FNX, Maple to drill Mt. Kakoulima

After spending much of the year in preparation, Sudbury’s third-largest nickel miner, FNX Mining (FNX-T), will soon launch a 5,000-metre drilling campaign at its Mt. Kakoulima nickel-sulphide project in Guinea, West Africa.

Toronto-based junior Maple Minerals (MPM-V) is picking up the bill for the initial stages of exploration for nickel-rich, polymetallic-sulphide deposits based on a joint-venture agreement struck in February.

Under this agreement, Maple can earn a half interest in the Mt. Kakoulima project from FNX by spending US$2.4 million on exploration over 5 years and, together with FNX, completing a feasibility study or spending a further US$2 million on the property. At least US$400,000 must be spent during the first year of the agreement, and FNX is project operator during the earn-in period.

Once Maple exercises its option, a 50-50 joint venture will be formed and future expenditures will be funded on a pro rata basis. An additional expenditure of US$2 million will allow the joint venture to exercise an underlying option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the 193-sq.-km Mt. Kakoulima property, subject to a 3% net smelter return royalty to the original vendor.

The initial high-grade, nickel discovery at Mt. Kakoulima was made by Afcan Mining (AFK-T) and Semafo (SMF-T) in 1997 when surface drilling cut narrow, high-grade nickel-copper-cobalt-PGM massive-sulphide veins in the upper sequence of the Kaloum igneous complex. The best historic drill intersections graded 4.72% nickel, 1.51% copper, 0.22% cobalt and 3 grams combined platinum-palladium per tonne over 0.51 metre.

FNX and Maple note that follow up work in the late 1990s continued to focus on the complex’s upper sequences and did not explore the lower ones or the basal contact of the intrusion, which are seen as the most-prospective targets for these kinds of polymetallic massive sulphides.

This year, the new partners are zeroing in on the basal contact of the igneous complex, where they have carried out initial geological and geophysical surveys and will soon be drilling.

This spring, the two completed a moving-loop, electromagnetic survey and geological mapping across 10 profiles on three separate grids that crossed the interpreted basal contact of the complex.

They observed a number of weakly conductive responses, many of which were coincident with the interpreted position of the basal igneous contact.

The upcoming drilling will begin on the east side of the North grid where the igneous complex’s contact corresponds with the most sulphide mineralized float, the best geophysical anomalies, and the base of the stratigraphy that hosts the mineralization discovered by Afcan and Semafo.

A fan of holes will determine the dip of the contact, the nature of the intrusion at the base, test the surface geophysical responses, and provide a borehole electromagnetic survey platform to test for sub-surface nickel sulphides.

Drilling will then continue on the North and West grid to evaluate the consistency of the basal contact.

Back in Canada, Maple Minerals and joint-venture partner East West Resource (EWR-V) have kicked off a grassroots exploration program at their Lang Lake copper-gold property, situated 64 km west of Pickel Lake, Ont.

The property hosts an inferred resource of 23 million tonnes grading 0.35% copper, calculated by Hanna Mining in 1968 using 68 holes drilled on 30-metre centres (the resource is not NI-43-101 compliant).

Mineralization is characterized by chalcopyrite hosted in magnetite-bearing volcanics intruded by a porphyry.

The pair will complete a ground electromagnetic-magnetic survey in September to confirm the location of airborne EM-magnetic targets.

Maple and East West have an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Lang Lake Property, subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty.