Auroch delivers nickel sulphide hits at Leinster

ASX-listed Auroch Minerals has upped the ante in its nickel search at its Leinster project in Western Australia’s North Eastern Goldfields. First-pass regional drilling at the Woodwind and Percussion prospects has returned nickel sulphides and assays including 72m at 0.46 per cent nickel along a 6km strike zone where previous drilling hit 7.3m at 2.2 per cent nickel.

Auroch commenced a five-hole diamond drilling program in March at the Leinster nickel project, about 40km south of the town of Leinster in one of WA’s major nickel and gold producing districts. Auroch has a whopping 300 square kilometres of ground in the region.

The diamond drilling to test the high-priority Woodwind and Percussion prospects is targeting an aeromagnetic trend that also plays host to the company’s Horn prospect. Intercepts from drilling at Horn in 2020 included the 7.3m hit at 2.2 per cent nickel and 0.53 per cent copper from 143m, and 5.09m at 2.06 per cent nickel and 0.6 per cent copper from 119m. Another hole returned 1.5m at 1.48 per cent nickel and 0.39 per cent copper from 135m.

Results from four diamond drill holes at Woodwind and Percussion appear to confirm the aeromagnetic trend coincides with disseminated nickel-sulphide mineralisation running in a northerly direction for up to 5km along strike from Horn.

At Woodwind, about 1km north of Horn, drilling returned the 72m intercept at 0.46 per cent nickel from 212m and 2m at 0.45 per cent nickel from 388m in another hole.

A third hole at Woodwind delivered 8m at 0.3 per cent nickel from 296m, within a broader 88m interval of elevated nickel grading over 0.25 per cent nickel from 216m.

At Percussion, 5km north of Horn, a 2m interval going 0.45 per cent nickel from 388m was intercepted.

After outstanding shallow high-grade nickel-copper sulphide results from drilling at the Horn prospect in late 2020, we were intrigued by what the magnetic anomalies along strike from the Horn may hold, most of which had never seen a drill-hole. The results from just our first four drill-holes have already shown that these aeromagnetic highs at the Woodwind and Percussion prospects do indeed define thick fertile ultramafic units that have cumulate ultramafic phases with disseminated nickel sulphides – that is, exactly the geology seen proximal to the massive nickel sulphide mineralisation at Rocky’s Reward and Perseverance, one of the largest nickel sulphide deposits in the world that is only 35km to the north of our Leinster project.

Results from a fifth hole at Woodwind are awaited.

Auroch says the presence of nickel sulphide stringers observed close to basal contact in the hole suggests the company may be close to nailing significant nickel sulphide accumulations in the Woodwind area.

Assay results from nine reverse circulation holes at Woodwind, Percussion, and other high-priority regional targets at Leinster also remain pending. Auroch anticipates the assays will be released in a few weeks.

The company is also doing downhole electromagnetic surveys on all completed drill holes as it looks to identify conductors that will be used to pin-point future drill targets in its nickel sulphide hunt at Leinster.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au