Aston (ASX:ASO) grows confidence in Canadian nickel-cobalt

Aston Minerals has upgraded the Bardwell deposit’s indicated nickel-cobalt tonnage by 44 per cent and remains undeterred in its quest to ensure development of the Boomerang sulphide system at its Edleston project in Canada’s Ontario province.

The upgrade brings the Bardwell indicated resource to 231 million tonnes at 0.27% nickel and 0.011% cobalt, with the deposit now containing 629 kilotonnes of indicated nickel and 25kt of cobalt.

And the global resource across the open at depth and strike Bardwell and B2 deposits now stands at 1,270 Mt at 0.27% Ni, 0.011% Co for 3.43 Mt contained nickel and 135 kt cobalt after a 22% uplift.

Aston Minerals Managing Director Russell Bradford said Edleston project’s maiden Bardwell resource had provided the company a strong foundation to build its technical knowledge upon, with subsequent drilling successfully meeting two key objectives.

“The first was to understand the extension of the resource in the B2 Zone. The B2 resource was extended by an additional 500 metres on strike and depths of 450 metres with significant nickel and sulphur intersections,” Bradford said.

“The 2023 drilling program at B2 contributed additional inferred resource. This will allow us to target areas and convert material to indicated resources during our next drilling campaign.”

Aston’s second objective was to convert inferred resources at Bardwell Zone to indicated resources, now accomplished with the 44% uplift.

“The entire Indicated resource is situated at the Bardwell Zone which allows focus to be placed at Bardwell for future economic studies and mining schedules,” Bradford said.

The exploration company leader confirmed Aston was now at a point where strong technical indicators were being identified for a move to mining.

“The information being generated gives potential strategic partners and government agencies in the critical minerals space an understanding of what potentially such a significant large-scale mineral deposit this can become,” Bradford said.

A 5640-metre upgrade drilling phase is now complete, with Aston now looking toward technical aspects to progress its Boomerang deposits through the remainder of 2024.

The next milestones will include developing a metallurgical flow sheet, putting mineralisation into nickel and sulphur domains, designing drill programs for 2025, and incorporating that work into a scoping study flagged for completion by year’s end.

Aston will also continue to engage with parties suitable for potential team-ups on the development of gold assets to the project’s north, where the company holds a maiden resource of 1.5 million ounces.

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