Western Mines lands 235-metre nickel hit at giant WA deposit

Western Mines Group has hit broad zones of nickel sulphide mineralisation from the get-go in its phase five reverse circulation drilling campaign, with the first four holes all returning significant intercepts at its giant Mulga Tank project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.

The headline result from the initial batch of assays came from a hole which delivered a massive 235-metre intersection grading 0.28 per cent nickel, 134 parts per million cobalt and 228ppm copper from just 83m downhole. That intercept included a standout 10-metre run assaying 0.57 per cent nickel, 148ppm cobalt, 184ppm copper and 0.20 grams per tonne (g/t) combined platinum and palladium from 84m.

The company’s other three holes also reported impressive widths. The second best run returned 213m at 0.28 per cent nickel from 87m, while its third and fourth holes delivered cumulative runs of 154m at 0.29 per cent nickel and 146m at 0.27 per cent nickel, respectively.

Western Mines says the results from the four holes demonstrate a “live” magmatic sulphide system, with elevated nickel and sulphur, coincident with anomalous copper and platinum group elements.

The longest 235-metre hit also contained multiple shallow, higher-grade zones, including the 10m at 0.57 per cent nickel from 84m and 9m at 0.44 per cent nickel from 105m. A deeper zone in the same hole produced 17m at 0.43 per cent nickel from 177m, which in turn included a remarkable 2-metre section going 0.94 per cent nickel from 192m.

The hole which delivered the cumulative 154 metres at 0.29 per cent nickel also punched through higher-grade zones, with a 10-metre intercept at 0.43 per cent nickel from 172m and a deeper 2-metre hit at 0.76 per cent nickel from 280m, including a one-metre core grading 1.05 per cent nickel.

Phase 5 assay results are now staring to flow through and its good to see these first four holes are all mineralised. MTRC080 and MTRC082 in particular show some robust sulphide mineralisation. MTRC080 returned multiple shallow zones over 0.40% nickel, which is one of the exploration goals we’re targeting in this phase.

The phase five drilling is part of a program designed to infill and extend the project’s already colossal mineral resource estimate, which currently stands at an astonishing 1.97 billion tonnes at 0.27 per cent nickel for 5.3 million tonnes of contained nickel metal.

The company says the mineralised host is a high-temperature, high-magnesium dunite rock, which it believes supports the potential for a large-volume, low-grade disseminated nickel deposit in the style of BHP’s celebrated Mt Keith mine, 90km northeast of the WA mining town of Leinster.

However, with Western Mines’ previous drilling hitting grades of more than one per cent nickel, management also sees evidence of what it calls a “hybrid” system, more akin to the Perseverance deposit, 15km north of Leinster, which could indicate potential for higher nickel grades.

Intriguingly, the company has also noted some possible nickel depletion associated with otherwise very robust sulphide mineralisation, where nickel and copper mineralisation appear offset from each other in some areas. It says the pattern could point to a well-known separation process called copper-nickel fractionation in the original melt, which could help steer the company towards a massive nickel sulphide discovery.

The latest results land against the backdrop of a firming nickel price, with Australia’s Resources and Energy Quarterly noting prices recently climbed above US$19,000 (A26,510) per tonne for the first time since May 2024 when structural surpluses began driving a prolonged downturn.

Adding fuel to the nickel story is a tightening supply picture out of global heavyweight Indonesia, where the country’s 2026 nickel ore quota remains pegged at 260–270 million tonnes – a hefty step down from the 379 million tonnes approved last year. While prices have since settled back to around US$17,000 (A$23,720) per tonne, market watchers are keeping a close eye on the possibility of further supply tightening from the Asian country.

Back home, the Western Australian Government has signalled its strategic support for the sector. In April this year, it announced a $15 million pool of interest-free loans designed to support active nickel operations, ramp up new projects, and encourage the restart of idled or mothballed local mines.

With a steady flow of assays expected through the remainder of August and into September, Western Mines will be looking to build on this solid start. The sheer scale of the mineralised system at Mulga Tank is what sets it apart from most other nickel deposits and each batch of results appears to be adding another page to a very large story.

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