Boab Metals Limited announced the successful completion of the Phase VI Drilling Program at its 75% owned Sorby Hills Lead-Silver-Zinc Project ("Sorby Hills", or the "Project") located in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia.
During the Phase VI drilling program a total of +3,020m were drilled across 28 RC holes including some that were pre-collared by mud rotary drilling and completed with RC drilling. The primary objective of the Phase VI drilling program was to facilitate an increase in the portion of the Beta and the Norton Deposits classified as an Ore Reserves. Other objectives of the program included: testing of an exciting conceptual exploration target within the current mining lease and interpreted from historic seismic data; and finalization of the maiden drill program at the Company's 100% owned Eight Mile Creek exploration project located immediately south of the Sorby Hill mining tenements. The programs at the Norton and Beta deposit were 100% implemented and all priority drill holes of the drilling at the Eight Mile project were also completed. Drilling of the deep Keep Seismic Target was postponed to 2023. A total of approximately 1,700 drill samples have been submitted to Intertek Laboratories in Darwin for a broad spectrum of element analysis including Lead, Silver and Zinc. The Beta Deposit was drilled for the first time by Boab during the Phase V drilling campaign (ASX Announcement 1 February, 2022). The results conformed with the revised interpretation of the mineralization geometry and confirmed the elevated lead and silver grades with some metre intervals
recording up to 360g/t silver (SHRC_124 from 57m). The Phase VI program at Beta included 18 drill holes for a combined total of 1,800m of mud rotary and RC drilling. Geological logging backed by hand-held p-XRF testing confirmed that mineralization intervals were intersected in the targeted stratigraphic interval lending strong support to the resource model for future Resource estimation. Furthermore, significant extensions in the lateral continuity of mineralization have been achieved and remain open for further expansion drilling particularly in the NNE and ENE of the deposit. It is expected that these results will positively impact future Resource estimates, enable an improved Resource classification and the inclusion of a larger proportion of the Beta Mineral Resource into the Ore Reserve. Six RC drill holes for approximately 700m of drilling have been completed at the Norton Deposit. The most recent Mineral Resource estimate highlighted high-grade zones of mineralization in the northeast portion of the Norton Deposit that are not included in the Sorby Hills mining inventory. Boab took the view that tighter drill hole spacing in this area may bridge the interpreted continuity of these high-grade zones and enable their inclusion in future mine plan. All six completed drill holes intersected mineralization within the target horizon with some very significant zone intervals of mineralization confirmed by the pXRF. After initial drilling difficulties and considering the available drilling equipment, it was deemed the RC drilling rig had a high risk of not reaching target depth. As a result of the very encouraging results seen at the Beta deposit, it is now highly likely that Boab will return to site with a diamond drilling rig at the onset of the 2023 dry season aiming to continue expansion and infill of the Beta deposit. Using a diamond drilling technique is the preferred method to test this exciting deep target. The Eight Mile Creek Project area covers the south-westward extension of the Burt Range Sub-Basin stratigraphy and by implication the south-westward extension of the prospective geological units that host the Sorby Hill Lead-Silver Zinc mineralization. In 2021, Boab commenced exploration over the project area with the completion of one RC drill hole and several traverses of soil sampling. Boab completed four Reverse Circulation drill holes over two traverses each including two drill holes across gravity lineaments to determine the prospectively for structurally controlled mineralization and ore brines flow in the southern portion of Burt Range Sub-basin. Several short intervals of elevated base metal mineralization were indicated by the pXRF. Selected samples have been sent for assay.