Mercuria eyes equity in African assets, new metals boss says
“You will see us very present in Africa and putting our money where our mouth is in respect of the Copperbelt,” Kostas Bintas said.
Talon Metals Corp. (TSX: TLO) this week provided an exploration update on its Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project in Minnesota, reporting assay results from three additional drill holes in the CGO (coarse grained orthocumulate) West area.
The new assays are highlighted by hole 21TK0330, which intersected 4.44 metres of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization grading 7.97% Ni and 11.25% Cu (14.08% NiEq or 37.56% CuEq), starting at only 269.13 metres depth. This represents the highest nickel and copper grades ever drilled at the Tamarack project.
In addition, drill hole 21TK0317 intersected 5.23 metres of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization grading 5.29% Ni and 2.13% Cu (6.36% NiEq or 16.97% CuEq), starting at 247.97 metres.
Drill hole 21TK0323 also intersected 13.25 metres of mixed and massive nickel-copper mineralization grading 3.97% Ni and 1.48% Cu (4.82% NiEq or 12.85% CuEq), starting at 190.75 metres.
“Grade is ‘king’ in mining, and our recent drill results of 8% to 12% nickel and 11% to 16% copper could be a king maker,” Brian Goldner, VP Exploration, said in a press release.
“Not only are we proving a new dimension of the Tamarack Intrusive Complex with these best-ever drill results at the newly discovered CGO West location, but we are also showing that the mineralization is shallow and large scale,” Goldner added.
The CGO West area lies just outside the Tamarack project’s resource area, approximately 100 metres to the north-northeast, and extends for an additional 400 metres where drilling shows the presence of shallow, high-grade nickel-copper mineralization.
Talon has previously reported 18 drill holes within the CGO West area, all of which have intersected nickel-copper mineralization.
Tamarack is currently one of the only high-grade development-stage nickel project in the US
Drilling within the CGO West area remains ongoing to further expand this enriched high-grade zone of nickel-copper mineralization, the company said.
The Tamarack project, located 210 km north of Minneapolis and 89 km west of Duluth, is comprised of the Tamarack North and Tamarack South projects, with approximately 31,000 acres of private land and state leases.
Tamarack is currently the only high-grade development-stage nickel project in the US.
The company currently has an earn-in option to acquire up to 60% of the Tamarack project. To earn the maximum interest, it must make staged payments totalling $22.5 million in cash and shares to partner Rio Tinto, spend $10 million on exploration and development, and complete a feasibility study on the project.
