Metallica Minerals Completes Second Graphite-focused Hole at Esmerelda

Metallica Minerals Ltd. (ASX:MLM) announced the completion of the second graphite-focused core drill hole at its Queensland-based Esmerelda graphite project.
Highlights include:

• Second drill hole completed at Esmeralda
• Intersects 49 metres of visible graphite mineralisation
• Follows 120 metre visible graphite mineralisation intersection in first drill hole
• Indicates potential lateral continuity of more than 1.2 kilometres
• Preliminary assay results expected late in November

Simon Slesarewich, CEO of Metallica, commented:

We are extremely encouraged by these early results from Esmeralda. They clearly point to the project hosting a potentially large-scale and unique high-grade graphite deposit.
The potential for a large-scale deposit is supported by both recent work by Metallica and historical data. When you combine the results of this core drilling program with our geological and EM modelling and the historical drilling records, it is difficult not to conclude that the potential extents of the Esmeralda deposit are very large. It certainly compares favourably with the world-class graphite discoveries in east Africa and Canada.
We are also cautiously optimistic about the grade. We know that the visual graphite intersections in WD001 and WD002 are uniform and indicative of a good graphite grade. We also know that graphite deposits of similar hydrothermal origin typically contain high-purity graphite. But we’ll have to wait for the assay results to come back later this month followed by preliminary metallurgical test work before we can issue a more definitive statement.

Click here to read the full Metallica Minerals Ltd. (ASX:MLM) press release.