Western Mines (ASX: WMG) believes its Mulga Tank project represents the largest nickel sulphide deposit in Australia and could be among the top 10 such resources in the world.

The company has completed its first mineral resource estimate (MRE) from the nickel sulphide mineralisation at Mulga Tank, which is located on the Minigwal Greenstone Belt in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields region.

The MRE has identified a significant mineralised zone in the main body of the Mulga Tank complex through modelling of all the company’s drilling results to date.

‘Significant milestone’

Using a 0.20% nickel cut-off grade, the company’s initial estimate of Mulga Tank’s total resource is 1,968 million tonnes grading 0.27% nickel, 131 parts per million cobalt and 82ppm copper.

This includes 565Mt grading 0.28% nickel, 134ppm cobaly and 104ppm copper in the indicated class.

“This is a very significant milestone for both the project and the company and my thanks and congratulations go to the entire exploration team for the progress achieved over the last three years,” managing director Dr Caedmon Marriott said.

“Our exploration results from Mulga Tank have been continuously building as we unlock knowledge of the complex and this mineral resource […] demonstrates what we have long stated—that the main body of the Complex hosts a globally significant nickel sulphide deposit.”

Shallow mineralisation

The maiden Mulga Tank MRE focuses on just the shallow disseminated mineralisation constrained by Western Mines’ current drilling, in what could be a large open-pit scenario.

“We’ve got more than enough tonnes and it will get bigger still as we extend in a number of directions,” Dr Marriott said.

“We will continue to in-fill and upgrade the resource confidence with further drilling but really the key now is to focus our exploration on the higher-grade areas within this huge open-pitable volume.”

“[We are] looking to follow up on the 23 intersections greater than 1% nickel, including results up to 4.5% nickel and 4.8% copper, clustering in various zones across the complex.”