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nIcKeL PReVIeW

Azure develops new outlook

here is an increasing air of confi- thorough and deliberate. Mapping, sam- line deposits incorporating metallurgical,
Tdence around Azure Minerals Ltd as pling, then prioritising geophysical sur- mining and geotechnical studies as well as
the nickel explorer makes the transition veys. We have a pipeline of targets we community, heritage and environmental
to project developer. want to test with EM. It is exploration more work. Rovira said the scoping study would
Just 18 months after making the break- along the lines of a research project than give the first economic parameters for de-
through discovery on its Andover nickel pattern drilling.” velopment.
asset in the Pilbara, Azure is preparing The latest prospects to become drill- “At the current price, indications are this
the groundwork for a scoping study which ready have been Seaview and Skyline project stacks up,” he said. “We are very
will put the first economic numbers on the which have already reported strong visual much helped by the location, just 30km
project. signs of mineralisation. Both are within a from Karratha. The project has all the in-
The scoping study – set for release in 2km-long zone which Azure has named frastructure close by – power, water, gas,
the March quarter – will be largely based the Southern mineralised corridor. road – and there are nearby towns with
on the 4.6mt @ 1.11% nickel, 0.47% cop- “Our eureka moment was when we available services. So, it isn’t like some of
per and 0.05% cobalt resource announced identified that corridor,” Rovira said. “It is those more remote projects in the Pater-
in March but such is the early-stage nature a structure into which has been intruded son or Fraser Range.”
of the project, that figure is likely to be sup- the specific rock type that hosts minerali- Such advantages could attract larger
plemented in coming months. sation. This style has strong similarities to players with several companies asserting
“By the time we start a feasibility study, Nebo-Babel in WA and the Norilsk depos- the desire for more nickel assets in recent
we hope to have multiple deposits, all ca- its in Russia, not necessarily in size but months.
pable of feeding a central processing facil- there are certain geological similarities. Rovira admitted the company had field-
ity,” Azure managing director Tony Rovira They are mafic/ultramafic intrusive bodies, ed inquiries but said there was nothing
explained to Paydirt. intruded later by a gabbro that sucks the compelling it divest a share of the project.
“In the meantime, we will continue the nickel out of the ultramafic and drops the “We are well-funded and the pro-
methodical exploration. This is not cam- nickel sulphides at favourable locations. grammes will continue at Andover for the
paign basis stuff, it is continual. As we There is a lot still to be found, it just needs foreseeable future,” he said. “We have
make more new discoveries and advance more significant ongoing exploration and a strong shareholder base and Mark
them to resource, they will be included in research.” [Creasy, major shareholder] is a very sup-
future studies.” While Azure is still piecing together the portive shareholder who is excited about
The immediate addition to resources will geological puzzle at Andover, work is not what we are finding.”
come from Ridgeline, where the company restricted to pure exploration, with the Azure’s commitment to Andover was re-
has produced a string of high-grade inter- scoping study on the Andover and Ridge- inforced in July with completion of the sale
sections this year.
In July, Azure announced hits of 3.3m
@ 2.8% nickel, 0.55% copper and 0.13%
cobalt from 418m, 3.2m @ 2.53% nickel,
1.75% copper and 0.2% cobalt from 517m,
12.6m @ 1.06% nickel, 0.41% copper and
0.05% cobalt from 519,8m and 21.2m @
1.24% nickel, 0.64% copper and 0.06%
cobalt from 498m (including 7.6m @
2.08% nickel, 0.78% copper and 0.08%
cobalt from 509.65m).
Azure is still waiting on further assays
from holes with strong visual indications of
mineralisation.
Rovira said Ridgeline – to be incorpo-
rated into global resource estimates this
year – demonstrated the success of Az-
ure’s approach.
“It is a good example of our exploration
strategy,” he said. “We have the benefit
that the rocks are sticking out the ground
with probably 80-90% of the area having
exposed rocks. So, that leads to a strong
boots-on-ground ethos of mapping and
sampling. When we find the right rocks, we
carry out EM and once we have the two
together, we drill it. In most cases, we have
hit nickel sulphide mineralisation.
“It isn’t a rapid process but rather very
Azure managing director Tony Rovira, exploration manager Graham Leaver and senior
exploration geologist Dr Josh Combs on site at Andover

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