DRILLING is underway at Galileo Mining Ltd.’s (ASX: GAL) Fraser Range Nickel Belt tenements, which are highly prospective for nickel-copper sulphide deposits similar to the operating Nova mine.
Anticipation ahead of the drilling program has been building with the company’s share price gaining more than 50% in July alone: investor attention has tuned into the Fraser Range, along with Galileo’s highly prospective nickel targets.
The commencement of Galileo’s drilling program is lining up nicely with nickel price forecasts.
Research firm Wood Mackenzie anticipates nickel consumption in electric vehicle batteries to soar 64% by 2025 from 2019 levels.
Supporting that view is Elon Musk’s call last week for a lift in the mining and production of nickel.
Musk said Tesla will offer “a giant contract for a long period of time” to a company that can mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way for the production of lithium-ion batteries to power Teslas.
This bodes well for Galileo, which despite disruptions in the wider nickel mining sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hasn’t slowed down its exploration activities in the Fraser Range.
RC drilling program underway
On Monday, Galileo Mining kicked off its second Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program at its highly prospective Lantern nickel targets at its Fraser Range Nickel Project in Western Australia.
Three high priority zones are being tested with a combination of RC and diamond core drilling. The diamond core drilling will commence in August after completion of the current RC drilling.
Approximately 1,500 metres of RC drilling is planned with initial laboratory assays expected within two weeks of finishing drilling.
The multiple nickel targets to be tested are located adjacent to the previously reported sulphide mineralisation at Lantern South (LARC003):
- 5m @ 0.49% Ni and 0.46% Cu from 126 metres down hole, including
- 1m @ 0.66% Ni and 0.75% Cu from 127m
The image below shows the location of the three drill targets for the RC and diamond drill campaigns — Lantern East, Lantern South structural target, and Lantern South sulphide target.
Drill Targets at Lantern South and Lantern East Prospects (TMI-1VD Magnetic Image)
Lantern East is a conductive target on the margin of a major gabbronorite intrusion. An RC drillhole will be completed updip of the conductor and a pre-collar will be established for a diamond core tail to test the conductor.
The Lantern South structural target is a structural and geological target on the margin of the gabbronite intrusion. An RC drill hole and an RC pre-collar will be drilled at this location.
The Lantern South sulphide target is an area of disseminated sulphide mineralisation where three RC drill holes are planned as well as an RC pre-collar for a diamond core tail.
Commenting on the drilling program Galileo Managing Director Brad Underwood said, “Our first ever RC drilling program at the Lantern Prospect was completed in March this year. Results from that program demonstrated that the area contains disseminated nickel and copper sulphide mineralisation.
“In our second program of RC drilling we will be targeting additional zones of mineralisation and laying the foundation for diamond core drilling to follow in August.
“There are three high priority zones to be tested and we look forward to updating the market as results are received from this promising Fraser Range nickel project.”
Ongoing exploration at these outstanding targets at the Lantern prospect — located along strike from Legend Mining’s Mawson Prospect — as well as targets across the wider project area offer huge potential for Galileo to lift its market capitalisation.
Galileo, with a market cap of just $47 million (and ~$9 million cash in the bank), has all the elements required for a significant kind of share price run on drilling success in the coming weeks and months.
By Meagan Evans
