Mining

Impact Minerals raises $3.25m to fund nickel-copper-PGE exploration at Broken Hill

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By Imelda Cotton - 
Impact Minerals ASX IPT placement Peak Asset Management

Impact Minerals managing director Dr Mike Jones said the drill bit was still turning at Apsley and the company was “very excited” to begin follow up work at Broken Hill.

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A capital raising by junior explorer Impact Minerals (ASX: IPT) has put an extra $3.25 million in the bank to fund a drill program at the Red Hill, Platinum Springs and Little Broken Hill targets within the company’s wholly-owned Broken Hill nickel-copper-platinum group elements project in New South Wales.

Firm commitments were received from investors including German investment company and major shareholder, Deutsche Balaton.

Xcel Capital Pty Ltd and 180 Markets were joint lead managers for the capital raising.

The $3.25 million was raised through the placement of 216 million shares at $0.015 each and represent a 13% discount to the volume weighted average price at close of trade last Friday.

This raising brings Impact’s cash balance to $5.5 million before costs.

High-grade targets

Funds will be used to target high-grade palladium and other platinum group metals at Broken Hill, which consists of seven exploration licences over 816 square kilometres in the south-east part of the rich Curnamona Province.

Money will also be directed towards follow-up work at the company’s Commonwealth high-grade gold VMS project, covering 902sq km in NSW’s renowned copper-gold rich Lachlan Fold Belt.

Impact managing director Dr Mike Jones said the raising would allow for more exploration of the company’s two key projects.

“The drill bit is turning again at Broken Hill and we are very excited to be following up the very high-grade results from previous drilling at Red Hill and Platinum Springs as well as testing new concepts for the Little Broken Hill area,” he said.

“We have some compelling targets emerging along trend and close to the Boda discovery in the Lachlan Fold Belt [and] we are looking forward to very strong news flow over the next six months.”

Major exploration

Impact is conducting major exploration at Broken Hill, comprising up to 8,000m of aircore, reverse circulation and diamond drilling to test Red Hill, Platinum Springs and the Little Broken Hill Gabbro-Rockwell Trend.

At Red Hill, the company will test the along-trend and down-plunge extension of “exceptional” nickel-copper-platinum group elements mineralisation discovered in May.

Stand out results from that discovery included 29m at 10.9 grams per tonne of the seven elements (7PGM) – comprising 0.8g/t rhodium, 0.9g/t iridium, 0.8g/t osmium, 0.8g/t ruthenium, 5.1g/t palladium, 2.5g/t platinum, plus 0.4g/t gold; 2.3% copper, 0.4% nickel and 58g/t silver from surface.

At Platinum Springs, Impact will follow up a February intercept of 0.6m at 11.5g/t platinum, 25.6g/t palladium, 1.4g/t gold, 1.3g/t rhodium, 1.7g/t iridium, 2.0g/t osmium, 0.8g/t ruthenium, 7.6% copper and 7.4% nickel.

It also plans to complete drilling at the Platinum West and Platinum Central prospects.

Finally, at the Little Broken Hill Gabbro-Rockwell Trend, the company will explore an a 4km-long part of the intrusive complex which is under shallow cover and has not been previously drilled.

This part of the program will be funded by a $75,000 grant awarded to Impact earlier this month under the NSW Government’s New Frontiers Co-operative Drilling program.

Previous exploration at Little Broken Hill was hampered by shallow alluvial cover and 70% of the gabbro is not exposed.

Impact plans to test a large part of the area which covers newly-identified feeder zone targets.