Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX:CHN, OTCQB:CGMLF) has increased the indicated resource at its Julimar Nickel-Copper-Platinum Group Element (PGE) Project in WA to 70% from 45% following extended infill drilling.
The overall indicated and inferred resource at Julimar now stands at 350 metric tonnes at 0.96 g/t palladium, platinum and gold, 0.16% nickel, 0.10% copper, 0.015% cobalt (0.58% nickel equivalent or 1.8 g/t palladium equivalent), containing 11 million ounces of palladium, platinum and gold, 560 tonnes of nickel, 360 tonnes of copper, and 54 tonnes of cobalt (2.0 tonnes nickel equivalent or 20 million ounces of palladium equivalent).
More importantly, the wide-spaced drill program has resulted in the mineral resource estimate (MRE) upgrade, with 90% of the resource above a depth of 250 metres now classified as indicated.
More higher-grade sulphides
Drilling has also increased the higher-grade sulphide component of the resource to 82 metric tonnes at 1.7 g/t palladium, platinum and gold, 0.21% nickel, 0.20% copper, 0.020% cobalt (1.0% nickel equivalent or 2.9 g/t palladium equivalent).
It contains 4.5 million ounces of palladium, platinum and gold, 180 tonnes of nickel, 170 tonnes of copper, 16 tonnes of cobalt (790 tonnes of nickel equivalent or 7.7 million ounces of palladium equivalent).
The resources are at a depth of 30 to 700 metres and remain open down-dip.
This significantly increases the development and economic options of the project and will be the key focus of a scoping study due to be completed in the third quarter.
Drilling continues at the 1.9 by 0.9-kilometre deposit outside the resource, with assays currently pending for 90 drill holes.
Gonneville remains open at the Julimar State Forest boundary to the north beyond a depth of about 700 metres, where four rigs are continuing an initial drill program at the Hartog-Dampier targets.
“Major de-risking”
Chalice managing director and CEO Alex Dorsch said: “The work we have completed since publishing our maiden resource in November last year continues to demonstrate the world-class endowment, scale and quality of the Gonneville deposit.
“Apart from further increasing the contained metal, this resource update has resulted in a significant increase in the higher confidence indicated resource – which now represents ~70% of the total.
“Importantly, 90% of the resource above a depth of 250 metres is now classified as indicated, which represents a major de-risking step for the project.
“The indicated component of the resource will underpin the scoping study, which is progressing well and due for completion in Q3 2022.
“The continued growth in the higher-grade sulphide component – both in an expanded open-pit optimisation and, significantly, in our first reported underground resource, further enhances the significant development optionality of the deposit.
“It is also evident from recent exploration results that there is enormous growth potential both at depth at Gonneville and along the effectively untested Julimar Complex to the north.
“While we already have a tier-1 scale deposit which has the potential to underpin a world-class, long-life green metals project, the resource base is expected to continue to grow.
“The exciting early results reported yesterday at the Dampier Target reinforce the potential for further nickel-copper-platinum group element discoveries along the Julimar Complex.”
Resource growth potential
Cube Consulting prepared the updated MRE for Gonneville, and is effective 8th July 2022.
The updated MRE covers just 7% of the more than 30 kilometres long high-prospective Julimar Complex, where drilling has tested a series of co-incident EM-gravity-soil targets north of Gonneville along the Julimar Complex, with four diamond rigs currently operating.
Initial diamond drill testing of the greenfield Dampier Target, generated promising early visual results, where a 15 to 80-metre-wide zone of disseminated sulphides averaging 1-3%, with locally abundant matrix sulphides of up to 20-30% sulphide has been intersected in ultramafic-mafic intrusive rocks in three wide-spaced holes.
This is the first significant indication of orthomagmatic sulphide mineralisation outside of the Gonneville Deposit itself, where several nearby targets located along strike have now been prioritised for immediate drilling.