NickelSearch Ltd (ASX:NIS) has tabled the first lot of assays from a maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign at the Carlingup Project’s RAV8 nickel deposit in WA.
The explorer returned an especially high-grade nickel hit from one of the drill holes, intersecting 5 metres at 2.6% nickel, including 2 metres at 4.5%.
As well as strong nickel assays, the results point to potentially significant platinum group metal (PGM), copper and cobalt credits, with individual assays returning as much as 1.3 g/t palladium, 0.35% copper and 0.1% cobalt.
Looking ahead, NickelSearch intends to follow up with diamond drilling early in the new year, targeting high-grade zones across Carlingup’s five known deposits and high-priority greenfields prospects.
Expedited assays bolster confidence
Speaking to the findings, NickelSearch chairman David Royle said: “We are very pleased to confirm that the previously reported sulphide intersections from our first RC drilling program at RAV8 have returned high-grade nickel as well as copper, cobalt and PGM values.
“These expedited initial assays strengthen our confidence that we may see similar strong results from all three nickel deposits drilled this year.
“Our initial RC drilling program at Carlingup has been successfully completed ahead of schedule and diamond drilling is planned for quarter one of 2022 to test high-grade zones in the five known deposits.
“We look forward to sharing further results with shareholders as soon as they are received.”
Shares have been up as much as 13% to an intraday high of 18 cents.
The results are in
RC drilling at the RAV8 deposit closed out ahead of schedule in October this year.
One of the drill holes, NIS003, returned the high-grade 5-metre nickel hit, which also recorded up to 0.7 g/t palladium, 0.14 g/t platinum, 0.3% copper and 0.08% cobalt.
Ultimately, the results confirm a previously reported visual intersection at 12% disseminated and vein sulphide, tabled on November 23.
More broadly, the drilling program has extended historical nickel mineralisation at the deposit’s third shoot up-plunge to the north.
The findings are also supported by recent assays on massive sulphide ore samples, taken from historical underground mining on the old RAV8 ore stockpile areas.
These samples returned up to 14.6% nickel, 2.1 g/t palladium, 2.6 g/t platinum, 0.2% copper and 0.2 cobalt.
After executing 12 more drill holes at the nearby RAV-4 West deposit, NickelSearch has closed the book on its initial drilling phase at Carlingup.
This covered three of the five known sulphide nickel deposits at the property, encompassing 32 holes and 3,563 metres.
Now, NickelSearch plans to embark on diamond drilling in 2022’s first quarter in a bid to further explore high-grade zones at Carlingup.
It also plans to undertake scout drill testing at the property’s priority greenfield targets.
