(MENAFN- ABN Newswire) Perth, May 29, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - White Cliff Minerals Limited (ASX:WCN) ("White Cliff" or the "Company") is pleased to report that significant cobalt mineralisation has been identified at the Ghan Well project near Laverton in Western Australia.
Highlights
- Project review identifies substantial cobalt mineralisation in drilling including:
o 11 metres at 0.15% Cobalt from 25 metres depth
o 8 metres at 0.16% Cobalt from 33 metres depth
o 6 metres at 0.21% Cobalt from 14 metres depth
o 4 metres at 0.27% Cobalt from 27 metres depth
- Prospective ultramafic sequence extends 12 kilometres as yet untested by drilling
- Further project reviews underway
The Company recently reviewed the existing geochemical and drilling database at Ghan Well and has identified multiple cobalt intersections associated with nickel mineralisation within extensive ultramafic rock sequences.
Summary
The cobalt mineralisation occurs as a shallow layer of cobalt enriched manganiferous oxides that form between the smectite clays and the overlying ferruginous clays. High grade cobalt mineralisation typically occurs between 10-30 metres depth and is associated with nickel mineralisation. Results include:
- 11 metres at 0.15% Cobalt from 25 metres depth
- 8 metres at 0.16% Cobalt from 33 metres depth
- 6 metres at 0.21% Cobalt from 14 metres depth
- 4 metres at 0.27% Cobalt from 27 metres depth
In addition, extensive soil geochemical sampling has highlighted multiple cobalt anomalies along the ultramafic sequences which extend for 12 kilometres within the White Cliff tenement. Only a fraction of the ultramafic sequences have been drill tested.
The Company considers that the Ghan Well cobalt project has the potential to substantially increase shareholder value via exposure to the rapidly increasing price of cobalt which is a vital component of Lithium Ion batteries. The current cobalt price is USD $54,500 per tonne (London Metals Exchange Quote, 19 May 2017).
The Company believes that the recent growing trend towards electric vehicles will accelerate over the next ten years and that there will be strong demand for the metals associated with vehicle and technology batteries.
The Company is currently reviewing the entire West Australian tenement portfolio to assess their potential to host lithium ion and electric vehicle battery related energy metals including lithium, cobalt, nickel and vanadium.
Further updates will be provided as this process continues.
Ghan Well Cobalt Potential
The Ghan Well project consists of a central ultramafic sequence ranging from 800 metres to 2,100 metres wide and 12 kilometres long surrounded by felsic and mafic volcanic rock. Due to the properties of ultramafic lava flows, cobalt, nickel and base metals are typically concentrated towards the bottom of the lava flow. Subsequent faulting and folding has transformed horizontal ultramafic lava flows (now rock) into sub-vertical ultramafic rock units.
Cobalt, nickel and base metals occur as concentration's that form along the basal contact of these ultramafic units mainly due to gravity settling while the lava is molten. These flat units have been folded and faulted and are now sub-vertical. Subsequent deep weathering has further enriched the cobalt, nickel and base metals into shallow horizontal layers of mineralisation that correspond with the folded sinuous basal contact of each ultramafic lava flow. This typically results in the cobalt, nickel and base metals mineralisation having complex geometry.
The cobalt mineralisation occurs as a shallow layer of manganiferous oxides that form between the smectite clays and the overlying ferruginous clays. High grade cobalt mineralisation typically occurs between 10-30 metres depth and is associated with nickel mineralisation. Results include:
- 4 metres at 0.27% Cobalt from 27 metres depth
- 6 metres at 0.21% Cobalt from 14 metres depth
- 8 metres at 0.16% Cobalt from 33 metres depth
- 11 metres at 0.15% Cobalt from 25 metres depth
The cobalt mineralisation is closely associated with nickel mineralisation and generally occurs slightly higher in the regolith profile. At Ghan Well there is substantial nickel mineralisation and the cobalt mineralisation discussed above has formed from the same processes. The Company believes that the cobalt mineralisation has the potential to economically extractable in its own right. The proximity of the project to the Murrin Murrin Nickel refinery is likely to strongly impact the possibility of economic development of both the cobalt and nickel mineralisation. While the Company has not yet calculated any mineral resources it is clear that the potential exists for a substantial resource. Current drilling has only tested a small fraction of the mapped ultramafic unit indicating there is potential to locate significant additional mineralisation.
