Grid Metals Corp.(TSXV:GRDM) (OTCQB:MSMGF) has released the final results from the Bannockburn Nickel Property near Matachewan, Ontario and ~100 km south of the mining city of Timmins.
Drilling from the 2021 programm4 was focused on the bulk tonnage nickel sulphide potential of the B Zone at the property.
Drill Programme Highlights
- Overall the 2021 drilling outlined a mineralised zone with similar nickel grades and thickness to Canada Nickel’s Crawford Deposit located north of Timmins, Ontario.
- The best result was 341.7 m averaging 0.28% Ni in hole GBN21-03.
- The company has engaged SGS Canada Inc. to complete a quantitative mineralogical study to establish the abundance of potentially recoverable sulphide nickel from the B Zone.
- The new mineralogical work will complement a historical metallurgical test study completed by SGS that showed a low-grade composite sample with 0.33% total nickel and ~70% sulphide nickel could produce a 35% Ni concentrate.
- The 2021 drill programme tested the B Zone over a strike length of 700 m and to a maximum vertical depth of 300 m.
- The zone remains open in all directions.
Highlight results
| Hole Number | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Ni (%) |
| GBN21-01 | 71.50 | 232.39 | 160.89 | 0.24 |
| inc. | 103.00 | 125.56 | 22.56 | 0.30 |
| with | 118.00 | 125.56 | 7.56 | 0.38 |
| GBN21-02 | 40.50 | 337.00 | 296.50 | 0.28 |
| inc. | 98.00 | 210.00 | 112.00 | 0.32 |
| with | 147.00 | 195.00 | 48.00 | 0.34 |
| GBN21-03 | 39.30 | 381.00 | 341.70 | 0.28 |
| inc. | 256.50 | 321.00 | 64.50 | 0.30 |
| GBN21-04 | 115.50 | 309.00 | 193.50 | 0.31 |
| inc. | 133.50 | 162.00 | 28.50 | 0.40 |
| and | 225.00 | 247.50 | 22.50 | 0.41 |
| GBN21-05 | 49.70 | 219.00 | 169.30 | 0.20 |
| inc. | 79.50 | 105.00 | 25.50 | 0.27 |
| GBN21-06 | 60.00 | 247.50 | 189.00 | 0.27 |
| inc. | 133.50 | 174.00 | 40.50 | 0.30 |
| and | 210.00 | 235.50 | 25.50 | 0.31 |
| GBN21-07 | 36.00 | 405.00 | 369.00 | 0.24 |
| inc. | 160.50 | 273.00 | 112.50 | 0.27 |
| with | 231.00 | 273.00 | 42.00 | 0.29 |
| GBN21-08 | 72.00 | 303.00 | 231.00 | 0.24 |
| inc. | 132.00 | 258.00 | 126.00 | 0.28 |
Drilling at Bannockburn targeted the B Zone, a >1 km long, steeply-dipping trend of bulk tonnage, secondary nickel sulphide mineralisation that exhibits similar nickel grades and thicknesses to Canada Nickel’s Crawford nickel sulphide deposit.
Sulphur analyses (not shown here) were determined for approximately 50% of the samples submitted for nickel analysis. Sulphur contents typically varied between 0.05 and 0.15% for the intervals having the highest nickel grades.
Holes GBN21-03 (341.7 m of 0.28% Ni) and GBN21-07 (369.0 m of 0.24% Ni) both returned very wide intervals having typical B Zone nickel grades. Hole GBN21-05 was drilled further to the west of the other 2021 holes and returned lower average grades and widths – which the company believes reflects the breaching of the western limit of the B Zone mineralization.
As with the previously announced drill holes, higher-grade subintervals were noted in the new drill results with a maximum individual sample grade of 0.76% Ni and 0.22% S over a 1.5 metre core length in hole GBN21-07.
The 2021 drill programme confirmed that there are large areas with enhanced nickel contents in the B Zone trend with average nickel grades generally falling in the range 0.24 to 0.32% Ni over widths of >100 to 369 metres. These results are similar to those reported by Canada Nickel for their Crawford Deposit nickel resources. The B Zone remains open to the east, north and south and at depth. It is also partly open to the west.
Nickel data reported here are considered to represent total nickel and will include some percentage of unrecoverable silicate-bound nickel. The company has engaged SGS Canada Inc. to complete a quantitative mineralogical study on representative core samples from selected 2021 B Zone drill holes to establish the abundance of potentially recoverable nickel sulphide present. This is the next critical step toward confirming the potential for a bulk mineable open pit nickel sulphide resource at Bannockburn having similar mineralogical and metallurgical characteristics to the Crawford deposit.
For context, a 2005 mineralogical and metallurgical study completed by SGS used a B Zone composite sample averaging 0.33% total nickel and 0.10% sulphur. The study showed that the only nickel sulphide mineral present in this composite was heazlewoodite containing an average of over 70% nickel, with heazlewoodite accounting for over 70% of the total nickel present in the feed sample.
Dave Peck, Vice President of Exploration and Business Development for Grid Metals, said the study further demonstrated that a premium-grade concentrate containing up to 35% nickel could be produced from this type of feed material using simple froth flotation concentration methods.
“The drill programme at Bannockburn combined with new mineralogical test work will provide crucial information as to the prospectivity of the B Zone to host a bulk tonnage nickel deposit capable of producing a high-grade nickel concentrate through standard flotation,” Mr Peck said.
“From our historical work and the 2021 drilling and our forward looking mineralogical study we will have a solid information base to guide next steps at the project.”
For further information please visit: https://gridmetalscorp.com/
