The Project is located in the Swedish Caledonian mountains, which were formed approximately 400-510 million years ago. The geology in the Rönnbäcken area includes nickel bearing ultramafic rocks. The ultramafic rocks occur as lenses of various sizes over an area of approximately 15 km2. The complex folding has resulted in local variations in strike and dip.
The ultramafic rocks are serpentinized, which is seen in the colour of the weathering surface. The most serpentinized rock is often grey, while more olivine and pyroxene rich rocks have a brownish colour. The rocks vary from massive lenses to compositional layered rocks to erosion products such as serpentinite conglomerates and sandstones.
Nickel sulphide mineralization is hosted in the serpentinized ultramafic rocks. The dominating nickel-rich sulphides in the deposits are heazlewoodite, pentlandite, and to a lesser extent millerite.
The Rönnbäcken deposits comprise nickel sulphides in serpentinized ultramafic rocks. The nickel sulphide minerals are predominantly pentlandite (38-40% Ni), nickel rich heazlewoodite (71-75% Ni), and some millerite (61-65% Ni). The ores are also distinctive for the absence of iron sulphides (pyrite and pyrrhotite), allowing for efficient gangue rejection resulting in a very high grade of nickel in the concentrate.
Mineral Resources and Reserves
Based on the Ni 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate prepared by SRK Consulting (Sweden) AB, the Mineral Resource for the Rönnbäcken Project includes a total of:
Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources for the Rönnbäcknäset, Vinberget and Sundsberget deposits of 668.3 million tonnes (Mt) with an average total nickel content of 0.176% of which 0.097% is nickel in sulphide (Ni-AC), and an iron content of 5.67%;
Inferred Mineral Resources for the Rönnbäcknäset, Vinberget & Sundsberget deposits of 19.0 million tonnes with an average total nickel content of 0.172% of which 0.104% is nickel in sulphide (Ni-AC), and an iron content of 5.13%.
For the Project as a whole, 97% of Mineral Resources now lie in the Measured and Indicated categories and contain 1,174,000 tonnes of total nickel, of which 657,000 tonnes of nickel is in sulphide (Ni-AC).
The Project has potential to outline additional Mineral Resources based on the favourable geology of the area and past exploration work.
Further information
Click here for more info on magnetite and magnetite by-product
Click here for background info about the Rönnbäcknäset down hole drilling
