Down channel deeper diamond drilling currently underway at Warren is also intersecting nickel sulphides – assays are pending.

Lunnon Metals has hit high-grade nickel up to 4m at 3.44% nickel from 163m up plunge from old workings on the Warren Shoot during a reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Kambalda Nickel Project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields region.

Nickel sulphides have been confirmed both up and down plunge of the mineral resource at Warren, highlighting the potential for these programs to contribute to Lunnon’s (ASX:LM8) growth plans.

Assay results from the initial first pass RC drilling, completed in the September quarter, have now been returned with highlights including the 4m at 3.44% nickel but also:

  • 5m at 0.78% nickel from 175m;
  • 4m at 1.58% nickel from 58m; and
  • 4m at 1.15% nickel from 42m.

Nickel sulphides ‘up and down plunge’

Speaking to the results, managing director Ed Ainscough said Warren has the potential to mirror the main Foster nickel channel, which was mined between 1982 and 1994.

“The current program is confirming nickel sulphides up and down plunge of our initial mineral resource and gives us great confidence that it can grow,” he said.

“If the Warren channel continues over the same plunge length as Foster, the opportunity for additional nickel metal is significant.”

The initial mineral resource at Warren stands at 211,000 tonnes at 3.1% nickel for 6,400 tonnes of nickel metal.

The exploration program has been designed to test the channel and surrounding area for nickel sulphides, both up and down plunge of the historical workings and demonstrate that Warren can mirror the main Foster channel, in length and prospectivity.

Foster has a current plunge length of 2.3km and runs parallel to Warren which is around 1km to the northwest. Foster produced more than 60,000 tonnes of nickel metal from that 2.3km extent and still has a current mineral resource of 32,600 tonnes of nickel metal.

By comparison, the mineral resource at Warren comes only from a combined length of 600m.

Lunnon believes the opportunity is clear – Warren is under-explored and inadequately tested by the past WMC drilling.

Deeper diamond drilling

Diamond drilling kicked off in November targeting the Warren channel deeper down its plunge.

This program is still underway and includes a parent hole and at least two “daughter” holes branching off the parent.

Drilling of the parent hole has been completed with vein/blebby, stringer and brecciated nickel sulphides confirmed in the footwall basalt.

Analysis of these 10-20cm zones by portable XRF (pXRF) unit has confirmed the presence of nickel and the hole is being logged, cut and sampled for assay.

Lunnon said it is encouraged by these preliminary indications and believes it has hit the prospective nickel contact on the upper edge of the Warren channel.

These nickel sulphides provide significant encouragement that a nickel mineralised channel is nearby.

Next steps

The above diamond hole will be surveyed by the DHTEM method, and the wedge holes designed to target any conductive plates present in this channel setting.

Assay results for the diamond hole will be reported when received, with current assay turnaround times being recorded in the order of 10-12 weeks.

RC holes will be planned in the upper Warren channel to test the open plunge components of the steeper identified nickel trends.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Lunnon Metals, 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.

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