Venus Metals Corporation has nailed a broad platinum group element drill intercept at its Youanmi PGE and base metals project in the Murchison district of Western Australia, with a 30m hit grading 0.95 grams per tonne combined platinum, palladium and gold, 0.22 per cent copper and 0.24 per cent nickel from 40m depth. The intersection extended mineralisation some 50m west of a previous thick intercept.
The new broad hit at the company’s 90 per cent owned Vidure prospect also featured two higher-tenor intervals of 11m going 1.12 g/t platinum, palladium and gold, 0.18 per cent copper and 0.26 per cent nickel from 52m, in addition to 3m at 1.64 g/t platinum, palladium and gold, 0.32 per cent copper and 0.42 per cent nickel from 66m.
Venus says the PGE mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth.
The latest result extends PGE mineralisation about 50m west of Venus’ previously drilled interval which returned 38m at 0.78 g/t platinum and palladium combined from just 20m, including 12m going at 1.2 g/t platinum and palladium, 0.2 per cent copper and 0.37 per cent nickel from 45m.
Curiously, the previous intercept also lies on the edge of a 300m-by-400m platinum-palladium anomaly identified by historical auger drilling.
Less than 2km to the north-east at the company’s Malbec prospect, historical drilling returned PGE mineralisation with a 7m intercept at 1.44 g/t platinum and palladium combined, 0.97 per cent nickel and 0.49 per cent copper from 129m.
Venus’ recent drilling at Malbec also returned 4m at 0.55 per cent nickel, 0.17 per cent copper and 0.15 g/t palladium and platinum from 32m, in addition to 4m at 0.44 per cent nickel, 0.23 per cent copper and 0.33 g/t platinum and palladium from 40m.
The new intercept at Vidure comes on the back of three reverse circulation holes for about 460m targeting magmatic palladium-platinum-gold-copper-nickel mineralisation within the Youanmi tenure.
Venus believes Vidure shows geological similarities to Chalice Mining’s high-profile Gonneville discovery in the Julimar district of Western Australia.
Gonneville’s discovery hole last year returned 19m at 2.6 per cent nickel, 1 per cent copper, 8.4 g/t palladium and 1.1 g/t platinum from 48m, sending Chalice’s share price soaring from under 20c prior the discovery to as high as $9.34 recently.
Eleven high-grade mineralised zones along a 1.8km-by-0.9km area have so far been identified by Chalice, with a further 24km of strike to be drilled.
Venus says it is using Gonneville’s style of mineralisation as a model for targeting multiple zones of PGE associated with base metal sulphides at Vidure and Malbec.
The company is now set to launch follow-up drilling targeting mineralisation below the new Vidure intercept and along strike to the north and south.
A review of historical geophysical data for the project area is also pending.
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By Matt Birney
