Golden Mile wraps up Quicksilver metallurgical drilling ahead of schedule

Golden Mile is taking its Quicksilver nickel-cobalt deposit near Lake Grace, WA, through the paces a little quicker than expected with Stage 3 metallurgical diamond drilling now completed.

The eight-hole program totalling 548.9m to collect bulk samples for Stage 3 metallurgical testing was completed ahead of schedule and all samples now delivered to the Bureau Veritas laboratory in Canning Vale.

Stage 3 metallurgical testing will seek to further de-risk the process flowsheet and provide confidence to proceed to a Scoping Study.

This follows Golden Mile Resources’ (ASX:G88) recent discovery of scandium and clay-hosted rare earths that could boost the orebody’s value and contribute towards the Quicksilver deposit’s evolution into a critical metals project.

Critical metals project

The 50km2 Quicksilver project covers a belt of mafic-ultramafic rocks that are prospective for nickel sulphide and nickel laterite mineralisation near Lake Grace.

Excellent local infrastructure provides easy access to grid power, sealed roads and a railway line connected to key ports.

It currently has a resource of 26.3Mt grading 0.64% nickel and 0.043% cobalt for 168,000t of nickel and 11,300t of cobalt.

Stage 2 metallurgical testing completed last year has already developed the company’s understanding of the unique clay mineralisation at Quicksilver.

This resulted in the identification of a customised multi-products flowsheet to produce nickel-cobalt and iron-nickel-cobalt-chromium concentrates as well as industrial products.

Notably, this process would have low energy requirements due to the physical attributes of the free digging ore.

Further work programs

Once the main test program is completed, Golden Mile will incorporate additional studies to explore further downstream options.

These may include REE extraction potential, secondary nickel products suitable for electric vehicle batteries, high-value industrial products and scandium extraction potential.

This article was developed in collaboration with Golden Mile 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.