Nice to see, news article from yesterday. http://compareshares.com.au/show_news.php?id=430891
Ferret's stock to watch RWE
26/10/2007 12:18pm Email to a friend Print article
Niplats Australia Ltd (ASX:NIP) has established a portfolio of 100 per cent-owned tenements covering about 473 square kilometres in the east Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Recent discovery of PGE+Au mineralisation in the tenement area has generated the opportunity for additional exploration.
Similar geological settings elsewhere in the world have yielded PGE mineralisation.
In addition to this PGE+Au opportunity, the tenement area has also shown to be prospective for a range of mineralisation including nickel-copper, vanadium, copper-gold associated with the existing fluorite mineralisation, copper-gold associated with quartz sulphide breccias and epithermal gold deposits.
The tenements contain a high-grade quality fluorite deposit with Indicated and Inferred Resources of 4.4Mt at 23.6pc CaF2.
The value of the tenements is underpinned by this previously identified fluorite deposit which may provide the opportunity for early cashflow via the production of an acid-grade concentrate, providing additional resources can be identified and marketing challenges overcome.
At the beginning of the week Niplats released assay results from RC drilling which confirmed the discovery of a vanadium mineralised zone in the Hart Dolerite iontrusion.
Highlights of the discovery include:
* Initial assays from RC drilling confirm the discovery of a vanadium (V2O5) mineralised zone in the Hart Dolerite intrusion;
* Mineralised zone is 3.5km long and up to 1.6km wide in an outcropping flat lying vanadiferous titanomagnetite bearing gabbro layer; and
* The assays report a maximum 52m interval of 0.29pc V2O5 containing a higher-grade layer at the base. These holes will now be assayed for PGE+Au potential.
In 2006, a two-hole reconnaissance RC drill program on the Hart Dolerite in the Speewah Dome discovered an anomalous zone of vanadium (V2O5) mineralisation hosted by a unit of vanadiferous titanomagnetite earing gabbro.
The 2007 RC drill program prioritised 13 vertical drill-holes (SRC151 to SRC159, SRC171 to SRC174) adjacent to and south of the 2006 discovery holes.
Vanadium assays have been received for the sampled intervals in eight holes and all intersected vanadium mineralisation.
SRC117 and SRC172 were not assayed for vandium as they twinned two holes drilled in 2006.
Two holes drilled into the footwall and were not assayed. Assays from SRC174 are pending.
The results from the eight holes are anomalous in vandium over a vertical down-hole interval of between 23 and 52 metres (at a 0.2pc V2O5 cut-off), the thinner intersections generally due to the mineralised unit outcropping and partly eroded.
The downhole intersections are interpreted to be almost equivalent to the true thickness of the mineralised layer due to a flat easterly dip of less than 5pc using a 0.2pc V2O5 cut-off, vanadium values range from 0.29pc to 0.35pc V2O5, with higher grades to 0.39pc V2O5 encountered in the basal layer.
The magnetite occurs in the gabbro layer in a disseminated form and varies in content from 15-25 per cent.
Davis tube recovery work and assaying on 2006 RC drill-chip samples showed the gabbro contained 15-20pc vanadiferous titanomagnetite averaging 2pc V2O5 (range 1.6-2.4pc). Further test work on the magnetite content using Davis tube work is planned.
PGE+Au mineralisation, reported to the ASX on September 26, is located at the top of the highest grade zone of the vanadiferous magnetite layer.
The mineralised gabbro layer targeted by the 13 holes covers an area of 3.5km by 1.6km, which is a small area of the total dome.
Geological logging and magnetic susceptibility readings on the RC drill-chips from the other drill holes completed elsewhere in the dome, in association with field mapping, shows that the magnetite gabbro outcrops and subcrops over a minimum area of approximately 25 km long (N-S) and 3 km wide (E-W) on the eastern side of the Speewah Dome, and also in the northwest part of the dome.
Further assay work is planned on the other 2007 drill-holes that targeted the vanadiferous titanomagnetite gabbro for vanadium and PGE+Au mineralisation.
Current vanadium projects in Western Australia include Windimurra, Barrambie and Balla Balla.
SHARE PRICE MOVEMENTS
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Shares of Niplats Australia Ltd eased 3c to 53c. Rolling high for the year is 62c and low 19c. The company has 30.8 million shares on issue with a market cap of $16.3 million.
In September, the company released the following details:
* An amount of 10,360m of RC drilling in 79 holes was successfully completed targeting PGE+Au, Cu, vanadiferous titanomagnetite and fluorite mineralisation with assay results pending.
* Gabbro unit hosting vanadiferous titanomagnetite and targeted for PGE mineralisation is reported to be more extensive than initially modelled.
* Extensions to the mapped fluorite veins have been drilled.
Niplats has a 100 per cent interest in three granted mining leases (M80/267, M80/269 and M80/270) and two granted exploration licences (E80/2863 and E80/3657) covering 473 sq km located about 100 km southwest of Kununurra.
The tenements cover high-grade, fluorite veins where previous drilling has outlined an Indicated and Inferred Resource totalling 4.4Mt @ 23.6pc CaF2 (at a 10pc CaF2 cut-off grade).
The tenements are prospective for further occurrences of fluorite, iron oxide-copper-gold and cover a large mafic intrusion known as the Hart Dolerite which hosts a vanadiferous titanomagnetite-bearing gabbro.
Drilling of this unit in 2006 discovered an anomalous zone of gold and PGE mineralisation.
The focus of the 2007 field program has been designed to evaluate three different target types:
* The distribution and tenor of PGE+Au and vanadiferous titanomagnetite mineralisation in the prospective gabbro unit;
* Delineate additional fluorite veins; and
* Assess zones of iron-oxide alteration along some major structures which host carbonatites and fluorite mineralisation and are known to be anomalous in gold and copper.
BACKGROUND
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Niplats Australia Ltd listed on the Australian Stock Exchange on September 21.
Geologically, the company's tenements cover the Speewah Dome where Proterozoic-age Hart Dolerite intrudes older sediments of the Speewah and Kimberley Groups.
Structurally, the geology of the tenements is disrupted by fault and fault splays of the Greenvale Fault Zone which is a major crustal-scale feature that hosts both fluorite mineralisation and carbonatites in the Speewah area.
Recently the company completed a 10,360m drill program in 79 holes investigating the following:
* A zone of PGE+Au anomalism in a vanadiferous titanomagnetite-bearing gabbro unit of the Hart Dolerite;
* Extensions to a series of high-grade, fluorite veins where previous drilling has outlined an Indicated and Inferred Resource totalling 4.4Mt @ 23.6pc CaF2 (at a 10pc CaF2 cut-off grade); and
* Zones of iron oxide-alteration associated with copper-gold mineralisation along some major structures which host carbonatites, epithermal silica-K-feldspar veins and fluorite mineralisation.
NIP Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
