Magna plans Crean Hill nickel-copper bulk sample

Magna Mining (TSXV: NICU; US-OTC: MGMNF) is now fully permitted to conduct a 400,000-tonne bulk sample at its past-producing Crean Hill nickel-copper project in Sudbury, Ont.

The company, which received its permit to take water, can now dewater the underground workings. The bulk sample will be taken from surface and underground, after a ramp is developed to reach the 101 footwall, 109 footwall, and Intermediate zones for test mining.

Magna signed a toll-milling deal with Vale (NYSE: VALE) last month to process the material at the miner’s nearby Clarabelle mill.

Magna CEO Jeson Jessup noted the company has advanced the project quickly since acquiring Crean Hill in November 2022. 

“This is a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to our team and the jurisdiction in which we are building our company,” he said in a release.

Jessup said Magna plans to start the surface bulk sample on the 109 FW zone by the end of the second quarter. Portal construction and underground advanced exploration will follow in the year’s second half.

Test mining will allow reconciliation against the current resource block model, confirm continuity of the high-grade mineralization, and further de-risk the project. The company is drilling several short diamond drill holes in the area of the surface bulk sample which will facilitate the final bulk sample design.

A second drill is testing geophysical anomalies in the footwall environment, roughly 300 metres south of the Main Contact zone at Crean Hill.

Underground exploration will include areas of the 101 footwall zone and Intermediate Contact zone, which were drilled by Magna in 2023. Highlights of this drilling include holes MCR-22-005 which cut 4% nickel, 0.7% copper, and 0.7 gram platinum, palladium, and gold over 31.1 metres. Hole MCR-23-042 returned 4.2% nickel, 1.4% copper, and 1 gram platinum, palladium, and gold over 27.6 metres.

Magna completed a preliminary economic assessment of Crean Hill last year that outlined a $330-million capital cost for a 15-year open pit and underground mine. The project holds an indicated resource of 16.8 million tonnes grading 0.53% nickel, 0.49% copper, with inferred resources adding 434,000 tonnes at 0.43% nickel and 0.49% copper within a proposed pit. Underground resources include 14.5 million indicated tonnes at 0.96% nickel and 0.84% copper plus 1.2 million inferred tonnes grading 0.61% nickel and 0.46% copper.

Crean Hill was mined sporadically from 1906 to 2002, during which time about 20 million tonnes or ore were recovered at an average grade of 1.31% nickel and 1.09% copper.