Hammer Metals and its new Canadian joint venture partner will accelerate drilling at their Millennium cobalt-copper deposit near Mt Isa after a number of high-grade cobalt intercepts from a three-hole program in December.
The joint venturers announced this week the three-hole RC program, the first since TSX-listed Global Energy Metals Corp (GEMC) joined the Millennium project in May 2017, had exceeded expectations.
The program was designed to test gaps in the existing drilling and confirm grade continuity at Millennium, where Hammer announced a maiden resource of 3.07 million tonnes at 0.14% cobalt, 0.35% copper and 0.12 g/t gold, or a copper equivalent grade of 1.29%.
The new intercepts feature significantly higher grades than the resource average. The best result was 28 metres at 0.20% cobalt and 0.35% copper from a depth of 104 metres, including 17 metres at 0.26% cobalt from 115 metres. The peak values over a one metre interval were 1.11% cobalt, 3.8% copper and 1.42 g/t gold.
A second drill hole produced 12 metres at 0.23% cobalt and 0.27% copper from 127 metres, with peak values over a one metre interval of 0.67% cobalt and 0.69% copper and 0.24 g/t gold.
The results will delight GEMC, a cobalt specialist which owns the Werner Lake cobalt mine in Ontario with key partnerships in Asian battery markets. GEMC is carrying Hammer’s drilling costs as part of a farm-in agreement under which it can earn up to 75% by spending CAD$2.5 million on exploration over 3 years.
Millennium is in a mining district rich with infrastructure, creating options for rapid development. The project is 30kms northwest of Cloncurry and just 19 kms west of the Rocklands copper-cobalt mine.
The strong drill results have encouraged the joint venture partners to accelerate drilling activity at Millennium. A diamond drilling program of 10 holes for 1,300 metres is planned to start next month.
Hammer’s CEO, Alex Hewlett, said: “The joint venture activity with GEMC is off to a great start, with the cobalt results from the first program meeting or exceeding our expectations. We are keen to commence the next phase of drilling at Millennium with GEMC and advance this project.”
The solid results at Millennium follow last month’s hits of 7% copper at the Jubilee copper-gold prospect in the newly formed Mt Frosty joint venture with Glencore. Drilling at Jubilee will recommence later this month, which along with a new drill program at Millennium, gives shareholders plenty to look forward to.
By Matt Birney
