Venture Minerals Limited’s (ASX: VMS) JV partner Chalice Mining has commenced its Maiden Drilling Programme at the prospective 20 km long Thor magnetic trend within Venture’s South West Project in Western Australia.
Drilling is initially targeting the high priority bedrock conductors (EM anomalies) generated by Chalice’s recently completed ground EM survey.
“The company is looking forward to seeing the drill core from its JV partner Chalice Mining’s Maiden Drilling Programme at Thor as it targets high priority EM anomalies that potentially represent massive sulphide bodies,” Venture’s Managing Director, Andrew Radonjic, said.
“Venture is also encouraged by Chalice’s commitment to the South West Project with not only drilling the current priority bedrock conductors, but also to generating other potential drill targets for later testing through an extensive Auger Geochem Programme along the prospective 20 km long Thor magnetic trend.”
Chalice’s exploration team have also commenced an extensive Auger Surface Geochemistry programme to define other potential base metal (Ni, Cu, Co, Zn, Pb) and/or precious metal (Pd, Pt, Au) anomalies along the prospective Thor magnetic trend.
This along with the drilling will go towards fulfilling the requirement of Chalice spending A$1.2 million (including monies already spent to date of ~A$400k) to earn 51% and a further A$2.5 million to earn 70% in Venture’s South West Project. Should Chalice spend the A$3.7 million on exploration by 29th July 2024 to earn 70%, then Venture will have the option to maintain its 30% equity in the project.
The South West Project (256 sq. km) is located ~240 km south of Perth hosted in the Balingup Metamorphic Belt, within the highly prospective West Yilgarn Ni-Cu-PGE Province discovered by Chalice that hosts their Julimar discovery which is one of the largest greenfield Ni-Cu-PGE sulphide discoveries in recent history.
The two main prospects within the Project are Thor and Odin and both contain areas of potential Nickel-Copper-PGE prospectivity. Thor is a 20km long magnetic anomaly associated with chromium rich rocks indicative of mafic-ultramafic intrusions. An airborne EM survey by Venture identified 13 highly conductive anomalies within the southern 6.5km of the regional magnetic feature, of which only two have been tested by single holes in Venture’s 2018 maiden drill programme, with the last drill hole (TOR05) intersecting 2.4 metres of Massive Sulphide averaging 0.5% Copper, 0.05% Nickel, 0.04% Cobalt and anomalous gold and palladium.
At Odin, in the only hole drilled, Nickel and Copper sulphides were intersected within a highly prospective maficultramafic unit that extends over 10 strike kilometres. This was further supported by surface sampling returning significant nickel and copper geochemical anomalies (refer ASX announcement 11 May 2018).
Highlights:
• Thor has a 20km long magnetic anomaly associated with chromium rich rocks indicative of maficultramafic intrusions;
• An airborne EM survey in 2018, identified 13 targets in the southern 6.5 km of the Thor magnetic anomaly;
• Maiden Drill Program at Thor intersected 2.4m of Massive Sulphide in TOR05 averaging 0.5% Cu, 0.05% Ni, 0.04% Co and anomalous Au & Pd
• Maiden Drill Hole at Odin intersecting Ni and Cu sulphides within a highly prospective mafic-ultramafic unit that extends over 10 strike kilometres
For further information please visit: https://www.ventureminerals.com.au/
