Hammer Metals has reported some excellent, near surface cobalt drill intercepts that lay bare the battery metals potential of its Millennium JV near Cloncurry in Queensland’s Mt Isa mining district.
The best intercept was a serious 41 metres at a very respectable 0.18% cobalt with a solid grab bag of gold and copper credits going 0.11 grams per tonne gold and 0.23% copper
According to the company, the result represents the true width of the mineralisation.
Included in the 41m intersection was a 15m higher grade section grading 0.22% cobalt, 0.21% copper and 0.18g/t gold from just 40m down-hole with a peak 1m assay at 1.85% cobalt from 40m.
Other results from the final four holes in the program were 7m @ 0.11% cobalt and 0.15% copper from 24m and 2m at 0.29% cobalt, 0.67% copper and 0.24g/t gold from 70m.
The drilling has successfully tested the up-dip continuity of the cobalt-copper mineralisation at the northern end of the Millennium deposit.
Results from the first six holes at the project included a best intercept of 7m at 0.15% cobalt, 0.36% copper and 0.12g/t gold from 14m including 2m @ 0.33% cobalt, 0.57% copper and 0.11g/t gold from 19m.
Other results were 2m @ 0.64% cobalt, 0.29% copper and 0.14g/t gold from 62m and 4m @ 0.23% cobalt and 0.18% copper from 69m.
Hammer will now review the results of the program before carrying out additional drilling on the higher grade southern portion of the resource ahead of preliminary metallurgical studies.
The company said in an ASX market update earlier this month that it would commence updating the mineral resource estimate at the Millennium JV project soon.
It is less than 20km from CuDeco’s Rocklands copper project, which held a pre-mining resource of 96 million tonnes grading 0.45% copper, 0.13g/t gold and 0.03% cobalt in multiple lodes within an iron oxide copper gold ore deposit.
The deposit is similar in size and style to other deposits in the region that have been successfully mined by small-scale open pit techniques.
Millenium currently holds inferred mineral resources totalling 5.9 million tonnes grading 0.32% copper, 0.11% cobalt and 0.11g/t gold.
Cobalt prices have more than doubled since the start of last year and a tonne of the battery metal is now selling for around US$80,000.
At those levels, a tonne of dirt that contains just 0.1% cobalt is worth around USD$$80.
A tonne of dirt that contains one gram of gold is worth half that figure at about USD$40 a gram which makes doing the gold/cobalt comparisons quite fun.
By Matt Birney
