ASX-listed Brazilian explorer
Centaurus Metals (ASX:CTM) is hoping to do just that in coming weeks from its Itapitanga nickel-cobalt project in the Carajas.
Itapitanga is a relatively newcomer to the Centaurus portfolio and is part of its move into the Carajas to look for game-changing discoveries after previous attempts over many years to break in to Brazil’s iron ore industry did not amount to much.
That is reflected in its modest 1.3c share price for a market cap of $27 million.
Centaurus Metals shares over the past five years. (ASX:CTM)
Itapitanga covers the southern extension of Anglo American’s world-class Jacare nickel-cobalt laterite deposit which is rated at 307Mt with grades of 1.3 per cent nickel and 0.13 per cent cobalt.
Recent reconnaissance drilling using a hand-held auger has confirmed similar type grades of the two battery material metals (cobalt has shot off to a staggering $US94,000 a tonne on looming supply shortages) at Itapitanga.
While a rudimentary technique, the auger program did identify good grade nickel and cobalt mineralisation from surface to “drill refusal’’ at an average of 6.5m depth, over a zone some 3.3km long and up to 500m wide, and open at depth.
The mineralisation is hosted within a weathered profile which is typically 50m deep in the region, as is the case at Anglo American’s Jacare.
Next drill results due in May
It is encouraging stuff – 29 of the first 33 auger holes finished in mineralisation. Centaurus will follow up the results with a reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign due to start in the middle of next month. It will test the depth extensions of the mineralisation and provide a more reliable guide to the grade.
First results from the maiden 5000m RC drilling program are expected to begin to flow from early May, making for exciting times at Itapitanga for Centaurus shareholders.
Announcing the latest auger results, Centaurus managing director, Darren Gordon, said he was confident the RC program could extend the near surface mineralisation “significantly”, given the mineralisation profile of the Jacare deposit.
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