The MRE for Hotinvaara, together with previously announced mineralogical test work, provides NNL with strong encouragement that the resource can be economically recovered. Pic via Getty Images.
Mining
Nordic Nickel has revealed its MRE (mineral resource estimate) for the Hotinvaara prospect, which sits at 133.6Mt at 0.21% nickel and 0.01% cobalt for 278,520t of contained nickel and 12,560t cobalt.
Located in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt (CLGB) of northern Finland, the Hotinvaara deposit starts at surface, with 227,000t contained nickel metal (81% of total) within 250m of the surface – great news on the heels of the company raising a hot $12m and listing on the ASX in June.
Forming the basis of the mineral resource estimate (MRE) is an extensive analysis of historic pulps and newly sampled core at Hotinvaara, which Nordic Nickel (ASX:NNL) managing director Todd Ross says not only confirms the scale of the Pulju nickel system but also provides a good indication of the bonanza grade massive sulphides at depth.
The newly defined indicated resource totals 20.9Mt at 0.22% nickel for 46,540t of contained nickel, while inferred resources comprise 112.7Mt at 0.21% nickel for 231,990t of contained nickel.
In an interview with Stockhead, Ross says what has been particularly exciting is the chance to confirm the strong metal endowment within Pulju’s extensive nickel-rich system, which is located in the same geological setting as the world-class Kevitsa and Sakkati nickel deposits in Finland.
The maiden MRE provides a strong platform for the upcoming exploration program, which will target bonanza grade massive sulphide mineralisation.
Known nickel mineralisation in the CLGB is associated with massive sulphide lenses and veins enveloped by very large, lower grade disseminated nickel near surface.
Central Lapland’s largest near-surface, low-grade disseminated nickel deposit is Kevitsa (307Mt at 0.21% Ni and 0.32% Cu), owned by Swedish mining company Boliden, which is located just 195km from Pulju.
Previously reported results have also demonstrated that around 83 to 94% of total nickel at Pulju is in sulphides, indicating what Ross describes as ‘excellent’ liberation characteristics, even in larger particle size fractions.
“The main reason why we are confident with this near-surface material is because Boliden’s project is economic at around the same grade – they are also processing that material and have the full value chain in Finland, which is the only country in Europe with a nickel sulphide refinery and smelter.”
Pulju’s maiden MRE of 133.61Mt at 0.21% nickel plus its revised exploration target of 275-415Mt at 0.17-0.25% nickel and 76-114ppm cobalt for 459-1,032kt contained nickel and 21-47kt contained cobalt is based only on the near-surface disseminated mineralisation.
But perhaps the real game changer for NNL has been its focus on geophysical test work, which is being used to test the massive sulphide targets at depth – the same approach adopted by Anglo American when they discovered the world-class Sakatti underground deposit (44Mt at 1.9% copper and 1% nickel).
And while the disseminated nickel at Pulju is widespread and has a strong potential to be expanded with further drilling, the known massive sulphides will be the primary target for the upcoming drill campaign at Hotinvaara.
“Now that we have our resource out, we will be focusing our attention on preparations for our ~22,000m drill campaign with the completion of a down-hole EM and moving loop survey at Hotinvaara in August before preparing our full 3D model over the next few months,” he says.
“We then plan to begin drilling when we get our new diamond drill on site early in the new year to start drilling out the entire exploration licence area.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Nordic Nickel, 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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