Inco continues its drilling of Victor

Nickel producer Inco(TSE) isn’t saying anything more than it already has about the Victor find (T.N.M., Sept. 30/91, Nov. 25/91) but diamond drilling continues on the property without cease. Two drills are presently at work; recently there were three.

Evidently, we will have to wait for a time slot that gives Inco the biggest bang before fresh news is released. And what time could be more opportune than the Oct. 2-6 minerals symposium at Sudbury? No less than eight geologists from the Commonwealth of Independent States (the former Soviet Union) will be present, and most of them are experts in nickel. The property is on the northeast rim of the Sudbury basin 6.5 miles north of the town of Falconbridge. It is also a half mile from the onetime small producer, Nickel Rim. According to Bob Martindale, Supervisor of Sudbury Basin Exploration for Inco, the small orebodies at Nickel Rim probably represent the updip extensions of the Victor.

The Victor itself is actually two separate zones. The Upper zone was discovered in the mid-1970s. It lies at a depth of 5,000-5,500 ft. and hosts seven million tons grading 0.50% copper and 2.17% nickel.

The new Footwall (FW) zone is the reason for the excitement. It is a half-mile north of the Upper zone and lies at a depth of about 8,000 ft. Preliminary reserves are estimated to be a minimum 4.6 million tons with a potential for 20-40 million tons. The potential tonnage is based on interpretation of the local geology and the wealth of data from other drilling in the area.

Because of the great depth of the mineralization, there are practical limits to the amount of drilling that can be done. Drill holes are in the range of 8,000-8,500 ft. With wedging, and down-the-hole geophysics, they can take more than six months to finish and may cost up to $1 million each. Consequently, the size, shape and grade of the orebody are far from clear. Nevertheless, grades of 1.5-2.6% nickel, 5-7.4% copper and 0.2-0.5 oz. per ton of the precious metals platinum, palladium and gold across widths from 198 ft. to 253 ft. signify an orebody of uncommon value.

The next step is the sinking of an exploration shaft to get closer to the mineralization. A 6,000-ft. shaft costing $40 million was described as a possibility by Walter Curlook, vice-president of environmental affairs, but the company’s recent cutbacks could have put this major expense on hold.