Thick, Near-Surface Cobalt Mineralisation at Coglia Well
ASX Announcement 20 April 2018
Highlights:
- First line of drilling identifies shallow and wide intervals of cobalt and nickel mineralisation including:
- 20 metres at 0.1% cobalt and 0.7% nickel from 32 metres including
- 11 metres at 0.13% cobalt and 0.63% nickel from 41 metres
- 16 metres at 0.12% cobalt and 0.52% nickel from 40 metres including
- 12 metres at 0.13% cobalt and 0.55% nickel
- 20 metres at 0.1% cobalt and 0.7% nickel from 32 metres including
- Cobalt mineralisation is 400 metres wide and 16-20 metres thick
- Further six lines of drilling completed – assay results pending
- Drilling contract for Coronation Dam cobalt-nickel project finalised- to commence in May
White Cliff Minerals Limited (“White Cliff” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on exploration drilling conducted at its 100%-owned Coglia Well cobalt-nickel project near Laverton in the Western Australian goldfields.
The Company has completed 2,869 metres of air core drilling at Coglia Well, with the aim of verifying historical drill results and testing the scale and extents of cobalt and nickel mineralisation. Assay results have been received for the first two of the seven lines of drilling. Significant cobalt-nickel mineralisation has been identified in four consecutive holes extending across a width of 400 metres (section line 9,787,300 North), with assay results including:
CGAC006:
- 16 metres at 0.12% cobalt and 0.52% nickel from 40 metres depth including:
- 12 metres at 0.13% cobalt and 0.55% nickel (ended in mineralisation)
CGAC005:
- 20 metres at 0.1% cobalt and 0.7% nickel from 32 metres depth including:
- 11 metres at 0.13% cobalt and 0.63% nickel (ended in mineralisation)
CGAC016:
- 16 metres at 0.06% cobalt and 0.51% nickel from 34 metres CGAC017:
- 13 metres at 0.04% cobalt and 0.78% nickel from 38 metres (ended in mineralisation)
Cobalt mineralisation occurs as a flat sub-horizontal layer in the regolith profile slightly above and overlapping with nickel mineralisation approximately 16-20 metres thick and 30-60 metres below the surface. Higher grade cobalt mineralisation identified in previous drilling also occurs on the same northing further east in MERC004 which intersected 28 metres at 0.12% cobalt and 0.65% nickel for 60 metres. Drilling adjacent to this hole failed to penetrate the base of the paleo-channel but there is potential for this mineralised zone to be up to 300 metres wide. Due to difficult ground conditions further drilling programs will be conducted with a more powerful RC rig
White Cliff Managing Director Todd Hibberd said: “The Company is very pleased with the initial assay results from Coglia Well, which confirm the high grade of the cobalt mineralisation on this section line. We expect further assay results in the coming weeks to confirm the grade and scale of the cobalt and nickel mineralisation identified in previous drilling. The Company will then commence metallurgical test work to evaluate processing methods and economics.”
“RC Drilling will shortly commence at the Coronation Dam cobalt-nickel project to evaluate the zones of high-grade cobalt mineralisation identified in previous drilling.”
Drilling at Coglia Well also tested the southernmost line (9,784,800 North) and intersected mafic and felsic lithologies with minor cobalt. It appears that the cobalt-bearing ultramafic unit initially thins to the south before thickening again near the tenement boundary with Glencore.
COBALT-NICKEL AND GOLD-COPPER EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Dual focused White Cliff Minerals is an exploration and development company with a portfolio of advanced cobalt-nickel projects in Australia and a gold-copper mine development project in Central Asia.
Cobalt and Nickel:
White Cliff’s three major cobalt and nickel projects play into one of the strongest investment thematic the world has seen in recent years – the rise of electric vehicles – and have genuine potential to develop into mines, particularly considering their location close to existing processing infrastructure in the Western Australian Goldfields.
Gold and Copper:
With gold’s enduring value and copper’s status as a critical energy infrastructure metal, the Company’s high-grade Aucu gold-copper project in the Kyrgyz Republic provides exposure to two similarly attractive sectors. Aucu, which is 90%-owned by White Cliff, contains an inferred resource of 1.8 million tonnes at 5.2 g/t Au for 302,000 ounces of gold. This is poised to grow significantly, with the company in the process of compiling an updated resource estimate.
