Aircore drilling delivers Lefroy a nickel Bullseye at Lake Johnston

Aircore drill results from Lefroy Exploration’s Lake Johnston project have validated the nickel prospectivity of the company’s Bullseye target.

A 22-hole early stage aircore program was carried out at Bullseye late last year, testing a distinctive, 2.5km wide ovoid-shaped high amplitude aeromagnetic anomaly which was interpreted by Lefroy (ASX:LEX) to represent a mafic or ultramafic intrusion.

The results from drill holes on two traverses drilled across the anomaly have reinforced the prospectivity of the target area, with promising shallow nickel intersections including the following:

27m at 0.4% nickel and 0.02% cobalt from 16m in hole LKJA005, including 12m at 0.46% nickel and 0.02% cobalt from 16m;
8m at 0.72% nickel and 0.09% cobalt from 8m in hole LKJA018, including 4m at 1.04% nickel and 0.15% cobalt from 8m, and;
18m at 0.32% nickel and 0.01% cobalt from 8m in hole LKJA020.

Reinterpretation of recent and previous drilling with geophysical data by Lefroy suggests the broad magnetic feature may represent a buried ultramafic intrusion with potential to host nickel sulphide mineralisation.

Greyscale aeromagnetic imagery of Bullseye with prior and completed drilling highlighted. The new tenement application is also shown. Pic: Supplied.

The company has applied for an additional exploration licence to adjoin the Bullseye prospect and strengthen its land position in the Lake Johnston area.

Lefroy managing director Wade Johnson said the initial results were an exciting outcome for the company.

“We are excited by the results generated from our maiden drill program at the Bullseye target in our Lake Johnston project,” he said.

“It is especially pleasing to deliver promising results after targeting the area based on the coincident magnetic feature and previous nickel intercepts from drilling in 1997 that were never followed up.

“Bullseye adds to the growing pipeline of early-stage generative drill targets at Lake Johnston.

“We will schedule more drilling in Q3 2021 at Bullseye to map out the prospective ultramafic rocks in our search for nickel sulphide mineralisation.”

Planning for the next phase of exploration activity is underway, with the program to include aircore drilling and ground geophysical surveys to further map the extent of ultramafic rocks at the target.

The Lake Johnston project with tenements shown with geology on the left and with greyscale aeromagnetics on the right. Key nickel and gold occurrences are also shown. Pic: supplied.

We’re in nickel country

Lake Johnston is located around 120km west of Norseman in WA, and LEX holds two granted exploration licences in the area along with one granted exploration licence held by Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT), on which it holds the rights for gold, nickel and all other precious and base metals not associated with pegmatites.

The combined holdings form a cohesive package spanning more than 250km², in an area considered prospective for both gold and nickel.

The project covers the northern strike extension to the Maggie Hayes and Emily Ann nickel mines held by Poseidon Nickel Limited, and Lake Johnston was host to the Emily Ann mine which averaged a grade of 4.1% nickel and produced 46,000 tonnes of the metal.

Lefroy is also exploring its exciting namesake gold project south east of Kalgoorlie, which continues to deliver exciting results.

The company was singled out by Bridge Street Capital analyst Dr Chris Baker in conversation with Stockhead, in a story published this morning around tips and tricks for picking a winning exploration play.

This article was developed in collaboration with Lefroy Exploration, 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.