LCL Resources Limited (ASX: LCL) has confirmed the source of high grade nickel sulphide float with a scout programme at its Veri Veri nickel prospect in southern PNG, part of the Company’s 100% owned Awala licence area which surrounds the Liamu and Ubei gold-copper projects.
The reconnaissance field programme was conducted with the objective of finding the source of high-grade nickel float, including boulders up to 1.0m in diameter, and to confirm assays and locations of trench sampling reported by previous explorer Goldminex Resources Ltd.
The field work identified a 200m wide corridor which contains numerous serpentinised shear zones containing lenses (boudins) of nickel rich sulphides which are considered to be the likely source of the high-grade nickel mineralisation.
Managing Director Jason Stirbinskis said the company is encouraged by the very high-grade and frequency of nickel sulphide boudins noted along and across the strike of the corridor, and its potential to yield bulk nickel grades of economic significance.
He said LCL geologists were impressed with “boulder fields” of nickel sulphides and, when random pits/trenches were excavated within the corridor, nickel sulphide bearing outcrops up to 13.38% Ni and 5.35g/t Au were found that confirmed surface boulders (boudins) to be in situ and not transported float. LCL outcrop rock chip sampling also confirmed historical GMX rock grab samples of up to 19.8% Ni, 8.7g/t Au.
The company’s Awala exploration licence covers 70km of the Papuan Ultramafic Belt bordered by the Keveri Fault. The proposed acquisition of the Munga River licence EL2566 to the east of Veri Veri and recently applied for exploration licences ELA2768 and ELA2783, will add approximately 30km of additional strike of the Keveri Fault and Papuan Ultramafic Belt lithologies.
We currently don’t know the extent and number of nickel-bearing shear zones within the identified structural corridor nor the presence of nickel sulphides separate from the boudin structures, however the scale of the shear zones in the small area we have mapped suggests they are part of a large nickel mineralised system which has yet to be tested either across its entire 200m width or along the majority of the Keveri Fault strike length,” Mr Stirbinskis said.
“The frequency of boudins and the very high nickel grades at Veri Veri bode well for the potential for what appears to be a distinctive hydrothermal nickel-gold mineralised system to ‘bulk up’ to something with economic potential.
“The company is currently planning its next steps for exploration programs appropriate for the steep topography and poor exposure, including new generation airborne electromagnetic (EM) geophysical surveys.”