News: AusQuest finds new nickel targets in Fraser Range region

AusQuest (ASX:AQD) has identified new targets for exploration at its Dundas East and Gibson Soak projects in the broader Fraser Range region of southern Western Australia.

This could see ground-based exploration starting within two months at Gibson Soak including sampling and ground electromagnetic (EM) surveys once access is secured.

Gibson Soak Project is 30 kilometres north of Esperance, within the broader Fraser Range terrain.

The Exploration Licence is still in the application stage but is expected to be granted within the next two months.

Initial field reconnaissance along public roads has identified the presence of mafic meta-gabbro outcrop within the regional gravity high (15–25 milligals), suggesting similarities to the Fraser Complex which hosts the Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper discoveries.

The regional gravity anomaly is approximately 20 kilometres x 7 kilometres in size within the company’s tenement, and represents a priority target once title is granted and access approved.

While at Dundas East, a recent surface sampling program had identified anomalous nickel and copper values associated with a coincident magnetic/gravity target previously identified as representing possible prospective mafic rocks within a dominantly sedimentary sequence.

Samples were collected on a 250 metre triangular grid and assayed for a range of elements including nickel and copper, using a portable XRF instrument.

Assays ranged from 10 to 90ppm nickel and 5 to 75ppm copper, with coincident nickel copper anomalies (>70ppm Ni and >40ppm Cu) located in at least five areas.