Piece by piece, Legend Mining is painting a picture of what lies underneath at Rockford WA nickel play

Legend Mining’s (ASX:LEG) WA-based nickel-copper Rockford Project is about to be better understood with the company now expecting to receive new underground modelling data by early 2023. 

Data acquisition of a 3D seismic survey at the Octagonal prospect and valued at over $1M is now underway with a new three-dimensional model expected for delivery in Q2 of 2023. 

Contractors HiSeis have been engaged by the company to carry out the survey and design the models it will inform; the team is targeting the ‘Octagonal Intrusive Complex’ target which landed on the company’s radar earlier in operations. 

Next steps 

Once the model is returned back to Legend, the company will move ahead with next-stage interpretation, incorporating a fresh review of all data currently held by the exploration team. 

This will precede the design of a 2023 diamond drilling campaign at Rockford, incorporating the Octagonal target. 

Octagonal has landed on the company’s radar in the first place due to early-stage exploration success so far at the Mawson target; relatively nearby Octagonal’s eastern border. 

Data from the most recent diamond drill run at Mawson will also be incorporated into the upcoming geodata review ahead of 2023 exploration campaigns; the 3D model for that target will also be touched up along the maiden Octagonal model. 

Legend alluded to not progressing with 2023 nickel drilling until the second half of next year, before the risky bushfire season between December and February.

“It was great for the Board to see first-hand the Octagonal 3D seismic survey in operation and ahead of schedule [in our recent visit,]” Legend Mining chief Mark Wilson said. 

“The smooth execution of what is a sophisticated programme of works by both HiSeis and Legend teams was obvious for all to see.” 

Rockford project overview 

The Rockford project is actually comprised of fifteen different tenement licences and spans a total area over 3000km2. 

The ownership structure of Rockford is, in a word, complex. Creasy Group (a private entity run by WA mining regular Mark Creasy,) as well as IGO (ASX:IGO) are on board with the project, too.

A breakdown runs as follows: 

• Legend Mining is 100% owner of 206km2 worth of Rockford

• 2,191km2 falls into a JV between Legend Mining (70%) and Creasy Group at 30% (includes Octagonal) 

• 633km2 falls into a JV between IGO (60%), Creasy Group (30%) and Legend (10%) 

• 24km2 falls into an IGO-managed JV between IGO (70%) and Legend (30%)

IGO’s Nova nickel mine is located to the south, though, significant distance between the two projects defines the exploration landscape. 

Market Index News recently spoke to Legend chief Mark Wilson for our definitive guide on nickel, where further updates on company progress were given.  

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