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- Impact Minerals (IPT) has made significant surveying breakthroughs at its Broken Hill nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) project in NSW
- The company has been using a hand-held XRF instrument to detect geochemical ratios of specific elements to guide drilling
- The ratio has been shown to have a positive correlation with PGE grades and is also being used to zero in on prospective nickel-copper sulphide zones
- The Kambalda-style ribbons of structurally complex sulphide mineralisation can be hard to map and drill, so the pathfinder ratio has been a handy tool in pinning down localised prospective areas across the kilometres-long structure
- Impact will now attempt to track the mineralised channel north and south into areas of little or no previous drilling
- The company will continue to compare the ratio’s predictions against assay data to confirm the relationship between the ratio and PGE grades
- Impact Minerals is trading 6.25 per cent higher for 2.5 cents per share
Impact Minerals (IPT) has made significant surveying breakthroughs at its Broken Hill nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) project in New South Wales.
A new way
The company has been using a hand-held XRF instrument to detect geochemical ratios of specific elements to guide drilling.
The ratio has been shown to have an exceptional positive correlation with PGE grades and is also being used to zero in on prospective nickel-copper sulphide zones.
At both the Plat Central and Platinum Springs East prospects, continuous zones of elevated ratios at least 80 metres long have been discovered.
They are both mostly between one and two metres thick, but up to six metres thick in some places, and contain high tenor nickel-copper sulphides in patches.
Both zones are open in all directions.
Recent drilling was guided exclusively by the ratio and led directly to the discovery of the sulphide zones.
The Kambalda-style ribbons of structurally complex sulphide mineralisation can be hard to map and drill, so the pathfinder ratio has been a handy tool in pinning down localised prospective areas across the kilometres-long structure.
This further confirms the technique’s potential to guide exploration in the area and to drill in a more efficient and targeted way.
Proof of concept has been confirmed from the first assays of two reverse circulation (RC) holes drilled, which were positioned based on the ratio data.
Both holes returned 50-metre thick intersections of the targeted 3PGE (platinum, palladium and gold) mineralisation, which was predicted by the ratio vector.
Results peaked with a 51 metre sample at 0.21 grams per tonne (g/t) 3PGE from 11 metres downhole, including 8 metres at 0.6 g/t 3PGE from 29 metres.
The 8-metre intercept appears to be part of a continuous zone of elevated 3PGE that can be tracked by the ratio across the channel structure for at least 75 metres.
Impact’s proprietary hand-held survey technology is potentially a very handy tool in the hunt for similarly complex nickel-copper-PGE systems as it can reduce exploration costs and assist in mapping complex targets.
The next steps
Impact will now attempt to track the mineralised channel north and south into areas of little or no previous drilling.
Guided by the ratio, the company will be able to map further targets once the appropriate permits have been approved.
In the meantime, the company will continue to compare the ratio’s predictions against the assay data received from the recent drilling to confirm the relationship between the ratio and PGE grades.
Results are expected by mid-November.
Impact Minerals is trading 6.25 per cent higher for 2.5 cents per share at 12:41 pm AEDT.
