Promising iron shows up at Fox’s Mount Oscar
September 29th, 2008 | by mantrionline |FOX Resources (FXR), which recently updated the market on its Mt Oscar project, has released assay results from further drilling at the iron ore operation.
The explorer said drilling in the Pilbara region of Western Australia was progressing as planned, with the helicopter-supported diamond drilling program completed. There are three drill holes on Anomaly 1 and four drill holes on Anomaly 2.
The holes at Anomaly 1 intersected strong magnetite mineralisation about 80m thick. Initial geological indications are that this mineralisation is less silicified than that encountered in drilling at Anomaly 2.
RC drilling of Mt Oscar is also under way, with six holes completed for 1133m. These holes were targeted at Anomaly 1, an exceptionally strong magnetic anomaly over banded iron formation (BIF).
FXR said initial results from the RC holes were encouraging, with broad intersections of magnetite-bearing BIF. The RC holes are at the base of the Mt Oscar Anomaly 1 ridge, with the intention of testing the potential for a substantial magnetite resource. Another 14 RC holes are planned to provide information to guide resource definition drilling. Shares in FXR ended last week at 38c.
IRONCLAD Mining (IFE) said last week the exploration and development of the Wilcherry Hill iron ore project on the Eyre Peninsular in South Australia would be its first priority.
The company said full assay sets from an additional 146 drill holes had reinforced the Wilcherry Hill crystalline magnetite as the board’s first development focus, and clearly identified the Hercules banded iron formation prospect as a potentially large second stage development.
The strong intersections of coarse crystalline magnetite at the Weednanna, Weednanna North, Ultima Dam East and Ultima Dam West prospects have yielded continuing confirmation of the high-grade and low-contaminant qualities reported previously.
Exceptional iron grades in excess of 60 per cent iron were recorded from holes at Weednanna, Weednanna North and Ultima Dam West, leading to the possibility of direct-shipping magnetite ore.
Numerous intersections above 50 per cent iron have prompted the company to step up test work on dry magnetic separation — a beneficiation method which, if successful, would have major cost benefits for the project. IFE shares closed on Friday at 61c.
ENERGY company Blackham Resources (BLK) is planning an initial drilling program at its Scaddan Energy project, near Esperance in Western Australia, after being granted a work permit by the Department of Industry and Resources.
The Scaddan Energy Project is about 60km north of the town and port of Esperance and 7km east of the Esperance-Kalgoorlie highway, gas pipeline and railway.
Blackham has already secured landowner approval for access to the drill sites for this initial program, currently scheduled to begin in October-November. It proposes 21 diamond holes and 30 air core holes initially. The drilling is designed to obtain fresh lignite samples for laboratory and bench scale testing, and allow an upgrade of the resource in selected areas from an indicated to a measured resource category.
Blackham and its consultants are finalising a scoping study for a potential coal-to-liquids operation at the Scaddan Energy project. They are assessing the potential for an initial drying, gasification and synfuel plant of 15,000-30,000 bbl per day of mostly diesel production. Results of the study are expected to be released soon. BLK’s stock ended last week at 18c.
ASSAY results from the five-hole metallurgical drilling program at Gunson Resources’ (GUN) MG 14 copper prospect in late July were received last week. The best intersection at the Tennant Creek prospect is reported as being 1.05m at 4.2 per cent copper from 24.6m depth.
The drilling was designed to collect a bulk sample for metallurgical test work, as well as providing geological data to increase confidence in the resource and reveal the grain size of the various copper and cobalt minerals in the MG 14 deposit.
Most of the intersections occur in the breccia zone at the top of the Tapley Hill formation dolomitic mudstone. The metallurgical test work is focused on producing a copper-cobalt sulphide concentrate that would be leached with acid to precipitate the copper and cobalt into saleable products.
The company said work on establishing the costs and availability of accommodation, power and water for the proposed mine was proceeding well. Shares in GUN were 8c at the close on Friday.
WESTERN Areas (WSA) said late last week drilling at its Spotted Quoll nickel project in Western Australia had returned encouraging results that reinforced plans for first production in the third quarter of 2009.
The Perth miner said drilling above the mineral resource had returned an intersection of 11m at a grade of 8.7 per cent nickel. Six drill holes below the current mineral resource intersected sulphide over widths of between 2.1m and 4.9m, which confirmed the excellent continuity of the deposit. The company added that the results so far indicated the mineral resource averaged 206,000 tonnes of nickel per vertical metre, which equated to about $4 million worth of nickel per vertical metre.
On September 2, Western Areas announced a mineral resource estimate for Spotted Quoll, which comprises a total 1.04 million tonnes at an average grade of 7.2 per cent nickel for 75,140 tonnes contained nickel.
The company said Spotted Quoll was already one of the highest grade nickel deposits in the world within 12 months of its discovery. It said the latest results indicated potential for a major underground mine below the proposed open pit.
“Production could exceed the 8000 tpa nickel target over a longer mine life,” the company said. Western Areas expects to be able to announce a revised mineral resource estimate for Spotted Quoll during the December quarter. Its stock closed the week at $8.05.
