
Asian Battery Metals (ASX:AZ9) eyes high-grade copper-nickel potential at North Oval
December 16, 2024 Off By MarketOpenAmid surging global demand for copper and nickel, Asian Battery Metals (ASX:AZ9) has unearthed a new chapter in Mongolia’s Oval project with its latest drilling success.
Early assays from Phase 2 have confirmed significant massive sulphide mineralisation, pointing to promising high-grade zones that underscore the project’s potential.
A Massive Intercept
The standout result comes from drillhole OVD025, where the team intercepted:
- 3.6 metres at 3.85% copper, 3.82% nickel, 1.55g/t E3 (gold, platinum, palladium), and 0.15% cobalt from just 48.2 metres depth.
This high-grade core lies within a broader 11.4-metre zone grading 1.85% copper, 1.70% nickel, and 0.82g/t E3, demonstrating the North Oval target’s mineralising capacity.
Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren, Managing Director, highlighted the significance, saying:
“The high-grade intercept at North Oval is very encouraging… It confirms that the Oval gabbroic intrusive system has the right environment to accumulate a high tenor copper and nickel sulphide.”
Wider Mineralised Footprint
This isn’t an isolated anomaly, drillholes OVD022, OVD023, and OVD024 intersected mineralised gabbro across broad intervals, further cementing the Oval system’s scale:
- OVD022: 45.1 metres at 0.32% copper and 0.34% nickel, including 9.2 metres at 0.70% copper and 0.67% nickel.
- OVD023: 30 metres at 0.38% copper and 0.37% nickel.
- OVD024: 8 metres at 1.04% copper and 0.47% nickel.
While these grades are lower, the intercept widths reveal continuous mineralisation across key sections of the Oval gabbroic intrusion.
What Comes Next?
With Phase 2 drilling successfully completed across 1,052 metres and Downhole Electromagnetics (DHEM) identifying deeper targets, the exploration focus is shifting.
The company is planning further drilling in early 2025, targeting:
- Deeper extensions to locate feeders that may drive high-grade massive sulphide systems.
- Follow-up testing on untested conductive plates mapped using gravity, magnetics, and DHEM surveys.
The geological model is evolving, with reinterpreted gravity data suggesting deeper structures as potential sources of the shallow mineralisation seen in OVD025.
The Bigger Picture
Amid critical metals shortages, Asian Battery Metals Oval project aligns with the push for materials essential to the energy transition.
The results at North Oval may offer not only economic opportunities but a strategic edge in copper-nickel supply chains, particularly in Asia.
While investors await further assays from pending holes, early indications are that Oval could emerge as a rare gem in Mongolia’s mineral-rich Gobi-Altai province.
For now, the massive sulphide zones intercepted speak to a system with far more to reveal.
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