ASX-listed Todd River Resources has unveiled a trilogy of anomalous platinum group element, or “PGE”, hits after completing a five-hole reverse circulation drilling program at its highly prospective Nanutarra nickel, copper and PGE project in the Gascoyne region of WA. The company says one of the holes intersected a strong PGE anomalism that is believed to be linked to elevated nickel and copper and correlates with anomalous values identified in historic shallow drilling.
The best intersection from the campaign was a two-metre hit grading 0.3 per cent nickel with 0.1 per cent copper and 301 parts per billion platinum and palladium from a 77 metre depth.
Nanutarra looks to be delivering on a number of fronts, with Todd River currently earning up to an 80 per cent interest in the project by outlaying $2 million over three years.
The RC drilling campaign was aimed at chasing up historic shallow drilling results where anomalous platinum and palladium hits were scored close to the base of oxidation in a suite of ultramafic rocks. Each of the five holes plunged at the Nanutarra project intersected thick segments of peridotite and/or pyroxenite with three holes intersecting the contacts between the segments.
The company says the nickel, copper and PGE mineralisation intersected in its recent drilling program supports historical drill results and affirms the fruitfulness and prospectivity of the intrusive complex.
Todd River plans to follow up its latest round of drilling with an exploration program that will include detailed mapping and surface geochemical sampling across the 9.5 square kilometre Nanutarra intrusive complex. It says it will use the scheduled exploration program to pinpoint the most prospective parts of the intrusion that will be drilled at a later date.
Elsewhere, the company looks well-funded to carry out its activities across its 7,000 square kilometres of landholdings in WA and the Northern Territory, having recently reported having a cool $6.5 million in the kitty.
Todd River looks likely to use its strong cash position to fund its aggressive nickel, copper and PGE exploration strategy in WA that will see the company commence significant drilling around November.
In the Northern Territory, the company has identified multiple regional targets with base metal intersections at its Mt Hardy project that has an inferred resource of 2.6 million tonnes grading at 10.5 per cent zinc equivalent.
South of Mt Hardy at its Petermann Range project, the company is gearing up to commence preliminary fieldwork with boots on the ground scheduled for the new year.
If Todd River is able to follow up on its recent run of form in WA with promising results across its Northern Territory projects, the company could be set for a busy end of year.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
