Manganese at Meeka
MORE promising manganese hits have been discovered from the second phase of exploration drilling at Bryah Resources’ flagship Bryah Basin project near Meekatharra in WA.
A total of 83 holes for 2081m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling was completed at four sites: the Brumby Creek, Black Hill and Black Caviar prospects and the historic Horseshoe South manganese mine.
The drilling program was funded by OM ( Manganese), a wholly-owned subsidiary of OM Holdings, under a $7.3m agreement signed in April in which OM has the right to earn up to 70pc of the manganese rights at Bryah by spending $7.3m on exploration.
Drilling results from Brumby Creek Prospect (using an 18pc manganese cut-off grade) include 23m at 25.8pc manganese, incorporating 3m at 31.2pc manganese, 2m at 30.4pc manganese and 2m at 32.8pc manganese.
Other highlight assays included 7m at 26.5pc manganese and 9m at 18.6pc manganese.
Bryah managing director Neil Marston said the results were extremely encouraging, with significant extensions to manganese mineralisation already identified in the initial phase.
“We have extended the zones of manganese mineralisation to the west of the prospect as well as identifying new manganese areas up to one kilometre along strike to the south,” he said.
“This drilling further demonstrates the potential to discover new manganese deposits from surface and under shallow cover over a wide project area.”
Final drilling results from the remaining sites will be reported as they become available.
The company is also preparing a technical report and budget for OMM to consider, ahead of its commitment to the next the stage of on-ground exploration pursuant to the terms of the agreement.
The Brumby Creek Prospect was identified during ground reconnaissance last year, with rock chip sampling revealing five rock chips assaying above 40pc manganese, peaking at 48.5pc.
A total of 35 holes were drilled for 1092m in the first phase. In this latest program, a further 41-holes were drilled for 1199m and extended mineralisation to the south and west of the prospect.
Horseshoe South is the largest historic manganese mine in the region, having produced about 1mt of high-grade manganese ore from 1948-1969 and 2008-2011.
Bryah anticipates that the cash flow from manganese production will fund its copper and gold exploration across the tenements.