Estrella Resources has served up a 26.3m drill intercept grading 0.73 per cent nickel and 0.4 per cent copper from 361m at its exciting T5 discovery near the historical Carr Boyd Rocks mine north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Two other holes also hit a broad zone of nickel-copper sulphides as drilling to test the extent of mineralisation continues.
The latest hit comes from Estrella’s ongoing phase-three drilling campaign at its Carr Boyd project, with multiple wedge holes testing for mineralisation above and below previous nickel-copper intercepts within the upper T5 conductor.
The broad 26.3m interval is said to contain three richer sulphide zones with elevated palladium and platinum, including 1.15m at 1.47 per cent nickel, 1.02 per cent copper and 1.97 grams per tonne combined palladium and platinum from 364m depth.
Two other holes intersected a broad zone of nickel-copper-iron sulphides hosting multiple massive and semi-massive sulphide zones over 16m and 28m, respectively, according to Estrella.
Management says the “strong mineralisation” appears to confirm the south plunge of the upper T5 conductor, raising the possibility of several more south-plunging targets along the T5 basal contact that hosts the historical Carr Boyd Rocks mine and the T5 discovery.
Curiously, the T5 basal contact stretches for more than 4km at surface and to about 1km depth with Estrella planning to test its extent in a phase-four drilling campaign over the coming months.
Estrella’s Managing Director Chris Daws said: “We have continued to hit mineralisation with a very high success rate at our 100 per cent owned Carr Boyd nickel-copper sulphide project. Our belief is firming that the source of the Carr Boyd sulphides will be located. You simply don’t see the quantity and nature of sulphides that we are currently drilling and what is located at the historic Carr Boyd nickel-copper mine without it first forming elsewhere. We are very well funded to conduct the exploration program from here which will be a very exciting time for the company and its shareholders.”
The new intercepts appear to grow Estrella’s run of drilling successes since the discovery hole at T5 returned a solid 13.9m at 1.07 per cent nickel and 0.39 per cent copper from 431.6m late last year.
Recent hits from the phase-three campaign include 13.4m at 1.3 per cent nickel and 0.4 per cent copper from 392m, with a richer interval of 6.26m at 2.08 per cent nickel and 0.63 per cent copper from 395m.
A broad 25.32m intercept at 0.79 per cent nickel and 0.58 per cent copper from 357m was also recently returned.
Current drilling is targeting the T5 basal contact south of the Carr Boyd Rocks mine which in the 1970s produced some 200,000 tonnes of ore at 1.43 per cent nickel and 0.46 per cent copper.
Down-plunge extensions of the upper T5 conductor will also be tested with a reverse circulation campaign 3.5km north of current drilling also on the cards.
Estrella says it is fully funded for its T5 exploration programs over the next year after raising $11.2m via a fully underwritten exercise of company options.
Assays from four holes at T5 remain pending.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
