Blackstone Minerals (ASX: BSX) has commenced drilling at the Ta Cuong prospect in Vietnam, using electromagnetic (EM) plates to test new massive sulfide vein (MSV) targets for high impact drilling over the coming months.
Managing Director Scott Williamson said the drilling at Ta Cuong sees Blackstone continue its aggressive exploration programme with multiple rigs targeting MSV prospects and the flagship Ban Phuc orebody;
“We are pleased to announce drilling has commenced at Ta Cuong, our second MSV prospect. Based on geological similarities and now with some exciting EM plates to target, we believe it has the potential to deliver similar results to Ban Chang and Ban Phuc,” Mr Williams said.
“We continue to systematically test our 25 MSV prospects and with our in-house geophysics crew and Blackstone-owned drill rigs, we can cost effectively explore this globally significant nickel sulfide district using modern geophysical techniques.
“We see potential to increase future annual nickel production from the Ta Khoa Nickel-Cu-PGE project through targeting high-grade MSV to complement the base load nickel sulfide feed from the bulk open pit mining scenario we are currently modelling at Ban Phuc and King Cobra.”
The Ta Cuong prospect is associated with the Ban Khang intrusion which is located approximately 6km north-west of Ban Phuc and is hosted in the Ban Phuc Horizon, adjacent to the Chim Van Co Muong Fault.
A series of 20 trenches for a total of 722m was completed at Ta Cuong in 2016 and resulted in the discovery of a 130m strike of gossan assaying 0.48% Ni and 0.54% Cu, adjacent to the mapped ultramafic body.
Tremolite dykes exposed near surface and in trenches yielded disseminated sulfide (DSS) mineralisation assaying up to 0.48% Ni and 0.29% Cu. Blackstone will continue
Blackstone Minerals aims to deliver a maiden resource in the current quarter, focused initially on the DSS at Ban Phuc and continues to investigate the potential to restart the existing Ban Phuc concentrator through focused exploration on both MSV and DSS deposits. Blackstone has commenced a scoping study on the downstream processing facility at Ta Khoa. The scoping study, also to be announced in Q3, will provide details for joint venture partners to formalise the next stage of investment.
Blackstone has commenced metallurgical testing on the Ban Phuc DSS deposit with an aim to develop a flow sheet for a product suitable for the lithium-ion battery industry. In addition, Blackstone Minerals will investigate the potential to develop downstream processing infrastructure in Vietnam to produce a downstream nickel and cobalt product to supply Asia’s growing lithium-ion battery industry.
