Garibaldi Resources has released the results of drilling completed at its Nickel Mountain project which suggest strong copper and precious metal grades in the Lower Discovery zone with additional segments of mineralization identified outside of this zone.
Hole EL-19-17 returned an intercept of 7.94% nickel, 5.85% copper, 0.16% cobalt, 7.05 g/t palladium, 2.73 g/t platinum, 1.75 g/t gold and 15.81 g/t silver over 4.43 metres which was part of a larger 15-metre intercept grading 5.25% nickel and 3.21% copper from the upper part of the Lower Discovery zone (LDZ).
“Hole 71, drilled to test geometry and compare metallurgy, tenor and grade, shows the propensity of the LDZ to host high precious metal values and very enriched copper to go along with top tier nickel grades,” Jeremy Hanson, the company’s vice president of exploration said in the release.
Hole EL-19-65 suggests the presence of a distal zone enriched with copper and precious metals as it also returned elevated grades of these elements with an intercept of 7.92% copper, 1.49% nickel, 6.33 g/t palladium, 2.69 g/t platinum, 3 g/t gold and 40 g/t silver over 0.3 metres. The results from this drillhole have also identified a nickel-rich massive sulphide zone 50 metres below the LDZ.
Finally, hole EL-19-64 returned an intercept of 0.56% nickel and 0.51% copper over 104 metres starting at 16.7 metres, confirming the presence of a shallow mineralized unit north of the LDZ. This hole also intercepted a prospective, previously identified chamber 170 metres underneath the LDZ.
The results for an additional 18 holes are pending.
Garibaldi’s Nickel Mountain project is located 6 km southwest of Eskay Creek in B.C.’s Golden Triangle area. To date, the company has identified five zones of mineralization within the 12-km Nickel Mountain gabbroic complex which are open for expansion.
The historic E&L deposit at Nickel Mountain is a nickel-copper rich massive sulphide unit which was originally discovered in 1966; it formed part of Silver Standard’s portfolio between 1958 and 2014. Garibaldi acquired an option to purchase a 100% interest in the deposit and surrounding claims in 2016 and commenced exploration efforts later that year.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)