Asian Battery Metals PLC (ABM or the Company, ASX: AZ9) is pleased to report the results of the remaining assay data from the Phase 1 diamond drilling program at the 100% Oval Cu-Ni-PGE prospect, located in the Gobi-Altai region of Mongolia.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Massive sulphide intercept in hole OVD021 of 8.8m @ 6.08% Cu, 3.19% Ni, 1.63g/t E31, 0.11% Co (CuEq2 12.57%) from 107.2m is encountered in between high grade zones of:
Dense disseminated intercept – 7.85m @0.75% Cu, 0.78% Ni, 0.15g/t E31, 0.04% Co (CuEq2 2.25%) from 99.35m and
Net textured intercept – 15.8m @ 1.36% Cu, 1.00% Ni, 0.44g/t E31, 0.04% Co (CuEq2 3.4%) from 116m.
OVD021 is located within 800m+ of strike which remains open at depth and in the SE, NW, NE and SW directions. The copper-nickel sulphide mineralisation represents a new style of deposit for the South Western part of Mongolia.
Drilling to recommence immediately upon receipt of Downhole Electromagnetics (pending).
The Company’s Managing Director, Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren commented: “After 4 years of systematic exploration in Mongolia, with the help of the BHP Xplor program in 2023, it is exciting to be a part of an outstanding Copper-Nickel discovery. It is an exceptional result that shows the mineralisation system at Oval has potential for hosting a substantial deposit with a higher grade zone of copper and nickel. With the confirmation of high-grade massive sulphide intercepts, future exploration work at the Oval Cu-Ni discovery will primarily focus on the extension of the high-grade zone and understanding its size, true dip, and orientation. We will recommence drilling within two weeks and look forward to continuing the journey of discovery with our shareholders”.
Summary of the Phase 1 Diamond Drilling Program
During the Phase 1 program, a total of 19 holes were completed (with an additional 2 being abandoned due to drilling and core loss issues) totalling 2896.85 metres (Appendix 1), at the Yambat Project. This included 2183.85 metres of drilling at the Oval Cu-Ni-PGE discovery, 459.8 metres of scout drilling in the South-East area and 253.2 metres of diamond drilling at the Copper Ridge prospect. The abandoned holes SC02 and OVD013A (as shown in Appendix 1) provided no meaningful information and were excluded from the totals.
The Company previously reported the results of 7 Phase 1 2024 drill holes from the Oval discovery (OVD011, OVD012, OVD014, OVD015, OVD017, OVD018, and OVD019) and 2 drill holes from the Copper Ridge prospect3. Laboratory assay results from all the remaining samples from the Phase 1 drilling program have now been received. These samples cover Oval drill holes (OVD009A, OVD010, OVD013, OVD020 and OVD021) and scout drill holes (SC01, SC03, and SC04). Significant intercepts are provided in Table 1.
The most significant achievement of this drilling phase has been intercepting massive sulphides in hole OVD021, now confirmed by the assay results to have outstanding grades of Cu-Ni-PGE. This further confirms that the Oval magmatic sulphide system is a rich system capable of forming high- grade ore.
In addition to the high-grade massive, net textured, and disseminated sulphide intercepts in OVD021, other significant assay results from drill holes with disseminated mineralisation returned:
OVD013 – 33.4m4 @ 0.23% Cu, 0.22% Ni, 0.07g/t E3, 0.01% Co from 111m
OVD009A – 16.7m4 @ 0.17% Cu, 0.14% Ni, 0.11g/t E3, 0.01% Co from 200.5m
OVD021 – 92.35m4 @ 0.27% Cu, 0.30% Ni, 0.08g/t E3, 0.02% Co from 7m and – 31.2m4 @ 0.19% Cu, 0.20% Ni, 0.10g/t E3, 0.01% Co from 131.8m
Drill hole OVD021
The drill hole OVD021 was designed to target a 98m x 16m DHEM conductor and was drilled at an acute angle along the strike of the mineralised gabbro. The true width of the mineralisation is currently unknown and the mineralisation remains open in NE, SW, up dip and down dip directions. Further investigation of the massive sulphide is the primary objective of the Phase 2 drilling program and will be targeted based on the DHEM that was used to design the OVD021 drill hole and recently completed DHEM described below.
For a more detailed breakdown of the drilling results, please refer to Tables 1, 2 and Figure 5 (Appendix 2).
Drill hole OVD021 provides additional evidence (in addition to the DHEM plate shown in Figure 2) supporting the interpretation that the massive sulphide may be injected at a high angle relative to the Oval gabbro. The hole was drilled semi-parallel to the strike of the Oval mineralisation and intersected extended intervals of disseminated mineralisation, which aligns with expectations for a hole in this orientation. However, the massive sulphide was intercepted over a shorter distance, and no additional intercepts were encountered. This outcome is consistent with the hole not being drilled parallel to the massive sulphide body and not traversing in and out of the massive sulphide due to changes in contact geometry. Drill holes being planned for the next drilling phase will test this interpretation and provide information to establish true widths of the massive sulphide, which are currently unknown.
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