Latest news with #AZ9
The Australian
a day ago
- Business
- The Australian
AZ9 preps for more copper-nickel drilling
Asian Battery Metals outlines 29 modelled conductive plates across four target areas at the Oval project in Mongolia Six Priority-1 plates were identified with strong geophysical responses in favourable geological settings Follow-up drilling and downhole EM surveys will restart in two weeks Special Report: Ongoing ground-based EM surveying has revealed multiple conductive plates aligning with known structures at the Oval copper-nickel project in Mongolia, bolstering Asian Battery Metals' confidence ahead of more drilling. Asian Battery Metals' (ASX:AZ9) field crew has completed data acquisition of FLEM data using 18 loops of 400 m x 400 m and 2 loops of 1,000 m x 600 m, covering the initially planned areas of Oval and the expanded areas of Quartz Hill, MS1, and MS2. Using two different sets of loop configurations, 29 conductive plates have been identified at four distinct areas at just the halfway point of AZ9's SAMSON electromagnetic program. Three of the nine plates measured by the 1000m x 600m loops coincided with plates derived from interpretation of 400 x 400m loop measurements. A total of six Priority-1 FLEM plates were identified in the North Oval and Oval areas, exhibiting conductivities ranging from 5,000 to 60,000 Siemens, and modelled at subsurface depths between 38m and 101m from surface. Priority-1 plates represent the most prospective targets, defined by their strong spatial correlation with magnetic anomalies and favourable geological settings. These plates are also considered significant for their potential to extend known zones of massive sulphide mineralisation or highly mineralised gabbroic bodies intercepted in earlier drilling. South Area plate modelling In the South Area, a coincident elevated magnetic response, structural priority area and higher conductivity has been delineated in geophysical surveys. The trend observed in the geophysical datasets aligns closely with the Oval Ni-Cu mineralised intrusive body, pointing to the possibility of similar, offset, and buried mineralisation nearby. In the West area, gradient array IP survey data has outlined a northwest–southeast trending zone of low resistivity along a structurally controlled zone, with three FLEM plates modelled. Asian Battery Metals says these plates exhibit consistent alignment along the geophysical data's interpreted trend, which warrants further investigation. The company is currently expanding the EM survey in this area to verify whether these are valid conductive targets. More from AZ9: Critical Mongolian minerals potential growing at Oval 'Most compelling targets to date' Asian Battery Metals managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren said the ongoing EM survey has delivered what the company hoped for – multiple shallow, coherent conductors that coincide with existing geological and geophysical datasets. 'These represent some of our most compelling targets to date, and we're excited to test them with drilling over the coming weeks,' he said. 'The SAMSON EM program has been expanded and will now focus on deeper zones and nearby structures similar to the Oval copper-nickel discovery.' The explorer is set to restart drilling in August, with further FLEM and MLEM surveys ongoing until mid-August. Discovery of Oval The Oval discovery was initially identified through drilling in October 2024 with further assay results in late 2024 and early 2025 confirming high-grade copper and nickel mineralisation. The 2024 exploration campaign unearthed an 8.8m intersection grading 6.08% copper, 3.19% nickel, 1.63g/t E3 and 0.11% cobalt from 107.2m after four years of systematic exploration and the help of the BHP Xplor program in 2023. This article was developed in collaboration with Asian Battery Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
Mercury
2 days ago
- Business
- Mercury
AZ9 builds on Mongolian copper-nickel discovery
One of Australia's top mining journalists, Kristie Batten, writes for Stockhead every week in her regular column placing a watchful eye on the movers and shakers of the small cap resources scene. Asian Battery Metals (ASX:AZ9) believes it may have made a significant copper-nickel-platinum group element discovery at its Oval project in Mongolia. AZ9, which listed on the ASX last year, was previously focused on its more advanced graphite and lithium projects in Mongolia, though Oval was selected to be part of BHP's Xplor exploration accelerator in 2023. The company used the US$500,000 of funding provided by the program to drill Oval. In October 2024, AZ9 reported a hit of 8.8m at 6.08% copper, 3.19% nickel, 1.63 grams per tonne platinum, palladium and gold (E3) and 0.11% cobalt, or 12.57% copper equivalent from 107.2m. Since then, the company has been focused on expanding the scale of the discovery. Earlier this month, AZ9 reported an intersection of 8.7m at 2.44% copper, 1.52% nickel, 1.4g/t E3 and 0.06% cobalt from 112.8m, including 2m at 3.72% copper, 3.82% nickel, 1.65g/t E3 and 0.16% cobalt, 130m down-dip of a previous intercept. The results suggest semi-continuous mineralisation extends over 800m, including North Oval and the Oval gabbroic intrusion. Planning underway The recent focus for AZ9 has been electromagnetics to define targets for the next round of drilling. 