Assays from BDF zone return high-grade mineralization
Murchison Minerals has received the assay results from its first diamond drill hole at the Barre de Fer (BDF) Zone, within the 100%-owned Haut-Plateau de la Manicouagan (HPM) Nickel-Copper-Cobalt (Ni-Cu-Co) Project, located in Québec, Canada.
The HPM Project is a district scale Ni-Cu-Co play that currently contains over 75 defined EM targets (Figure 1), three of which are advanced exploration targets: PYC, Barre de Fer (BDF) and Syrah.
The EM anomaly at the PYC Zone covers a strike length of 1.95 km (figure 2) and drilling covering a 550-metre section of the anomaly defined broad zones of low-grade Ni-Cu-Co bearing sulphide mineralization in all 8 holes.
The assay results from the first drill hole (BDF22-001) completed by Murchison at the BDF Zone demonstrates the hole encountered several zones of high-grade Ni-Cu-Co mineralization (figures 3 and 4), including the following intercepts:
- 18.05 metres at an average grade of 1.86% NiEq. or 5.0% CuEq. from a depth of 89.95 metres; including 8.1 metres at an average grade of 3.41% NiEq. or 9.16% CuEq.
- 69.90 metres at an average grade of 0.68% NiEq. or 1.83% CuEq. from a depth of 267 metres; including 16.1 metres at an average grade of 1.26% NiEq. or 3.38% CuEq.
This initial drill hole at the BDF Zone was part of a thirteen hole program, consisting of 4,316 metres that was completed in the Summer 2022. Ten of these holes were drilled at the BDF Zone with the other three drilled at the Syrah Target.
The BDF Zone was drilled by a previous owner of the project between 2001 and 2008, defining a body of Ni-Cu mineralization along a 315-metre strike length, a 150-metre width and down to a depth of about 295 metres.
The previously released Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) results for the ten holes drilled at the BDF Zone by Murchison indicted that the holes had intersected shallow high-grade nickel-sulphide mineralization.
The pXRF data also extended the defined strike length of the BDF Zone to 370 metres, width to 200 metres and depth to 475 metres. The BDF Zone remains open along strike and at depth, at additional drilling is likely to expand the size of this zone.
While we await assay confirmation of the remaining nine holes at the BDF Zone, the initial results from the first hole at BDF (Figure 4) show a strong correlation with the pXRF results. It is likely that the pXRF results will continue to offer a good first pass estimate of the mineralization in the future.
The assay results from the three holes drilled at the Syrah Target are also pending. The Syrah Target is located adjacent to the Barre de Fer Target (Figure 2) and has a similar geophysical signature, with outcropping Ni-Cu-Co mineralization that grades up to 0.83% Ni Eq. Murchison has now mapped sulphide mineralization over a strike length of approximately 780 metres at the Syrah Target.
Over the coming months we would expect to continue to see the assay results from the remaining nine holes be released with this culminating in a maiden resource estimate for the BDF Zone in Q1 2023. We would also expect the results of the three holes drilled at the Syrah Target to be received before Q1 2023.
Figure 1 - Over 75 EM Targets at HPM Project
Source: Murchison Minerals
Figure 2 - Advanced Targets at the HPM Project
Source: Murchison Minerals
Figure 3 - The BDF Target Zone
Source: Murchison Minerals
Figure 4 - Assays compared to pXRF for BDF22-001
Source: Murchison Minerals