NickelX Limited (ASX:NKL) has completed successful 2402.5m of diamond drilling programme, consisting of six diamond drill holes testing five targets, at the Biranup Project, located in the world class Albany Fraser Orogen (AFO) in Western Australia.
Drilling successfully encountered massive sulphides at the Fire Dragon Nickel target and disseminated sulphides at the Silver Dragon Nickel target.
At Fire Dragon the drill programme was designed to not only locate thicker and potentially economic extensions of the nickel-copper bearing sulphide zone intersected by historical drilling, but also to better understand the style of this mineralisation (i.e., whether magmatic or hydrothermal, or a tectonothermal modification of either).
We’re pleased with the successful and safe completion of the maiden first pass drill program at the Fire Dragon and Silver Dragon Nickel targets. And to have encountered sulphides at both projects is highly encouraging,” MD Matt Gauci said
“While we would have anticipated thicker intervals in the gabbro based upon the geophysical interpretations, the program was only a first pass and once assays are received, we will incorporate those results into our geological model for planning of the potential next stage of drilling. In the meantime, Downhole Electromagnetic (DHEM) surveys will commence shortly to detect any off-hole conductors.”
Fire Dragon Nickel Target
Hole NKLDD004 at the Fire Dragon 2 target has intersected 0.55 metres of massive breccia sulphides from 263.65 to 264.2m downhole depth. The downhole depth coincides with the target depth of the surface EM plate tested by the drill hole. The breccia sulphide interval is contained within a wider interval of highly altered and deformed mafic (amphibolite) gneiss interpreted to be deformed gabbro from 262.2m to 273.7m in NKLDD004 containing disseminated sulphides and minor remobilised sulphide veinlets. Sulphides are dominated by pyrrhotite with pyrite and lesser chalcopyrite.
Silver Dragon Nickel Target
Hole NKLDD005 on the Silver Dragon target was terminated at 408.4m downhole depth. The hole intersected two different styles of sulphide mineralisation.
The first sulphide population consisted of trace disseminated sulphide (pyrrhotite-pyrite) present within narrow intervals of deformed and metamorphosed gabbro and leucogabbro encountered consistently down the hole that crosscut the background country rock assemblage of intermediate composition gneisses.
The second sulphide assemblage comprised pyrite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite disseminations and minor stringer veinlets associated with a variably developed alteration assemblage of magnetite-alkali feldspar-quartz-epidote-sausserite, affecting all lithologies and in close spatial association with numerous narrow fine-grained felsic (granitic) dykes that crosscut all other lithologies in the hole.
Both styles of mineralisation were encountered from the base of oxidation to the end of hole at 408.6m.
