australia's identified mineral resources 2004 - Geoscience Australia

AUSTRALIA’S IDENTIFIED MINERAL RESOURCES 2004
the company’s initial resource estimates were considered very preliminary. However, despite the
decrease in Western Australia, that State maintained its dominant share of Australia’s inferred
resources at 87% followed by Queensland with 10%.
The ratio of inferred resources to EDR decreased from 0.74:1 in 2002 to 0.72:1 in 2003.
Accessible EDR
Currently, all nickel EDR is accessible for mining. At Australia’s 2003 rate of production, AEDR of
nickel (including both sulphide and laterite) are sufficient for an average of 119 years.
JORC Reserves
About 30% of AEDR comprise JORC Code reserve. Of this amount, about 33% occur in nickel
sulphide deposits and the remaining in nickeliferous laterite deposits. The remaining 69% of EDR
represents resources assessed by Geoscience Australia from the measured and indicated categories of
industry reported mineral resources, as defined under the Code and other classification systems used
by companies not listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Total JORC Code reserves of nickel are adequate for an average of 35 years at current rates of
production.
Exploration
Expenditure on nickel (including cobalt) exploration for 2003 totalled $70.7 million, an increase of
nearly $16 million over 2002. The increase in expenditure was reflected in the rate of growth in EDR
of nickel, which increased by about 0.6 kt in 2003. The forecast tightening of nickel supply over the
next few years was also an incentive for companies to explore for nickel. About 78% of this
exploration expenditure occurred in Western Australia.
Throughout 2003, nickel exploration continued to focus on the mafic-ultramafic Giles Complex in
Western Australia and South Australia and the komatiite-hosted nickel sulphide deposits in the Yilgarn
Craton, Western Australia. The East Kimberley region in northern Western Australia also attracted much
interest. Some of the more encouraging exploration results in 2003 include the following:
■
Independence Gold NL reported a high-grade nickel intersection from drilling on its Victor South
project, near Kambalda, WA. The intersection reported was 15 m (true width) at 10.0% Ni
including 10.6 m at 12.8% Ni.
■
At Radio Hill in the Pilbara region of WA, Fox Resources Ltd reported that drilling aimed attesting
extensions of mineralisation was successful. One hole intersected 18.0 m at 5.1% Ni equiv. (3.62%
Ni, 3.06% Cu and 0.2% Co and 0.5 g/t Pd), and another 25.4 m at 4.4% Ni equiv. (3.25% Ni,
2.01% Cu, 0.16% Co and 2.15 g/t Pd).
■
■
■
Titan Resources NL confirmed a nickel discovery at its McEwen prospect at Widgiemooltha, WA.
A new high-grade zone was identified below the disseminated nickel mineralisation. Intersections
that penetrated the zone returned 3 m at 4.64% Ni from 164 m, 2 m at 2.64% Ni from 158 m, and
4 m at 2.79% Ni from 180 m.
Drilling at the Cosmos project by Jubilee Mines NL intersected new high-grade nickel sulphide
mineralisation. Better intersections reported include 0.3 m at 13.1% Ni, 1.35 m at 3.9% Ni, and
0.55 m at 8.5% Ni. The company discovered a new zone of nickel sulphide, Anomaly 3, 4.5 km
south of the Cosmos Nickel Mine. Drilling returned 68.1 m at 0.63% Ni from 175 m, 0.2 m at
13.1% Ni and 7.35% Cu from 243.1 m, and 4.05 m at 1.5% Ni from 243.3 m.
Mincor Resources NL intersected both massive and matrix nickel sulphides in a drill hole located
300 m north of the Redross open cut in WA. The mineralisation occurs in two zones – an upper
zone with 1.75 m at 1.46% Ni and a lower zone in which the main intersections were 3.46 m at
3.05% Ni and 0.83 m at 7.00% Ni.
53