Western Mines snaps up WA nickel-copper ground after project cleanout

Western Mines Group has sharpened its exploration focus after completing a review of its project portfolio, clearing the decks for new growth by exiting non-core assets and securing two new large-scale greenfields nickel-copper opportunities in Western Australia.

In a savvy land grab, the company has pegged two new exploration tenements spanning 400 square kilometres across two distinct, although related, structural margins of WA’s Yilgarn Craton.

One of the new applications, dubbed the Fraser Range project, sits on the state’s southwestern cratonic margin. The lease covers ground previously explored by Legend Mining and hosts the mineralised Octagonal Intrusion.

It also lies just 120km southeast of the company’s rapidly growing Mulga Tank nickel project on the Minigwal greenstone belt and 245km east of Kalgoorlie.

The broader region, also called the Fraser Range, is a major 425 km-long by 50km-wide tectonic zone formed during an ancient Proterozoic collision along the southwest margin of the Yilgarn Craton.

Previous work by Legend identified nickel sulphide mineralisation using a Nova–Bollinger style target model, highlighting its potential to host a major magmatic nickel-copper system.

Named after one of the most significant nickel-copper discoveries in the past 20 years, the style refers to a magmatic nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide deposit typically hosted within small, high-grade metamorphic mafic-ultramafic intrusions, often found in orogenic belts.

These belts are linear, deformed zones of the Earth’s crust created by intense mountain-building processes where tectonic plate margins collide.

The Nova–Bollinger model is characterised by geophysically conductive “eye-shaped” aeromagnetic anomalies that arise from structural folding. They can host sulphide mineralisation in tube-like intrusions and in their surrounding metasedimentary rocks.

Turning to Western Mines’ second new project near Mt Narryer, the play shifts to a greenfield hunt for anomalous copper-nickel geochemistry along WA’s northwestern cratonic margin, 214 kilometres northeast of Kalbarri in the state’s Mid West region.

The prospectivity of Fraser Range E28/3570 is already demonstrated with Legend Mining having previously spent considerable effort on the mineralised Octagonal Intrusion, a Nova-Bollinger-type nickel-copper target. Mt Narryer is earlier stage but again sits in a favourable margin position and has some historical geochemical anomalism suggesting magmatic Ni-Cu-Co-PGE sulphide prospectivity.

The Fraser Range and Narryer projects were both pegged over vacant ground, giving Western Mines a low-cost entry into large, strategically positioned exploration areas, while leveraging the company’s established expertise in magmatic nickel sulphide systems.

The new acquisitions have been offset by the company’s sale of its Melita exploration licence near Leonora in WA, which was mainly held for exposure to gold and copper-lead-zinc volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) targets.

Western Mines has also surrendered its Pinyalling project in the southwest Yilgarn, which was primarily focused on gold and lithium pegmatite mineralisation.

Western Mines says dispensing with the Melita and Pinyalling projects has freed up the company’s time and capital, while also trimming rising holding costs. According to management, its new portfolio will provide greater breadth to its nickel-copper sulphide exploration in a proven cratonic margin setting.

Notwithstanding the changes to its portfolio, the company is keen to emphasise the flagship Mulga Tank project remains a firm priority, already hosting Australia’s largest nickel sulphide mineral resource. Drill work continues there, targeting higher-grade zones within the already extensive nickel system.

Earlier this month, the company reported high-grade nickel assay results at Mulga Tank, including a standout intercept of 4.35 per cent nickel, reinforcing the project’s potential to deliver higher-grade sulphide lenses within the broader resource.

Western Mines also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Magnium Australia to investigate the potential supply of oxidised near-surface magnesite from Mulga Tank. If successful, the move could unlock a fresh value stream from material that would normally be written off as waste.

With a refreshed portfolio mix and new ground in proven mineral belts, Western Mines believes it is well-positioned to advance growth through discovery while continuing to develop its massive, globally significant Mulga Tank nickel asset.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au