Low nickel price can’t deter hopes of developing Raglan

Battling against a hostile environment, a remote location and ho-hum metal prices, Falconbridge is now viewing its 100% owned Raglan property in northern Quebec with fresh enthusiasm.

A 4-year exploration program started in mid-1988, the purpose of which was to improve the level of confidence in the quality and extent of the reserves delineated in previous years, is now complete.

Project director Tom Pugsley says Bechtel Engineering is at work on a full-scale feasibility study, expected to be completed this spring and presented to the board of directors by mid-1993.

“A decision on the next move for Raglan will come at that time,” he said. Proven and probable reserves to the end of 1990 totalled 18.5 million tons grading 3.13% nickel and 0.88% copper. Less than half the diamond drilling footage allocated to the overall project was used in 1990, and consequently “final” reserve figures must await the release of the feasibility study. A 6,000-ft. ramp was driven on the Katinniq deposit, with 180,000 ft. of diamond drilling carried out and a 500-ton bulk sample taken for metallurgical test work. The permitting process is well under way. Environmental studies were initiated and the estimate of a mining complex’s sociological impact on the indigenous Inuit and Cree Indian population is proceeding.

The icebreaker-freighter M.V. Arctic had a vital part to play in the estimated $42-million program. The experience of Asbestos Corp. (TSE) at its Asbestos Hill mine showed the average shipping season was not much more than 75 days, from late July to mid-October. In the early months of 1991, M.V. Arctic crunched through ice up to 12 ft. thick in places, demonstrating that an 8-month shipping season is practical.

Concentrates can now be shipped on essentially a year-round basis ensuring an uninterrupted cash flow once mining and milling are under way. (Asbestos Corp. operated a 6,000-ton-per-day open pit from 1972 to 1985. The mine, which operated on diesel power, was closed because of poor market conditions. The open pit is about 10 miles south of the port of Deception Bay; Raglan is 25 miles south of Deception Bay.)

The Raglan property contains some of the highest-grade, undeveloped nickel deposits in the world. At 3.13% nickel, the reserves are double the grade milled at Sudbury. Whether or not there is to be a bonus in platinum group metals remains to be seen, although both Pugsley and Falconbridge Exploration Vice-president Mike Knuckey downplayed the proposition.

Falconbridge, jointly owned by Noranda (TSE) and Trelleborg AB of Sweden, has owned the property since 1957 but low metal prices and high development costs have put exploration work on hold twice during the last 20 years. The northern tip of the Ungava Peninsula, within which lies the property, is 1,100 miles due north of Montreal, 300 miles north of the tree line and the same distance south of the Arctic Circle. It is a gently rolling, windswept treeless plain. Permafrost extends to 1,800 ft. and 10 weeks of mild weather wrap up the summer.

Raglan’s belt of claims stretch 35 miles in an east-west direction. “The ore-making horizon consists of a series of ultramafic sills which extend for many miles,” Pugsley said. “The sills carry numerous high-grade nickel oreshoots ranging in size from 50,000 tons at the lower end to upwards of a million tons each.”

Exploration work has concentrated on three such zones. The Donaldson is the most easterly zone. Katinniq is 13 miles to the west and Cross Lake is a further 20 miles to the west.

A 924-ft. shaft was sunk on the Donaldson during 1968-70, opening four levels. Extensive development and drilling were done on the 700-ft. level at that time.

Most of the current program was focused on the Katinniq zone. The deposit is workable by open-pit methods and it is the site of about one-third of the total identified reserves. Drilling explored the ore-bearing structure to a depth of 1,200 ft. below surface.

A mineral inventory of more than 2.75 million tons at an undisclosed grade was reported for the Cross Lake zone many years ago but no work has been conducted since the 1960s.

Besides Raglan’s proven and probable reserves, there is the potential for new discoveries on the 61-square-mile property. There are also a number of known deposits in the region owned by others.