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- Estrella Resources (ESR) has made further exploration progress at the Carr Boyd nickel-copper project near Kalgoorlie in WA
- So far, results have been returned for two of the seven recently drilled holes, with mixed results
- The company is investigating a conductive body detected in down-hole magnetic surveys, which is believed to be related to transported sulphides
- With a better understanding of the mineralisation and where it came from, the company is hoping to find the deeper ‘feeder’ source of the nickel sulphides
- Estrella will continue targeted drilling and downhole electromagnetic surveys to better model the potential resource
- Estrella Resources is down 21.43 per cent, trading for 7.7 cents
Estrella Resources (ESR) has made further exploration progress at the Carr Boyd nickel-copper project near Kalgoorlie in WA.
Deeper discovery
It’s still early days at Carr Boyd. Estrella has completed seven diamond holes with another in progress surrounding the T5 discovery hole.
So far, results have been returned for two of the most recently drilled holes, with mixed results.
One hole returned a 20.1-metre intersection grading 1.02 per cent nickel, 0.65 per cent copper, 2.43 grams per tonne (g/t) silver & 0.84g/t platinum group elements (PGE) from a depth of around 370 metres.
The results from the other hole were negligible — returning just one 15-centimetre sample at 1.23 per cent nickel, 0.81 per cent copper, 4.10g/t silver and 0.16g/t PGE from 208 metres.
The company is investigating a conductive body detected in down-hole magnetic surveys, which is believed to be related to transported sulphides — mineralisation that has been moved up into the crust from a deeper ‘feeder’ source.
This style of mineralisation can be hard to pin down as the transported sulphides can be patchy and hard to model.
Estrella is attempting to locate the deeper source of the mineralisation to find a potentially exploitable resource. It’s thought this source also fed the Carr Boyd nickel-copper ‘pipes’ mined in the ’70s by WMC.
Estrella Resources MD and CEO Chris Daws says the company will continue drilling and upgrading its model for further targeted exploration.
“Since our initial discovery hole at T5, the drill bit has not stopped as we continue to ramp up our efforts to establish a solid exploration base with which to continue our aggressive exploration of the Carr Boyd intrusion,” Chris said.
“Mineralisation continues to be intersected in drilling and I fully believe that we have not seen the best of it yet. Our team will be bolstered in the New Year with Steve Warriner and with our facilities fully on target to be upgraded, I look forward to hitting the ground running in early 2021,” he added.
Next steps
The company is seeking a better understanding of the underlying geology at Carr Boyd, with more targeted drilling and downhole electromagnetic surveys planned to model the sulphide body.
Estrella will be keenly awaiting the assays from the other holes to get a better idea of the shape and tenor of the intrusive system.
Once modelling is complete, the company will continue its “aggressive” exploration program in 2021.
Estrella Resources is down 21.43 per cent, trading for 7.7 cents at 11:03 am AEDT.
