- Macarthur Minerals (MIO) highlights significant nickel mineralisation potential through a historical drilling review at its Lake Giles project in Western Australia
- The review looked at 319 drill holes within MIO’s tenure, with highly anomalous nickel of 0.1 per cent or greater, including 150 drill holes recording 0.2 per cent or greater
- Previous significant nickel intercepts include 128 metres at 0.17 per cent nickel from 108 metres, including one metre at 0.29 per cent nickel
- The company has noted seven advanced targets considered highly prospective for nickel mineralisation, which remain untested
- Shares in MIO last traded at 16.5 cents on May 9.
Macarthur Minerals (MIO) has revealed early indications of “significant” nickel mineralisation through a historical drilling review at its Lake Giles project in Western Australia.
The review identified 319 drill holes within MIO’s tenure, with highly anomalous nickel of 0.1 per cent or greater, including 150 drill holes recording 0.2 per cent or greater – highlighting the potential for significant mineralisation.
The company reported previous drilling mainly targeted iron ore, with around 50 per cent of work yet to be analysed for nickel and associated elements.
It is believed the key geological unit which hosts the potential for nickel at Lake Giles is a komatiite ultramafic unit. The unit holds similarities to Poseidon Nickel’s (POS) Lake Johnston komatiite system, which hosts the Maggie Hays nickel mine.
Previous significant nickel hits from historical drilling included 128 metres at 0.17 per cent nickel from 108 metres, including one metre at 0.29 per cent nickel.
Other intercepts included 106 metres at 0.15 per cent nickel from 62 metres, as well as 103 metres at 0.16 per cent nickel from 77 metres, and 23 metres at 0.17 per cent nickel from 235 metres.
The company reported it has now identified seven advanced targets considered highly prospective for nickel mineralisation, all of which remain untested.
Macarthur Chair Cameron McCall said the company had been working swiftly to understand the nickel prospectivity of Lake Giles, with extensive nickel exploration underway.
“Our Yerilgee projects are unique as they remain the only untested Greenstone belt in the Yilgarn Cration for nickel sulphides,” he said.
“There were a few pleasant surprises with broad intercepts of altered komatiites that appear prospective for nickel that were noted within the geotechnical diamond drilling in Moonshine as part of our magnetite feasibility study that we are excited to get analysed with a nickel focus.”
A total of 41 diamond drill holes were carried out by Macarthur in 2019 across its Moonshine and Moonshine North target, intersecting a number of altered komatiites yet to be assayed.
Maccarthur is on the search for potential partners to accelerate a nickel discovery within Lake Giles.
Shares in MIO last traded at 16.5 cents on May 9.