Minago nickel project encourages Black Hawk

The Minago deposit, situated 140 miles south of Thompson, was originally discovered by Amax Exploration back in the late 1960s. The deposit lies under about 250 ft of Paleozoic limestone cover.

Reserves are currently estimated at 2.2 million tons grading 1.64% nickel, or 11.6 million tons grading 1.12% nickel. The deposit is open at depth and additional diamond drilling is currently under way.

Amax’s criteria for a nickel mine in the early 1970s was 20 million tons with an average grade of 1.75% nickel. Since the deposit did not meet that criteria, the property was later optioned to a predecessor company of Granges Exploration. Black Hawk recently completed its purchase of the property from Canamax Resources and Granges, and says there is still potential for additional tonnage.

According to Black Hawk, the main zone is not yet fully delineated and is open at depth. Granges’ deepest hole, at around 1,600 ft, stopped in mineralization which assayed 1.81% nickel over 20 ft.

The width of the higher grade main zone is about 75 ft over a strike length of 1,100 ft. That width would be sufficient to warrant relatively low cost blast-hole, open- stope mining, says Black Hawk.

The deposit is essentially a near- vertical tabular body, and strikes from northwest to southeast.

Metallurgical tests indicate a 20% nickel concentrate can be produced at an average recovery of 74% from a mill feed grading 1.15% nickel. By- product credits of copper, platinum, palladium, gold and silver with a gross value of $9-$10 per ton are also present.

Based on a 700,000-ton-per-year operation with ramp access to 1,200 ft, the capital costs are estimated at $70-$80 million by Black Hawk.

The ramp portal would be within one mile of Highway 6 which joins the cities of Winnipeg and Thompson. Major power lines run parallel to the highway.

Comparing with other mining operations in Manitoba of similar size, the company estimates operating costs at $35 per ton for mining, milling and administration.

Black Hawk is currently drilling four holes to confirm the continuity of the main zone from the 1,000-ft horizon to the 1,300-ft horizon.

The company’s shares have risen to a high of $1.96 on the Toronto Stock Exchange recently. Black Hawk is 57%-owned by Dynamic Capital Corp. of Toronto.

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