Blackstone Minerals delivers more broad nickel sulphide intersections at Ban Chang

Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX) has intersected further high-grade massive sulphide nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation at Ban Chang, which forms part of the Ta Khoa project in Vietnam. The maiden drill holes at Ban Chang have intersected high‐grade massive sulphide nickel over a 1.2-kilometre strike within a massive sulphide target zone now extended to more than 2 kilometres of strike. These results follow Blackstone’s recent blind discovery of massive sulphide nickel targets at the Viper Discovery Zone (VDZ) with a series of new shallow electromagnetic (EM) anomalies around 200 metres northeast of Ban Chang East. Shares hit two-year high In light of the latest drilling news shares hit a new two-year high of 54 cents earlier today. Blackstone has also begun an aggressive drill-out phase to delineate a maiden resource at Ban Chang to supplement the ongoing studies focused on producing nickel sulphate for the lithium-ion battery industry. “Consistent, broad intersections” Managing director Scott Williamson said: “Drilling continues to deliver consistent, broad intersections of nickel sulphide mineralisation from shallow depths with average widths of around 10 metres throughout most of the Ban Chang prospect and broader zones within Ban Chang East with greater than 20-metre wide intersections of potentially bulk‐mineable grade nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation. “We aim to drill out Ban Chang over the coming months and upgrade our resource inventory by the end of 2020. “We are also continuing to systematically test 25 MSV targets throughout the Ta Khoa Ni‐Cu‐PGE district to add further high‐grade feed to our bulk open‐pit mining scenario at Ban Phuc and the KCZ.” Notable assay results include: 13 metres at 0.5% nickel, 0.71% copper, 0.05% cobalt and 0.46 g/t PGE from 89 metres, including 4.2 metres at 0.52% nickel, 0.81% copper, 0.06% cobalt and 0.82 g/t PGE from 97.8 metres; 9.6 metres at 0.84% nickel, 0.73% copper, 0.05% cobalt and 0.7 g/t PGE from 57 metres; 14.65 metres at 0.74% nickel, 0.71% copper, 0.04% cobalt and 0.54 g/t PGE from 45 metres, including 5.85 metres 1.62% nickel, 1.47% copper, 0.08% cobalt and 1.09 g/t PGE from 51.8 metres; and 8.3 metres at 0.50% nickel, 0.70% copper, 0.05% cobalt and 0.46 g/t PGE from 35.5 metres, including 4.8 metres at 0.71% nickel, 0.81% copper, 0.06% copper and 0.46 g/t PGE from 39 metres. Maiden resource on-track The drilling is part of an ongoing campaign to target regional MSV as Blackstone aims to build its resource inventory at Ta Khoa to supplement the Ban Phuc maiden resource, which is on track for completion this quarter. Blackstone has started a scoping study on the downstream processing facility at Ta Khoa. The scoping study, also to be announced this quarter, will provide details for joint venture partners to formalise the next stage of investment. Metallurgical testing on the Ban Phuc DSS deposit has begun with an aim to develop a flow sheet for a product suitable for the lithium-ion battery industry.