Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) has further reviewed previous exploration data to confirm the potential for two styles of standalone cobalt deposits at its 100% owned Broken Hill Project in New South Wales.
The styles include the Thackaringa style pyrite-cobalt deposit, similar to a nearby deposit being considered for development, and an ironstone related copper-cobalt-gold deposit.
Little systematic exploration for either of these two deposit styles has occurred throughout Impact’s significant 517 square kilometre tenement holding in the Broken Hill region.
Impact believes two prospects on the Broken Hill Project represent these two styles of cobalt deposit – the Pine Creek and Copper King prospects.
Impact remains committed to exploration at Broken Hill for nickel-copper-platinum group metal (PGM) deposits but believes cobalt-copper-gold and silver-lead-zinc warrant further work.
Pine Creek prospect
The Pine Creek Prospect occurs in the same rocks that host the Thackaringa deposits, which total 33 million tonnes at 0.08% cobalt, some 30 kilometres to the south.
Exploration in the 1980s saw two drill holes intersect extensive pyrite with cobalt grades from 0.02% to 0.15% over at least 122 metres and ended in mineralisation.
Assay results returned 92 metres of 0.04% cobalt.
Copper King prospect
Previous work at Copper King has identified an anomalous copper-cobalt-gold trend up to 3.5 kilometres long which is in part defined by variably magnetic ironstone units.
However the focus was mainly on copper exploration and assays for both gold and cobalt are minimal.
Rock chip samples range up to 0.13% cobalt and 0.75 g/t gold.
Three trenches dug in 2012 across parts of the trend near old workings returned up to 23 metres at 1.5% copper and 4 g/t silver including 1.5 metres at 3.2% copper.
Cobalt review
The review has been spurred by cobalt currently undergoing a significant re-rating as a strategic battery metal.
The increasing use of cobalt, as well as the demand from consumers for ethically sourced cobalt, has contributed to a recent price rise to over US$55,000 per metric tonne.
Cobalt is mostly mined as a by-product of copper or nickel, meaning pure cobalt deposits are rare.
Upcoming drill program
Impact plans to commence a major follow up drill program at its 100% owned Commonwealth Project 100 kilometre north of Orange in New South Wales.
Previous drill results show significant mineralisation has been intersected in six drill holes so far at the Silica Hill prospect, over an area of 200x100 metres down to a depth of 120 metres.
Impact has been selected as one of three finalists for New South Wales Explorer of the Year for the Silica Hill discovery.
A significant number of targets for follow up work have been identified over the past 16 months of intensive work by Impact, and these have been prioritised for drilling.
An initial program of 3,000 metres of reverse circulation and diamond drilling is planned for the priority areas with scope to extend the program as warranted.
The results of this work will be used in a new resource statement for the project later in 2017.