Soil campaign delivers nickel-PGE targets for Venture JV

Venture Minerals’ JV earn-in with Chalice Mining received a boost after Chalice defined two new nickel-copper-PGE targets through a recently completed auger soil geochemistry campaign at the duo’s South West project about 240km south of Perth in WA.

According to the company, its new targets are associated with a suite of interpreted ultramafic rocks that offer coincidental magnetic and airborne electromagnetic signals as its previously defined Thor target — a 20km-long magnetic anomaly that has seen Venture draw comparisons to Chalice’s revered Julimar discovery.

A previously run airborne electromagnetic survey by Venture unveiled over half a dozen conductive anomalies within Thor’s southern extensions. So far, only two of these have been drill-tested when they were included as part of the company’s maiden drilling campaign three years ago.

One of the holes tested intersected 2.4m of massive sulphides averaging 0.5 per cent copper, 0.05 per cent nickel, 0.04 per cent copper, along with a splash of anomalous gold and palladium.

Management says several strike kilometres along Thor are yet to be tested by geochemical and electromagnetic means, indicating the pair could have identified a new and unexplored sequence that runs parallel to the anomaly.

Importantly, the conclusion of Chalice’s latest probe along with the combined expenditure associated to its recently completed maiden drill program at the site means the $1.3 billion market-capped company has met its $1.2 million requirement to claim a 51 per cent stake in the operation.

Perth-based Chalice has an option to increase its share to 70 per cent over the next two years through an additional $2.5 million outlay.

Chalice’s revered Julimar deposit, about 70km north-east of Perth, was recently coined one of Australia’s biggest nickel sulphide discoveries in two decades.  The deposit is also believed to be one of the country’s most significant platinum group element resources.

The deposit features a hefty 1.9 million tonnes of nickel equivalent and 17 million ounces of palladium equivalent.

Chalice has been subject to plenty of attention since a discovery hole at the operation returned 19m at 2.6 per cent nickel, 1 per cent copper, 8.4 grams per tonne palladium and 1.1 g/t platinum from 48m about two years ago.

The result sent the company’s share price from under 20 cents to more than $10. The price has since cooled to about $3.70.

Outside of Venture’s work with Chalice the company is running the numbers on a feasibility study for an underground mine at its Mount Lindsay tin-tungsten project in Tasmania.

Earlier work at Mount Lindsay saw the company notch a monster 119.2 metre tin hit at 0.8 per cent tin and 0.2 per cent tungsten from 75.8m at its.

Remarkably, the 119.2 m hit housed an even higher-grade 23.2m section going 1.6 per cent tin with 0.03 per cent tungsten, or 1.7 per cent tin equivalent from 75.8m.

Ever since the discovery of Julimar a raft of new explorers have popped up in the area in an attempt to claim a piece of the mineral-rich and potentially lucrative ground. Venture, however, has one major advantage — Chalice is its project partner.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au