Stavely Minerals swoops on promising Hawkstone battery metals project in WA
St George holds hope for the projects which lie in an area that has delivered significant lithium results for other explorers.
Stavely Minerals (ASX: SVY) is acquiring what it describes as a “walk up” exploration opportunity with the $1.4 million purchase of the Hawkstone Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The promising 1,800 square kilometre “battery minerals” target is being acquired from Julimar Project hero Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) and it thought to also contain lithium exploration potential.
NWN takeover
Hawkstone is held both 100% and with earn-in and/or exploration rights in six separate tenements through Chalice Mining’s 100%-owned subsidiary, North West Nickel Pty Ltd (NWN).
NWN also owns 100% of the hard-rock mineral rights on E04/1169, E04/2563 and E04/2405, which are subject to future milestone payments to the tenement owners, Waterford Bay Pty Ltd and Kimberley Alluvial Pty Ltd. Stavely’s agreement with Chalice will see it acquire NWN.
Stavely Minerals executive chair and managing director, Chris Cairns, said that prior to the finalisation of the deal, NWN will acquire 100% of tenements E04/2299 and E04/2325 which are currently held by Strategic Metals Pty Ltd and 100% of tenement E04/2784 currently held by CGM (WA) Pty Ltd.
“Exceptional”
“The Hawkstone Project is an exceptional walk-up exploration opportunity in a geological setting that has demonstrated prospectivity and fertility,” Mr Cairns said.
He said the new project will provide the company with year round exploration options as it can now undertake a winter field exploration season in the West Kimberley to complement its the planed summer exploration season at the flagship Stavely Copper-Gold Project in Western Victoria.
Nearology highlight
Mr Cairns added that the Buxton Resources (ASX: BUX)/IGO (ASX: IGO) joint venture’s Merlin nickel-copper-cobalt discovery, located approximately one km along strike from the Hawkstone tenement boundary, is an indication of the potential of the underexplored area.
He described Merlin as a high-tenor discovery which is significant in several respects.
“Technically, it demonstrates that the geological processes required to form a magmatic nickel sulphide deposit have occurred within the Ruins Dolerite, and the Hawkstone Project contains some 30 kilometres of strike continuation of this highly prospective yet under-explored unit.”
“Additionally, being in an emerging metals province implies that any meaningful additional discovery could result in a corporate combination to create the critical mass that a regional development might require, either from the outset or to extend future operations. The DeGrussa and Nova Mines are examples of this type of regional consolidation.”
Merlin has returned individual assays up to 8.14% nickel, 5.26% copper and 0.69% cobalt.
It is part of a large critical metals play that IGO has built up in the Kimberley in recent years.
Previous work
Chalice Mining’s previous exploration activities at Hawkstone have included airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys, ground-based moving loop EM surveys (MLEM), soil geochemical sampling, rock-chip sampling, geology mapping and drill testing of EM conductor plates.
This work has identified a number of future areas of interest to follow up.
Stavely Minerals is planning gravity surveys and field mapping to identify areas that may be most likely to host nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide mineralisation in the lead-up to potential drilling activities.
The company will also investigate Hawkstone’s potential to contain pegmatite-associated lithium mineralisation.
Historic tin-tungsten-tantalum mines/occurrences in the area identified potentially lithium-prospective pegmatites.