White Cliff Minerals Ltd (ASX:WCN) has received its first batch of assays from aircore drilling at its 100%-owned Coglia Well Cobalt-Nickel Project near Laverton in Western Australia.
Aircore drilling is aiming to verify historical drill results and test the scale of cobalt and nickel mineralisation.
Seven lines of shallow drill holes have been completed with assays received from the first two lines – results feature 20 metres at 0.1% cobalt and 0.7% nickel from 32 metres.
Significant cobalt-nickel mineralisation has been identified
2,869 metres of air core drilling has been completed and assays received reveal cobalt mineralisation 400 metres wide and 16-20 metre thick.
Result highlights include:
• 16 metres at 0.12% cobalt and 0.52% nickel from 40 metres;
• 20 metres at 0.1% cobalt and 0.7% nickel from 32 metres;
• 16 metres at 0.06% cobalt and 0.51% nickel from 34 metres; and
• 13 metres at 0.04% cobalt and 0.78% nickel from 38 metres.
Assays from a further six lines of drill holes remain pending at Coglia Well while reverse circulation (RC) drilling is expected to commence shortly at the nearby Coronation Dam project.
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White Cliff’s managing director Todd Hibberd said: “The company is very pleased with the initial assay results from Coglia Well, which confirm the high grade of the cobalt mineralisation on this section line.
“We expect further assay results in the coming weeks to confirm the grade and scale of the cobalt and nickel mineralisation identified in previous drilling.
“The company will then commence metallurgical test work to evaluate processing methods and economics.
“RC Drilling will shortly commence at the Coronation Dam cobalt-nickel project to evaluate the zones of high-grade cobalt mineralisation identified in previous drilling.”
Neighbouring cobalt and nickel deposits support area’s potential
Notably, Glencore PLC’s (LON:GLEN) adjacent Irwin Hills cobalt and nickel deposits contain 29 million tonnes at 0.11% cobalt and 1% nickel.
A single RC hole drilled 2.5 kilometres south of the main mineralisation, encountered 28 metres at 0.12% cobalt and 0.55% nickel.
There is a further 7 kilometres of untested prospective ultramafic rock to the tenement boundary adjacent to Glencore’s deposit.
This supports the notion that the ultramafic rock hosting this cobalt and nickel mineralisation continues into White Cliff’s tenement.