Sydney, July 18, 2006 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Metallica Minerals Limited (ASX: MLM) will upgrade its resource for the NORNICO nickel-cobalt project in North Queensland to incorporate the results, announced today, of a recently completed drilling program.
The latest drilling, a 20 hole program totalling 772 metres at the Kokomo prospect which is part of the larger NORNICO project, was aimed at defining an initial Ni - Co laterite resource that will conform to JORC guidelines. The recent drilling covers a portion of the Kokomo Central laterite plateau which has a nickel laterite cap with dimensions of approximately 4 km in length and an average width of approximately 500m.
Managing Director, Mr Andrew Gillies, said the Kokomo results, along with additional data gathered from Metallica's completed and planned drilling programs within the NORNICO project area in 2006 will be incorporated in an upgraded resource estimate to be completed later this year.
The results from the recently completed drill programme at Kokomo in conjunction with previous exploration drilling by Metallica has delineated a 1500m long by 400m wide zone of Ni-Co mineralisation with a maximum depth to 64m, (the average thickness of mineralised laterite is approximately 20m), and the mineralised zone is open in all directions. Better individual Ni-Co results of the most recent Kokomo drill programme include:-
KK-060 26m @ 0.69% Ni, and 0.15% Co (1.14% Ni Eq)KK-068 15m @ 0.86% Ni, and 0.49% Co (2.32% Ni Eq)KK-072 14m @ 0.96% Ni and 0.19% Co (1.49% Ni Eq)KK-074 7m @ 0.83% Ni, and 0.34% Co (1.86% Ni Eq)KK-075 41m @ 0.59% Ni, and 0.12% Co (0.95% Ni Eq)
The Kokomo tenement covers a NNE striking ultramafic complex which is approximately 16 km in length and up to 600m wide, much of which is capped by silica boxwork which is variable mineralised. To date Metallica has concentrated its drilling on the central portion of the ultra mafic unit where laterite development is the most pronounced. Silica boxwork (free silica bearing ore) is a common ore type and there is reasonable expectation that the Kokomo ores will beneficiate well with screening to provide a higher nickel - cobalt grade by removing the low grade silica rich oversize fraction.
To date MLM have been focusing on the Bell Creek and the nearby Minnamoolka nickel resources which are expected to form the main nickel laterite supply for the proposed NORNICO heap leach nickel operation, however it is becoming clearer that there will be significant additional upside for substantially increasing the NORNICO resource inventory with further drilling at Kokomo, Andrew Gillies said. Metallica is steadily progressing its drilling to increase the NORNICO Resource base in conjunction with metallurgical testwork and initiating feasibility studies. The outlook for nickel and nickel development projects are very positive considering the expected continued demand from emerging major economies such as China and India outpacing nickel supplies and new nickel developments. Nickel is currently trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME) at more than US$27,000 / t and LME inventories have declined to less than 7,000 tonnes nickel.
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