Firebird Metals Limited(ASX: FRB) has advised that its maiden drill program commenced on Saturday 7thof August at its flagship Oakover Manganese project, located in WA’s Pilbara region.
The 11,500m drill program comprises a total of 289 holes, with 126 holes/5,000m of infill drilling and 163 holes/6,500 m of extension drilling. Majority of the drilling will be conducted at the adjoining Sixty Sixer and Jay-Eye prospects, which host the existing 64Mt Inferred Mineral Resource estimate at 10% Mn (reported in accordance with the JORC Code 2012 (H&SC Consultants, August 2012). Remainder of the drill program will be carried out on the nearby Karen Prospect.
The drill program, metallurgical test work and logistics study are key workstreams of the Oakover Rapid Development Program, which is evaluating the Company’s speed-to-market options, including Direct Shipping Ore (“DSO”) and simple beneficiation processes to generate early cash-flow to ultimately underpin a long-term strategy of manganese sulphate production for batteries or electrolytic manganese metal industries.
All data from the various workstreams will provide critical information for a Pre-Feasibility Study, that is expected to be completed in the first quarter CY2022.
Commenting on the commencement of drilling at Oakover, Firebird Managing Director Mr Peter Allen said: “This is an important milestone and what we’ve been working towards since our listing just four months ago.
“We have a significant body of work to complete, but it is worth noting that by utilising previously untested diamond core recently recovered from storage, we can advance both the drill program and metallurgical test work simultaneously.”
The total program will consist of:
- 126 holes, ~5,000m of infill RC drilling
- 163 holes, ~6,500m of extensional RC drilling
- Bulk samples to be used for metallurgical testing
In addition to the resource drilling, selective bulk samples will be collected across the Oakover project for updated metallurgical testing, which will focus on beneficiation test work using both dense media separation and ore sorting as well as leaching test work with the results feeding into the Study.
A total of 244 vertical RC drill holes, to a nominal depth of 40 m each, for a total of 9,760m of drilling have been proposed to infill and extend manganese mineralisation at the Sixty Sixer and Jay-Eye prospects including:
- 55 holes (2,200 m of drilling), to infill the present 100 m by 50 m approximately spaced grid to an approximate spacing of 50 m by 50 m, in the central section of the prospect
- 71 holes (2,840 m of drilling), to infill the present 200 m by 100 m approximately spaced grid to an approximate spacing of 100 m by 50 m, on the south-west and north-east extents of the Mineral Resource estimate
- 118 extension holes at the Sixty Sixer (87 holes) and Jay Eye (31 holes) prospects (combined 4,720 m of drilling) aimed at increasing the tonnage of the existing resource to the west, east and north. The holes are spaced on a 200 m by 100 m grid
