The Espedalen project, located approximately 180 kilometres north-northwest of Oslo, is a joint venture between a wholly owned subsidiary of Falconbridge, A/S Sulfidmalm (Sulfidmalm), and Blackstone Ventures Inc. (Blackstone).
In July 2005, Blackstone earned a 60% interest in the property by funding Cdn$2.25 million in expenditures. Sulfidmalm has elected to exercise its back-in right to raise its current 40% interest to 60% by incurring 220% of Blackstone's expenditures. Sulfidmalm can earn a further 10% by completing a feasibility study and a further 5% by providing loan guarantees for production financing.
The Espedalen area is a historical copper and nickel mining area. The mining operations ceased production in 1878 due to poor metal prices as the result of the discovery and development of laterite nickel deposits in New Caledonia. Mineralization occurs within a nappe consisting of Precambrian metamorphosed syenites, norites, anorthosites, gabbros, pyroxenites and peridotites. The original position of the nappe is interpreted to have been west of the current Norwegian coastline. Reconstructions place this position close to the east coast of Labrador. The similarity in the types and ages of the rocks with the Voisey's Bay area supports such a possible connection. Mineralization is related to small (up to 1 kilometre long) differentiated intrusions consisting of peridotite, pyroxenite and norite.
In fall 2004, a program of geophysics and drilling led to the discovery of nickel mineralization at Stormyra. Drill results are detailed in the Exploration Progress Report, March 4, 2005 (see Press Releases). During 2005, an additional 16 holes were drilled at Stormyra confirming the high-grade nature of this discovery.
A 3,000 metre drill program is underway to test targets property-wide and along strike from the Stormyra zone. Encouraging preliminary results have been obtained from three separate areas to date:
- Trona – hole ES2005-35 returned 1.73% nickel, 0.29% copper, 0.09% cobalt over 1.53 metres from 14.65 to 16.18 metres
- Storgruva Extension – hole ES2005-37 intersected 0.95% nickel, 0.38% copper, 0.08% cobalt over 6.4 metres from 130.5 to 136.9 metres, including 0.90 metres grading 2.48% nickel, 0.98% copper, 0.16% cobalt and 1.85 metres grading 1.44% nickel, 0.54% copper, 0.10% cobalt
- Vesle – hole ES2005-42 returned 1.05% nickel, 0.46% copper, 0.06% cobalt over 7.2 metres from 2.55 to 9.75 metres, including 2.95 metres grading 1.32% nickel, 0.48% copper, 0.07% cobalt
Overview and Details
For more information, please contact exploration@falconbridge.com. |
