More Massive Nickel Sulfide at Ban Chang
Blackstone Minerals Limited (“Blackstone” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on infill drilling at Ban Chang, the most advanced massive sulfide vein (MSV) target at the Ta Khoa Nickel – Copper- PGE Project in Northern Vietnam (refer Table 3, Table 4 & Appendix 1). Highlights include 5.35m of massive sulfide nickel intersected …
Blackstone Minerals Limited (“Blackstone” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on infill drilling at Ban Chang, the most advanced massive sulfide vein (MSV) target at the Ta Khoa Nickel – Copper- PGE Project in Northern Vietnam (refer Table 3, Table 4 & Appendix 1). Highlights include 5.35m of massive sulfide nickel intersected in drill hole BC21-66 (refer Image 1, Table 1 & Figure 6).
Blackstone Minerals’ Managing Director Scott Williamson commented: “We look forward to presenting a maiden resource at Ban Chang and incorporating the successful outcomes of infill drilling into a mine plan as part of our Upstream Business Unit PFS. Drilling at Ban Chang is tightly spaced and has consistently intersected massive sulfide mineralisation, providing a high level of confidence as we progress through the next phases of mine development.”
Ban Chang MSV Project
Ban Chang is located 2.5km south-east of the existing processing facility and the Ban Phuc DSS deposit adjacent to the Chim Van – Co Muong fault system. The prospect geology consists of massive and disseminated sulfides (DSS) hosted within a tremolitic dyke swarm which intruded into phyllites, sericite schists and quartzites of the Devonian Ban Cai Formation (refer Figure 1).
The known dyke swarm is approximately 900m long and varies between 5 and 60 meters wide. The dykes and massive sulfide are interpreted to be hosted within a splay (and subsidiary structures) off the major regional Chim Van – Co Muong fault system.
Drilling at Ban Chang has identified multiple massive sulfide lenses, which are often associated with broader disseminated sulfide zones. Preliminary mining studies suggest that Ban Chang is amenable to a modern mechanised underground mining.
As part of the ongoing work for the Upstream Business Unit (UBU) Pre-feasibility Study (PFS), Ban Chang is being assessed as an ore source for the existing 450ktpa concentrator and/or as a feedstock that complements processing of disseminated sulfide ore (i.e., from Ban Phuc) for the larger proposed concentrator.