'Electromagnetic is the go-to tool for this type of mineralisation, so we brought Gap Geophysics, the Australian company, to the field, and they are working currently,' AZ9 managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren told Stockhead. 'Based on that work, we're hoping that we'll have multiple targets to drill on top of whatever we have from our ground EM work.' On Friday, AZ9 announced that the ground-based fixed loop electromagnetic survey at Oval was halfway through but had already resulted in 29 conductive plates being modelled across four target zones. Six priority one plates have been identified with strong geophysical responses. The focus of the remainder of the program is the deeper zones and step-out targets, including MS1, MS2 and Quartz Hill targets. Zunduisuren said the program to date had delivered the results the company were hoping for. 'I think the next stage of drilling is going to be quite instrumental for us,' he said. Drilling is set to resume in early August, while the first round of metallurgical test work results will also be released this quarter. 'The strategy for this year is to really show the size and the extent of the mineralisation to get the feeling of how large the potential is, and if we can get that by the end of the year, next year we're going to drill for a resource,' Zunduisuren said. 'We have very limited historic information. This is a brand new area, even in Mongolia, in the southwest part where we are working. 'I don't think there have been any historic magmatic mafic intrusion-related copper and nickel sulphide systems before, so this is brand new in this sense, so we really have to do everything from ground up. 'That's why we certainly believe that there is definitely a potential for camp-scale or clusters of orebodies within a few kilometres or a few tens of kilometres from each other.' Mongolia still emerging Despite Mongolia being home to Rio Tinto's massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine, Zunduisuren said it was still misunderstood as a destination. 'The last round of real investor interest was in the early 2000s,' he said. 'That's when we had a big flow of investment from Australia and Canada, especially in the gold space in Mongolia, and then the copper space. 'Knowing all the moving parts there, I think Mongolia will probably become quite interesting for investors over the next few years.' Zunduisuren said Mongolia was a mature mining destination with the right regulatory frameworks in place to support the industry. 'Infrastructure wise, it's vastly improved over the last 15 years,' he said. 'Just based on that, it's way better positioned to attract investment than 15 years ago.' The ASX's only other Mongolia-focused copper player, Xanadu Mines, is set to disappear shortly after accepting a $180 million takeover offer. Xanadu accepted the 8c per share offer – a 57% premium – and the acquirer Bastion Mining moved to compulsory acquisition on Friday. It will result in one less copper developer on the ASX, a space which is already reasonably thin. 'I think the key for larger institutional investors or corporates, they're definitely looking, of course, and observing how we progressing further,' Zunduisuren said. 'To really make their minds up, there's two things that need to be there. One is a quantity. The other is quantity. 'With our current results, we have shown there's definitely a quality of the product there, but we need to show the quantity and that's the whole strategy of this year's exploration.' At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Asian Battery Metals is a Stockhead advertiser at the time of writing, it did not sponsor this article. Originally published as Kristie Batten: Asian Battery Metals eyes scale-up of copper-nickel discovery
Mercury
5 days ago
- Business
- Mercury
AZ9 preps for more copper-nickel drilling
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. Asian Battery Metals outlines 29 modelled conductive plates across four target areas at the Oval project in Mongolia Six Priority-1 plates were identified with strong geophysical responses in favourable geological settings Follow-up drilling and downhole EM surveys will restart in two weeks Special Report: Ongoing ground-based EM surveying has revealed multiple conductive plates aligning with known structures at the Oval copper-nickel project in Mongolia, bolstering Asian Battery Metals' confidence ahead of more drilling. Asian Battery Metals' (ASX:AZ9) field crew has completed data acquisition of FLEM data using 18 loops of 400 m x 400 m and 2 loops of 1,000 m x 600 m, covering the initially planned areas of Oval and the expanded areas of Quartz Hill, MS1, and MS2. Using two different sets of loop configurations, 29 conductive plates have been identified at four distinct areas at just the halfway point of AZ9's SAMSON electromagnetic program. Three of the nine plates measured by the 1000m x 600m loops coincided with plates derived from interpretation of 400 x 400m loop measurements. A total of six Priority-1 FLEM plates were identified in the North Oval and Oval areas, exhibiting conductivities ranging from 5,000 to 60,000 Siemens, and modelled at subsurface depths between 38m and 101m from surface. Priority-1 plates represent the most prospective targets, defined by their strong spatial correlation with magnetic anomalies and favourable geological settings. These plates are also considered