Drilling confirms scale of Impact’s ‘unique mineralised system’

Special Report: Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) is dialling in on high grade nickel-copper-PGE zones at the mineral rich — but geologically complex — Broken Hill project in NSW.

Explorer Impact has identified a powerful geochemical ‘vector’, or signpost, that intensifies towards higher grade nickel-copper-PGEs at Platinum Springs, part of the Broken Hill project.

This is a significant technical breakthrough.

One of the main challenges that Impact, and all previous explorers, faced at Platinum Springs was discriminating and ranking the numerous high-grade drill hits, spread over many hundreds of metres, which proved difficult to track with the drill rig.

This exploration challenge has discouraged extensive exploration of the broader Moorkai Trend, a major 9km long complex of which has very high-grade nickel-copper-PGM’s in rock chip samples along its entire length.

Impact’s vector may open up the entire trend to further systematic exploration for the first time. It recently highlighted a highly prospective zone at least 80m long at both the Plat Central and Platinum Springs East prospects, which guided recent drilling.

These zones are both mostly between 1m and 2m thick, but up to 6m thick in places, and contain high tenor (up to 15 per cent) nickel-copper sulphides in places.

The zone at Plat Central occurs in a ‘Kambalda-style’ mineralised channel that is at least 80m wide.

“Here, the channels are ribbon-like and are mostly less than 5-7m thick, no more than 50-100m wide but usually extending for many hundreds of metres to kilometres along the trend of the channel,” Impact says.

“They are also commonly structurally complex.

“The basal contact of the ultramafic unit is open for at least 200m either side of the channel and the potential exists for further channels to be discovered near surface.”

Drilling confirmation

Assays from the first two reverse circulation (RC) drill holes at Plat Central have hit thick, +50m zones of modest-grade gold, platinum and palladium (3PGE), as predicted by the ratio.

Highlights include 51m at 0.21 g/t 3PGE from 11m, including 8m at 0.6 g/t 3PGE from 29m, which includes 1m at 0.3 per cent nickel, 0.3 per cent copper and 1.5 g/t 3PGE from 30m.

The remaining holes on the section drilled are awaiting assay.

“The thick widths of modest grade PGEs, as confirmed by chemical assay to be present over at least several hundred square metres and associated with high tenor copper and nickel sulphides within the Plat Central corridor, attests to the exceptional background levels of these metals throughout the ultramafic unit and also the scale of this unique mineralised magmatic system,” Impact says.

“Further drilling at Plat Central will be focused on tracking the mineralised channel, both up and down dip, to determine its trend and possible strike extent.

“In the meantime, a number of drill holes will now be surveyed and also cased for down hole EM surveys, following which the drill rig will move to the Little Broken Hill Gabbro, where an RC programme is already underway, to accelerate progress at that prospect.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Impact, 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.