Location and Infrastructure
The Ghan Well project is located in the North-eastern gold fields of Western Australia and is 6km north of Glencore's Murrin Murrin East open pit nickel-cobalt mining operation and 12km south of Dacian Golds Mt Morgan Gold deposit. The project is surrounded by world class mining infrastructure and multiple operating mines. Glencore is currently mining cobalt and nickel from the Murrin East open pit which contained an initial resource of 66 million tonnes at 1.1% nickel and 0.09% Cobalt.
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About White Cliff Minerals Ltd
White Cliff Minerals Ltd(ASX:WCN) is a Western Australian based exploration company with the following main projects:
Kyrgyz Aucu Gold Project (90%): The Project contains extensive porphyry related gold and copper mineralisation starting at the surface and extending over several kilometres. Drilling during 2014 has defined a major gold discovery with an initial inferred resource of 1.15Mt at 4.2 g/t containing 156,000 ounces of gold. Additional drilling in 2015 identified extensions of known high grade gold mineralisation with intersections as high as 8 metres at 55 g/t gold. In addition drilling has also defined a significant copper deposit at surface consisting of 10Mt at 0.41% copper containing 40,000 tonnes of copper. Extensive mineralisation occurs around both deposits demonstrating significant potential to increase the existing resources.
The project is located in the Kyrgyz Republic, 350km west-southwest of the capital city of Bishkek and covers 83 square kilometres. The Chanach project is located in the western part of the Tien Shan Belt, a highly mineralised zone that extends for over 2,500 km, from western Uzbekistan, through Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic and southern Kazakhstan into western China.
Merolia Gold and Nickel Project (100%): The project consists of 771 square kilometres of the Merolia Greenstone belt and contains extensive ultramafic sequences including the Diorite Hill layered ultramafic complex, the Rotorua ultramafic complex, the Coglia ultramafic complex and a 51 kilometre long zone of extrusive ultramafic lava's. The intrusive complexes are prospective for nickel-copper sulphide accumulations possibly with platinum group elements, and the extrusive ultramafic rocks are prospective for nickel sulphide and nickel-cobalt accumulations.
The project also contains extensive basalt sequences that are prospective for gold mineralisation including the Ironstone prospect where historical drilling has identified 24m at 8.6g/t gold. Soil sampling in 2016 has identified multiple mineralised gold trends at Burtville East, Comet Well and Ironstone which will be drilled in 2017.
Bremer Range Nickel Project (100%): The project covers over 127 square kilometres in the Lake Johnson Greenstone Belt, which contains the Emily Ann and Maggie Hayes nickel sulphide deposits. These mines have a total resource of approximately 140,000 tonnes of contained nickel. The project area has excellent prospectivity for both komatiite associated nickel sulphides and amphibolite facies high-grade gold mineralisation.
Lake Percy Lithium Project (100%) and Joint Venture (reducing to 30%): The Lake Percy tenement (E63/1222i) is the subject of a Joint Venture arrangement where Liontown Resources (LTR) can earn up to 70% via expenditure of $1.75 Million. Substantial lithium anomalism has been identified within outcropping pegmatites and drilling will be conducted in 2017. The Company also holds 100% of the adjacent 20km2 tenement (E63/1793) which also contains untested outcropping pegmatites.
Laverton Gold Project (100%): The project consists of 136 square kilometres of tenement applications in the Laverton Greenstone belt. The core prospects are Kelly Well and Eight Mile Well located 20km southwest of Laverton in the core of the structurally complex Laverton Tectonic zone immediately north of the Granny Smith Gold Mine (3 MOz) and 7 kilometres north of the Wallaby Gold Mine (7MOz).
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