Talon Metals Corp. (TSX:TLO) said it has updated its mineral resource estimate for the Tamarack Nickel Project located in central Minnesota, with a 98% surge in the amount of contained nickel in the indicated category compared to its previous estimate.
The total indicated mineral resource estimate now stands at approximately 8.56 million tonnes grading 1.73% nickel plus by-products (2.34% NiEq) containing 148,000 tonnes of nickel. The total inferred resource estimate, which is in addition to the total indicated mineral resource, is now at approximately 8.46 million tonnes grading 0.83% nickel plus by-products (1.19% NiEq) containing 70,000 tonnes of nickel.
A significant portion of the increase in the updated mineral resource estimate is due to Talon's recent discoveries and exploration success in the shallow, high-grade CGO East and CGO West exploration areas. Drilling outside of the updated mineral resource area is already underway, as Talon continues to work to further expand the mineral resource, the company said.
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"During the successful discovery and delineation of the high-grade nickel CGO East and CGO West ore bodies, our team of drillers, geophysicists, geologists, engineers and environmental scientists developed a proprietary, Advanced Exploration System (AES), which is a unique combination of equipment and methods for deployment along the 11-mile Tamarack Intrusive Complex and in Michigan," Henri van Rooyen, CEO of Talon Metals, said in a statement.
"The 11-mile Tamarack Intrusive Complex and Michigan represent extremely prospective and underexplored high-grade nickel districts, primarily due to a lack of the consistent deployment of tailor-made mineral exploration technologies. The AES is to US Midcontinent Rift nickel discovery and delineation what Tesla is to EV: A revolution in successful innovation and deployment."
The high-grade Massive Sulphide (MSU) or Mixed Massive Sulphide (MMS) now stands at 1.05 million tonnes grading 4.53% nickel plus by-products (5.76% NiEq) (in the indicated category), containing 47,000 tonnes of nickel. This represents a 570% increase in the amount of contained nickel compared to the previous estimate.
"The upgraded resource at the Tamarack Nickel Project combined with our acquisition of mineral rights in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and our partnership with Fleet Technologies to use their satellite technology to expedite the discovery of more high-grade nickel in the Lake Superior region are all part of Talon's strategy to become a domestic supplier of nickel and other critical ingredients to the US battery supply chain,” said Todd Malan, chief external affairs officer and head of climate strategy at Talon.
Talon 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.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com