Mineral exploration company, Podium Minerals has commenced drilling two deep diamond holes to 750 metres to test for depth continuity of its flagship Parks Reef platinum group metal, or “PGM” deposit near Meekatharra in Western Australia. The company recently delivered an updated mineral resource estimate for the project clocking in at a head-turning 40.2 million tonnes going 1.54 grams per tonne 3E PGM for 2.2 million ounces of contained platinum, palladium and gold.
The existing resource covers some 14.6 kilometres of strike along the reef to a maximum depth of 100m. It also hosts 79,000 tonnes of copper credits.
The two deep holes will target mineralisation at about 520m depth and are expected to be concluded within six weeks. Management says the holes are more than double the depth of any previous drilling at the project.
A third hole may also be drilled in the central part of the reef.
Should the reef be intercepted at the targeted deeper levels, the company believes it will attain valuable information to vector toward higher-grade and thicker zones of PGM mineralisation along 15km strike of the reef.
The company says the drilling will also look to test for high-grade reef style PGM mineralisation in the hanging wall mafic stratigraphy that is also present in the Merensky and UG2 reefs at the Bushveld Complex in South Africa. The proposed holes at Parks Reef will test some 450m of this stratigraphy.
About 75 per cent of the world's platinum resources and about 50 per cent of the world's palladium resources are accounted for at the globally renowned Bushveld Complex.
Results from Podium’s drilling will also enhance the company’s understanding of the stratigraphy of the lower section of the mafic zone in the Reef.
Podium has been awarded $150,000 funding for the drilling, representing 50 per cent of the total cost, under the West Australian Government’s ‘Exploration Incentive Scheme’.
Separately, the company also plans to drill-test an 800m section of the reef where “abnormally” high PGM mineralisation has been reported. Podium is presently in the process of obtaining the relevant regulatory approvals ahead of drilling of the section.
An RC program is also planned to test the reef in a shallow oxide zone where the company recently intercepted it at deeper levels, predominantly in the easter part of the reef.
Drilling of a 1.2km extension of the western end of the reef may also be on the cards.
The company has tabled an exploration target covering the full strike length at Parks Reef of between 3.1 and 5.8 million ounces 3E PGM within 200m of surface, including 1.5 to 2.6 million ounces to 100m depth. If the drilling at depth hits further mineralisation, Podium may well open up a whole new horizon.
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