Nickel sulphide explorer Nordic Nickel has intersected more broad zones of disseminated nickel sulphide mineralisation during its maiden drilling program at the Pulju nickel project in northern Finland.
The Perth-based company – which was selected earlier this year to participate in the inaugural BHP Xplor Program – has released assay results for a further three diamond holes, following some initial wide intercepts reported from its first hole in May.
Nordic’s maiden drill campaign is focused on the Hotinvaara prospect, historically explored by mining giant Outokumpu.
Some of the more significant new intercepts include 199.1 metres grading 0.22% nickel from 20.9m in HOT006 and 25.3 metres grading 0.29% nickel from 340m in the same hole including 0.6 metres grading 4.66% nickel, 0.1% cobalt from 359.6m.
Another hole, HOT003, reported intercepts of 63.8 metres grading 0.22% nickel, 0.01% cobalt from 140.2m, 63.0 metres grading 0.22% nickel from 211.0m and 20.0m grading 0.26% nickel, 0.01% cobalt from 284.0m including 2.4 metres grading 0.73% Ni, 0.03% cobalt from 288.0m.
Drilling demonstrates upside to existing large resource
The Hotinvaara prospect already contains a mineral resource estimate of 133 million tonnes grading 0.21% nickel for 278,500t of contained nickel based on shallow historical drilling that all ended around 250m.
These new holes were designed to test multiple geological and geophysical targets.
The assay results confirm the exploration thesis that all the mechanisms for massive sulphide formations exist within the Pulju Belt, with the grades of disseminated nickel consistent with the resource and highlighting the potential to expand the resource base at Pulju.
Nordic’s managing director Todd Ross said the company’s maiden drill program continued to confirm historical drilling and, importantly, expand the mineralisation footprint at Hotinvaara.
“The wide intercepts of shallow disseminated nickel sulphides we are seeing in the assays bodes well for when we re-evaluate the mineral resource at the end of the Phase 1 drilling program,” he said.
“The high-grade nickel sulphide intersections are also a significant and encouraging sign, as this shows that the mechanisms for the formation of massive sulphides were operating at Hotinvaara.”
Significant potential across the belt
The Hotinvaara prospect represents less than 2% of Nordic Nickel’s land-holding at Pulju and the company has identified at least a further nine “Hotinvaara-like” prospective zones as big if not bigger throughout the Pulju Belt.
“Pulju is a very big nickel system that we have now confirmed through this new drilling continues vertically to at least 1,000m and continues laterally across 35km of semi- continuous mineralised strike,” Mr Ross said.
“Importantly the percentage of nickel contained in sulphide remains very high ~83% which is important for concentrate grade and economic recovery.”
Finland has two large scale disseminated nickel mines (Kevitsa and Telvivara) of the same or lower grade nickel to Nordic’s.
Importantly, disseminated nickel mineralisation is generally a marker for high-grade massive sulphides in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt, and the company’s ongoing drilling is targeting both massive sulphide discoveries and ongoing expansion of the existing resource.
