Blackstone advances Scandinavian nickel projects

Vancouver – Thanks to momentum supported by loftier pre-economic meltdown nickel prices Blackstone Ventures (BLV-V) has rolled out resource estimates for several of its Swedish nickel-copper projects.

The Swedish properties included in the resource estimate – Rormyrberget, Lainejur and Lappvattnet – weigh in at 8.2 million inferred tonnes grading 0.5% nickel, 0.11% copper and 0.02% cobalt for 90 million lbs. of contained nickel and 19.6 million lbs. of copper.

The latest resource estimates from the three properties in the Vasterbotten nickel trend 40-km south of Skelleftea in northern Sweden add to three others recently calculated for nickel-copper projects in Norway.

In January Blackstone announced an indicated resource estimate of 4.6 million tonnes grading 0.29% nickel, 0.12% copper and 0.02% cobalt for its Dalen project.

Including Dalen and two other properties, Ertelien and Stormyra, Blackstone announced a 9.8 million tonne inferred resource estimate grading 0.5% nickel, 0.32% copper and 0.03% cobalt.

All told Blackstone now counts 194 million lbs. nickel and 85 million lbs. copper in the inferred category.

The latest round of resource calculations roused a bit of market interest. Blackstone, which has 107.7 million shares outstanding, saw its share price gain 2¢ to close at 10¢.

But with nickel prices, now hovering between US$5- and US$6-per lb., far below 2006-2008 prices which peaked at over US$20-per-lb. in 2007, Blackstone is using tentative language about how aggressively it will advance the Norwegian and Swedish nickel-copper projects.

In a March progress report CEO Dean MacEachern said that “Blackstone intends to progress work on the nickel deposits through to a preliminary economic assessment study at a pace commensurate with global economic conditions and financing availability.”

Yet at the same time MacEarchern signalled optimism over nickel’s prospects.

“Although nickel prices have come off their historical highs of 2007, the global shortage of quality nickel sulphide deposits with manageable capital costs, located in OECD jurisdictions presents an opportunity for Blackstone,” he stated.

For now though, with about $2.8 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Dec. 31, 2008, and a fairly bleak outlook for steel production and concomitant nickel needs in the near-term, it appears that Blackstone will be in capital conservation mode for a while yet.

The company has slashed holdings in Norway by 40% and cut staff and overhead to a minimum.

“We will continue to review all means and methods to conserve capital while still advancing our key projects in 2009,” said MacEachern.