Alicanto Minerals Ltd (ASX:AQI) is moving forward with its acquisition of the historical Falun mine and surrounding tenements in Sweden, having entered into a binding agreement to acquire the mine and associated tenements from the current owners, Explora Mineral AB.
The company will pay Explora $200,000.
Having done its due diligence, Alicanto believes there is significant prospectivity including numerous drill targets.
The company also notes data supporting the concept of a major mineralised belt stretching over 10 kilometres from Falun through Alicanto’s adjacent Greater Falun Project.
Potential remains at mine
“Our due diligence has confirmed that this is an exceptional acquisition opportunity for the company. The data suggests there is significant geological potential remaining at Falun,” Alicanto managing director Rob Sennitt said.
“This data also supports the concept being developed by Alicanto that there is a major mineralised belt stretching over 10 kilometres from the historic Falun mine through Alicanto’s current holdings at the Greater Falun Project.
“There are numerous high-quality targets already identified and this will only increase and be further refined by an extensive Ground EM program expected to be initiated in the first quarter.
“Combined with our Sala Project, where we have defined our maiden resource, Alicanto now has two outstanding assets in a Tier 1 location.”
Data backs acquisition
The Falun mine last operated in 1992 and produced 28 million tonnes at 4% copper, 4 g/t gold, 5% zinc, 2% lead and 35 g/t silver. It was one of the great mines of Europe operating for nearly 1,000 years before it closed.
Only limited exploration has been carried out since.
However, first-pass compilation of the historic drill data from the Falun mine due diligence and modelling of the 3D dataset has identified significant gold and base metal mineralisation outside the previous mining voids. Mineralisation is open in several historic, unmined drill intersections, including:
- 50.8 metres at 3.4 g/t gold and 0.5% copper (Eastern Zone);
- 37.4 metres at 23.6 g/t gold and 0.5% copper (Eastern Zone);
- 21.1 metres at 6.9 g/t gold, 0.9% copper and 0.07% bismuth (Eastern Zone);
- 11.6 metres at 61.2 g/t gold and 1.2% copper (Eastern zone);
- 6.3 metres at 4.3% copper and 1.2 g/t gold (Albenius Zone);
- 8.8 metres at 7.9% zinc, 0.2% lead, 0.8% copper and 8 g/t silver (SE Extension);
- 11.9 metres at 2.5% copper, 2.6 g/t gold, 78 g/t silver, 1.0% lead and 5.2% zinc (Western Zone); and
- 7.2 metres at 7.2% copper, 1.1 g/t gold and 75 g/t silver (Western Zone).
Falun is a polymetallic complex sulphide deposit hosted by a regional limestone and its immediate footwall volcanics, situated within a thick succession of felsic juvenile pyroclastic mass flows and resedimented ash‐silt‐sandstones.
Prior to mine closure, limited exploration programs were done and results were obtained by Alicanto as part of its due diligence.
Alicanto then compiled the results of these programs into the 3D data set. The drill hole database consists of around 1,400 drill holes and identified several key zones of mineralisation.
These programs included:
- Vita‐projektet (The White Project) - a near-mine drill program.
- Djup‐projektet (The Deep Project), which investigated the down plunge continuation of the mineralisation down to the 1,100 level.
- A bulk test mining program where approximately 10,000 tonnes of ore was extracted and which identified a high‐grade gold‐bismuth‐copper quartz vein system at the 350 level.
Map of Falun regional geology showing historical production at Falun and a number of drill targets including gravity anomalies between Falun and Skyttgruvan‐Naverberg as well as several near-mine targets.
High priority targets
From 2009 to 2011, dense near‐surface drilling around the Eastern copper‐gold mineralisation and minor drilling targeting the Western copper‐gold mineralisation was conducted. A detailed gravity survey was also undertaken at the mine site and the strike extension some two kilometres to the west.
No drilling or modern electromagnetic surveys over the mine horizon have been conducted at the deposit since 2011 and mineralisation targets are open.
Alicanto has assessed that several targets in the near mine environment are open and are high-priority targets. These include:
- Limestone hosted replacement silver‐zinc‐lead in Western Extension as well as the South‐Eastern Extension of the deposit;
- Eastern, Western and Northern footwall copper‐gold zones; and
- Quartz vein hosted copper‐gold‐bismuth in the proximal footwall east of the deposit.
For all historical results from identified targets click here.
Work to come
Alicanto is now designing a detailed exploration program for Falun and the Greater Falun Project, including:
- Ground EM around the Falun mine;
- New drill programs focused on the anomalies identified along strike between the Falun mine and the Skyttgruvan‐Naverberg prospect; and
- A step out program to follow up the off‐hole conductor recently identified in drill holes GRO22‐19 and 20.