White Cliff Minerals Ltd (ASX:WCN) has received statutory approvals for an initial 3,000-metre drilling program at its Coglia Well cobalt and nickel project.
This is situated in highly prospective territory being 70 kilometres south-east of Laverton in Western Australia’s north-eastern goldfields.
The drilling program will target areas of higher grade cobalt and nickel mineralisation identified in previous drilling and will seek to extend mineralisation along strike to the south.
Todd Hibberd, managing director, said: “The higher cobalt and nickel grades encountered in the 2016 drilling suggest that there is substantial shallow oxide mineralisation that may be economic.
“The planned drill program will test the grade, scale and extents of the known mineralisation prior to a major drilling campaign to define JORC compliant cobalt and nickel resources.”
Extensive mineralisation already identified
Drilling undertaken at Coglia Well in 2016 identified widespread cobalt and nickel mineralisation over an area 2,500 metres in length and 500 metres in width.
Some of the better extensions included 28 metres at 0.12% cobalt and 0.55% nickel from 60 metres and 12 metres at 2.18% nickel and 0.06% cobalt.
This indicates the prospect of identifying near surface mineralisation.
READ: White Cliff Minerals sees prospect for shallow cobalt nickel mining at Coglia Project
The cobalt grade appears to increase substantially to the south of the main mineralisation.
This is consistent with the grade of Glencore PLC’s (LON:GLEN) adjacent Irwin Hills cobalt and nickel deposits which contain 29 million tonnes at 0.11% cobalt and 1% nickel.
Proximity to infrastructure
Because the Coglia Well nickel and cobalt deposit occurs in a region hosting multiple mining operations there is substantial existing infrastructure.
This includes roads, telecommunications, power and gas, and there are also the benefits of having access to a skilled mining workforce.
The project is located 130 kilometres via road from Glencore’s Murrin Murrin nickel-cobalt processing plant.