Blackstone Intersects 3.0% Ni, 2.1% Cu & 3.4g/T Pge at Ban Chang

• Blackstone’s (ASX:BSX) maiden drill hole at Ban Chang has delivered the following significant high grade result:
  • BC20-01 5.2m @ 0.66% Ni, 0.73% Cu, 0.04% Co & 0.79g/t PGE from 58.0m 1.5m @ 2.20% Ni, 2.12% Cu, 0.13% Co & 2.66g/t PGE from 58.5m incl. 1.05m @ 2.98% Ni, 1.22% Cu, 0.18% Co & 3.43g/t PGE from 58.5m

• Blackstone’s three maiden drill holes have all intersected massive sulfide nickel over a 1km strike within a 1.2km long massive sulfide target zone (refer to Figure 2), defined by high priority electromagnetic (EM) plates generated by the Company’s in-house geophysics crew with the support of Core Geophysics;

• Blackstone is testing high priority EM targets generated from 25 massive sulfide veins (MSV) prospects throughout the Ta Khoa nickel sulfide district to supplement the potential bulk open pit mining scenario at the Ban Phuc prospect and the King Cobra discovery zone (KCZ) where drilling continues at depth;

• Blackstone’s drilling continues to intersect massive sulfide within metres of the modelled EM plates, confirming EM’s potential to unlock the world-class magmatic nickel sulfide geology throughout the Ta Khoa nickel sulfide district;

• Blackstone’s Scoping Study on downstream processing to produce nickel sulfate for the lithium- ion battery industry and a Ban Phuc maiden resource are on track for completion in Q3, CY20;

• Downstream processing potential supported by $6.8 million investment from EcoPro Co Limited, the world’s second largest nickel-rich cathode materials manufacturer, completed in April 2020.

Blackstone Minerals’ Managing Director Scott Williamson commented:

“Our first assays from Ban Chang confirm a high grade magmatic nickel sulfide vein with significant by-products including copper, cobalt, platinum and palladium. When the by-products are included, the overall grades of the massive sulfides from Ban Chang are substantially higher than those successfully mined from the Ban Phuc massive sulfide mine during lower nickel prices.

Ban Chang is one of the key prosects we are testing and it has potential to add high grade feed to a bulk open pit mining scenario at Ban Phuc. We look forward to further results from Ban Chang as we continue to drill test the 1.2km-long massive sulfide EM targets over the coming weeks.”

Blackstone Minerals Limited (ASX: BSX) is pleased to announce it has intersected massive sulfide in three maiden drill holes at Ban Chang, part of its Ta Khoa Nickel-Cu-PGE project in Vietnam. The drill holes were drilled more than 1km apart and along strike within a 1.2km-long massive sulfide target zone defined by high priority EM plates. Blackstone’s maiden drillhole BC20-01 intersected the following significant results (Refer to Figure 1):

BC20-01 5.2m @ 0.66% Ni, 0.73% Cu, 0.04% Co & 0.79g/t PGE from 58.0m 1.5m @ 2.20% Ni, 2.12% Cu, 0.13% Co & 2.66g/t PGE from 58.5m
incl. 1.05m @ 2.98% Ni, 1.22% Cu, 0/18% Co & 3.43g/t PGE from 58.5m

BC20-02 intersected 1.2m MSV from 87.0m (Refer to Figure 2) more than 200m along strike of BC20-01 and BC20-03 intersected a 9.15m wide zone of sulfide vein mineralisation more than 1km from BC20-01. The drilling is part of an ongoing campaign to target regional MSV as Blackstone aims to build its resource inventory at Ta Khoa to supplement the Ban Phuc maiden resource on track for completion in Q3, 2020. Blackstone’s second drill rig will continue to follow the in-house geophysics team throughout the Ta Khoa nickel sulfide district, testing high priority EM targets generated from 25 MSV prospects including King Snake, Ban Khoa, Ban Chang, and Ban Khang.

Click here for the full press release.