St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ) has begun its maiden drilling program of nickel-copper sulphide targets at the Ajana Project in Western Australia.
The company has planned 17 drill holes across 3,000 metres in the historically mineralised yet underexplored Northampton Mineral Field, about 400 kilometres north of Perth.
Two large-scale targets are being tested by St George, interpreted to be mafic intrusions with the potential to be associated with significant nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation.
Moving forward, the program is scheduled to be completed within four to six weeks, with assays expected within another four to six weeks after samples are submitted to the laboratory.
"Overlooked greenfields opportunities"
St George executive chairman John Prineas said: “The Ajana Project was secured by St George shortly after the major nickel-copper-PGE discovery by Chalice Mining at its Julimar Project in the West Yilgarn.
“Our review of overlooked greenfields opportunities in the West Yilgarn identified an area in the Northampton Mineral Field with very prominent magnetic features but virtually no prior exploration.
“St George completed its high-resolution magnetic survey at Ajana followed by detailed gravity surveys over two priority targets – the results of which strongly enhanced our initial interpretation that the large magnetic features may be indicative of late-stage, potentially layered mafic intrusions which are prospective to host significant nickel-copper-PGEs.
“We believe that Ajana is an outstanding greenfields exploration opportunity and are excited to be on the ground drilling two very attractive targets. We look forward to providing updates on the drilling.”
Target (NYSE:TGT) summary
St George has identified two priority target areas that will be tested in the initial phase of drilling.
At Target 1, the magnetic survey has clearly defined a 25-kilometre-long NNW trending elliptical magnetically anomalous body in the northern area of E70/5521.
This large magnetic feature includes several concentric magnetic units interpreted to be a layered mafic intrusion.
Mafic intrusions host significant nickel-copper-PGE deposits in Western Australia, including the West Musgrave Nebo-Babel deposits and the Nova-Bollinger deposit.
The second priority target is in the eastern area of E70/5522.
This target presents as a ‘plug-like’ irregular intense magnetic feature that may be a later-stage mafic intrusion, potentially from a different system to Target 1, given its high mag-gravity response.
Both targets are interpreted to lie adjacent to major structures, which is a strong positive for the style of mineralisation targeted.