Sherlock Bay Ni-Cu-Co Project & Lithium and Gold Exploration, WA
Sabre has built an extensive 300km2 tenement holding east of the world-class Andover lithium discovery in Western Australia’s world-class northwest Pilbara lithium nickel and gold province (see Figure 1, below).
Key projects include the Sherlock Bay Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project , Sherlock Pool JV Project, and the Andover East and Andover Northeast lithium prospects.
The Sherlock Bay Project is located 15km-50km east of Roebourne. The northwest Pilbara is a Teir 1 mining jurisdiction with world-class local infrastructure including sealed highways, electrical power, gas and water, airports, commercial multi-user port facilities, accommodation and mining services available.
Figure 1: Location of the Company’s Sherlock Bay and Andover East Projects, NW Pilbara, WA
Sherlock Bay Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project (Gold) Project M47/567
The Company’s Sherlock Bay Critical Metals (nickel-copper-cobalt) Project, located in the northwest Pilbara of the Northern Territory, is a substantial un-developed, nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide Mineral Resource comprising 24.6Mt @ 0.40% Ni, 0.09% Cu, 0.02% Co containing 99,200t Ni, 21,700t Cu, 5,400t Co (including Measured: 12.48Mt @ 0.38% Ni, 0.11% Cu, 0.025% Co; Indicated: 6.1Mt @ 0.59% Ni, 0.08% Cu, 0.022% Co and Inferred: 6.1Mt @ 0.27% Ni, 0.06% Cu, 0.01% Co) (see location, Figure 1).
The deposits is located on the Sherlock Bay Mining Lease (M47/567) which was renewed for a further 20 years to 22 September 2046.
The Sherlock Bay Project is located 15km-50km east of Roebourne. The northwest Pilbara is a Teir 1 mining jurisdiction with world-class local infrastructure including sealed highways, electrical power, gas and water, airports, commercial multi-user port facilities, accommodation and mining services available.
Sabre completed a Scoping Study on the Sherlock Bay nickel deposit in January 2022, based on open pit and underground (sub-level cave) mining and heap-leach processing to produce mixed hydroxide nickel, copper and cobalt products. The Scoping Study highlighted significant cash-flow potential at a nickel price of US$10/lb (US$22,400/t). The Company confirms that it is not aware of any other new information or data that materially affects the information in the Scoping Study release of 27 January 2022.
In 2022 the company completed a (partially WA government EIS funded) 2,414m diamond drilling program which intersected higher-grade to massive nickel (copper, cobalt) bearing sulphides at the intersection of the sulphide mineralised horizon with the contact of the Sherlock mafic/ultramafic Intrusion.
The massive and matrix-breccia sulphide zones intersected and the consistent nickel, copper, cobalt grades, are typical of mafic-intrusive associated deposits in WA.
Figure 2: Sherlock Bay Longitudinal showing latest intersections and key EM conductor targets
Further drilling program which discovered an extensive new sulphide zone associated with a major electromagnetic (EM) target south-west of the Discovery sulphide resource zone at the Sherlock Bay Nickel Sulphide Project (see Figure 2, longitudinal Projection).
Significantly, all four diamond drillholes intersected substantial thicknesses of sulphide mineralisation (20m-45m downhole length), including massive sulphides within broad semi-massive and stringer sulphide zones. The results of these holes confirmed that the sulphides are nickel-copper-cobalt bearing and also included strong gold values of up to 2.69 g/t Au in diamond drillhole SBDD010, as summarised below (see Figure 3):
16.82m @ 0.74% NiEq* (0.26% Ni, 0.14% Cu, 0.04% Co and 0.75g/t Au) in SBDD010
incl. 8.0m @ 0.92% NiEq* (0.30% Ni, 0.11% Cu, 0.05% Co and 1.07g/t Au) from 331m
incl. 4.0m @ 1.13% NiEq* (0.26% Ni, 0.09% Cu, 0.07% Co and 1.60 g/t Au) from 335m
incl. 1m @ 1.64% NiEq* (0.33% Ni, 0.09% Cu, 0.05% Co and 2.69 g/t Au) from 335m
Figure 3: Cross section 19,400mE showing significant intersections on footwall of Sherlock Intrusive
The Company has also identified a major new nickel sulphide target corridor – the Sherlock North Trend – immediately north of, and parallel to, the Sherlock Bay sulphide corridor where a substantial nickel-sulphide Mineral Resource has already been defined (see Figure 4). The 20km Sherlock North Trend corridor extends to 35km the total strike-length of the nickel sulphide target corridors within the broader Sherlock Bay project area.
Previous Heli-Electromagnetic surveys partially identified large, un-tested, EM anomalies along the 20km strike-length of the Sherlock North Trend, while recent rockchip sampling has located highly-anomalous nickel on the only outcropping part of this trend, associated with highly-prospective ultramafic rocks (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Sherlock Bay Project granted tenements and applications over EM conductor – nickel corridors
Andover East Lithium Project
Sabre’s extensive tenement holding of over 300 square kilometres (sq.km) in Western Australia’s highly-prospective northwest also includes the Andover East and Andover Northeast lithium prospects. These tenements include similar geological targets to the nearby Andover lithium discovery of Azure Minerals Ltd (ASX:AZS) which has produced drilling intersections of up to 209.4m @ 1.42% Li2O (see Figures 1 and 5).
Figure 5: The Company’s major tenement holdings covering 300km2 east of Andover lithium discovery, on magnetics
The Sabre tenements at Andover East and Andover Northeast include northeast-trending structural corridors and interpreted mafic/ultramafic intrusions.
Once tenements are granted. Using geophysics and follow-up drilling, the Company will target zones of magnetic depletion (detected by drone magnetics) and low density (detected by gravity) within the targeted northeast-trending fault-corridors in the new tenements at Andover East and Andover Northeast (see magnetics image and targets, Figure 5). These areas represent targets for lithium-spodumene bearing pegmatites of similar scale to the neighbouring Andover lithium discovery.
