- Auroch Minerals (AOU) has flagged progress at the maiden drill program underway at its joint venture Nepean Nickel project in Western Australia
- The explorer says it is approximately one third of the way through and remains unhindered by recently imposed COVID-19 restrictions so far
- All up, 10 shallow near-mine holes have been completed assay results expected within the next one to two weeks
- The drill programme is hoped to test the extent of shallow near-mine mineralisation at the prospect, which AOU says has high potential to host further significant nickel sulphide
- Auroch shares are off 7.55 per cent following the announcement, trading at 24.5 cents each
Auroch Minerals (AOU) has flagged progress at the maiden drill programme underway at its joint venture Nepean Nickel project in Western Australia.
The explorer says the 3500-metre reverse circulation drill programme is progressing on schedule and is approximately one third of the way through, with 12 drill-holes completed for 1,012 metres so far.
As it stands, AOU says exploration programmes are progressing as planned and have not been impeded by recent COVID-19 restrictions.
The project is located 25 kilometres south of Coolgardie in Western Australia. and is operated under an 80:20 joint venture agreement with Goldfellas.
The drill programme was designed to test the extents of shallow near-mine mineralisation and several aeromagnetic targets strike at the prospect, which AOU says has high potential to host further significant nickel sulphide mineralisation.
Chip samples from the 10 drill-holes, which was drilled to test a previously identified extension, have been logged and submitted to the ALS Global laboratory in Perth, with assay results expected with the next one to two weeks.
Looking ahead, the explorer has a 3000-metre air-core drill programme planned to define the ultramafic stratigraphy and footwall contacts over the 10 kilometres of strike at Nepean, which is set to commence in mid-February.
The company also has a high-powered ground moving loop electromagnetic survey scheduled for March to assist with the significant sulphide target definition along the Nepean strike.
Auroch shares are off 7.55 per cent following the announcement, trading at 24.5 cents each at 1:08 pm AEDT.