Great Southern Mining has identified multiple bedrock anomalies considered prospective for nickel mineralisation in its recent electromagnetic survey at its East Laverton Nickel project in WA. One identified anomaly spanned a massive 2km by 1km and lined up with the edge of a regional gravity anomaly that Great Southern says provides further evidence of a potential blind nickel sulphide discovery.
The prominent electromagnetic bedrock conductor identified at the East Laverton project sits close to the edge of the interpreted ‘Diorite Hill Layered Ultramafic Magmatic’ intrusion located within Great Sothern’s tenure.
The company believes the Diorite Hill intrusion shows potential to host magmatic type nickel sulphid`e deposits – a style of mineralisation that came to prominence about a decade ago with the discovery of Sirius Resources’ revered Nova-Bollinger deposit.
According to Great Southern, exploration for nickel sulphides in Western Australia has historically targeted a Komatiitic style mineralisation such as BHP’s Mt Keith nickel mine and Mincor Resources’ Kambalda operations. The Nova-Bollinger discovery was a watershed moment in the history of WA exploration highlighting the State’s potential for hosting significant nickel sulphide deposits within magmatic rocks.
The electromagnetic survey technique utilised over the East Laverton project area was a moving-loop electromagnetic or “MLEM” survey. The MLEM survey was the first of its kind to be undertaken over the Diorite Hill magmatic complex.
Leading exploration and geophysical consultant, Bill Amann, from the esteemed Newexco Exploration Pty Ltd company conducted the MLEM survey. Newexco has a strong track record of discovering nickel sulphide deposits with numerous major finds under its belt including the Flying Fox, Spotted Quoll and Nova discoveries.
Great Southern considers the south eastern portion of the surveyed area to be of the highest importance and Newexco has recommended a closer spaced electromagnetic conductor survey be undertaken to further refine its orientation.
Follow up electromagnetic surveying on a tighter grid spacing is now in the planning stage to further refine the modelled conductors ahead of drill testing.
Great Southern Mining’s Chief Executive Officer, Sean Gregory, said:
“This is an exciting development for GSN and is part of our overall strategy to progress exploration opportunities on multiple fronts. Although our primary focus is gold, GSN has identified the East Laverton Project as highly prospective for nickel-sulfide discoveries. This recent MLEM survey was the first modern ground-based EM survey over Diorite Hill and has identified a bedrock conductor in a favourable geological environment that represents a very intriguing target. We are very pleased with the results of this initial survey which justify close spaced EM and drill testing as soon as practical.”
Nickel continues to command white hot investor interest, supported by a commodity spot price running at nearly US$20,000 per tonne. If Great Southern can achieve some success with the drill bit in its quest for magmatic type nickel sulphide deposits, it could be game on for the prospective $30m market capped explorer.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
