Avante Mining Corp. [TSXV-AVA; OTCPK-ACPRF; FSE-P21] has received the first assay results from its maiden drilling program of five holes at the Voisey’s West nickel project. The project is located in the same intrusive complex as the nearby Voisey’s Bay mine and 70km west of the town of Nain, Labrador, Canada.
Highlights: The company has received initial assays from hole 3 of its 5-hole program at Voisey’s West. High-grade nickel intercepts include 1.68% NiEq (nickel equivalent) over 2.74 metres as part of 0.78% NiEq over 22.74 metres; individual samples as high as 1.90% nickel over 1 metre.
Drilling confirms a magmatic sulfide system is hosted on the Project similar to the nearby world-class Voisey’s Bay mine which is host to 32.4 Mt of nickel grading 2.13% (proven and probable). Net-texture to semi-massive textures paired with sulphide concentrations increasing with depth, indicates the potential for massive sulphides to exist below with even higher grades.
Assays from the other holes drilled during the program will be released in the coming weeks including hole 4 which contains the highest concentration of sulphides (up to >60%) on the Project (hole 3 was locally up to >40%).
Adrian Smith, CEO, commented, “We are excited to announce initial assay results from our maiden drilling program at Voisey’s West. Drill hole VW-23-03 was our first drill hole testing a new extension and it confirms that our system has the ingredients to potentially host a significant mineralization, as we have seen elsewhere in the region at Voisey’s Bay.”
Smith continued, “With assays still to come from the holes where we observed the greatest concentration of sulphides, we are very pleased with the success of this maiden program thus far. We believe that Voisey’s West is a discovery in the making and the results thus far have validated our belief that Voisey’s West has the potential to host a major nickel discovery.”
Individual samples up to 1.90% nickel, 0.05% cobalt, 0.43 g/t gold, and 0.35 g/t palladium over 1 metre.
Results from VW-23-03 confirm the reported discovery of a new zone previously unidentified containing nickel sulfide mineralization 30 metres north of the furthest north hole at the No Baccy zone. This represents the furthest north intersection containing over 1% nickel on the property. Evidence also suggests that the mineralization is open and continues to the north and potentially to depth.
Reported grades from drilling with over 1% nickel now occur over a 1-km strike length and remain open. It is highly probable that these areas are associated with a magmatic feeder or conduit system that extends to depth, something that has not yet been tested on the property.
The results further confirm a magmatic sulfide system is hosted on the Voisey’s West, similar to the nearby Voisey’s Bay mine.
Additional drilling will aim to better define the orientation and extent of this new zone, specifically to depth where higher concentration of pooled sulfides may exist, and further north where additional untested anomalies exist. The Company plans to provide further updates on drilling as additional information becomes available.
Voisey’s West is located 50 km from, and within the same intrusive complex and geological setting as the world class Voisey’s Bay nickel mine.
