Conico ramps up drilling next to Callisto platinum-palladium-gold discovery

ASX-listed multi-element explorer Conico Ltd has revealed that a 2,000m reverse circulation drilling program is set to begin soon on its Mt Thirsty project, following the recent spectacular discovery of PGE by Galileo Mining just 200m from the northern boundary of the building held by the Mount Thirsty joint. joint venture, or “MTJV”. A full geological review is also underway.
The Mount Thirsty cobalt-nickel project is located 16 km northwest of Norseman in Western Australia and is a 50/50 joint venture between Greenstone Resources and Conico Ltd. Immediate neighbor Galileo Mining caused a marked stock buzz last week with a surge in its shares. to a new high following the delineation of a broad sulphide zone with significant platinum group elements at its Callisto project.
The extension of the prospective mineralized horizon in the MTJV tenure is supported by geophysical and lithological mapping according to Conico.
Galileo targeted a mineralized sulphide unit at the contact between an ultramafic sill and a set of sedimentary rocks. Six reverse circulation holes were drilled and one drill hole intercepted an exceptional distance of 33m in a 55m wider disseminated sulphide zone at a stellar grade of 2.00 grams per tonne of platinum, palladium and d gold combined. Notably, according to Galileo, assays were only returned for part of a drillhole with five more holes to come and all drillholes intersected mineralization.
Galileo suggested similarities in style of mineralization to the Platreef deposits on the northern flank of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa. The Platreef deposits are extensive in nature and have combined indicated resources of over 700 million tonnes at a combined grade of 1 g/t of platinum, palladium and gold. Metals contained in Platreef include palladium, platinum, gold, rhodium, copper and nickel.
Galileo’s share price rose 250% thanks to the results.
Despite extensive drilling in the Mt Thirsty area, the prospective eastern margin remains inexplicably largely untested with less than 5% of all holes drilled at Mt Thirsty penetrating over 100m. This is important because the Galileo find is at depths greater than 144m downhole.
An initial review by Conico indicates that a whopping 1.5 km of the same prospective horizon could extend into MTJV territory.
Conico will waste no time in testing the southeastern extensions of the prospective platinum-rich geologic horizon identified by Galileo. A 2000m reverse circulation drilling campaign at Mt Thirsty is expected to commence within the next 6-8 weeks pending receipt of a PoW application and will take 4 weeks.
The company is also conducting a broader regional geological study evaluating the nickel sulphide and lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite potential of the area. Management says an assessment of options to support the next phase of development of the existing Mt Thirsty resource is ongoing and the pre-feasibility study has been completed
The current Mt Thirsty cobalt-nickel oxide deposit has a JORC resource of 26.9 Mt at 0.126% cobalt and 0.54% nickel. The company is betting on the imminent drilling program adding more lucrative numbers to its existing resources.
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