St George Mining Limited has kicked off a diamond drill program at its Mt Alexander nickel-copper-platinum group element, or “PGE” project in WA with the first of several high-priority seismic targets in its crosshairs. Confidence in the Mt Alexander area has been strengthened by a recent St George and CSIRO research project that indicates the rocks hosting nickel mineralisation at the nearby Cathedrals belt are associated with Mt Alexander.
The large seismic anomaly targeted in the current drill program has been modelled with a dip extent of 450 metres and it is located within the same Cathedrals Belt structure that hosts extensive nickel-copper sulphides drilled at the company’s Investigators prospect nearby.
Mt Alexander is located 120 kilometres south-southwest of the Agnew-Wiluna Belt that hosts multiple world-class nickel deposits.
In 2021 St George and the CSIRO began working together on a research project aiming to characterise the unique nickel-copper intrusive related sulphide mineralisation in the Cathedrals Belt. The company hopes the ore characterisation research will provide an insight into the most prospective areas to drill and it will look to also use the results to define targets in the Mt Alexander project area.
The CSIRO is considered Australia’s peak scientific research authority and has world-leading expertise in producing ore genesis models for nickel sulphide deposits.
Recent studies conducted by the CSIRO at the Cathedrals Belt link mineralisation to the Warakurna Large Igneous Province or “LIP” that spans from central Australia to the west coast of Western Australia.
LIP systems are known worldwide as prospective hosts for economic amounts of nickel-copper-PGE deposits. Significant deposits hosted by LIP’s include the giant Norilsk-Talnakh deposit in Siberia and multiple deposits within the Duluth complex in the Lake Superior region of North America.
Closer to home in Western Australia, the monstrous Oz Minerals owned Nebo-Babel deposit that houses 1.2 million tonnes of nickel and 1.3 million tonnes of copper is also hosted in the Warakurna LIP.
Drilling at Mt Alexander will initially be carried out by a single crew due to COVID-19 regulations restricting travel. A second crew is expected to arrive within two weeks with 24/7 drilling to commence following their arrival.
St George Mining Executive Chairman, John Prineas said:
“The 2022 diamond drilling is our first-ever drilling of seismic targets and the results will be keenly anticipated by all shareholders.”
“Our excitement has been dialled up with initial findings from the St George-CSIRO research project that the Cathedrals Belt intrusions are associated with the Warakurna Large Igneous Province, significantly increasing the prospectivity for us to discover more large-scale Ni-Cu-PGE mineralisation at Mt Alexander.”
In addition to its recent nickel-sulphide hits along the Cathedrals Belt, St George could soon be fast-tracking its entry into the battery metals space via its Mt Alexander project if its hunt for deeper nickel-copper sulphides is on the money.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
