Mt Edwards 26 North Mineral Resource Now Estimated At 871,000 tonnes @ 1.43% Nickel
A very busy Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) has announced its third updated Inferred Mineral Resource estimate in two days, this time for the Mt Edwards 26 North deposit in Western Australia. The updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Mt Edwards 26N Deposit is 871,000 tonnes at 1.4% nickel for 12,400 nickel tonnes.
The update at Mt Edwards 26N brings the global Mt Edwards Project Mineral Resources to 10.215 million tonnes at 1.6% nickel for 162,510 tonnes of contained nickel.
Mt Edwards 26N, often simply referred to as Mt Edwards, was mined for nickel sulphide between 1981 and 1994. Production records show 951,568 tonnes at 2.69% nickel grade for 25,632 tonnes of contained nickel were mined, initially by way of a shaft which remains in place today, and then through a box cut, portal and decline.
Location
The Mt Edwards 26N deposit is located on mining lease M15/102 and M15/103, approximately 5km northwest of the Widgiemooltha Roadhouse (55km from Kambalda). Access from the Coolgardie to Esperance Highway is via well-established roads used for previous mining and exploration in the area. Geological knowledge has been sought by review of records from previous underground mining, including mapping and production figures, and reconciliation reports. More typical methods of analysis for Mineral Resource estimation such as interpretation of drill sample assays and logging combined with interpretations of surface and down-hole geophysical surveys were also used. The Mt Edwards 26N Mineral Resource is located 800 metres north of the 14N Inco Boundary Nickel Prospect, along geological strike, with the zone at depth between these areas remaining for the most part untested by drilling and sampling.
Neometals acquired the Mt Edwards project in the first half of 2018 and immediately began exploring for nickel and lithium. The Company is targeting new nickel discoveries at Mt Edwards while reviewing and enhancing existing nickel Mineral Resources. The Company owns, or holds nickel rights to, 36 mining tenements with a large land holding of more than 300km2 across the Widgiemooltha Dome, a well-recognised nickel sulphide mining province.
Since mid-2019 Neometals has undertaken a major review of the Mt Edwards project, with the re- estimation of Mt Edwards 26N Mineral Resource a continuation of this process. A future work program planned for Mt Edwards 26N will include reverse circulation drilling (RC) and diamond core drilling (DD), combined with Downhole Electromagnetic Surveys (DHEM) to further assess the extents of mineralisation, and look to make a near mine discovery.
Historic mining at the site ran from April 1981 and continued until September 1994, when production ceased on the 19 level (~470m below surface), by which time the mine had produced 951,568t @ 2.69% Ni for 25,632tof nickel metal.
For further information please visit: http://www.neometals.com.au/
