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- Blacktsone Minerals (BSX) has intersected massive nickel sulphide in two maiden drill holes at its Ta Khoa project in Vietnam
- The sulphide was intersected within a few metres of the modelled electromagnetic plate at the Ban Chang prospect, which will play a key role in its quest to unlock the magmatic nickel sulphide geology
- The highlight of the results intersected was 1.05 metres massive sulphide from nearly 60 metres, and 0.5 meters of sulphide veinlets from a similar distance
- Blackstone’s scoping study focused on downstream processing to produce nickel sulphate for the lithium-ion battery industry and maiden resource is on track to be completed in the third quarter of this year
- The down stream processing potential is already backed by a $6.8 million investment from EcoPro
- Blackstone shares are up 6.25 per cent and trading for 17 cents each
Blackstone Minerals (BSX) has intersected massive nickel sulphide in two maiden drill holes at its Ta Khoa project in Vietnam.
The company said it intersected the sulphide within a few metres of the modelled electromagnetic (EM) plate at the Ban Chang prospect, which will play a key role in its quest to unlock the magmatic nickel sulphide geology.
The highlight of the results intersected was 1.05 metres massive sulphide from nearly 60 metres, and 0.5 meters of sulphide veinlets from a similar distance.
Ta Khoa Nickel-PGE project
The company’s drilling is part of its ongoing campaign to target regional massive sulphide veins (MSV) to build its resource inventory at the project in Ta Khoa, 160 kilometres west of Hanoi in northern Vietnam.
The Ban Chang prospect is located 2.5 kilometres southeast of the processing facility and the Ban Phuc deposit, which lies adjacent to the Chim Van–Co Muong fault system.
Blackstone is scoping out the Ban Chang prospect currently, which was historically mapped by Vietnamese geologists in the early 1960’s, and has completed an extensive EM survey and generated a 1.2 kilometre-long massive sulphide target which is currently being drill tested.
The company is targeting MSV prospects parallel to the previously mined Ban Phuc MSV, where the previous owners mined 975,000 tonnes of high grade ore at average grades of 2.4 per cent nickel and 1.0 per cent copper from an average vein width of 1.3 metres.
Blackstone’s Managing Director, Scott Williamson, said it was exciting to be targeting massive sulphide veins and achieving intersections within a few metres of the company’s modelling.
“This is a great sign for the future of the Ta Khoa Nickel-PGE project. With the advantage of an in-house geophysics team, we are extremely well positioned to unlock this world-class geology and understand the full potential of our flagship asset.
Blackstone Minerals’ Managing Director, Scott Williamson.
“Our second drill rig will continue to drill high priority EM plates and look to delineate potential high-grade massive sulfide orebodies, akin to the successful Ban Phuc nickel mine,” Scott commented.
The continued high grade nickel results and the wealth of sulphide targets will bode well for the company’s scoping study and maiden resource which is due in the third quarter of the year.
Next Steps
Blackstone aims to deliver a maiden resource in the next few months, which it said would be focused initially on the disseminated sulfides (DSS) at Ban Phuc.
The company has commenced a scoping study on the downstream processing facility at Ta Khoa, also to be announced in the third quarter of the year, which it said will provide details for joint venture partners to formalise the next stage of investment.
Blackstone shares are up 6.25 per cent and trading for 17 cents each at 3:15 pm AEST.
