Sultan Resources plans maiden aircore program at Lake Grace project targeting Julimar-style nickel-sulphides
If Sultan’s maiden aircore program at Lake Grace is positive, the company will undertake studies to determine potential for nickel sulphides and/or nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE mineralisation.
Junior explorer Sultan Resources (ASX: SLZ) has commenced planning a maiden reconnaissance aircore drilling targeting Julimar-style nickel-sulphides at its Lake Grace project, 250km southeast of Perth.
The 3,500m campaign will be searching for nickel-bearing ultramafic rocks at identified magnetic anomalies within Sultan’s tenement area, which stretches over 690 square kilometres.
The prospectivity of the Lake Grace portfolio has been recognised for its proximity to Chalice Mining’s (ASX: CHN) high-grade Julimar nickel-copper-platinum group elements discovery, 215km to the northwest in the same belt of rocks.
Following that discovery in March last year, exploration companies including Anglo American and Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR) created a rush to secure tenure in the southwest Yilgarn Terrane.
Sultan’s land in that area is highly-prospective for gold mineralisation and also contains historically-drilled ultramafic rocks with evidence of nickel and cobalt-bearing sulphides.
Detailed airborne magnetic surveying by the company has also revealed several unexplored sections with geophysical characteristics indicative of ultramafic rock types.
Ultramafic presence
The planned aircore program is designed to confirm the presence of ultramafic rocks interpreted from the magnetics interpretation and help determine the prospectivity of the region for hosting nickel-sulphide deposits.
Outcropping of ultramafic rocks was confirmed in 1969 by Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australia and strongly anomalous nickel with lower copper and cobalt was identified in the area.
Four diamond drill holes completed at the time intersected cherty serpentinite and ultramafic rocks such as dunites, harzburgites, norites and pyroxenites, all of which were strongly serpentinised.
The rocks were reported to contain abundant magnetite and finely disseminated sulphides with 50% nickel in the sulphide grains although Sultan said no assay results could be found for these intervals.
Confirmation of historic results
In November, Sultan’s ground inspection confirmed the historic results and identified strong geophysical evidence for more than 25km of cumulative strike length of ultramafic rocks across the Lake Grace portfolio.
If results from the maiden aircore program are positive, the company said geochemical and mineralogical studies would be carried out to determine if the ultramafic is (or has the potential to be) fertile for massive nickel-sulphides or any nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE mineralisation.