[Ferro-Alloys.com] RC Drilling Successfully Tests High-Grade Manganese and Iron Targets at Wandanya
• Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling has been completed at the Wandanya Project confirming the presence of large manganese and iron mineralising systems with assays expected through July and August
• Multiple drill holes successfully intersected the hydrothermal stratabound manganese horizon with drill chip logging confirming the consistency of the mineralisation and geology previously encountered from the W2 drill program.
• Manganese mineralisation has been delineated along 2km of strike by the drill program and remains open to the north and east.
• Shallow to outcropping hematite dominated iron formation was also intersected in multiple drill holes over hundreds of metres strike and remains open to the north.
• The successful maiden drill program into the iron target confirms an exciting commodity diversification opportunity for the Company.
• Further drilling to extend and delineate these targets is planned for August 2025
Australian manganese explorer and developer, Black Canyon Limited (Black Canyon or the Company) (ASX: BCA) is pleased to announce that Phase 2 RC drilling has been completed, having successfully tested the high-grade manganese and iron targets at the Wandanya Project (BCA 100%).
Black Canyon’s Managing Director Brendan Cummins said:
“The second round of RC drilling we planned and completed was going to be critical to confirm the scale and grade potential of the manganese and iron systems we discovered at Wandanya. We are pleased to update that the program has been highly successful in advancing the understanding and confidence for both scale and grade for both commodities.
“It was very satisfying to drill our first hole of the program on a line 1.6km to the north of the W2 prospect and log drill chips with similar alteration, hangingwall and footwall sequences, and importantly, manganese mineralisation. Then stepping out another 350m to the north and again seeing this consistent pattern of mineralisation and geology. With the completion of this drill program, we have defined manganese mineralisation along 2km of strike - a significant step-up from the 240m of strike we discovered late last year.
“The iron rich formations are laterally extensive with mapping showing high-grade hematite dominated mineralisation outcropping for over 5km along strike within our tenement packages. The thickness of the iron rich horizon was previously unknown and with the conclusion of the drill program we are now more confident that this iron mineralisation is more than just surface enrichment and has considerable scale potential subject to confirmation with the receipt of assays.
“From an exploration perspective it rarely gets better than this when every hole drilled yields important information about the key parameters of the mineralisation that include potential grade, thickness, depth of cover and areal extents of the manganese and iron enrichment. What I find most remarkable is the consistency of the geology and mineralisation over thousands of metres, and in most circumstances is yet to be closed off. We look forward to updating the market as assay results come to hand over the coming weeks.”
RC drilling at Wandanya (BCA 100%)
The phase two RC drill program completed at Wandanya totalled 101 holes for 2,300m of drilling with drill line spacing ranging between 100m and up to 350m, and hole centres at 40m.
Manganese
Drilling into the north manganese corridor has now defined manganese mineralisation over 1.2km of strike with a total of 2km of strike now successfully drill tested at Wandanya. At depth, continuity of the stratabound manganese mineralisation has been found to reflect the surface mineralisation with similar thickness of the mineralised horizon to those previously encountered at the W2 prospect. The cross-strike width tested for manganese mineralisation as part of this program was between 200m and 400m and the mineralisation remains open to the east on multiple lines.
In the southern manganese corridor, directly east of the W2 prospect, the Company has completed 9 holes that have continued to extend the stratabound manganese mineralisation down dip to the east a further 200m at depths between 20m and 25m (Figure 2). The mineralisation remains open to the east, along strike to the north and south.
Iron
A 900m long ridgeline section of the iron rich formation was also drill tested with holes drilled every 40m to 50m along strike to understand the thickness, mineralogy and grade potential of the unit at its western most boundary. A total of 3 cross lines were also completed to determine the width potential of the iron enriched unit, which based on logging, appears to be between 250m and 400m wide. Significantly the iron formation does not appear to be related to surface enrichment processes which will be confirmed with the receipt of the assays expected over July and August.
The Company is also pleased that drilling these innovative manganese and iron targets has been co-funded with a WA Government grant ($122,500 inc mobilisation/demobilisation) under the EIS 1. The EIS is a merit-based competitive program administered by the Geological Survey and Resources Strategic Division of the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry, Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) to encourage innovative drilling projects in regional WA that can lead to discovery.
Future Plans
Arrangements are being made to mobilise an RC rig in August to continue testing the full 3km strike potential of the statabound manganese horizon and further extend the newly discovered iron rich formation to the north and east.
- [Editor:tianyawei]
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