Legend Mining – (ASX: LEG, Share Price: $0.034, Market Cap: $70m, coverage initiated @ $0.011 in Sep 2015 – current gain of 210%)
Key Catalyst
Additional nickel-copper sulphides intersected in latest follow-up air-core drilling at Area D at Rockford Project, further reinforce potential for Nova-Bollinger-style nickel mineralisation.
LEG is a focused exploration play that also happens to be the last independent ASX-listed junior left standing with respect to Western Australia’s Fraser Range province. LEG maintains a large acreage position within what can reasonably be considered one of our most prospective, but still largely misunderstood, exploration provinces. The company’s recent air-core drilling results at its Rockford project have been described as the most significant since the world-class Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper discoveries were made by Sirius Resources. The Nova-Bollinger discoveries by Sirius led to a $1.8 billion takeover by Independence Group (ASX: IGO) back in late 2015, a far cry from Sirius’ minnow status just a few years earlier. LEG’s share price has recently hit a 12-month high of $0.039 on the back of the results.
Latest Activity
Follow Up Air-Core Drilling at Area D
LEG has just released further air-core assay results for an additional 32 drill-holes, along with additional petrology results, from the current Area D exploration program at its Rockford Project in the Fraser Range.
Air-core drilling at Area D continued during April with a further 24 holes (RKAC199-222) for 2,259m completed, which involved close-spaced 50m infill holes that were a follow-up to the anomalous Ni-Cu-Co results from previous drill-holes RKAC151 and RKAC183. LEG also conducted 200m of infill drilling around previous anomalous hole RKAC167, together with three regional traverses over aeromagnetic lows.
Figure 1: Area D Air-core Drill Section 638,600E
Results
The results were highly encouraging, with five 50m spaced infill drill-holes (RKAC205-209) that were a follow-up to the anomalous Ni-Cu-Co results from previous drill-holes RKAC151 and RKAC183, intersecting gabbronorite bedrock similar to RKAC183, with <1% sulphides logged in all holes. Four of the five holes returned broad intersections of 26m to 41m with nickel values ranging between 0.17-0.34% Ni and associated copper between 0.10-0.31% Cu.
The wider spaced drill-holes (200m) surrounding RKAC151 and RKAC183 intersected a variety of bedrock lithologies including gabbronorite and metasediment/granulite; however no anomalous nickel-copper results were returned. Meanwhile, petrographic examination of a bottom-of-hole sample in RKAC184, located 200m north of drill-hole RKAC183, also revealed a gabbronorite host rock with minor sulphides.
Technical Significance
The latest air-core results are highly encouraging, as they have confirmed a highly anomalous Ni-Cu-Co mineralised section that’s greater than 300m in length, associated with a cumulate textured olivine gabbronorite host rock. Furthermore, each of the holes has ended in mineralisation.
Furthermore, petrology has shown that there are sulphides within the right host rock in a bottom-of-hole petrology sample from RKAC183. There are also positive indicators for a second mineralised intrusive around hole 167.
These results indicate that a really significant gabbronorite intrusive exists around drill-holes RKAC151/183, with the occurrence of sulphides and anomalous Ni-Cu-Co geochemistry appearing to be confined in a north-south direction along section 638600E.
A series of air-core holes that were drilled 200m north, south, west and east respectively of RKAC167 (10m @ 0.09% Ni, 0.09% Cu, 0.01% Co from 56m to EOH), did not return significant nickel-copper results. However, petrographic examination of samples from RKAC167, 188 and 189 identified the gabbronorite host rock as having similarities to the sulphide bearing drill-hole RKAC183. Further investigation of the region surrounding these drill-holes is required.
Furthermore, re-logging of bottom-of-hole samples from all 86 air-core drill-holes at Area D has verified the presence of prospective gabbronorite host rocks across the wider Area D region. This further confirms the company’s view that multiple mafic/ultramafic intrusive bodies, potentially nickel-copper mineralised, occur at Area D.
Summary
The ongoing flow of air-core drilling results have been very well received by the market, with LEG’s share price hitting a high of $0.039 in recent weeks. This represents LEG’s highest share price since late 2011 – and a trebling since we initiated coverage back in September 2015.
LEG believes that the greater Area D region has the potential to contain multiple mafic/ultramafic bodies, as evidenced by both the air-core drilling and aeromagnetic/gravity data. This has in turn significantly enhanced the prospectivity of Area D and the entire Rockford Project.
The potential for another world-class Nova-Bollinger nickel discovery is what is driving interest in LEG, which has applied a methodical and big-picture, yet cost-effective exploration approach, which has maximised its chances of success.
