Western floats drilling program

UNLISTED company Western Areas NL will launch a big drilling program on potential sulphide nickel targets once it achieves its goal of raising $5 million from a float which closed on July 7.

Western Areas managing director Julian Hanna told Business News he was confident of raising the money.

“I think we’ll get over the line,” he said.

“We will be out exploring and drilling before the end of July.”

Western Areas has tied up complete geological blocks covering 1,850 square kilometres in WA’s Yilgarn Craton, west, north and east of Kalgoorlie.

Four projects have already yielded significant nickel sulphide intersections showing potential for Cosmos/Silver Swan-style high-grade massive sulphide deposits.

All four prospects – at Bull-finch North, Mt Jewell, Mt Alexander and Koolyanobbing – have targets ready for immediate diamond drilling.

So far 21 priority drilling targets have been identified and a two-year, $3.2 million exploration program is scheduled to begin immediately.

First drilling results are expected within one to two months.

At Bullfinch North, 70 kilometres north-west of Southern Cross, Western Areas is earning 70 per cent in a 55km long belt that includes several known nickel sulphide occurrences.

Recent drill intersections at Trough Well have yielded 14 metres grading at 2.74 per cent nickel and 5m at 2.4 per cent, in a well-defined lava channel.

It will be the down plunge potential of this channel that the company will diamond drill as a top priority.

The Mt Jewell tenements, about 60km north of Kalgoorlie, already have a small inferred resource of 86,000 tonne grading 2 per cent nickel and intersections, including 1.5m at 4.9 per cent nickel, 6.6m at 2.7 per cent nickel (including 1.1m at 4.6 per cent) and 1.9m at 2.6 per cent nickel.

Immediate diamond drilling will test the potential for economic massive sulphide deposits at several targets along this belt Previous drilling at Mt Alexander, 250km north-west of Kalgoorlie, intersected nickel sulphide mineralisation up to 0.6m at 2.25 per cent nickel. It will now be subjected to

diamond, reverse circulation and air rotary drilling.

The company also has hefty stakes in several gold projects.