Sweden is the leading mining nation in Europe and has high rankings as a top country in the world for exploration.
Mining is a traditional industry in Sweden which extends back over a thousand years and the Nordic country continues to offer excellent ore discovery potential, in particular under glacial till (sand and gravel) which cover large areas.
One company that has uncovered that discovery potential is Gungnir Resources Inc, a Canadian-based TSX-V listed explorer. In Norse mythology, Gungnir, "penetrating", is the spear of Odin, the king of the gods.
Gungnir’s management team and board, led by CEO Jari Paakki, have extensive experience and proven success in mineral exploration, and importantly, expertise in Sweden.
The company holds gold and base metal exploration permits in Sweden’s prolific Vasterbotten District which hosts 12 million ounces of gold delineated in existing and mined resources plus several past-producing and producing volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) base metal mines.
Gold and nickel shine
Gungnir’s focus is on advancing key gold and nickel assets. Its Knaften project is located at the south end of the ‘Gold Line’ (Knaften-Barsele Arc) which hosts a number of gold deposits including Faboliden and Svartliden, and the Barsele Gold-VMS project.
Meanwhile, two nickel-copper-cobalt deposits, Lappvattnet and Rormyrberget, collectively contain 177 million pounds of nickel in inferred resources based on NI43-101 resource estimates commissioned by Gungnir in 2020.
Since commencing drilling in Sweden in 2017, Gungnir has made several new discoveries and announced significant developments including the discovery of a potentially sizeable intrusion-related gold system (Knaften 600), discovery of a new VMS zinc-copper base metal target and the discovery of a new copper-nickel target, all located on the Knaften project.
It has also continued to advance its nickel assets which came to prominence last year following some exceptional assay results.
Proactive caught up with Gungnir CFO Chris Robbins to find out more.
“So yeah, we've been drilling in Sweden for five years now. predominantly on the Knaften gold project where we also did some IP (Induced Polarization) work in the summer of 2021. While we were doing the IP, and with an up-tick in nickel price, we said, well, let's move the drill over to the nickel property.
“And on August 31, 2021, we put out our first assay results, and in total we were successful on 14 out of the 15 holes drilled in 2021. On hole seven we've just skimmed over the nickel, we believe,” Robbins said in an interview.
The next month Gungnir had reported that on-going drilling at the Lappvattnet nickel deposit had continued to intersect sulphide mineralization including a 10-metre core interval containing several narrow sections of massive and semi-massive sulphides.
“The nickel assays that came out showed almost every hole has some juice, you know, 5, 6 and 7 percent, over sections of less than a meter but also numerous longer sections of potential ore grade strikes in all 14 holes assayed. It's only a pilot programme, 15 holes, 1,300 meters to confirm our geological premise, but highly successful,” Robbins noted.
Nickel news dominates
Since then, all the news coming from the company has been about nickel. In October 2021 Gungnir said that concurrent with the drilling at the Lappvattnet nickel deposit it had also completed EM (electromagnetic) survey profiles outside of the Rormyrberget nickel resource in areas with no prior drilling. The geophysical survey successfully outlined twelve, untested near-surface conductors immediately north and east of the nickel resource, the company noted.
All final drill assay results from the 2021 drill campaign have been released although the company awaits the final results of the EM survey on the Lappvattnet. Coronavirus (COVID-19) factors having provided a slight delay.
“We got to get these results out, though, as I tell everyone 2021 isn't over yet. But we should have that wrapped up here in February,” Robbins said.
He added: “We have a 10,000-meter program on the nickel properties permitted. We drilled 15 holes for 1,300 meters, so we have 8,700 meters to go. The nickel deposit is as shallow as18 meters, 20 meters from surface. We've got some historic drill sections that are up to 125 meters of nickel mineralization only. We don't even have to bother doing a nickel equivalent at this time as the numbers are so strong. So right now, we have 177 million pounds of nickel, all inferred. Our job now is to expand the nickel resource and tighten it up. Just drill it.”
“So, our focus now remains to be gold, but with these results we’ll let the nickel drive the bus for the initial drilling in 2022,” the CFO said.
Referencing the importance of nickel for the automobile industry and electric vehicles, Robbins added a little side story.
“For me to get to our property I have to fly usually to Frankfurt, then Stockholm and a short flight to a little town called Skelleftea. We then rent a car and drive right by our nickel properties in like half an hour. And then about an hour later, we're at our Knaften gold, VMS base metal property.
“In the town of Skelleftea Northvolt is building one of the largest battery factories in Europe there, which has nothing to do with us directly as an exploration company; but the industry will need to be mining more and more nickel to accommodate the EV Battery demands globally. We’ll strive to expand the resource(s) to a stage where we can attract a large mining company and let them take it to the mining stage."
"But yeah, that's a hell of a story and just validates the demand for nickel going forward. Both nickel deposits are class one nickel sulphides. So, it’s the best nickel you can get, and right at surface with a large battery manufacturer coming online, furthering the demand for nickel," Robbins said.
But gold still key
However, the lure of gold remains.
The Gungnir CFO pointed out: “We’re still going to drill the monster anomalies that we found on the newly acquired Knaften claim to the south of last year’s drilling. We will also be assessing the first 2022 nickel results. We think that along with continued strong nickel results we're going to continue to hit some good gold as well which can’t hurt the cause.
"So, we're going to get drilling on these assets very soon in 2022 and will be announcing the programs shortly. We're permitted on the nickel properties I believe to August 31, 2022, and we're just in the permitting process now for the newly acquired gold zone on the Knaften.”
Robbins admitted: “There are almost too many targets, though you can never have too many targets of this quality, but we don't have a big enough budget at this time to be super aggressive. This can change quickly with further anticipated strong nickel results and work on the Knaften gold, VMS/base metal projects.
“In the near future we'll raise a little bit more money. We’ve just north of a million bucks in the kitty right now, and no debt. We'd like to get another million to accelerate our exploration efforts in 2022 and beyond.”
That cash could certainly be put to good use by Gungnir.
“Obviously, I'm biased. But yeah, I think we have a hell of a story and genuine resources and targets. And now we're being looked at as a nickel play in the exciting EV battery minerals sector along with the gold and VMS/base metals at the Knaften property.
“So, we're looking forward to a very productive 2022. As I said, we're going to be busy drilling, assaying and announcing results throughout the year,” Robbins concluded.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com