Hazelwood Resources reports three rigs now active at Big Hill

Hazelwood Resources (ASX: HAZ) has announced three core drilling rigs are now active at the Big Hill Tungsten Deposit in Western Australia.

The rigs are completing six shifts of drilling every 24 hours, with drilling targeting near surface extensions to the Big Hill resource and testing high grade zones within the resource.

The mineralised Big Hill sequence has been shown to have a strike extent of more than a kilometre, yet only a fraction has been subject to resource drilling.

A compact reverse circulation (RC) drilling rig and a water drilling rig are also scheduled to arrive on site within the next few weeks.

A 12 cubic metre hardrock sample (approximately 20 - 25 tonnes) recently excavated from Big Hill is in transit to Perth for additional pilot scale production of tungsten concentrate. Several kilograms of Big Hill scheelite concentrate have already been dispatched.

Larger diameter core holes are being drilled to collect approximately 50 tonnes of material for more pilot scale de-risking beneficiation testwork.

Follow-up visits to downstream processing facilities by Hazelwood’s personnel and consultants are planned during December.

Big Hill hosts the largest currently reported JORC Measured Resource of tungsten in Australia, is near surface
and is supported by recent, close spaced drilling. There are no polymetallic impurities.

The Big Hill deposit is part of Hazelwood’s Cookes Creek tungsten project, which is located about 70 km from the town of Nullagine in the East Pilbara region of WA.

Total contained metal at the Big Hill Tungsten deposit increased recently by 15% to approximately 1.8 million mtu at a 0.1% WO3 cutoff.

Pre-Feas work shows the project to be be cash flow positive at low tungsten prices, with production of 200,000-220,000 mtu of tungsten per annum, at cash operating costs of less than US$100.00 per mtu.

Meanwhile, the tungsten miner is also completing a significant capital raising to institutional and retail investors both domestic and overseas, through Hartleys.

As previously announced, the funds will be applied towards major drilling programs at Hazelwood’s 100% owned Cookes Creek Tungsten Project and, ultimately, the completion of a definitive (bankable) feasibility study.