Australian Vanadium Ltd (ASX:AVL) is honing in on a series of electromagnetic (EM) conductors at the Coates nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) project near Wundowie in Western Australia.
The explorer pinpointed three conductors during a SkyTEM airborne survey over Coates — the largest of which extends for 1,900 metres of strike.
That same conductor, known as T2, corresponds with a structure that could be similar to the rocks that host Chalice Mining Ltd’s Julimar deposit.
Moving ahead, AVL intends to complete reverse circulation pre-collar and diamond tail drilling over Coates in 2021’s final quarter.
The Coates Project hosts a vanadium-titanium magnetite deposit (VTM) and was previously explored for just vanadium-titanium mineralisation, with no other economic metal assays recorded.
Sharing in discovery excitement
Australian Vanadium managing director Vincent Algar said: “The EM results are highly encouraging considering the success of the method in other discoveries in the area.
“The new data supports the matching geological setting for nickel-PGE-bearing host rocks.
“The 1,900-metre-long coincident, magnetic high, EM high and topographic low further validate our past work at Coates and provide the impetus for our planned drilling program using EIS funding late in 2021.
“While the company’s main focus is on the development of the Australian Vanadium Project at Gabanintha, it is great to share in the discovery excitement being generated in this region.
“The suite of potential minerals at Coates is currently in high demand. We look forward to seeing what the planned drilling uncovers.”
AEM survey
Over August, AVL participated in an airborne EM survey over the greater Coates Mafic Complex in a bid to better understand its mineralisation potential.
Fellow ASX-lister Charger Metals NL (ASX:CHR) organised the SKYTEM survey, which was flown on 150-metre spaced lines.
Of the three structures identified, the 1,900-metre-long T2 bedrock conductor coincides with topographic low and magnetic high.
AVL has interpreted this structure as a potential serpentinised ultramafic rock, which could be akin to the rocks that host CHN’s Julimar PGE-nickel-copper deposit.
The image also shows the presence of two low order conductors, plus the location of the historical drilling on the magnetite gabbro ridge.
Next on the agenda
Before uncovering the new conductors, AVL pencilled in further field and desktop work over Coates for the final quarter of 2021.
An 11-hole reverse circulation pre-collar and diamond tail drilling campaign is first on the list, with a $112,500 EIS grant to cover half of the associated costs.
Ultimately, the drilling program will hone in on a stratigraphic section that runs through the Coates Mafic Intrusion within AVL’s tenure.
This will pave the way for lithological and geochemical studies, focusing on nickel-copper-PGE prospectivity in the area.
AVL will also permit to complete soil sampling and ground geophysics during quarter four as part of a broader approvals process to work on a wider area.
Further soil surveys will cover Coates’ main intrusive area with an emphasis on extending sampling out from the areas that hint at anomalous copper platinum, nickel and chromium soil geochemistry.
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