Tartisan Nickel Corp (CSE:TN) (OTCMKTS:TTSRF) (FRA:8TA) told investors it had begun preparing for a first pass drill program at the flagship Kenbridge nickel project in Ontario as the company updated on surface and borehole electromagnetic survey results.
As previously reported, the company hired Crone Geophysics & Exploration Limited to perform a surface Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) survey at Kenbridge North, which lies 2.5k kilometres (km) north of the Kenbridge deposit, as well as borehole geophysics at the known Kenbridge deposit.
READ: Tartisan Nickel poised for geophysical survey at flagship Kenbridge nickel-copper-cobalt project
Results of the borehole survey conducted on two historic drill holes at the deposit suggest that conductive material does continue to depth and to the north of the deposit, said Tartisan.
These results will assist in drill target identification and focus on targets with the highest conductivity and potentially higher-grade sulphide concentrations, it added.
Meanwhile, the results of the surface TDEM survey at Kenbridge North showed a strong conductor known as KBN1, which appears to extend minimally over 400 metres with a similar strike direction as the Kenbridge deposit.
A second conductor, named KBN2, was also identified at Kenbridge North, which will need following up in the upcoming exploration program.
Tartisan said drilling is aimed at increasing the resource estimate and overall nickel and copper grade of the Kenbridge deposit.
A 2020 resource update for the project showed a measured and indicated (M&I) resource of 7.5 million tonnes (Mt) of 0.58% nickel and 0.32% copper for a total of 95 million pounds of contained nickel.
Mineralization at the deposit is open at depth and along strike.
In February 2021, the company announced that P&E Mining Consultants would be updating a previously published preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Kenbridge,
A PEA in 2008 showed the average recovery of nickel over the life of mine was 86% and recovered was 84.6 million pounds. The pre-tax net present value (NPV) was pegged at $253 million and the pre-tax internal rate of return (IRR) was 65%.
The new PEA will identify the "critical next steps that Tartisan needs to take to move the Kenbridge deposit towards a Bankable Feasibility Study, including permitting, geotechnical, environmental, and geological considerations," the company had said.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com