Magna Mining Inc (TSX-V:NICU) has released results from the first hole sunk at the 109 Footwall (FW) zone at its past producing nickel, copper and platinum group metals (PGM) Crean Hill mine in Sudbury, Ontario.
The hole hit 0.4 % nickel 0.5% copper, 7.2 grams per ton (g/t) platinum (Pt) +palladium (Pd) + gold (Au) over 98.3 metres (m), starting from 26.55m depth.
That included a higher grade interval grading 0.8% nickel, 0.8% copper, 12.7 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 44m.
"Drillhole MCR-22-010 is Magna's first drillhole targeting the 109 FW Zone and will enable Magna geologists to better understand the 109 FW low sulphide, high PGE mineralization, and geological setting controlling the distribution and continuity of mineralization," said David King, the senior vice president at Magna.
READ: Magna Mining reports assay results from Crean Hill drill program including 4% nickel over 31.1 metres
"This information will be essential for optimizing the mine plan for the Preliminary Economic Assessment that is underway.
"The current 109 FW Zone Mineral Resource remains open below the 365m level, and wide spaced historical production drilling suggests this style of low sulphide, high grade mineralization continues to depth," he added.
The 109 FW Zone is an area of high-grade mineralization extending into the footwall associated with the Main Zone, said the company.
It is the second footwall zone tested by Magna at Crean Hill, confirming the presence of multiple footwall breccia corridors to be further tested with drilling in 2023, it added.
Magna noted that most of its Crean Hill drilling in 2022 (which started in November) focused on contact nickel-copper mineralization within the Intermediate Zone, and high-grade nickel rich, massive sulphide veining in the 101 FW Zone.
The 109 FW Zone is a different style of mineralization, consisting of low sulphide, high grade Pt+Pd+Au mineralization hosted in a breccia corridor extending into the footwall at the base of the Main Zone, the company said.
Magna has budgeted 15,000m of diamond drilling in 2023, a portion of which will target the 109 FW Zone mineralization below the current resources.
The 2023 drill program is now underway and initial results are expected towards the end of February, it added.
Magna Mining is an exploration and development company focused on nickel, copper and platinum group metals projects in the Sudbury region of Ontario, Canada.
Contact the writer at giles@proactiveinvestors.com