The Forrestania Nickel Project (FNP) is located approximately 120 kilometres south of Southern Cross and 80 kilometres east of Hyden in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.

The FNP is located adjacent to, and north of, the high-grade Flying Fox and Spotted Quoll nickel sulphide mines. Importantly the Team1 assisting Hannans played major roles in the discovery of nickel deposits at Forrestania including Flying Fox (T0-T7) and Spotted Quoll2.

Background

Hannans' FNP is located within the Forrestania Greenstone Belt which has a length of 250 kilometres, a width ranging from 5 to 35 kilometres and is subdivided into six ultramafic3 belts namely the Western, Mid-Western, Takashi, Central, Mid-Eastern and Eastern.

The Western ultramafic belt is regionally the most well-endowed with nickel-sulphide mineralisation. The Spotted Quoll, New Morning, Beautiful Sunday, and Flying Fox4 nickel sulphide deposits are all located within the Western ultramafic belt. Hannans' tenure covers a significant strike length of the Western, Mid-Western and Takashi ultramafic belts and minor parts of the Central and Mid-Eastern ultramafic belts. The Forrestania Greenstone Belt hosts several different nickel sulphide mineralisation settings and styles including basal massive sulphides, matrix sulphides, disseminated sulphides in cumulates and remobilised massive sulphides5. The nickel deposits are generally associated with olivine cumulate6 ultramafic rocks, however mineralisation may occur in a range of rock types / settings and exhibit a range of geophysical responses.

Despite a significant amount of nickel exploration at Forrestania by several companies, the last major nickel sulphide discovery was made more than 13 years ago, that being the Spotted Quoll deposit (mine) owned by Western Areas Ltd. A detailed review of Hannans' FNP was initiated by Newexco Exploration Pty Ltd mid-2018 and completed early 2019. The review identified a range of early stage to advanced geophysical, geological, and geochemical targets that warranted further investigation. Hannans has been systemically following the recommendations outlined in the report and the results of these activities have previously been released to ASX. Large flora and fauna surveys were subsequently completed in spring 2019 enabling Hannans to obtain approvals to clear limited amounts of native vegetation if necessary, to advance exploration within the project. Additional surveys will be required in the future.

Exploration

During the Quarter, Hannans commenced the 2nd phase of nickel exploration. In summary, Hannans completed modelling of the ground geophysical surveys (MLEM and DHEM) undertaken during June and July 2020. Several high priority geophysical (electromagnetic) anomalies were identified, with the potential to represent nickel sulphide mineralisation and which warrant drill testing. All drill approvals have been received and site preparation for drilling will be completed next week. Drill testing of the nickel targets will commence as soon as a drilling contractor is secured for the reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drill (DD) program. The program will test six target areas.

The goal for the Quarter is to safely test each target by intersecting the target horizon and collecting a quality sample. The samples will then be submitted to the laboratory for analysis. Most of the targets are geophysical (electromagnetic) targets meaning they are rocks that conduct electricity. Our goal is to intersect economic grades and widths of nickel sulphide mineralisation however, often the rocks intersected are iron sulphides which have no economic value. The only way to test the targets is to drill a hole and have the samples assayed.

Contact:

Tel: +61 8 9324 3388

Email: admin@hannansreward.com

(C) 2020 Electronic News Publishing, source ENP Newswire