White Cliff Nickel Project
The White Cliff project area forms the
eastern part of the prospective
greenstone sequence that is associated with the Laverton Lineament.
This structure and its associated fractures and shears is the host of
numerous mineral deposits and mines for nickel and gold.
Exploration for nickel at the adjoining Mineral Patch Hill project and
particularly at the nearby Irwin Hills project has recently focused on
the potential for nickel sulphide mineralisation. Both of these projects
are on the same greenstone sequence and trend as the White Cliff
project and at Irwin Hills, a nickel laterite indicated resource of
18.8Mt
grading 1.07% Ni has been identified. This nickel resource overlies
the same ultramafic rocks that have been recognised at one of the
targets at White Cliff.
The work reported at Mineral Patch Hill to the south indicates the
presence of sulphides in ultramafic host rocks and elevated metal
values, including up to 0.5% nickel, emphasises the prospectivity
of the White Cliff Project area.
In the mid
1970’s, nickel/copper exploration was carried out at Mineral
Patch Hill. This work included ground magnetic surveys, geological
mapping and rock chip sampling where jasperoidal float was found to
be geochemically anomalous. Rotary and percussion drilling were
used to test the ultramafic/country rock contact, but due to limited
geophysical techniques at that time, the project was left to be
reassessed in more recent years. The avent of high resolution
airborne magnetics has assisted immensely in the interpretation of
structural geology and the identification of soil covered tagets of
interest.
In the late 1990s digital aeromagnetic data revealed several major
basement structures that suggested the region to be prospective
for diamond-bearing intrusives. However no kimberlites or lamproites
were found to be present in the area.
The White Cliff area was selected as being prospective for gold-nickel
mineralisation when evaluation of open file data suggested that the
tenement may be underlain by prospective greenstone lithologies.
Due to surficial cover in the area it was necessary to evaluate the
available geophysical data to determine the prospectivity of the
area. The regional interpretation suggested that large
dismembered fragments of greenstone intrusions underlay part
of the tenement and could be prospective for nickel
mineralisation.
