Azure Minerals intersects nickel-copper at second Andover conductor
Azure Minerals intersected sulphide mineralisation within the first three holes at the VC-23 EM anomaly.
For Azure Minerals (ASX: AZS), the Andover project in the Pilbara just keeps on delivering, with the latest development being that the first three holes at a second area have also shown nickel and copper sulphide mineralisation.
The company says this highlights the potential of Andover to host multiple nickel-copper deposits.
The target being drilled at the company’s 60%-owned Andover project in Western Australia’s is called VC-23.
VC-23 is described as comprising a high-order — but separate and distinctive — group of electromagnetic conductor plates located 3km northeast of the already confirmed VC-07 conductor.
Andover was one of four projects acquired from prospector Mark Creasy’s company by Azure last July as part of a new Western Australian strategy while its silver and base metals projects in Mexico remained affected by the growing COVID-19 emergency in that country.
The Creasy Group has retained a 40% stake in the project and has been a shareholder in Azure since 2003.
100% hit rate with drilling
In the first three holes at VC-23, sulphide mineralisation was intersected at shallow depths (with a fourth hole now in progress).
Downhole electromagnetic surveying of these latest holes will begin soon.
Azure managing director Tony Rovira said the “exciting” result highlighted the potential of Andover to host multiple nickel-copper sulphide deposits.
“Wherever we have drilled an EM conductor at Andover, we have intersected nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation and this 100% hit rate has continued with the successful drilling of the new targets at VC-23,” he added.
Earlier this month, Azure restarted drilling at Andover with an accelerated program aimed at defining the extent of the nickel-copper mineralisation and firming up a resource.
It involves 30,000m of intensive drilling with three diamond drill rigs on the ground to define the extent of the VC-07 mineralised body and incorporate infill drilling to produce a maiden JORC resource estimate.
Initial drilling will target along-strike, up-dip and down-dip extents of the mineralisation and will be followed by close-spaced infill drilling to assess internal continuity and variability.
The rigs are also being used to test 12 separate electromagnetic conductor anomalies including VC-23, first drilled in 2018 by the Creasy Group.
That 2018 exercise intersected nickel-copper mineralisation and returned best assays of 2m at 2.1% nickel and 0.44% copper from 15m downhole; 6m at 0.45% nickel and 0.39% copper from 22m; and 6m at 0.31% nickel and 0.55% copper from 34m.