DRILLING UNDERWAY AT LEO’S DAM NICKEL SULPIDE TARGET PIONEER ACQUIRES CESSNA NICKEL SULPHIDE PROSPECT
ASX Announcement 25 March 2019
Perth, Western Australia, 25 March 2019: Pioneer Resources Limited ("Pioneer" or the "Company" (ASX: PIO)) advises that:
- Drilling is underway at the Leo’s Dam Prospect, approximately 2km NE of the Blair Nickel Mine, following-up the 2018 discovery of nickel sulphides- 22m at 1.02% Ni and 475ppm Cu - in drill hole GRRC038. Leo’s Dam is one of 5 priority nickel sulphide targets within the Golden Ridge Project; and
- The Company has acquired the Cessna Project containing a standout nickel target located approximately 20km N of the Silver Swan Nickel Mine.
Pioneer’s nickel sulphide strategy will be advanced concurrently with exploration programmes at the Company’s flagship Pioneer Dome Pegmatite Project, where mining at the Sinclair Caesium Deposit was recently completed. The second shipment of 1,600t pollucite was exported during February 2019.
Drilling at Golden Ridge: testing for extensions at Leo’s Dam Ni$ target.
Aircore drilling, directed towards extending the nickel sulphide mineralisation identified, is in progress at the Leo’s Dam target.
Hole GRRC038 was a successful test of a weathered rock geochemical target that was consistent with the generally held Kambalda nickel sulphide (“Ni$”) model. Aircore drilling north and south of GRRC038 (light blue traverse lines on Figure 1) is designed to generate additional knowledge about the target(s) for future reverse circulation and diamond core drilling.
The Company devised an innovative change to the geological model previously ascribed to the Golden Ridge Project (refer ASX release on 20 July 2015). This change proposed the existence of the Blair Ultramafic Dome with at least 12km of demonstrably prospective, basal ultramafic contact target zone outside of the immediate Blair Nickel Mine Deposit. The Blair Dome is analogous, both geologically and in size, with other ultramafic domes at Kambalda, Tramways and Widgiemooltha, which all host major nickel sulphide mines.
The Company believes that the intersection of Ni$ in GRRC038 has added validity to the revised Blair Dome Model, further demonstrating the Project’s prospectivity.
The current aircore drilling programme, of approximately 80 holes, is expected to be completed by late March with the results and interpretation to be available by late April 2019
Figure 1: Plan view of the Golden Ridge Project and the Blair Dome Structure, showing the location of the Blair Ni$ Mine box cut. Priority drill targets exist at Leo’s Dam – where drilling is in progress, Anomalies 13 and 14, and the Blair South Prospect. This programme’s aircore drill traverses are shown in light blue, with previously drilled, anomalous drill holes also shown.
Other priority Ni$ targets associated with the Blair Dome include Blair South, located 3km south of the Blair Mine, Anomaly 14, with Ni$ mineralisation and excellent litho-geochemistry, Anomaly 13 and Duplex Hill.
Pioneer Resources Limited (ASX: PIO)
QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 December 2018
ASX Announcement 31 January 2019
31 January 2019, Pioneer Resources Limited (“Pioneer” or the “Company” (ASX: PIO)) is pleased to update the market with a summary of activities undertaken during the December Quarter of 2018.
SINCLAIR CAESIUM MINE - STAGE 1 Completed
- The Sinclair Mine excavation of pollucite-bearing rock (“Pollucite”) completed on budget on 15 January 2019, and the mine fleet now demobilising;
- Contained caesium in ROM-classified Pollucite of 1,640 tonnes Cs exceeded the Measured Resource Estimate by 57% - resulting in increased revenue to Pioneer and a higher metal inventory for Offtake partner, Cabot Specialty Fluids Limited (“Cabot”);
- Operations now focussed on the transport and export of Pollucite, and site rehabilitation;
- Progressive Pollucite stockpile transfer to Esperance, W.A., to occur throughout 2019;
- The first shipment of 1,600t of Pollucite has now departed the Port of Esperance; and
- Other potentially saleable minerals from the Sinclair Mine - including potassium feldspar, quartz and lithium minerals (petalite and lepidolite) have been stockpiled separately during mining.