AUSTRALIAN TECHNOLOGY METALS (COBALT-NICKEL)
White Cliff has three outstanding, 100%-owned cobalt-nickel projects in the Western Australian Goldfields that share multiple development options and a strong prospect of being brought into production in the near-term. They are:
Coronation Dam
- 16km2 tenement
- Near surface cobalt-nickel mineralisation 5.7km long and 1km wide
- Assays of up to 0.68% cobalt including:
- 16 metres at 0.42% cobalt and 1% nickel
- 24 metres at 0.23% cobalt and 0.8% nickel
- Near nickel-cobalt processing infrastructure – 90km from Glencore’s Murrin Murrin plant
- Limited wide-spaced drilling
Ghan Well
- 39km2 tenement
- Near surface cobalt-nickel mineralisation 11km long and up to 1.8km wide
- Assays up to 0.76% cobalt including
- 12 metres at 0.14% cobalt and 0.78% nickel
- 11 metres at 0.14% cobalt and 0.99% nickel
- Near nickel-cobalt processing infrastructure - 26km from Glencore’s Murrin Murrin plant
- Limited previous drilling
Coglia Well
- 70km2 tenement
- Near-surface cobalt-nickel mineralisation 7.5km long and 1-2km wide
- Adjacent to Glencore’s Rocky Well and Matilda nickel-cobalt deposits (29Mt at 0.11% Co and 1% Ni)
- Assays of up to 3% nickel and 0.25% cobalt including:
- 16 metres at 0.16% cobalt and 0.65% nickel
- 12 metres at 2.2% nickel and 0.06% cobalt
- Limited wide-spaced drilling
Planned activity for 2018 includes drilling to establish JORC resources and metallurgical test work to determine recovery and leach kinetics.
AUCU GOLD DEPOSIT: FACTS (WHAT WE HAVE TODAY)
LOCATION: Central Asia, Kyrgyz Republic
2014 RESOURCE 156,000 Ounces (1.2Mt at 4.2 g/t gold)
2016 RESOURCE 302,000 Ounces (1.8 Mt at 5.2 g/t gold), 44,870t Copper (10.6 Mt @0.42% Cu)
2018 RESOURCE New JORC compliant resource calculation underway (Due April 2018)
GOLD RECOVERY: 98%
CONTAINED COPPER: 44,870 tonnes (204,000 ounces equivalent2)
COPPER GRADE: 0.42% Copper
TONNES: 10.6 Million tonnes
TOTAL RESOURCE2: 506,000 ounces equivalent of gold
2 Gold equivalent resource: 44870t Cu@ $5700/t Cu/ $1250/Oz Au = 204,000 Oz Au-eq
SCALE POTENTIAL: Multiple mineralised systems
Mineralisation outcrops at surface over 700 vertical metres
Remains open at depth
Mineralisation extends over 4,000 metres along strike
Remains open along strike
TOTAL EXPENDITURE3: $USD 7 Million
DISCOVERY COST: $USD 14 per ounce equivalent of gold
The discovery cost is substantially lower than industry cost averages4 in Australia of $USD 61 per ounce equivalent of gold
COMMENTARY: The Aucu gold deposit currently contains 302,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of
5.2 g/t gold. The deposit consists of several sub parallel mineralised zones that have each been identified over several kilometres of strike. Only a fraction of these mineralised zones have been drilled. The parts that have been drilled have been tested to about 120 metres below surface. There is evidence to indicate that the structures occur over at least 700 metres of vertical elevation. The Company expects to find substantial additional mineralisation at depth and along these structures that will grow the project to a scale that will allow the development of a gold mine.
Notes:
2 Gold equivalent resource: 44870t Cu@ $USD 5700/t Cu/ $USD 1250/Oz Au = 204,000 Oz Au-eq
3 Total expenditure includes all costs incurred in Kyrgyz and Australia relating to the project excluding acquisition costs.
4 Source: MinEx consulting 2016, http://www.minexconsulting.com/publications/jun2016.html
