Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) has received further highly encouraging results from in-fill and extensional auger sampling at its 100%-owned Moora Project, located ~150km north-northeast of Perth in Western Australia
According to Managing Director, David Richards, the auger geochemistry at Moora has produced some of the best early-stage exploration results that he has seen in his +35-year career and are considered by Liontown’s experienced geological team to be exceptional for this early- stage of exploration.
The coincidence of extensive high-order gold-PGE-nickel anomalism with large magnetic bodies indicates the potential for a mineralised system of significant scale,” he said.
“We are looking forward to completing the first-ever drilling to test the fresh bedrock beneath the weathered cover, which is estimated to be only 20-40m thick.”
Critically, the results have expanded previously identified strong gold, PGE, nickel and copper anomalism and defined a number of new targets, further enhancing the potential of the Project and paving the way for the next phase of exploration.
The second auger programme comprised 1,698 samples and was designed to:
- In-fill geochemical anomalies defined by wide-spaced 400x400m sampling completed in March and April 2020; and
- Provide first-pass coverage across areas adjacent to the maiden sampling program. Two highly anomalous areas (Figure 2) have been defined by the latest geochemical sampling:
- The 15km long, north-west trending Mt Yule-Felton Corridor located in the western part of the Project, which is defined by the alignment of multiple, coincident gold, PGE and magnetic anomalies; and
- The 7x7km Bindi Bindi Nickel area, located in the central part of the Project.
The high gold, PGE, nickel and copper results suggest that the interpreted mafic-ultramafic intrusions within the MYFC are analogous to similar units which host the Julimar discovery ~95km south of the Moora Project where Chalice Gold recently announced a sulphide-related intersection of 10m @ 1.2g/t Au, 3.5g/t Pd+Pt, 0.1% Ni and 1.3% Cu.
Liontown’s auger drilling in the Bindi Bindi area has defined a number of nickel anomalies (up to 1,720ppm Ni) including several which are coincident with mafic-ultramafic bodies mapped by government geologists.
The potential for nickel within the Bindi Bindi area was originally identified by Poseidon limited in 1968 with shallow RAB drilling returning a number of significant intersections including 9m @ 0.62% Ni from 0m; 11.5m @ 0.60% Ni from 1.5m; and 21m @ 0.57% Ni from 1.5m.
The area drilled by Poseidon is coincident with Liontown’s northern-most nickel anomaly and the intersections were reported to be hosted by strongly weathered, oxidised ultramafic rocks. Poseidon interpreted the elevated nickel values to be related to primary sulphides at depth based on the steep orientation of the mineralised zones and the presence of anomalous (>300ppm) copper nearby.
Further work was planned by Poseidon, however its focus shifted to the Eastern Goldfields following its discovery of the Windarra nickel deposit which triggered the Nickel Boom.
An airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey is scheduled to commence early August 2020 and will cover the entire Project area with 200m spaced lines.
Electromagnetic techniques have proven to be effective elsewhere in the region, including Julimar, for defining sulphide bodies and the results of the survey, which are due by late August, will be combined with the auger geochemistry to plan a maiden drilling program.
Liontown will also extend auger sampling across the remainder of the Project area with a focus on yet untested magnetic anomalies.
