The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
SPC sees exciting new potential for old battery metal project North of 60 Mining News – April 8, 2022
SPC Nickel Corp., a new Canadian exploration company, April 5 outlined plans for the 2022 exploration program on its Muskox nickel-copper-platinum group metal property in Nunavut.
Located in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Muskox is a 45,200-hectare (111,700 acres) property that covers prospective geological settings with numerous similarities to many of the world's largest nickel mining camps.
SPC says the nickel-bearing mafic to ultramafic intrusion at Muskox, which was first discovered by Inco in the 1950s, extends for 125 kilometers (78 miles), making it one of the largest and least deformed in the world.
The company staked claims over this large intrusion late last year and at the same time acquired a comprehensive database that represents more than 15 years of exploration over four multi-year programs that date back to 1955.
According to the company, a compilation of the database confirms the presence of widespread high-grade nickel-copper-PGM mineralization along 60 kilometers (37 miles) of the Muskox Feeder dyke.
Two broad zones of high-grade mineralization – Spider Lake and Marceau Lake – were identified.
Historical grab samples from Spider Lake returned values as high as 5.39% nickel, 2.88% copper, and 7.61 grams per metric ton PGM; and Marceau Lake samples returned values as high as 2.18% nickel, 2.13% copper, and 2.22 g/t PGM.
"Since acquiring the Muskox Property and consolidating it with an exclusive database late last year, the team has been aggressively analyzing four decades worth of historic data," SPC Nickel President and CEO Grant Mourre said in February. "We feel the property, which has laid dormant for many years, has exciting potential to be a new source of critical metals for electric batteries which are now so important in our new world."
This year, SPC plans to carry out preliminary work that will set up Muskox for more robust exploration in 2023.
This work is expected to include permitting and consultation; reprocessing and remodeling of historical geophysical data collected over the Muskox Feeder Dyke; continued evaluation of historical exploration data; and a 2022 summer mapping and sampling program to get underway in late June.
SPC's 2022 exploration, however, will focus on its Lockerby East and Janes nickel properties in Ontario.
Lockerby East hosts 8.55 million metric tons of historical indicated resource averaging 0.45% nickel and 0.31% copper, and two million metric tons of historical inferred resource averaging 0.38% nickel and 0.3% copper.
SPC plans to complete 4,200 meters of drilling this year to define a higher-grade portion of this resource and upgrade it to modern reporting standards.
Janes hosts widespread mineralization. Drilling by SPC in 2021 returned values of up to 0.51% nickel, 1.04% copper, and 5.10 g/t PGM over nine meters. This year's program is expected to include geophysics over a previously untested area, followed with drilling in the fall.
"With the recent closing of a $3.16 million financing, we are fully funded for this year's expansive exploration programs with a focus on making new discoveries and adding value for our shareholders," said Mourre. "The coming year is poised to be an exciting year for the company with the potential for discovery on multiple fronts."
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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