Orion Minerals Limited (ASX: ORN) has confirmed that diamond drilling has commenced to test a number of high-priority magmatic nickel-copper targets within the IGO-ORN Joint Venture tenement E28/2367, located in the Fraser Range Belt of Western Australia.
E28/2367 includes the Pike, Bilby (formerly Pike Eye), Pike North, Hook and Garfish targets, located along trend just 16km north-east of the recently confirmed Mawson nickel-copper discovery where intersections of massive sulphide, with high-grade including 12.8m at 2.76% Ni and 1.36% Cu from 234.9m reported in diamond hole RKDD008 have been drilled (refer Legend Mining ASX release 21 April 2020).
IGO reported this week that the programme has commenced with initial drilling underway at the Hook target. The first hole is progressing steadily and, at the date of this announcement, was well advanced towards a planned final depth of 650m. The hole is designed to test an 18,000S off-hole conductive response identified by a Downhole Electromagnetic (DHEM) survey in previously drilled hole 19AFDD1008, that had intersected amphibole-rich gabbronorite and meta-gabbronorite zones intercalated with meta-sediment that is locally graphitic.
Orion’s Managing Director and CEO, Errol Smart, said the intrusive rocks hosting nickel mineralisation at Legend Mining’s Area D discovery also occur within a bedded meta-sediment package containing graphitic units.
“We are really excited to have diamond drilling finally underway in the Fraser Range, with all logistics and services now established by our joint venture partner IGO to support what we all hope could be a game-changing drill programme,” Mr Smart said.
“There is no question that this is one of the hottest exploration districts in Australia at the moment and it is rated very highly by IGO in terms of their global exploration portfolio.
“The results from previous drilling programmes provide strong indications that we are in the right place to discover a large magmatic nickel-copper sulphide system, as evidenced by the exciting Mawson nickel-copper discovery just 16km south-west of where IGO is now drilling at the Hook prospect.
“We are now all looking forward with great anticipation to what this program could deliver and we will be keeping a close watch on progress over the coming weeks.”
The diamond drilling targets have been delineated from previous several moving-loop electromagnetic (MLEM) anomalies or DHEM conductors as well as encouraging geochemical results obtained from AC drilling and geophysical inversion modelling.
In addition to the current drill hole at Hook, the drill programme includes
• a single diamond hole (600m) at the Hook 2 target, designed to test a 7,000S plate. The previous drilling did not intersect the electromagnetic (EM) plate but did intersect basement lithologies consisting of banded graphite and pyrite bearing meta-sediment and meta-gabbronorite. The hole terminated in meta-gabbronorite. The target area also shows a high potential to have prospective intrusion units based on the IGO in-house geochemical and geological index;
• a single diamond hole (340m) designed to intersect a 6,000S EM plate identified by MLEM at Pike North; and
• a single diamond hole (540m) at Bilby (formerly Pike Eye), targeting a discrete EM plate of 7,000S.
For further information please visit: https://www.orionminerals.com.au/
