Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX:GAL) has contracted a reverse circulation (RC) drill rig to target nickel prospective electromagnetic (EM) anomalies within the Fraser Range Project’s mineral belt of the Albany-Fraser Orogen in Western Australia.
The Orogen is home to the Nova and Tropicana projects, holding large mineral reserves of copper-nickel and multi-million-ounce reserves of gold respectively.
These two projects demonstrated the prospectivity of the Fraser Range Orogen, drawing receptive explorers to the region to investigate the terrane further.
Galileo has planned 1,000 metres of drilling, designed to target both EM conductors identified during geophysical surveying and promising nickel intercepts, which previously returned 36 metres at 0.2% nickel from 18 metres including 3 metres at 0.56% nickel from 24 metres.
Drilling campaign to begin imminently
“We continue to develop and test a suite of high-quality prospects at both our Fraser Range and Norseman projects,” Galileo Mining managing director Brad Underwood said.
“At our Empire Rose prospect, which is just 30 kilometres from the Nova mine site, we have a combination of geological and geophysical targets ready for drill testing.
“The RC drill campaign is set to begin shortly with the contracted drill rig currently completing work for another company in the Fraser Range area.
“We are looking forward to the start of our first drill campaign of the year and anticipate having preliminary geological results approximately two weeks after the commencement of drilling.
“A market update will be provided at that time and full assay results are expected to be returned from the laboratory in April/May 2022.”
The EM anomalies targeted by Galileo are directly along strike from nickel-prospective intrusive rocks intersected in previous aircore drilling. The drilling program is expected to begin this month once the rig is available, with assays due in April or May this year.
About Galileo Mining
Galileo Mining is focused on the exploration and development of nickel, palladium, copper, and cobalt resources in Western Australia.
The company has joint venture agreements with the Creasy Group over tenements in the Fraser Range, which are highly prospective for nickel-copper sulphide deposits similar to the operating Nova mine.
Galileo also holds tenements near Norseman with over 26,000 tonnes of contained cobalt, and 122,000 tonnes of contained nickel, in JORC compliant resources.