Estrella Resources has received another fillip as it bids to inject new life into the historical Carr Boyd nickel-copper camp north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia with a follow-up wide drill intersection of mineralised sulphides in the T5 discovery zone. The 12.25 metre zone of stringer and disseminated nickel-copper massive sulphides was intercepted below an earlier massive sulphide hit.
The latest drilling on the T5 pyroxenite contact confirms the basal massive nickel-copper accumulations at the discovery zone adjacent to the old Carr Boyd workings.
Estrella Managing Director Chris Daws said the discovery of further massive sulphide accumulations on a basal contact position was important for developing Carr Boyd “as a significant nickel-copper sulphide project”.
He said the exploration model continued to be refined and vectoring in towards “further massive sulphide discoveries remains our immediate focus”.
The drilling hit rate is increasing through the exploration insight being gained by the search team.
“We have not lost sight of the fact T5 is only one area in a much larger magmatic system and that other trap-sites for nickel-copper sulphides have historically been identified within the Carr Boyd Intrusive Complex,” Mr Daws said.
Estrella currently has two diamond rigs testing extents of T5 mineralisation in what it calls its phase 3 exploration programme.
The blueprint for phase 4 should extend drill and DHEM, or “drill-hole electromagnetic” data coverage north along an extensive and untested basal contact. The drill probe will also go south to uncover whether there is a relationship between T5 and the old Carr Boyd mine to the south-east.
Estrella said the phase 4 programme would incorporate seismic survey results now being interpreted by leading Australian seismic geologist, Graeme Hird. These would be reported when available.
Carr Boyd mine was first operated in the late 1970s by the then Kalgoorlie gold mining joint venture of Great Boulder and North Kalgurli. Great Boulder also had the nearby Scotia nickel mine, which was halted after a major mine collapse.
Western Mining Corporation took over Great Boulder and maintained Carr Boyd for a couple of years before mothballing it during a nickel price slide.
When mothballed the Carr Boyd mine resource was about 500,000 tonnes of nickel at 1.52 per cent nickel and 0.45 per cent copper.
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By Matt Birney
