Talon Metals Corp. (TSX:TLO, OTC:TLOFF) announced that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Administrative Board has approved its application via its subsidiaries for 23,000 acres of additional mineral leases in the Upper Peninsula of the state, a highly prospective nickel district which hosts the only operating high-grade nickel mine in the United States.
The company noted that these leases complemented a 400,000-acre land package for which the company, in August 2022, entered into an option and earn-in agreement with UPX Minerals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sweetwater Royalties, to acquire up to an 80% interest.
Talon Metals said the combined land package covers “highly prospective” terrain located 2.8 kilometers from the high-grade Eagle Nickel Mine and 0.6 kilometers from the Humboldt Mill, which processes raw nickel ore from the Eagle Nickel Mine.
The company said it plans to host a community “Open House” in the spring before commencing any drilling at its Michigan land package.
It has also hosted several information-sharing meetings with Tribal sovereign governments in the area to discuss its interest in mineral exploration and seek their feedback.
“If this exploration process results in the discovery of a mineable resource like the Eagle Mine, which has successfully operated in this region since 2014, it will ultimately be up to society to decide if that newly discovered resource will be extracted and contribute to domestic supply chains,” Talon’s Michigan-based Community & Tribal Engagement Liaison Cody Mayer said in a statement.
“For now, Talon is committed to protecting the environment during this exploration phase, being transparent with the community by sharing information about our operations, plans and exploration results."
Talon Metals CEO Henri van Rooyen added that the company’s focus was to discover more high-grade nickel deposits in the United States.
“With funding from the Department of Defense, Talon will bring its proven approach to exploration drilling and geophysical analysis to try to discover new high-grade nickel and copper mineralization in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, currently the only region with a nickel mine in the United States,” he said.
The CEO highlighted that the company is also advancing its proposed Tamarack Underground Mine proposal through the Minnesota environmental review process while also exploring for additional high-grade deposits in both Minnesota and Michigan.
“We are conducting drilling and geophysics in Minnesota on a 24/7 basis and are excited to get started in Michigan this spring,” van Rooyen said.
Talon Metals is a TSX-listed base metals company in a joint venture with Rio Tinto on the high-grade Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project located in central Minnesota.