An option agreement to acquire 100% of Osprey Minerals Pty Ltd is set to give Future Metals NL (ASX:FME, AIM:FME) around 100 square kilometres of highly prospective exploration tenements in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The strategic acquisition, which includes the drill ready Eileen Bore copper-nickel-platinum group metals(PGM) prospect, gives FME ground within a 20-kilometre radius of its 100% owned Panton Project.
Future Metals tenements including Octava Joint Venture, and Osprey Projects (Eileen Bore, Sally Downs and Springvale).
Drilling at Eileen Bore has returned wide zones of shallow copper, nickel and PGM mineralisation including:
- 120 metres @ 0.73% copper, 0.29% nickel and 0.86g/t PGM3E (platinum, palladium and gold) from 0 metres (end of hole) including 16 metres @ 1.0% copper, 0.36% nickel and 0.99g/t PGM3E from 100 metres;
- 96 metres @ 0.70% copper, 0.29% nickel and 0.78g/t PGM3E from 24 metres (end of hole) including 10 metres @ 1.08% copper, 0.34% nickel and 1.04g/t PGM3E from 56 metres; and
- 84 metres @ 0.54% copper, 0.24% nickel and 0.75g/t PGM3E from 36 metres (end of hole).
Part of the attraction to Osprey is the lack of drilling at Eileen Bore since 2005, when near-surface mineralisation was targeted. Mineralisation remains open at depth with many of the best drill holes, including those listed above, ending in mineralisation.
FME sees large scale potential with historical drilling proving mineralisation across a roughly 400-metre extent and geophysics demonstrating potential for 2.2 kilometres of NE-SW strike and untested anomalism 1 kilometre to the east.
The prospect’s analogy to the Sakatti Nickel-Copper-PGM deposit in Finland (44.4 million tonnes @ 1.9% copper, 2.5% nickel and 1.5g/t PGM3E) is also encouraging, with the potential for higher nickel grades at depth.
There are also several additional targets including multiple untested magnetic and gravity anomalies analogous to the nearby Savannah Nickel-Copper deposit.
“The acquisition of Eileen Bore will provide Future Metals further significant exploration upside,” FME managing director Jardee Kininmonth said.
“Eileen Bore has expansive strike potential and drilling to date shows it is open at depth and potentially down plunge. Proving up another deposit of scale will be highly complementary to our existing resource at the Panton Project. The overall Osprey package substantially grows the company’s land position in a highly prospective and underexplored region.”
Aeromagnetics with Ni-Cu-PGM prospects highlighted at the Eileen Bore Project. The Copernicus Mine is excluded.
Transaction details
FME will immediately pay A$25,000 in cash for a 30-day option period, in which it will conduct its due diligence. Once satisfied, it may then offer to acquire 100% of Osprey for upfront consideration of A$625,000 in FME shares, priced at the 5-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) on the day prior to delivering an option exercise notice.
FME shares will be subject to a 6-month voluntary escrow period.
Shareholders controlling 76.5% of Osprey's share capital have committed to accepting Future Metals' offer upon the option's exercise.
Following the acquisition's completion, a deferred payment of A$325,000, in either Future Metals shares or cash, will be due in six months, at the sole discretion of the company.
Additionally, the company will owe another A$325,000 in either shares or cash upon drilling 2,000 metres or more at the Osprey Projects, again at its own discretion.
Eileen Bore potential
The Eileen Bore Project features a range of distinct pyroxenite and gabbro intrusions situated along a structural pathway, known as the Alice Downs Fault. This fault is a major north-northeast extension of the deep-rooted Halls Creek Fault. The host intrusions contain broad areas filled with disseminated and net-textured copper and nickel sulphides, including chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and pyrite.
Due to surface coverage, the efficiency of historical surface sampling in the project area has been constrained. This offers a substantial potential for blind deposits without surface anomalies. The area holds a comprehensive set of exploration data, encompassing geophysical surveys like magnetics, gravity, Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM), and Induced Polarisation (IP). Drilling activities have been primarily concentrated on the Eileen Bore prospect.
The Eileen Bore prospect is an advanced exploration target. Drilling has verified expansive zones of consistent copper-nickel-PGM mineralisation from the surface along an approximately 400-metre known strike. The mineralisation is still open along a considerable strike and at depth, with an average hole depth of merely 96 metres and a maximum vertical drilled depth of about 200 metres. Notably, Eileen Bore is aligned with the same structural framework that hosts the historical Copernicus mine, located 15 kilometres to the northeast.
Sixty holes, totalling 5,761 metres, have been drilled at the Eileen Bore site. This historical drilling has revealed a magmatic sulphide body of disseminated copper, nickel, and Platinum Group Metals within a gabbro-pyroxenite host. The mineralisation extends over approximately 400 metres of strike and is constrained and interrupted by faults. Several of these drilled holes conclude within the mineralised zone.
Drilling results include:
- 120 metres @ 0.73% copper, 0.29% nickel and 0.86g/t PGM3E from 0 metres including 16 metres @ 1.0% copper, 0.36% nickel and 0.99g/t PGM3E from 100 metres;
- 96 metres @ 0.70% copper, 0.29% nickel and 0.78g/t PGM3E from 24 metres including 10 metres @ 1.08% copper, 0.34% nickel and 1.04g/t PGM3E from 56 metres;
- 84 metres @ 0.54% copper, 0.24% nickel and 0.75g/t PGM3E from 36 metres; and
- 47 metres @ 0.62% copper, 0.30% nickel and 0.60g/t PGM3E from 3 metres.
Cross section of drilling at Eileen Bore demonstrating mineralisation open at depth.
To date, drilling has primarily targeted near-surface mineralisation. Future Metals' analysis of the drill hole data suggests that the mineralisation is shaped by a chonolith-like body plunging to the southwest, with both grades and thicknesses amplifying towards the intrusion's centre. The down-plunge scope of this body remains inadequately drill-tested. Cross-faults likely offset and displace the mineralisation laterally or vertically, and no drilling has yet examined this possibility.
Eileen Bore's mineralisation closely resembles Finland's Sakatti deposit, particularly in terms of its high copper-to-nickel ratio and its plunging, tubular geometry. The Sakatti deposit contains 44.4 million tonnes at 1.9% copper, 2.5% nickel, and 1.5 grams per tonne of Platinum Group Metals 3 Elements (PGM3E).
Anglo American’s Sakatti deposit in Finland. Demonstrates increasing nickel grades down plunge ( Anglo American (LON:AAL) presentation).
An Induced Polarisation (IP) survey conducted over the Eileen Bore site indicates pronounced anomalism along the approximately 400-metre known extent of mineralisation. This anomalism extends over a 2.2-kilometre strike length, potentially indicating a continuation of the chonolith-like body. Most of this strike extent has yet to be drill-tested. The IP survey also uncovers anomalism roughly one kilometre to the east, which lies entirely under cover and remains unexplored by drilling.