significant for their potential to extend known zones of massive sulphide mineralisation or highly mineralised gabbroic bodies intercepted in earlier drilling. South Area plate modelling In the South Area, a coincident elevated magnetic response, structural priority area and higher conductivity has been delineated in geophysical surveys. The trend observed in the geophysical datasets aligns closely with the Oval Ni-Cu mineralised intrusive body, pointing to the possibility of similar, offset, and buried mineralisation nearby. In the West area, gradient array IP survey data has outlined a northwest–southeast trending zone of low resistivity along a structurally controlled zone, with three FLEM plates modelled. Asian Battery Metals says these plates exhibit consistent alignment along the geophysical data's interpreted trend, which warrants further investigation. The company is currently expanding the EM survey in this area to verify whether these are valid conductive targets. More from AZ9: Critical Mongolian minerals potential growing at Oval 'Most compelling targets to date' Asian Battery Metals managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren said the ongoing EM survey has delivered what the company hoped for – multiple shallow, coherent conductors that coincide with existing geological and geophysical datasets. 'These represent some of our most compelling targets to date, and we're excited to test them with drilling over the coming weeks,' he said. 'The SAMSON EM program has been expanded and will now focus on deeper zones and nearby structures similar to the Oval copper-nickel discovery.' The explorer is set to restart drilling in August, with further FLEM and MLEM surveys ongoing until mid-August. Discovery of Oval The Oval discovery was initially identified through drilling in October 2024 with further assay results in late 2024 and early 2025 confirming high-grade copper and nickel mineralisation. The 2024 exploration campaign unearthed an 8.8m intersection grading 6.08% copper, 3.19% nickel, 1.63g/t E3 and 0.11% cobalt from 107.2m after four years of systematic exploration and the help of the BHP Xplor program in 2023. This article was developed in collaboration with Asian Battery Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Originally published as Asian Battery Metals preps for more copper-nickel drilling in Mongolia
Herald Sun
16-06-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
AZ9 drilling expands Yambat footprint
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. New regional drilling results at Asian Battery Metals' Yambat project suggest the company may be on the cusp of a major district-scale copper-nickel discovery Ultramafic mineralisation intersected at the MS1 target while MS2 might have structural linkage to Oval District-scale systems can host multiple deposits — offering companies like AZ9 a pipeline of potential discoveries rather than a single isolated hit EM survey to be extended to cover MS1 and follow-up geophysical surveys planned for MS2 Special Report: Asian Battery Metals' belief that its Yambat project in Mongolia hosts a district-scale system has been supported by regional drilling discovering new mafic-ultramafic intrusions at the MS1 and MS2 targets. Drilling at the MS1 target about 6km southeast of the main Oval copper-nickel discovery intersected a new ultramafic-gabbroic intrusion with weak sulphide mineralisation. Downhole electromagnetic surveying has identified a conductive plate that supports the possibility of lateral and deeper mineralised zones. Meanwhile, drilling at MS2 intersected gabbroic rock which is visually similar to un-mineralised zones at Oval, suggesting a potential structural linkage and potential for mineralisation in this area. The results come just days after Asian Battery Metals (ASX:AZ9) reported high-grade assays from phase 3 drilling at the Oval discovery that correlate well with previous results as well as intersecting deeper, high-tenor sulphides. 'These early scout holes at MS1 and MS2 show we are onto a broader mineralised system,' AZ9 managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren said. 'The discovery of new mafic-ultramafic intrusions at MS1 and MS2 — with mineralisation and EM conductors at MS1 — supports the view that Yambat is a district-scale system. 'These new targets could represent a parallel mineralised trend to Oval, offering multiple potential pipelines for discovery.' Map of regional exploration area. Pic: Asian Battery Metals Regional targets AZ9 drilled four scout holes as part of its broader regional program to test the MS1 and MS2 areas. MS1 is a concealed strong magnetic anomaly under about 130m of sediment cover interpreted to be a deep-seated mafic intrusion. Scout hole SC07 intersected over 100m of ultramafic intrusion, ending in mineralised rock — suggesting the system continues at depth and remains open for follow-up. MS2 is 1.7km northeast of Oval and features a distinctive spotted slate outcrop – a product of contact metamorphism – that is identical to the alteration patterns observed adjacent to the Oval intrusion. Notably, the structural alignment of this spotted slate follows a northwest trend parallel to the Oval intrusion, suggesting a potential genetic and structural connection between the two systems. With a strong cash position following its ~$4 million raise earlier this year, AZ9 is well positioned to accelerate drilling and geophysical work across Yambat Next steps include extending the SAMSON EM survey to MS1 and conducting further geophysical work at MS2, with the goal of identifying new high-priority drill targets. With two strong copper–nickel targets now emerging beyond Oval, the regional upside is beginning to take shape. This article was developed in collaboration with Asian Battery Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Originally published as Asian Battery Metals' regional drilling backs potential for district-scale system at Yambat
