Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE) has tucked away the final approvals it needs to get the boots on the ground and start drilling at its Tarraji-Yampi nickel-copper-gold project in the West Kimberley region of WA.

The program consists of up to three holes at the Chianti volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) target and between four and six holes at the Grants copper-gold target.

Drilling of these targets is co-funded by the Western Australian government under the Exploration Incentive Scheme.

 

Chianti has not had any drilling carried out since it was defined by Australian Consolidated Minerals in 1972.

Since then an airborne survey flown in 2015 has identified two strong electromagnetic plates that are associated with outcropping and recently sampled gossans.

Grants was initially identified and mined on a small scale for high-grade copper before World War 1. It was last targeted for significant exploration by Western Mining Corporation, which conducted a search for copper in the 1950s.

Dreadnought’s recent rock chip sampling has identified the potential for Grants to host iron oxide copper-gold mineralisation.

The company said that it is unlikely to drill the Texas nickel-copper-platinum group elements target due to the onset of the Kimberley wet season and that it may schedule Texas for drilling in the 2020 field season.

“These approvals now allow for drilling of Chianti and Grants, both of which contain significant historic intersections below outcropping mineralisation,” managing director Dean Tucker said.

 

In other ASX base metals news:

Metals X (ASX:MLX) has cleared the final condition to draw down the remaining $12.5m of its $35m loan facility with Citibank N.A. Funds from the facility will be used for developing its Nifty copper mine in the East Pilbara region of WA. The company is hoping to reach a phase-one throughput rate of 2 million tonnes per annum during the March 2020 quarter to produce about 28,000 tonnes per annum of copper in concentrate.

Adriatic Metals (ASX:ADT) has placed Paul Cronin squarely in the driver’s seat with his appointment as its managing director and chief executive officer following his appointment as an executive director in April this year.