ASX-listed Aldoro Resources has hit sulphides in two diamond drill holes into the VC11 target at its flagship Narndee nickel, copper and platinum group element project some 400 kilometres north-east of Perth.
Aldoro says two diamond holes drilled at the VC11 target and one through the East1 target all intersected potential nickel-copper bearing sulphides. Importantly, the presence of sulphides and prospective host rock units in the diamond cores has given the company the confidence to extend the nickel prospectivity of the Narndee project out to the VC11 prospect, a whopping 7km north northwest of the VC1 target.
The two drill holes through VC11 were drilled to a maximum depth of 291.7 metres. The first hole intersected a thick package of variably mineralised high magnesium ultramafics to 139.6m downhole. A thin zone of disseminated, semi-massive, and breccia nickel-copper sulphide was intersected from 139.6m to 140.2m before passing back into high magnesium ultramafics with disseminated sulphides.
The second hole also intersected a thick package of high magnesium ultramafics to a basal contact at 226m downhole. A greater than 10m zone of disseminated and veined nickel-copper sulphide was intersected from 211.5m to 226m downhole. Interestingly, logging shows the basal sequence in this hole is dominated by felsic volcanics as opposed to the mafic volcanics intersected in the first hole.
A set of off-hole geophysical models have been generated by Aldoro from these two holes and the resulting target position will be drilled as soon as possible.
Aldoro says the presence of nickel-copper magmatic sulphides confirms the VC11 prospect area to be highly prospective.
A high-powered fixed loop electromagnetic survey is planned for the area in between the two prospects, as the company considers the VC1 target is getting deeper to the north and the VC11 target is deepening to the south. A deep, 650m stratigraphic drill hole will augment this survey.
The third hole completed was drilled to a depth of 354.8m through the East1 prospect and intersected a package of felsic volcanics and felsic volcaniclastics, with interleaved mafic volcanics at depth. Significant sulphides were intersected between 211.8m to 214.3m downhole, and 266.8 to 268.7m downhole.
Logging indicates the presence of sulphide minerals; pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite and pyrite, with the nickel bearing pentlandite and the copper bearing chalcopyrite of most interest. However, the company is looking at confirming this with petrographic and geochemical analyses.
Aldoro believes these sulphide horizons could be a reasonable explanation for the presence of the East1 geophysical target; however, downhole EM will be completed on the hole to confirm the findings. The company is considering a follow-up hole if a robust conductor is present away from the hole at the level the base metal sulphides were intersected.
Management says approval for a VTEM geophysical extension survey has been granted and this is now slated for commencement early in the
New Year. Results will allow screening of the remaining highly prospective stratigraphy and geochemistry results. The proposed extensions will include priority 1 targets over nickel-copper-platinum magmatic sulphide style targets and priority 2 targets over copper-gold volcanic-hosted sulphide targets.
Aldoro’s 100 per cent owned Narndee project covers more than 220 square kilometres of prospective greenstone stratigraphy within the Narndee Igneous Complex in WA.
Aldoro’s primary targets at Narndee are a series of mafic-ultramafic contacts found across the Narndee tenure which potentially could represent trap sites for magmatic sulphides. These sulphides can produce similar deposits to Chalice Mining’s revered Julimar nickel-platinum group element discovery near Perth.
Assays from previous holes returned some promising results for Aldoro, with the first hole at the VC1 prospect striking 1.65m at 0.93 per cent nickel, 0.15 per cent copper, 0.07 per cent cobalt and 0.22 parts per million palladium from 212.75m. The second hole at VC1 also delivered significant mineralisation with a 3.8m intercept at 0.78 per cent nickel, 0.46 per cent copper, 0.06 per cent cobalt and 0.26 ppm palladium from 146.4m.
Looking forward, Aldoro says the drill rig will mobilise back to the VC1 target to drill off-hole geophysical responses generated from recent surveying. Three off-hole and extension drillholes are planned at VC1 and when completed, the rig will mobilise back to VC11 to drill the off-hole target between the firsts two holes. Finally, the rig will move to the deep stratigraphic hole planned between prospects VC3 and VC11.
As the rigs continue to pump out the metres for Aldoro and the price of nickel continues to trade above US$19,000 per tonne and copper soars, Aldoro may well be in the box seat when it starts getting some substantive results back from this most interesting of projects.
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By Matt Birney
