Blackstone Minerals intersects 15.4-metre-wide zone of nickel sulphides at Ta Khoa

Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX) (FRA:B9S) has intersected a 15.4-metre-wide zone of nickel sulphide mineralisation at Ban Chang prospect of its Ta Khoa Nickel-PGE project in Vietnam. The maiden four drill holes at Ban Chang have all intersected massive sulphide nickel over a 1.2-kilometre strike within a 1.2-kilometre-long massive sulphide target zone defined by high-priority electromagnetic (EM) plates. Drill-hole BC20-04 has returned the 15-4-metre-zone of massive sulphide veins (MSV), net-textured sulphide (NTS) and disseminated sulphide (DSS) mineralisation. This was within an ultramafic body over 1.2 kilometres along strike of Blackstone’s maiden Ban Chang drill hole (BC20-01) which delivered 5.2 metres at 0.66% nickel, 0.73% copper, 0.04% cobalt and 0.79 g/t PGE from 58 metres. Adds potential to bulk mining scenario Blackstone Minerals’ managing director Scott Williamson said: “We’re pleased to announce a significant intersection of 15.4 metres of nickel sulphide mineralisation at Ban Chang. “This adds potential to a bulk underground mining scenario to supplement possible open pit mining at the Ban Phuc disseminated sulphide ore body, where Blackstone continues to aggressively drill out the King Cobra discovery zone. “We look forward to further results from Ban Chang and the King Cobra discovery zone at Ban Phuc.” Assays are still pending for drill holes BC 20-02 that intersected 1.2 metres of MSV and BC 20-03 that intersected 4.6 metres of MSV and semi massive sulphide veins (SMSV). Shares higher Shares have been as much as 9% higher to an intra-day high of 19 cents. The drilling is part of an ongoing campaign to target regional MSV as Blackstone aims to build its resource inventory at Ta Khoa. Blackstone is testing high priority EM targets generated from 25 MSV prospects in the nickel sulphide district to supplement a potential bulk open pit mining scenario at Ban Phuc and the King Cobra discovery zone (KCZ), where drilling continues at depth. Previous mining MSV prospects are being targeted analogous to the Ban Phuc MSV, where previous owners mined 975,000 tonnes of ore at average grades of 2.4% nickel and 1.0% copper from an average vein width of 1.3 metres, producing 20,700 tonnes of nickel, 10,100 tonnes of copper and 670 tonnes of cobalt. Drilling continues to intersect massive sulphide within metres of the modelled EM plates, confirming EM’s potential to unlock the world-class magmatic nickel sulphide geology throughout the Ta Khoa nickel sulphide district. Williamson added: “The results will enable us to better understand the full potential of this nickel sulphide district which includes a further 24 massive sulphide vein targets analogous to Ban Chang and the successfully mined Ban Phuc massive sulphide underground mine.” Blackstone’s second drill rig will continue to follow the in-house geophysics team throughout the Ta Khoa district, testing high-priority EM targets including King Snake, Ban Khoa, Ban Chang and Ban Khang. A scoping study on downstream processing to produce nickel sulphate for the lithium-ion battery industry and a Ban Phuc maiden resource estimate are on track for completion in the third quarter of 2020. Downstream processing potential is supported by $6.8 million investment from EcoPro Co Limited, the world’s second largest nickel-rich cathode materials manufacturer, completed in April 2020.