St George Mining has nailed 5.2m of nickel copper sulphides in its very first drill test of downhole electromagnetic conductor targets at its Mt Alexander project. The company said the new intersection extends the high-grade Stricklands deposit 35m further northwest and confirms the extension of mineralisation down dip. Similar looking conductors are also scheduled to feel the drill bit along the 5km strike of the company’s Cathedrals Belt.
St George is pursuing a strategy of testing large conceptual targets for nickel-copper-platinum group elements or “PGEs” at the project and it has launched a substantial drilling program with diamond core and RC drilling to continue into the September quarter.
Diamond drill hole MAD209 was the first of the infill and extensional drilling program and targeted a downhole EM conductor of 9,825 Siemens. The core showed 5.2m of nickel-copper sulphides from 112.9m downhole including 5m with 15 to 20 per cent sulphides and 0.2m of massive or 100 per cent sulphides. Sulphides included pentlandite, chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite and portable XRF analysis confirmed nickel-copper-cobalt values similar to the Stricklands deposit and laboratory assays are awaited.
The 5.2m sulphide rich zone in MAD209 was contained within ultramafic rocks within a 32.1m thick mafic rock unit constrained on both sides by granite. St George says the drill orientation means the mineralised intersection approximates true width.
Drilling has commenced testing an even stronger downhole EM conductor of 22,800 Siemens near the north-western end of known mineralisation at the Stricklands deposit. St George believes the conductor represents massive nickel-copper sulphides at a depth of 600m below ground. This conductor is located 30m southwest of drillhole MAD209.
Management says existing shallow high-grade discoveries at Stricklands, Cathedrals, Investigators and Radar in the Cathedrals Belt remain open and have potential for additional high-grade nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation.
Drilling will soon commence at the Investigators deposit where high-grade mineralisation commences from 25m and continues to over 300m depth. The deposit is open along and within the 1km strike and drilling is targeted at extending the number and dimensions of mineralised lenses. The company says there are many high-grade previous intersections that include 10.5m going an impressive 4.82 per cent nickel, 1.67 per cent copper, 0.15 per cent cobalt and 2.87 g/t total PGEs and 8.49m at 5.48 per cent nickel, 2.53 per cent copper, 0.18 per cent cobalt and 3.61 g/t total PGEs.
St George recently identified five new conceptual targets after completing a detailed review of the Mt Alexander project. The company said the nickel-copper-PGE targets have favourable structural and geological settings warranting prioritised follow-up exploration which is scheduled to begin in the June quarter.
Seismic surveys are being expanded and drilling of seismic targets has been suspended until the additional seismic survey lines are completed and analysed.
With the benefits of favourable metallurgy reports, St George is intensifying its efforts to prove up the high-grade nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation at the Cathedrals Belt of its Mt Alexander project. This year could potentially be the making of the project in what is a favourable point in the commodity price cycle for nickel, copper and cobalt.
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By Matt Birney
