Apollo Minerals Ltd (ASX:AON) has pinpointed shallow zinc-lead sulphide mineralisation during its maiden drilling campaign over the Niamabimbou prospect, an area of interest within its Kroussou project in Gabon, Central Africa.
So far, the base metal explorer has uncovered mineralised sandstone and conglomerate units in most of the holes drilled to date, which cover just 1.3 kilometres of the prospect’s approximate 8-kilometre strike length, where visible zinc and lead sulphides were also found.
Apollo’s first-ever drill program at Niamabimbou is targeting shallow, high-grade mineralisation after last year’s campaign identified up to 24.85% zinc-lead during soil and rock chip sampling.
Assays from this stage of the program are expected in the coming weeks.
Drilling confirms prospectivity
Apollo Minerals executive director Neil Inwood said: “The confirmation of base metal sulphides at shallow depths in the maiden drilling program at Niambabimbou confirms the prospectively of both the large Niamabimbou prospect area and the broader Kroussou Project (over 80 kilometres of prospective strike length and 18 identified prospects).
“The company eagerly awaits the results of this first-ever drilling at Niamabimbou.”
Unlocking prospect’s strike potential
Last month, Apollo embarked on a 100-hole, 5,000-metre diamond drilling program at Niamabimbou — a maiden campaign designed to explore a prospective 8-kilometre strike length at the Kroussou asset.
The campaign marks phase two of a broader exploration program that kicked off at the nearby Dikaki prospect, where diamond drilling uncovered zinc-lead mineralisation within 40 metres of the surface.
Informed by fieldwork conducted in 2020, the explorer has drilled 19 holes, for 970 metres at Niamabimbou to date, with the majority of drill targets encountering visible zinc-lead mineralisation.
Drilling so far has covered the prospect’s northern region, while four other target areas at Niamabimbou await exploration.
However, based on visual observations from the drilling completed to date, a mineralised trend of up to 1.3 kilometres is thought to exist in this initial target area, while around 7 kilometres of prospective trend remains to be tested.
Targeting zinc-lead sulphide
Ultimately, Apollo believes that discovering shallow, base metal sulphide mineralisation in the majority of holes logged validates its exploration targeting model.
So far, zinc-lead sulphide mineralisation intervals have been identified via visual assessment and a hand-held XRF metal analyser, indicating broad mineralisation is present and ranges between 2 and 20 metres thick.
These intervals contain observed sulphide mineralisation between 0.5% to 8% zinc-lead in holes, typically in the range of 1% to 4% sulphides.
There are also localised intervals of more intense mineralisation, ranging between 2% and 8% zinc-lead sulphide content over 0.2 to 4 metres, which form part of the broader mineralised packages.
Niamabimbou mineralisation potential
Drill targeting at Niamabimbou includes a focus on defining mineralisation around broader channel targets, as well as interpreted horst related faulted ‘weir’ outcrops.
The weir targets are indicated in four areas, while mineralised outcrops identified on the margins represent priority drilling targets, particularly in zones Wr2 and Wr3.
High priority drilling targets were also identified at Niamabimbou NE, where a zone of mineralised outcrops that previously returned 7.14% and 8.15% combined zinc-lead, respectively extends 400 metres by 150 metres.
Promisingly, this has the potential to extend down-dip and laterally to the south and west, while recent soil geochemistry results from this area delineated a significant zinc-lead anomaly around 1.5 kilometres long by 200 metres wide.
Exploring undeveloped base metal asset
Apollo’s Kroussou Project represents a large-scale, shallow zinc-lead asset with more than 80 kilometres of strike potential.
The project hosts 18 target prospects, while previous fieldwork has indicated further opportunities for base metal discovery over the Gabon-based exploration play.
Specifically, historical exploration at Kroussou identified 150 base metal occurrences, unveiling a suite of shallow, near-surface base metal targets.
In the past, only four of the project’s 18 targets were drill tested, leaving significant upside for further zinc-lead encounters at the 986.5-square-kilometre project.