
“A very important aspect of this discovery is the preserved nature of the 48m thick unit intersected at Investigators. This significantly increases the potential likelihood for the presence of larger accumulations of nickel-copper mineralisation nearby.
“We are continuing our aggressive exploration programme, with downhole EM surveys underway and two diamond rigs drilling 24/7 to test more exciting nickel-copper sulphide targets.”