Herald Sun
11-06-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
AZ9 lifted by copper, nickel, PGE discovery in Mongolia
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stockhead. Followed categories will be added to My News. AZ9 reports high-grade copper, nickel, PGE assays at Oval discovery Discovery shaping up to have scale potential with more drilling on the cards Company expects to receive more assays from Phase 3 program this month Special Report: Asian Battery Metals has confirmed high-grade mineralisation at its Oval copper-nickel discovery in Mongolia. The discovery is part of the company's Yambat project, which covers 106.07km2 in the north-central part of Gobi-Altai Province, and is one of just 30 promising targets identified to date. The company first announced its Oval discovery in September 2023. Since then, seven drillholes have intersected massive sulphides — geological markers often associated with high-grade copper-nickel systems. Notably, drillhole OVD0213 delivered exceptional grades of 6.08% copper and 3.19% nickel over 8.8 metres, ranking among the highest-grade intercepts drilled globally in recent years. And now, assays from Phase 3 drilling have flagged a massive sulphide intercept in hole OVD034 which correlates well with previous results, with 1.3m at 4.70% copper, 3.65% nickel, 1.19g/t E3 (gold-platinum-palladium), 0.12% cobalt from 79.6m. Drill hole OVD033 has confirmed strong mineralisation down-dip from Phase 1 standout hole OVD0211 with 27.7m at 1.36% copper, 0.86% nickel, 0.44 g/t E3, 0.04% cobalt from 92.3m and 6.7m at 1.17% copper and 0.96% nickel from 159.8m. Meanwhile hole OVD032 intersected deeper, high-tenor sulphides, including 0.5m at 1.39% copper, 1.91% nickel, 0.62g/t E3 and 0.07% cobalt from 293.7m. A cross-section map of drillhole OVD032. Pic: AZ9 Asian Battery Metals (ASX:AZ9) says the results confirm Oval as a new magmatic mafic intrusion-related copper-nickel sulphide system in southwestern Mongolia. 'These latest assays further validate our geological model and reinforce the continuity of high-grade mineralisation at Oval,' managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren said. 'Since the initial discovery of massive sulphide mineralisation, a total of seven drillholes have now intersected massive sulphides, giving us growing confidence that we are onto a strong, high-grade mineral system with scale potential.' A map of the Phase 3 drilling program. Pic: AZ9 Drill testing for deeper feeder zones Importantly, visual logging of recent holes OVD036 and OVD0404 has indicated further strong intervals of massive sulphides, suggesting the system remains potentially open along strike and at depth. Additional assay results from these holes are expected in late June. The plan now is to commence a ground-based EM survey later this month to guide follow-up drilling and test for deeper feeder zones. 'We remain fully funded for 2025 exploration work to continue our exploration and appraisal of the Cu-Ni system, which is the first of its kind found in the south-west part of Mongolia,' Zunduisuren said. AZ9 remains fully funded for further drilling in 2025, following strong support from institutional and strategic investors in the recent placement in February 2025. Expanding massive sulphide footprint The assay results follow the company's announcement last week that it had intercepted yet more massive sulphides at Yambat, with hole OVD036 intercepting additional massive sulphide 130m down dip from an earlier intersection in OVD025 – extending mineralisation at North Oval. Hole OVD040 struck 6.9m of massive sulphide from a down-hole depth of 95.5m about 22m north of the sulphide intercept in OVD021. The company said this confirmed a potential 800m long zone of shallow mineralisation linking North Oval through to Oval. This deeper zone may represent a feeder system — a potential conduit for metal-rich magma feeding the main Oval intrusion, which could point to a much larger mineralised system. 'As our exploration continues, we have expanded our mineralisation footprint, identified a depth extension and added new targets at the project,' Zunduisuren said at the time. The company is also mobilising advanced deep penetrating ground electromagnetic surveys from Australia this month to refine targets and explore new anomalies. With assays pending from recent massive sulphide intercepts — including OVD036 and OVD040 — and new geophysical surveys underway, investors can expect a steady stream of results. This momentum, combined with the emerging scale of the system, makes AZ9 one to watch closely in the months ahead. This article was developed in collaboration with Asian Battery Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Originally published as Asian Battery Metals lifted by polymetallic assays at Mongolian project
