Accelerate Resources has identified a 72-metre interval of visual manganese mineralisation at its Woodie Woodie North project in Western Australia, with all three large-diameter diamond holes drilled for metallurgical testing intersecting mineralised material.
The Perth-based explorer drilled 159 metres across three vertical holes at the Area 42 deposit in the East Pilbara. The core will be used to assess potential processing and development options for the project.
The longest intersection began 5.6 metres below the surface and continued to the end of the hole at 77.6 metres. Drilling ended in mineralised chert breccia, meaning the system remains untested below that point.
The other holes intersected visual manganese between 14.3 and 27.3 metres, and from the surface to 23.1 metres respectively.
Accelerate’s managing director and chief executive, Luke Meter, said the metallurgical programme would help determine how the Area 42 resource could be developed.
“The large-diameter core provides the sample mass required to assess both direct shipping ore and dense media separation pathways using continuous bench-scale composites,” he said.
“The results will help define potential product specifications, processing requirements and the mining concept for Area 42.”
Metallurgical testing to assess manganese ore
The drill core is being sent to Perth for detailed logging and analysis by the CSIRO, alongside metallurgical testing at NAGROM. The programme will assess whether the material is suitable for direct shipping ore, which requires less processing than ore needing further treatment.
Accelerate has outlined a maiden inferred mineral resource of 1.2 million tonnes grading 19.1 per cent manganese at Woodie Woodie North. The 432-square-kilometre project is located 55 kilometres north of Consolidated Minerals’ Woodie Woodie manganese mine.
The company has also reported an exploration target of between 5.3 million and 10.7 million tonnes, grading between 10 and 19 per cent manganese. It has said the geology appears to extend the same mineralised system as the neighbouring mine, although further work is required to establish the scale and continuity of the deposit.
Accelerate recently consolidated full ownership of Woodie Woodie North, removing legacy payments and royalties from the project’s ownership structure.
The company plans to turn its attention to the Gingarrigan prospect later this month, with a 3,000-metre reverse-circulation drilling programme scheduled to begin. Rock-chip samples collected from surface outcrops there have returned manganese grades of up to 59.4 per cent.
Results from the Area 42 metallurgical programme are expected to be reported once the laboratory and testing work is complete.
