District scale potential: QXR welcomes near surface nickel, copper hits at Bayrock’s Vuostok project

• QXR holds a 39% stake in the unlisted Swedish explorer Bayrock Resources
• New drilling results from Bayrock’s Vuostok project include 6.9m at 1.2% nickel and 2.2% copper
• Eight holes flagged near surface mineralisation
• Vuostok just 60km from Bayrock’s Lainejaur project, offering ‘district scale’ potential

Major shareholder QX Resources has welcomed a slew of near surface nickel-copper hits – including 6.9m at 1.2% nickel and 2.2% copper – from Bayrock Resources’ Vuostok project in Northern Sweden.

In July, the Steve Promnitz-led lithium explorer QX Resources’ (ASX:QXR) acquired 39% of unlisted Aussie company Bayrock Resources, which has a portfolio of nickel-copper-cobalt projects in Sweden.

Drilling results from the Storbodsund deposit, part of the Vuostok project, are now in and they look good, sending the QXR share price up +15% in early trading this morning.

They confirm the high-grade nickel and copper previously intersected 70 years ago at Storbodsund, a flat-lying deposit of near-surface sulphides within 20m of surface.

Notably, the Vuostok deposits are within 60km from Bayrock’s Lainejaur high-grade nickel-copper-cobalt deposit, offering potential joint development opportunity as a ‘district play’.

“Highly encouraging nickel-copper results in thick intercepts at both of Bayrock’s Lainejaur and Vuostok projects show a potential district scale operation in a mining friendly region of Sweden,” QXR managing director Steve Promnitz said.

“Today’s results confirm excellent mineralisation in a new area of interest, expanding the project footprint.”

Near-surface nickel-copper in eight holes

Storbodsund is one of four targets drilled by previous explorers at the Vuostok project area.

These latest nickel-copper grades from near surface in eight out of 17 diamond drill holes include:

• 6.2m at 1.2% Ni, 2.2% Cu, 0.04% Co from 11m down hole (VUO23011);
• 6.9m at 1.2% Ni, 0.3% Cu, 0.05% Co from 5.1m down hole, including 0.4m at 3.9% Ni, 0.3% Cu, 0.11% Co from 6.85m down hole (VUO23013);
• 0.7m at 3.2% Ni, 1.0% Cu, 0.08% Co from 10.3m down hole (VUO23004); and
• 0.9m at 1.2% Ni, 0.1% Cu, 0.08% Co from 6m down hole (VUO23005).

The results indicate near surface massive nickel-copper sulphides between 0.3-6m thick, less than 18m from surface and beneath a thin cover of glacial sediments.

Another four holes in the drill program also intersected significant shallow nickel and copper mineralisation including:

• 7.8m at 0.2% Ni and 0.1% Cu from 6.25m down hole (VUO23003);
• 1.0m at 0.2% Ni and 0.1% Cu from 12.6m down hole (VUO23007);
• 5.15m at 0.3% Ni, 0.4% Cu and 0.02% Co from 4.4m down hole (VUO23010); and
• 5.7m at 0.2% Ni, 0.4% Cu and 0.02% Co from 6.3m down hole, including 1.7m at 0.6% Ni, 0.2% Cu and 0.02% Co from 6.3m down hole (VUO23012).

The mineralisation appears to be flat-lying and open to the northeast.

Next phase of exploration planned

Bayrock is now planning its next exploration phase and undertaking sampling across new areas of interest with a further update pending.

Meanwhile, QXR is currently undertaking rockchip sampling over outcropping pegmatites across all four project areas at its Western Shaw lithium project in WA.

This article was developed in collaboration with QX Resources, 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.

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