Estrella Resources has gone back-to-back at its Carr Boyd nickel discovery following up previous stellar numbers with a 20-metre thick nickel sulphide intercept from recent diamond drilling grading 1.02 per cent nickel and 0.65 per cent copper from 368.5 metres down-hole. The results also included a higher-grade core of 2.45m at 1.64 per cent nickel and 1.97 per cent copper, with a bonus 7.18 grams per tonne silver.
The latest round of results comes from Estrella’s second phase of drilling over its T5 nickel discovery at Carr Boyd Rocks. The company has now completed seven diamond drill holes surrounding the original discovery hole, CBDD030, with an eighth hole underway.
Drilling has continued to intersect massive sulphide mineralisation in diamond core, with CBDD035 intersecting around 25m of sulphides 100m down-dip from the original discovery hole whilst CBDD036 has intersected a further 16.5m of sulphides, 30m south of CBDD030. The samples from drill holes CBDD035 to CBDD039 have now been dispatched to the laboratory for assay.
Estrella Resources Managing Director, Chris Daws said: “Since our initial discovery hole at T5, the drill bit has not stopped as we continue to ramp up our efforts to establish a solid exploration base with which to continue our aggressive exploration of the Carr Boyd intrusion. Mineralisation continues to be intersected in drilling and I fully believe that we have not seen the best of it yet.”
“Our team will be bolstered in the New Year with Steve Warriner (new exploration manager) and with our (onsite) facilities fully on target to be upgraded, I look forward to hitting the ground running in early 2021”.
Estrella’s Carr Boyd Rocks nickel project is located 80km northeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The company uncovered a T5 sulphide discovery following the diamond drilling of deep electromagnetic targets along the margin of the Carr Boyd Layered Complex.
The company’s T5 discovery also lies 1km to the north of the historic Carr Boyd nickel mine which was operated by Western Mining between 1973 and 1977, producing around 200,000 tonnes of ore grading a respectable 1.43 per cent nickel and 0.46 per cent copper.
The maiden drill hole into the T5 discovery, CBDD030, returned a solid 13.9m at 1.07 per cent nickel and 0.39 per cent copper from 431.6m down-hole, with the intercept also hosting two high-grade, massive sulphide intercepts that tip the scales at 2.5m at 3.66 per cent nickel and 0.46 per cent copper, and 3.7m at 2.85 per cent nickel and 0.65 per cent copper.
Estrella’s ongoing drilling campaign at T5 has been consistently successful with the two diamond drill rigs on site going hammer and tongs in the lead up to Christmas. Drilling is designed to extend the strike length of the discovery and test the sulphide target at depth. Recent down hole electromagnetic surveying has outlined a sizeable untested panel of the sulphide mineralisation that extends more than 200m down-dip and remains open to more than 500m below surface.
Drilling is now working its way out from CBDD030 and extending the T5 discovery with both geophysics and historical drilling indicating the system persists along more than 300m of strike. Drill hole CBDD041 is now underway and steps out 150m to the south of the discovery hole and may deliver the much-anticipated confirmation that the sulphide lodes remain open along strike and have the potential to develop into a sizeable ore system.
The company will also add a further arrow to its quiver of exploration tools, with a seismic survey scheduled for early in the new year. The seismic survey will help to provide a sub-surface map of the underlying geology, potentially identifying mineralising structures and prospective stratigraphic sulphide traps.
Drilling will carry on around the clock at Carr Boyd, with Estrella now looking to have Santa booked for a trip to site as exploration is only scheduled for a “slight pause” over Christmas, as the T5 discovery continues to build in size and the exploration begins to plumb the depths of the nickel sulphide system.
With nickel heading for a 5-year high, trading at over US$17,000 a tonne, and the company delivering a constant stream of samples to the lab, Estrella looks well placed to deliver some festive cheer and a nickeliferous new year.
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