Falco, Blackstone eye discovery zone at Espedalen

Vancouver — Falconbridge (FL-T) is keen to resume drill-testing the Stormyra high-grade nickel discovery on the Espedalen property in Norway.

Since the discovery of Stormyra in September, Falco has drilled several other conductors that intersected sulphides, though these were found to have lower grades of nickel, copper and cobalt.

Blackstone Ventures (BLV-T) is earning an interest in the property by financing exploration. Over the past year, the Vancouver-based junior has reinvented itself as a nickel explorer, whereas previously it focused on gold and diamonds.

The project area is 60 km east of Lillehammer and comprises 60 sq. km.

The geology is similar to that of Voisey’s Bay, says Peter Holbek, Blackstone’s vice-president of exploration. “What we have is a differentiated intrusion,” he explains. “The first thing to separate out were anorthosites, then norites, peridotites and gabbros. The last thing to come out were the peridotites and gabbros. The nickel is associated with the peridotites.”

In September, high-grade nickel was intersected in two holes spaced 200 metres apart at the Stormyra discovery. Hole 9 intersected 6.91% nickel and 2.05% copper over 1.9 metres within a 14.6-metre intercept grading 1.73% nickel and 0.77% copper at a down-hole depth of 80.4 metres. Hole 8 hit 2.07% nickel over 2.7 metres.

The nickel is contained in pentlandite, which lends itself to producing a concentrate acceptable to smelters, Holbek says.

Initial drilling tested an electromagnetic (EM) anomaly in a swamp in the southwestern part of the property. This conductor, known as P2, has been extended south over 1.2 km by a recent EM survey. The survey revealed several more anomalies in the southern part of the property, though recent drilling of these intersected only sub-economic grades of nickel, copper and cobalt. The most significant result was 4.95 metres grading 0.44% nickel, 0.22% copper and 0.04% cobalt.

Stormyra occurs within a 1.2-km stretch of the P2 anomaly.

An airborne EM survey was flown last year, followed by a ground EM survey in specific areas. Falco has proposed a ground EM survey to cover 90 line km of the discovery area, and that this be followed by 2,000 metres of diamond drilling in 17 holes this winter.

David Gower, vice-president of exploration (nickel and platinum group metals) for Noranda, Falco’s parent company, is encouraged by results from the P2 area. “We will be focusing on P2, which is where two holes gave the best intercepts. Twelve to eighteen holes are planned over a strike length of more than 1.2 km.” He adds that there are at least four areas of similar interest outside of P2.

The strength of the P2 conductor suggests the presence of massive sulphides close to the surface. “So far we haven’t drilled beneath 100 metres, and there is an indication the deposit could continue below that level,” says Gower.

Falco also intends to continue exploring the Dalen area, where drilling at the edge of a conductor turned up 34.4 metres grading 0.45% nickel. Here the ground EM survey coincides with a magnetic anomaly that trends underneath Espedalen Lake.

Blackstone will have earned a 60% interest in the property by spending $2.25 million on exploration. Falco has back-in rights that allow it to earn another 20% interest by spending $5 million. “Falconbridge is sure to exercise its back-in right,” says Holbek.

Nickel was first discovered in the Espedalen area in the 1880s during a copper-mining expedition. Says Holbek: “They had trouble smelting the copper, owing to an unknown mineral, so they sent some samples to an Irish mineralogist by the name of Pentland. The rest is history.”

The company has another nickel property in Norway, which it intends to explore once a National Park buffer zone that trends on to the property has been clearly outlined.