re: announcement
ASX ANNOUNCEMENT 20 December 2006 EXPLORATION COMMENCES AT JACKSONS ADVANCED KALGOORLIE NICKEL PROJECT Diversified Australian resources company Jackson Gold Limited ("The Company") (ASX: JAK) has been notified by joint venture partner Breakaway Resources Limited ("Breakaway") that they have commenced exploration on the Golden Valley nickel sulphide target within the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (refer to Plan attached). The Golden Valley prospect is the most advanced exploration target within the project with historical drilling identifying nickel sulphide grades of up to 8%. Initially 4 deep core holes will target below identified nickel sulphides at Golden Valley. These holes will also provide access for geophysical tools to test the depth of the mineralised system. The pre-collars for these holes have been completed. Drilling of the core tails is planned to commence in January, with results expected by the end of the first quarter next year. A programme of RAB drilling has also been completed over a 3.5 km zone of prospective ultramafic, within a defined strike of approximately 7 km, where the favoured units remain largely untested. The results of this work are expected in January next year and will be used to focus exploration for additional primary nickel sulphide mineralisation. Project Background Jackson controls exploration and mining rights for nickel mineralisation over 700km2 of highly prospective ground in the Kanowna-Paddington region located adjacent to LionOre’s Black Swan nickel project (refer to attached figure). Breakaway has acquired LionOre’s obligation to the project and is funding of a further $4.5 million of expenditure on in-ground nickel exploration before February 2010 to acquire a 60% interest in Jackson's Nickel Rights. The prospectivity of the project is well established. The project contains 200 strike kilometres of ultramafic units directly related to those that host the Scotia (35,000t Ni) and Black Swan (135,000t Ni) deposits. Over the last 30 years the project area has had very limited nickel exploration conducted. Within the project there are a number of prospects that contain nickel sulphide in drill intersections; such as 18.25m @ 0.6% Ni (disseminated sulphide) and 0.20m @ 8% Ni (massive sulphide) at Golden Valley (refer to Section attached). Work undertaken by LionOre and Jackson over the last year has delineated a number of targets, which are now being prepared for future drilling and general exploration. Level 2, 41-43 Ord St West Perth WA 6005 (PO Box 1916 West P erth WA 6872) Fx 08 9211 5700 [email protected] ABN 44 099 574 991 Ph 08 9211 5777 www.jacksongold.com.au Details of Current Exploration at Golden Valley Core Drilling Four core drill holes are proposed to test a 2 km strike of mineralised ultramafic at Golden Valley to a maximum depth of 450 metres below surface. This drilling will provide a comprehensive test of areas of known nickel sulphide mineralisation at prospects including 20’N, 69’N and 88’N. The holes are orientated to optimise the effectiveness of down-hole electro-magnetic geophysics, which will further test for the presence of massive sulphide up to 150 metres “off hole” in all directions. In total 1,366m of RC pre-collars have been completed in preparation for core drilling. Approximately 1,200 metres of core drilling is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2007. RAB/Aircore Drilling The fertile ultramafics at Golden Valley remain relatively poorly tested for the style of mineralisation targeted. A programme of 3,371 metres of RAB and aircore drilling has been completed over a 3.5 km strike of ultramafic at Golden Valley. This drilling is aimed at improving geological and near surface geochemical coverage to approximately 160 m spacing along strike, across the prospective stratigraphy. The results of this work are expected to be returned in January and will be used to identify potential new zones of primary nickel sulphide mineralisation. Results from the exploration activities described above will be released to the market as they become available. For more information contact: Brett Smith Executive Director
JAK Price at posting:
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