Adavale’s nickel hunt is picking up the trail of rich mineralisation

Adavale’s ongoing drill program has hit thick packages of sulphide veins, indicating that it is closing in on the source of nickel and copper mineralisation at Kabanga Jirani.

Three drill holes totalling 1,175.3m out of an initial eight-hole program have been completed to date with the third, KW03-08-01, intersecting a 285.98m interval hosting a package of sulphide veins from a depth of 77.41m.

Portable XRF analysis of the first hole, which provides a good indicator of what’s present ahead of more reliable lab analysis, had detected up to 0.86% nickel and 4.84% copper in the package of sulphide veins over 195m in the first hole.

Adavale Resources (ASX:ADD) added that all veins intersected thus far are hosted within sediments and will be analysed with XRFs to identify elevated nickel or copper that could point to a nearby source of mineralised sulphides.

“Our current exploration strategy has been designed to vector in on the geological setting and rock types that are most conducive for the discovery of nickel sulphide occurrences. Early results have revealed strong indicators and drilling continues as we await assays from cores from hole 1,” chairman Grant Pierce said.

“We are excited to progress this maiden program into our Kabanga East and West licences which have never been drilled and are essentially unexplored in that sense.

“Progress to date has confirmed the prospectivity of the Karagwe-Angkole belt and our licences situated within it.”

He added that the company will now start gravity surveying to identify nearby sources of mineralised sulphides and ultramafic intrusions, providing more data to better refine and prioritise its portfolio of targets.

Kabanga Jirani nickel project

The Kabanga Jirani nickel project in Tanzania is a collection of seven granted licences covering 1,145sqkm in the Karagwe-Ankolean belt – a world-class nickel district – and is adjacent and along strike from the Kabanga project, which has the world’s largest undeveloped nickel sulphide resource of 58 million tonnes grading 2.62% nickel.

Extensive work was carried out by BHP from the 1970s through to 2008 as well as by the United Nations Development Program over the years on the land where the project is located.

This includes extensive soil and stream sediment geochemical data, aeromagnetic and airborne electromagnetic data.

Adavale has previously noted that analogues to the Karagwe-Ankolean belt include Western Australia’s Fraser Range, which is home to IGO’s Nova-Bollinger mine that has the same type of large, flat, predictable and deep intrusive ultramafic as Kabanga.

Besides the gravity surveying and continuing its drill program, the company is now using a new pXRF tool that has more sensitive magnesium detection along with a second hired instrument to fast track readings and will be carrying out down- hole electromagnetic surveys on selected holes.

This article was developed in collaboration with Adavale Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.