Zeb Nickel (TSX-V:ZBNI, OTC:ZBNIF) Corp revealed that an analysis of reports detailing historical drilling has revealed the presence of anomalously high gold mineralization in hole UIT01-5 on the Zebediela project, located on the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said the hole is located about 530 meters (m) north of hole Z026, which also contained anomalously high gold mineralization.
According to the company, the historical hole drilled by Falconbridge, which is UIT01-5 and Zeb Nickel (TSX-V:ZBNI, OTC:ZBNIF) hole, Z026, both intersected anomalously high gold mineralization in the northern portion of the project area.
Zeb Nickel (TSX-V:ZBNI, OTC:ZBNIF) highlighted the following:
- Drillhole UIT01-5 intersected 2.45 grams per ton (g/t) gold (Au) over 1m from a depth of 93m to 94m down the hole, and 0.82 g/t Au over 1m from a depth of 97m to 98m down the hole.
- Hole Z026 intersected 0.68 g/t Au over 1.83m from a depth of 221.41m to 223.20m, and 1.36 g/t Au over 1.50m from a depth of 250.50m to 252m. There is no drilling between UIT01-5 and Z026.
- Hole Z029 intersected 9.05 g/t Au over 28.32m, including 12.21 g/t Au over 10.86 m and including 11.25 g/t Au over 10.64 m.
- Hole Z027 intersected 1.67 g/t Au over 33.81m, including 5.07 g/t Au over 4.81 m.
Zeb Nickel said this means that gold mineralization is present over large parts of the project area, and it now holds significant potential for both nickel-copper-platinum-group elements (PGE) and gold mineralization, which Zeb plans on expanding with further exploration drilling.
Gold mineralization on the project is almost certainly related to gold mineralization that occurs on the Pietersburg Greenstone Belt, which hosts the historical Eersteling Gold Mine, noted the company.
Significantly, Zeb Nickel said the presence of gold mineralization on both the northern and southern portions of the project area means that the gold mineralization is “a lot more prevalent than initially thought” and improves the chances of the project hosting an economic gold deposit that may be independent of the known nickel and platinum group element mineralization as documented in the company's NI43-101.
In a statement, Zeb Nickel CEO Wayne Isaacs said: "The presence of significant gold values found in drill core on the northern part of the project area is especially significant when combined with the fantastic gold discovery in drillholes Z027 and Z029.”
“This means that a considerable portion of the project area is generally enriched in gold mineralization.”
He noted that since the spacing between the drill holes bearing gold is around 450m in the south and over 800m in the north, with no drilling between these intersections, the “potential for significant gold intersections by drilling in and around these gold bearing zones is enormous.”
“The location of these gold bearing zones in close proximity to the nickel-copper-PGE bearing Critical Zone rocks means that drilling will coincidently test for both gold mineralization and nickel-copper-PGE mineralization once Critical Zone rocks are intersected,” added Isaacs.
The company's technical team is finalizing the locations of the next phase of drilling.
“We look forward to commencing the next phase of exploration and simultaneously provide more confidence in Targets 1, the historical nickel resource, Target 2, the nickel-copper-PGE bearing Critical Zone mineralization and now Target 4, the gold mineralization," said Isaacs.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive