Centaurus Metals Ltd (ASX:CTM) has confirmed the scale and potential of its Itapitanga project in Brazil with significant nickel-cobalt assays returned from ongoing reverse circulation (RC) drilling.
Results from all three targets have shown consistently strong levels of the battery metals and will underpin the preparation of an initial exploration target for the project.
READ: Centaurus Metals intersects strong nickel-cobalt grades at Brazilian project
Managing director Darren Gordon said the maiden RC drill program highlighted the quality of the discovery and the speed with which the company had been able to delineate such a sizeable and strategic new asset in the fast-growing battery sector.
He said: “We are really pleased that the drilling continues to identify shallow, high-grade nickel-cobalt mineralisation over such an extensive area.
“We have now drilled around 3,000 metres and we are working on a preliminary exploration target, which should be available for release to the market in the near future.”
Thick and consistent intervals of nickel
Assays from the northern target include: 20 metres at 0.98% nickel and 0.11% cobalt from 2 metres; 21 metres at 0.75% nickel and 0.06% cobalt from 4 metres; 10 metres at 1.44% nickel and 0.05% cobalt from surface; and 17 metres at 0.67% nickel and 0.06% cobalt from 3 metres.
The results demonstrate that the northern target mineralisation is up to 30 metres thick, extends over a strike length of 3.5 kilometres and has section widths of up to 650 metres.
Nickel grades across the mineralised zone are consistent with previous assays returned from the northern target, with thick and consistent intervals of over 0.9% nickel encountered.
Exploration results continue to surprise
Drilling at the western and southern targets hit multiple thick intersections of nickel and cobalt mineralisation over widths of up to 23 metres.
The mineralisation extends for a strike length of 1.2 kilometres and is up to 200 metres wide.
Best results from the western and southern targets include: 23 metres at 0.81% nickel and 0.03% cobalt from 5 metres; 15 metres at 0.9% nickel and 0.05% cobalt from 4 metres; 19 metres at 0.69% nickel and 0.05% cobalt from surface; and 17 metres at 0.74% nickel and 0.03% cobalt from 3 metres.
The westernmost hole at the southern target offered an additional surprise, intersecting 2 metres at 0.31 g/t gold in granitic saprolite.
A hole at the eastern limit of the western target returned 9 metres at 0.28 g/t PGM.