Lunnon Metals Limited (ASX: LM8) has released a new Exploration Target Estimate for its Silver Lake nickel deposit, an exciting addition to its Kambalda Nickel Project (KNP).
An Exploration Target of between approximately 0.65Mt and 1.3Mt grading between 1.3% Ni and 2.7% Ni has been unveiled.
Following completion of the transaction with St Ives Gold Mining Co. Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of major global gold producer Gold Fields Ltd (St Ives), the company has been able to ramp up targeting activities including access to diamond drill holes within the 260km of historical core stored at the St Ives/Kambalda Core Farm.
The Silver Lake Hanging Wall prospect (SLHW) displays remarkably similar characteristics to the area (East Cooee H/W) that subsequently played host to the Baker Shoot discovery in late 2021. These key elements include:
The similarity between how WMC left the area that hosted the Baker discovery and this newly identified opportunity at Silver Lake is remarkable,” Managing Director, Ed Ainscough, said.
“Naturally, there is no guarantee a similar outcome will be achieved however the pedigree of the former Silver Lake mine area, sitting as it is within the significant endowment of the famous Kambalda Dome, gives us confidence that it is a worthy first target on the recently acquired properties.”
Background and Location
Silver Lake nickel mine was developed on the Lunnon Shoot, named after diamond driller Jack Lunnon who drilled the discovery hole, KD1, in 1966. The mine was operated by WMC continuously from 1966 until its closure in the 1985/86 financial year, producing 4.54 million tonnes of ore at 2.72% Ni for over 123,000 tonnes of nickel metal based on WMC’s production records.
The Silver Lake mine and the nickel shoots it hosts are developed on the southeast flank of the Kambalda Dome, with the historical workings plunging for approximately 2.5km to the south-southeast and extending over a vertical distance of at least 350m (from lake surface to 50m below sea level).
The area now named SLHW, was known as the ‘25H’ surface during the operating life of the mine and sits below the deepest worked level, 12 Level. Technical documentation available to the company, dating from 1980, indicates that WMC planned to access this area in the future from the Hunt Decline, some 700m to the west of the Silver Lake workings. That access plan was never executed. The same internal WMC technical report indicated that the 25H surface constituted approximately 40% of ore tonnage and nickel metal at Silver Lake hosted in hanging wall positions and 20% of the mine’s entire available inventory of nickel (as at September 1980).