OTHER PROJECTS
- GOLDEN RIDGE NICKEL AND COBALT PROJECT: Programme of Work approvals received for aircore and RC programmes planned for 2019;
- KANGAN GOLD PROJECT: Following entering into a Farm-in Agreement with Novo Resources Corp. (TSX.V:NVO) Novo outlined its plans for the Egina Gold Project, incorporating the Pioneer tenements;
- ACRA GOLD PROJECT: Reverse Circulation drilling at Matrix (816m) and Cousin Jack’s (360m); and aircore drilling conducted at Emu Lake (4,704m) continue to generate anomalous gold results. Further work is planned by JV partner Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX:NST); and
- BOGADI PROJECT: 5 drill holes completed to test an unconventional lithium clay prospect returned no significant results.
CORPORATE
- At 31 December 2018 the Company had cash reserves of A$4.7 million and a US$4.8 million loan repayable to Cabot Corporation via the delivery of pollucite ore which has now been mined and stockpiled awaiting shipment.
Figure 1: Company Project Location Plan. Tenement information is listed in Appendix 1.
POLLUCITE MINING COMPLETED FIRST SHIPMENT TO LEAVE AUSTRALIA THIS MONTH
ASX Announcement 22 January 2019
Perth, Western Australia: 22 January 2019: Pioneer Resources Limited (“Pioneer” or the "Company") (ASX: PIO) is pleased to provide an update for its 100%-owned Sinclair Mine, Australia’s first operation to extract the caesium mineral, pollucite, located 40km north of Norseman, Western Australia.
Mining Completed
- Mining of the Stage 1 Sinclair Caesium Mine is now complete;
- Approximately 19,000t1 of pollucite-bearing rock (“Pollucite”) with an average grade of 9.1% Cs2O has been mined and crushed and will be sold under the Offtake and Loan arrangement in place with Cabot Corporation (“Cabot”), announced in June 2018;
- The contained caesium, being 1,640 tonnes, has outperformed the start-up Resource Estimate in the Measured category of 1,047 tonnes by an increase of 593 tonnes or 57%. As the sale price is effectively based on the contained caesium above a minimum grade for a consignment, this will greatly improve the revenue received by Pioneer, while maximising the metal content for Cabot;
- Export arrangements for the significantly larger quantity of Pollucite are being finalised. The first shipment of crushed Pollucite has been containerised in Esperance ahead of an export date scheduled for 23 January 2019, from the Port of Esperance. Shipments are expected to conclude by December 2019, depending on shipping schedules and quantities per shipment.
Delivering Pollucite: The first road train of caesium ore leaves the Sinclair mine.
Crushing Pollucite: High grade pollucite in the foreground. In the background are the crushed ore stockpiles, each of approximately 1,200t
The completed Sinclair Stage 1 Pit | Crushed ore being stockpiled in Esperance |
The first container of Australian pollucite | Pioneer geologists, Russell Panting, Jess Booth and Stuart Kerr, following the last truck of ore from the pit. |
Pioneer Managing Director, David Crook, said:
“The mining operation has gone very well with mining extended by around 3 weeks to ensure that the additional pollucite mineralisation was carefully extracted.
“This success is a reflection of the commitment to “getting the job done well” by the mining team: Pioneer’s geologists and technical support people, GDL Consulting for mine management; Hampton Mining and Civil Services for the mine fleet, and Qube Holdings for transport and product logistics, all of whom we thank very much.
“This has resulted in a very positive outcome for the Company, and sets the Company with the ability to explore for further caesium or other commodities within the Company’s strategy, in an accelerated, but judicious, fashion.”
