Toro Energy has landed its thickest massive nickel sulphide intersection so far at its Dimma project in the Yandal greenstone belt in WA. The company says its latest diamond drilling campaign unveiled a 4.5m of continuous massive nickel sulphide from 194.3m downhole.
All three drill holes drilled so far at Dimma have intersected massive nickel sulphides indicating the discovery remains open in all directions. Toro has now discovered four nickel sulphide zones and tested less than half of the 7km strike of its host Dusty komatiite rock unit.
The 4.5m massive nickel sulphide zone was contained in a 6.2m massive and semi-massive nickel sulphide intersection with blebby nickel sulphide accumulations and disseminated mineralisation extending the zone to 39m downhole all within komatiite. Importantly, handheld portable X-ray fluorescence, or “p-XRF” analysis returned nickel readings between 1.9 and 3.1 per cent nickel in the massive sulphide zone.
The massive nickel bearing sulphides at Dimma sit at the base of the Dusty komatiite rock unit in the manner as other holes at Dimma and the adjoining discoveries at Jumping Jack, Houli Dooley and Dusty. The company says the nickel bearing zones have substantial copper, cobalt, platinum and palladium credits at the first three discoveries and analysis will be needed to confirm this at Dimma.
Best results from other discoveries include Dusty nailing 9m at 2.07 per cent nickel. Houli Dooley has only had one drill hole and it returned 3.05m grading 1.59 per cent nickel. Two holes at Jumping Jack returned up to 3.4m of nickel bearing semi-massive and massive sulphide with p-XRF results up to 4.66 per cent nickel.
The Dimma discovery is located approximately 400m south from the recent Jumping Jack discovery, some 800m in a similar direction from Houli Dooley a further 400m from the original Dusty discovery. There remains considerable undrilled strike length between Jumping Jack and Dimma in addition to along strike from Dimma in a southerly direction.
Further south the Yandal One zone extends the strike of the Dusty komatiite nickel host to a combined length over 15km. Toro’s nickel discoveries sit approximately 50km east of the world class Mount Keith nickel deposit which had an original resource of 647 million tonnes at 0.52 per cent nickel. Owned by BHP, Mount Keith is a bulk tonnage nickel mine with remaining resources of 224 million tonnes going 0.53 per cent nickel.
Executive Chairman of Toro Energy, Richard Homsany, said: “This result confirms the vast potential for further Ni-sulphide mineralisation on the Dusty Nickel Project.…Toro is in the unique position of having both a world-class uranium asset and a high-quality nickel discovery within its portfolio and we are well positioned to advance both projects this year.”
Toro has made four nickel sulphide discoveries in quick succession in a small part of the total 15km strike length of the host komatiite rock unit. If the nickel intersections and discoveries continue Toro’s Yandal Belt project may start to turn a few more heads.
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By Matt Birney
