After its highly successful ASX listing last week, Mark Creasy-backed Galileo Mining (ASX:GAL) has kicked off field work programs at its Norseman cobalt project in Western Australia in preparation for drilling later this month.
A minimum 500 metres of diamond core will be drilled within the Norseman cobalt-nickel resource to provide over two tonnes of samples for metallurgical test work.
The initial test work program will focus on preliminary classification of the ore with an emphasis on the potential for beneficiation. The ore’s mineralogy will also be assessed to understand the nature of the deposit.
A desktop review of all available leaching technologies for cobalt-nickel laterite deposits will be run concurrently. Lab results and a review of leaching technology will then be combined to help determine the optimal cobalt and nickel extraction process for the project.
Diamond drilling will begin in late June with results of the metallurgical test work expected to flow in between late July and September.
Up to 15,000 metres of Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling will also take place at the project starting in July with the aim of building the resource base.
Initial RC drilling is designed to target resource extensions at the Mt Thirsty deposit and exploration drilling at the Goblin, Hobgoblin and Imp prospects.
The first program targets zones of interest less than 3km from the current JORC (2012) compliant indicated and inferred resource containing over 22,000 tonnes of cobalt and 106,000 tonnes of nickel at Mt Thirsty.
Drilling results are expected to become available from late July through to September.
Shares in the company were trading at 37.5c, up 1c, in morning trade on Thursday.