Chalice Mining Limited (ASX: CHN)(OTCQB: CGMLF) continues to intersect high-grade zones down-dip with extensional drilling within the Gonneville Intrusion at its 100%-owned Julimar Nickel-Copper-Platinum Group Element (PGE) Project, located ~70km north-east of Perth in Western Australia.
Exploration has continued across the >26km long Julimar Complex, extending from the Gonneville deposit at the southern end (which hosts the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (Resource) of 330Mt @ 0.94g/t Pd+Pt+Au (3E), 0.16% Ni, 0.10% Cu, 0.016% Co, through to the Hartog, Jansz and Torres target areas at the northern end of the complex.
Five RC/diamond rigs are currently continuing step-out, infill and metallurgical drilling at Gonneville. This drilling has extended the high-grade sulphide zones to the south-west and north-west and is expected to upgrade the confidence level in shallow areas of the Resource currently in the Inferred category.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Dorsch, said importantly, sulphide mineralisation has now been extended up to 400m below the limit of the Gonneville Resource pit shell.
Two diamond rigs are currently progressing the first-ever exploration drill programme within the Julimar State Forest within the ~6.5km x 2.0km Hartog area immediately north of Gonneville.
Current permit restrictions have limited drilling locations to existing tracks, hence only lower priority targets have been tested to date. The company is awaiting feedback in relation to the permitting restrictions in the coming weeks before moving to the higher-priority EM/gravity/soil targets.
Four holes have been completed to date at Hartog, with all assays pending. A total of 70 drill sites are planned to be tested across the Hartog-Dampier area with drilling expected to continue and accelerate over the coming months as the geological model continues to be refined and permits are obtained for off-track drilling locations.
One aircore (AC) rig is currently continuing initial shallow reconnaissance drilling at the Jansz and Torres targets, ~17km and ~21km north-east of Gonneville.
This programme is designed to determine the presence of any intrusive mafic-ultramafic geology and define targets for deeper follow-up drilling.
A programme of infill moving loop EM (MLEM) continues across the Julimar Complex and additional airborne EM is currently being acquired in surrounding areas.
A combined total of 776 diamond and RC drill holes for ~200,000m and 219 AC drill holes have been completed at the Project to date.
New assay results have been received for 78 RC/diamond holes at Gonneville, which were not included in the maiden Resource published in November 2021.
Assay results are pending for a further 55 completed drill holes at Gonneville and Hartog, with laboratory turnaround times currently averaging approximately eight weeks.
New assay results have been received for drilling targeting:
- Down-dip and down-plunge extensions of the high-grade G2 zone;
- Down-plunge extensions of high-grade G4 zone shoots;
- Infill of shallow (<250m deep) resources currently classified as Inferred; and
- Discrete geophysical targets east of Gonneville;
Assay results have also been received for first-pass AC drilling at the Torres target, while all holes completed at Jansz remain pending.
“Recent step-out drilling at Gonneville has again highlighted the outstanding growth potential of the tier-1 scale resource, and the opportunity for significant growth of the deposit to support future underground mining,” Mr Dorsch said.
“The Gonneville Intrusion is ~500m thick and wide-open to the north-west, and we continue to see pockets of very high-grade sulphide mineralisation as we target extensions well beyond the current Resource boundaries, so, step-out drilling will continue for the foreseeable future to assess the overall extent of the mineral system.
“The first-ever exploration drilling programme at Hartog is underway over what is a very large area, with dozens of MLEM and soil targets. We have already intersected intrusive geology – which is a good start – however, we remain focused on gaining access to the highest-priority areas over the coming weeks. The previous narrow high-grade intersections north-west of Gonneville make the southern end of the Hartog target a very exciting area for expansion of the Gonneville Resource.
“We are also continuing to unlock the broader potential of the Julimar Complex with a multi-pronged exploration effort that includes reconnaissance aircore drilling as well as ground and airborne EM.
“This work has already yielded an exciting new target located some 25km north-east of Gonneville that is now elevated to top priority within the portfolio.
“The polymetallic PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt Resource defined at Julimar is already very significant on a global scale, however recent troubling developments in Ukraine have highlighted the strategic importance of this critical minerals deposit and the new West Yilgarn mineral province to support the decarbonisation of the global economy and to de-risk critical supply chains.”
For further information please visit: https://www.chalicemining.com/
