Australian Vanadium Ltd (ASX:AVL) will keep a close watch on an aircore drilling program conducted with partner Bryah Resources Ltd (ASX:BYH) at the Gabanintha Project in WA primarily targeting nickel-copper-gold-PGE and additional critical metals.
AVL is a substantial shareholder in Bryah which holds rights to all minerals at the Gabanintha Project apart from those excluded – vanadium, titanium, iron ore, cobalt, chromium, uranium, lithium, tantalum and manganese – that are held by AVL.
Gabanintha Project, which is around 40 kilometres south-southeast of Meekatharra, plays host to the Australian Vanadium deposit.
The 5,000 metres aircore drill program is targeting nickel-copper-gold-platinum group elements (PGE) and additional critical metals and is being part-funded by the Western Australian State Government to the tune of $53,000.
Drilling is taking place across the Lady Alma Layered Igneous Complex (LALIC).
Bryah managing director Neil Marson said of the drilling program, “Recent exploration has identified that the Lady Alma Layered Igneous Complex hosts copper, nickel, cobalt and gold as well as the high-grade vanadium deposit held by AVL.
“Information from this regional drilling program should advance our understanding of the exploration opportunities within the project area.”
This is an under-explored, yet highly prospective environment with potential to host nickel-copper-gold and PGE mineralisation.
While the drilling will test for minerals that Bryah has the rights to, AVL will also test for new cobalt, chromium, vanadium and titanium horizons.
Drilling to take 3-4 weeks
Drilling will include 138 holes for 5,000 metres and is planned on five traverses, crossing the extent of the LALIC within Mining Lease 51/878.
The holes are planned to extend out into the rocks both east and west of the intrusion, to define the boundaries.
A full multi-element suite, including whole rock geochemistry, rare earth elements and trace elements from bottom of hole samples will be collected.
The dataset will then be used to determine chemical zonation of the LALIC and identify horizons that may be prospective for economic metal concentrations for Bryah and Australian Vanadium.
Drilling results will help to determine the base and the top of the intrusion – potential locations for mineralisation.
The drilling program will take between three to four weeks with results to follow shortly after.
Planned spin out of Star Minerals
Australian Vanadium and Bryah are also moving closer to spinning out Star Minerals Limited (SMS) with that company planning an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
AVL helped Bryah with its public listing in 2019 and at that time, vended non-core tenements and mineral rights over commodities into that IPO, enabling the company to more fully focus on the Australian Vanadium Project.
The relationship between Bryah and AVL since then has gone from strength to strength, with Bryah making multiple discoveries on AVL’s tenements.
Discoveries at Bryah’s non-core gold exploration asset Tumblegum South gold deposit have led to the creation of a new company, Star Minerals.
The Tumblegum South deposit has an inferred mineral resource of 600,000 tonnes at 2.2 g/t gold for 42,500 ounces.
A Priority Offer has been made to AVL shareholders under the SMS IPO Prospectus that was lodged on July 30, 2021.
AVL shareholders may subscribe for SMS shares in the IPO, with applications opening yesterday – August 9.
Shareholders who wish to participate in the AVL offer should note the closing date of September 3 and fill out the relevant paperwork beforehand.
Star Minerals seeks to obtain ASX approval to list by January 31, 2022.
What AVL shareholders should know about the offer
Under the AVL Offer, up to 7,500,000 SMS shares (representing $1,5 million of the total SMS IPO amount) have been set aside for Eligible Shareholders of AVL.
Each Eligible Shareholder can apply for up to a maximum of 500,000 shares under the AVL offer.
Eligible Shareholders will be allocated shares under the AVL Offer at the discretion of the SMS board under the allocation policy set out in Section 2.16 of the prospectus.
If SMS receives applications from Eligible Shareholders of AVL under the AVL offer for more than 7.5 million shares, SMS intends to treat such additional applications as being made under the Public Offer component of the IPO, subject to such additional applications satisfying the minimum application size of 10,000 SMS shares under the Public Offer.
While it is intended that as many Eligible Shareholders of AVL as possible receive an allocation under the AVL Offer, there is no guarantee and neither the company nor SMS give any assurance, that all eligible AVL shareholders will be allocated the SMS shares applied for.
Eligible Shareholders are encouraged to submit an application form attached to or accompanying the prospectus as soon as possible.
www.ferroalloynet.com
