Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX, OTCQX:BLSTF) has added exploration upside to its Gold Bridge Project in British Columbia, Canada, by intersecting copper, nickel and cobalt mineralisation in the first hole drilled at Jewel prospect.
Drilling targeted a large, induced polarisation (IP) anomaly at this prospect and intersected massive sulpharsenide vein mineralisation.
The anomaly occurs over a strike length of 2 kilometres, with intercepts of notable copper, nickel and cobalt confirmed by portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF), an analytical technique used to determine elemental composition.
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“Great proof-of-concept result”
“Although Ta Khoa remains the company’s primary focus, in the background Blackstone has continued to work-up its exploration targets in British Columbia,” Blackstone managing director Scott Williamson said.
“The first drill hole testing a 700-metre-long 24 mv/v IP chargeability anomaly at Jewel Prospect successfully encountered nickel, copper, and cobalt sulpharsenides is a great proof-of-concept result for the project.
“Initial success confirms not only the prospectivity of the Jewel IP target, but also the potential of Blackstone’s 50-kilometre BC cobalt target zone to host nickel, copper and cobalt sulpharsenide deposits of the same style as the world-class Bou-Azzer cobalt district in Morocco.”
Further drilling will target extensions of the mineralisation observed in the first drill hole, with assay results expecting in 6-10 weeks that will provide better understanding of the gold potentially hosted within the drill core.
The Gold Bridge Project
The Gold Bridge Project, formerly known as the Little Gem – BC Cobalt Project, is 367 square kilometres in British Columbia, Canada. It was discovered in the 1930s by prospectors identifying a pink cobalt-bloom on weathered mineralisation that led to three adits being developed.
A total of 1,268 metres of drilling was completed from underground and detailed channel sampling was taken from adits.
Blackstone acquired the Gold Bridge Project in October 2017 and has since completed an extensive exploration program including drilling, geochemical and geophysical surveys, with the initial results indicating potential for the project to host a world-class cobalt belt in British Columbia.
About Blackstone Minerals
Blackstone Minerals is focused on building an integrated upstream and downstream battery metals processing business in Vietnam that produces Nickel: Cobalt: Manganese (NCM) Precursor products for Asia’s growing lithium-ion battery industry.