Galileo Mining (ASX:GAL) reports it has uncovered nickel sulphide mineralisation from reverse circulation (RC) drilling north of the Callisto palladium-platinum-gold-rhodium-nickel-copper discovery at the Norseman Project in Western Australia.
Scout RC drilling undertaken on an existing track 400m north of Callisto discovery drillhole NCR266 intersected disseminated nickel sulphide mineralisation with total sulphide content estimated at 5% over the logged interval in NCR346.
An adjacent drillhole 100m to the east (NCR347) also intersected disseminated sulphides with a lower overall abundance of logged sulphides. Two further drill holes were then completed with an 85 degree dip to establish the geometry and extent of the mineralisation on the drill line (NCR353 and NCR354).
The company notes that portable XRF (pXRF) analysis has confirmed the presence of nickel sulphides which were logged in drill chips.
Copper values registered on the pXRF were not significant and it is unknown whether the new nickel sulphide zone represents a similar style of mineralisation to that discovered at Callisto or a new mineralised domain.
Galileo Mining Managing Director Brad Underwood said RC drilling north of Callisto has identified a new zone of disseminated nickel sulphide in the first exploration drill program in the area since the discovery at Callisto defined the prospective unit at the company’s project.
“Our target generation model suggested that the 5kms north of Callisto are the most prospective and these early drill results strongly support this concept”
“Our target generation model suggested that the 5kms north of Callisto are the most prospective and these early drill results strongly support this concept.
With 278km-square of tenements in the Norseman Project, we continue to believe that Galileo has all of the most prospective ground in this newly established mineral domain.
To date, we have undertaken scout RC drilling up to 500m north of Callisto with plans to extend this to 1,000m in the current program. The recent approval of the proposed drill programs from the Department of Mines now allows for systematic drilling of the prospective geological horizons up to 3.5km north.
At the same time the diamond drill rig continues to drill down-dip of Callisto where the mineralisation is interpreted to continue into Galileo’s tenements. With no outcrop, and over 5km of prospective strike, we consider that a significant opportunity exists for additional discoveries at shallow depths.
We are very excited to be rapidly progressing this new discovery and look forward to updating the market as results become available.”
Diamond drilling continues at the Callisto discovery with the extent of sulphide mineralisation, and the geometry of metal distribution within the sulphide zones, yet to be determined.
Current interpretation of the metal enriched sulphide zone at Callisto implies that the ‘high value’ metals are contained within a west-northwest to east-southeast trending corridor, open in both directions. Samples from the new zone of nickel sulphide have been submitted to the laboratory with first results expected in approximately 5 weeks.
Exploration RC drilling will continue north in the meantime, targeting the interpreted ‘prospective’ geological horizons on Galileo’s tenements.
Galileo Mining is focused on the exploration and development of palladium, nickel, copper and cobalt resources in Western Australia. The company’s tenements near Norsemen are ‘prospective’ for palladium-copper-nickel-sulphide deposits shown by the Callisto discovery.
Galileo also has joint ventures with the Creasy Group over tenements in the Fraser Range which are prospective for nickel-copper sulphide deposits similar to the operating Nova mine.
The Norseman Project contains a near surface laterite deposit with over 26,000t of contained cobalt, and 122,000t of contained nickel in a JORC compliant resource.
Images: Galileo Mining Ltd
