St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ) has resumed diamond drilling at its flagship high-grade Mt Alexander Project, in the north-eastern Goldfields of WA.
Drilling will focus on testing high-priority targets identified from the seismic survey recently completed at Mt Alexander.
The first target to be drilled is S1, a large seismic target modelled with a dip-extent of 450 metres located down-dip from and within the same Cathedrals Belt structure that hosts extensive massive nickel-copper sulphides drilled at Investigators.
The Warakurna LIP is known to be highly prospective for nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation with deposit examples in Western Australia including the large Nebo-Babel nickel-copper-PGE deposit being developed by OZ Minerals Ltd.
First-ever seismic targets drilling
St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said: “I am delighted that we have been able to commence our drilling so early in the New Year.
“The 2022 diamond drilling is our first-ever drilling of seismic targets and the results will be keenly anticipated by all shareholders.
“Our excitement has been dialled up with initial findings from the St George-CSIRO research project that the Cathedrals Belt intrusions are associated with the Warakurna Large Igneous Province, significantly increasing the prospectivity for us to discover more large-scale nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation at Mt Alexander.
“We wish our shareholders and service providers a happy and safe New Year and look forward to reporting results from our drilling program in the coming weeks.”
Drill plans
Drilling will initially be carried out by a single crew with one shift per day.
COVID-19 regulations and border restrictions have delayed the arrival of the second crew.
It is expected that drilling will be carried out 24/7 with two crews within two weeks.
Shares were 8.45% higher to $0.077 and have risen from $0.058 at market close on November 29.
Warakurna LIP technical implications
The St George and CSIRO research project is aimed at better understanding the generation and emplacement mechanism behind the mineralised intrusive system, which may provide an insight into the most prospective areas to host further high-grade nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation in the project area.
CSIRO is Australia’s peak scientific research authority and has world-leading expertise in producing ore genesis models for nickel sulphide deposits.
Studies by CSIRO of mineralisation from the Cathedrals Belt have dated the host intrusions at around 1.1Ga, linking the mineralisation to the Proterozoic-age Warakurna Large Igneous Province (LIP) – a very large igneous event that spans from central Australia to the west coast of Western Australia.
LIPs around the world are known to host significant nickel-copper-PGE deposits.
This research project with CSIRO is expected to conclude within the next month.
The company looks forward to reporting other significant findings on the architecture and emplacement mechanisms for the Cathedrals Belt.