• 900m of step-out drilling by Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) at 3Mt NiEq Gonneville project shows new zones of mineralisation just 2km from Julimar West
  • Granting of the Julimar West application continues to progress
  • The grant of lease E70/5111 will enable Western Yilgarn to immediately commence a staged exploration program at Julimar West

 

Western Yilgarn is itching to get to work at its Julimar West nickel project, as adjacent neighbour Chalice Mining’s Gonneville keeps proving up resources that continue to trend into its tenements.

While granting of Western Yilgarn’s (ASX:WYX) exploration application continues to progress with the WA Government, it is seeing mineralisation trend right into Julimar West from Chalice’s ongoing exploration.

900m of step-out drilling, conducted by Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) at its world-class 3Mt NiEq Gonneville project, shows new zones of mineralisation now just 2km from WYX’s tenements.

All four prospects — Dampier, Hooley, Hartog and the main Gonneville resource — are open along strike west toward tenement ELA 70/5111.

Western Yilgarn
Chalice has interpreted that the Gonneville intrusion fault is running straight into Julimar West. Pic supplied (WYX).

The ultramafic potential of the Gonneville intrusion fault, discovered in 2020, has turned what was once a bauxite and minerals sands mining region into a Tier 1 nickel precinct – and tenure pegged by WYX in 2018 sits right at the heart of the region.

WYX says Chalice’s most recent exploration update strongly supports the prospectivity extending into Julimar West.

“The sheer scale of what has so far been discovered is such that it will be mined. The futurist in me rests assured that mining technologies probably not yet fully developed will be employed to extract the resources. This will happen in such a manner that every aspect of ESG will be positive and a banner for the future of mining with communities in mind.”

“Our Julimar West Project continues to enjoy positive market regard courtesy of the excellent exploration effort performed by Chalice,” WYX General Manager Gavin Rutherford says.

“This world-class mineralised zone discovered by Chalice continues to be developed through ongoing exploration. Most certainly, Chalice’ exploration efforts to date sit with Western Yilgarn as ‘the gift that keeps on giving’.”

“The grant of lease E70/5111 will enable Western Yilgarn to immediately commence a staged exploration program. The Chalice work to date provides us with a clear area of focus and this has saved us a lot of guess work and money.”

 

Ground to be granted soon

Julimar West remains untouched, thanks to a quirk of government policy called a File Notation Area (FNA).

“The state of play at the moment is this: we haven’t been able to explore the lease yet because it is still under application and it has been affected by this file notation area, an FNA,” WYX GM Gavin Rutherford says.

The good news is things are progressing, with WYX confident the lease will be granted. “Consistent advice from the WA Government is that our application is in good standing and remains so. Every indication from Government is that this FNA episode is drawing to a close,” Rutherford continues.

“That closure is a fundamental step in the process of granting E70/5111 to Western Yilgarn. We have waited so long for this with the application dating from 2018 — in that context, our application predates the Gonneville discovery!”

The company expects the review into all FNAs to be completed shortly, enabling the WA’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) to finalise its policies for granting applications subject to conditions.

READ: ‘Wow, this thing is open to the west’: Is Gonneville trending into Western Yilgarn’s virgin ground?

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Western Yilgarn, 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.

Read MoreNickel

Featured Companies

You might be interested in