IMX Resources, an Australian based, diversified resources developer and explorer, has embarked on the recommencement of drilling at its Ntaka Hill Project, south-eastern Tanzania with the first hole of the 2013 field season intersecting 70 metres of continuous sulphide mineralisation.
The move follow the re-assessment of the soil geochemical data sets, historical electromagnetic survey results and the gravity survey completed towards the end of 2012 which have led to a large number of “drill ready” targets being identified that are expected to be pursued during this field season.
The Ntaka Hill Nickel Sulphide Project is one of the world’s best undeveloped nickel sulphide projects and has the potential to produce a very clean, high quality premium nickel concentrate. The project is a host to zones of high grade massive sulphide intervals of up to 16.3% nickel within wide intersections of disseminated mineralisation.
Just recently, IMX defined an Inferred Resource of 31,000 tonnes of contained nickel at its Zeppelin deposit that is part of its Ntaka Hill. Assays are pending and likely to be highly anticipated given the broad nickel zones that continue to be discovered at the project.
The 2013 drilling programme started last week, with a focus on drilling targets determined from a re-assessment of currently held data sets. “The application of electro-magnetic and induced polarisation techniques is an important advance for IMX as it will enable exploration of the rocks beneath the graphite horizons which in the past have potentially masked any massive sulphide mineralisation present.
We are pleased to have restarted drilling at Ntaka Hill and encouraged by the mineralisation observed in the first hole,” Neil Meadows, IMX Resources managing director, commented. He said that all of the holes drilled at Ntaka Hill during the current field season will be assessed with down-hole electromagnetic equipment to explore for extensions to massive sulphide mineralisation that has been previously discovered.
“In addition to this work, the company plans to use groundbased induced polarisation surveys as a further tool to identify higher grade disseminated near surface mineralisation across the broader Ntaka Hill trend,” he said. IMX has a head start this year with the exploration camp at Ntaka Hill opened in February, three months earlier than has been the case previously.
During the past three months, the company has focused on obtaining expert opinions on work carried out to date and developing the detail of the proposed 2013 exploration program. It has also focused on soil sampling, geochemical work and preparation for ground based and down-hole geophysical surveys to be completed during this current field season.
Ntaka Hill forms part of the Nachingwea Exploration Project in South-Eastern Tanzania, which is located about 250 kilometres west of the port town of Mtwara. Nachingwea is highly prospective for nickel and copper sulphide, gold and graphite mineralization.
The mineralization at Ntaka Hill is significant in that it is near surface and therefore conducive to low-cost open pit mining. Previous test work has also demonstrated attractive metallurgy, plus associated copper credits, which makes for a relatively lower economic cut-off grade at Ntaka Hill. The Preliminary Economic Assessment shows the project could be cash flow positive at about 0.2% nickel feed.
Source Tanzania Daily News