Accelerate Validates High-Grade Manganese at Woodie Woodie North

Historic Drilling Validates High-Grade Potential

Accelerate Resources (ASX:AX8) has reinforced the promise of its Woodie Woodie North manganese project in Western Australia's Pilbara, unveiling compelling results from historic drilling that align closely with recent high-grade surface sampling. The standout intercepts include near-surface hits such as 5 metres grading 41.6% manganese (Mn) starting from surface, with a metre at 50.2% Mn, and multiple other holes exceeding 20% Mn, some with intervals surpassing 50% Mn. These results, sourced from Valiant Consolidated's 1990s rotary air blast drilling and Accelerate's own reverse circulation (RC) campaigns, underpin the project's potential for direct shipping ore (DSO) style mineralisation.

The historic data, while lacking detailed sample recovery and QA/QC records, offers a strong exploration foundation. Accelerate's geologists have mapped extensive manganese outcrop along the El Largo corridor, a 4-kilometre hydrothermal alteration zone hosting these high-grade intercepts, strengthening the case for the project's scale and grade potential.

Area 42 Reappraisal Highlights Missed High-Grade Zones

A fresh review of Accelerate's drilling at Area 42 has uncovered previously overlooked high-grade manganese intervals concealed within broader, lower-grade composites. Noteworthy results include 6 metres at 39.8% Mn from 11 metres depth, including a metre at 50.1% Mn, and 4 metres at 37.9% Mn from surface with a metre at 50.8% Mn. These findings suggest intense hydrothermal mineralising events and bolster confidence in Area 42 as a key focus for upcoming drilling.

This re-evaluation complements the extensive historical data and supports a growing understanding of multiple high-grade manganese centres within the 432 square kilometre project area, which features seven mapped manganese corridors extending over 42 kilometres of strike. The project’s inferred mineral resource estimate stands at 1.2 million tonnes at 19.1% Mn, with exploration targets ranging between 5.3 and 10.7 million tonnes at 10–19% Mn, excluding the newly identified El Largo and Gingarrigan trends.

Advancing Towards Mid-Year Drilling with Heritage Clearances

Accelerate is progressing heritage surveys in collaboration with Traditional Owners, a prerequisite for accessing high-priority targets within the El Largo and Gingarrigan corridors. The company plans to commence a reverse circulation drilling program mid-year, aiming to test subsurface continuity, true thickness, and mineralisation extent beneath high-grade surface zones. Initial drilling will target down-dip extensions and structurally favourable positions identified through recent mapping and sampling.

CEO Luke Meter emphasised the significance of these historic and reinterpreted results, noting they “significantly strengthen the project and continue validating the outstanding exploration upside at Woodie Woodie North.” He highlighted the opportunity to define high-grade manganese bodies that could support rapid development in this world-class mining region.

Strategic Positioning in a World-Class Mining District

The Woodie Woodie North Project’s proximity; approximately 70 kilometres north of Consolidated Minerals’ operating Woodie Woodie Mine and 260 kilometres east of Port Hedland; positions it strategically within the Pilbara Manganese Field. The project’s geology, dominated by Proterozoic sediments including Carawine Dolomite and Pinjian Chert Breccia, hosts hydrothermal manganese mineralisation controlled by faults and alteration zones, consistent with regional deposits.

The company’s recent findings and planned drilling build on its previous work, including a maiden inferred resource and exploration targets, and align with ongoing efforts to refine structural controls and mineralisation continuity, as seen in other projects like Balagundi where Accelerate recently reported encouraging shallow gold results from RC drilling Phase 2 RC drilling returns. Meanwhile, the planned mid-year drilling at Woodie Woodie North follows heritage clearance advances similar to those enabling recent manganese discoveries along a 4km corridor High-Grade Manganese Along 4km.

Despite the promising grades and scale, the company cautions that historic drilling results are indicative and require confirmation through upcoming programs. True widths of mineralisation remain undetermined, and exploration targets are conceptual, underscoring the need for systematic drilling and assay validation.