Class 1 releases updated Alexo NI 43-101 estimate
2020-11-02 11:11 ET – News Release
Mr. Benjamin Cooper reports
CLASS 1 NICKEL REPORTS UPDATED NI 43-101 MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE ON ITS ALEXO-DUNDONALD NI-CU-CO DEPOSITS, TIMMINS, ONTARIO
Class 1 Nickel and Technologies Ltd. has released an updated National Instrument 43-101 mineral resource estimate on its 100-per-cent-owned Alexo-Dundonald nickel project, located about 45 kilometres northeast of Timmins, Ont.
The Project comprises four foundation resources; Alexo North, Alexo South, Dundonald North and Dundonald South which are situated within a regionally folded package of mafic to ultramafic (basalt and komatiite flows) rocks that trend through the approximately 20 square km land package (Figure 1). A large portion of the Property remains untested by drilling and modern geophysics.
Following the completion of a modern Mineral Resource validation program and a Technical Report of the Mineral Resources contained within the newly amalgamated Alexo and Dundonald deposit models, Class 1 is reporting an updated total estimated Indicated Mineral Resource of 1.25 Million tonnes (Mt) with an average grade of 0.99% Ni and a total estimated Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.01 Mt with an average grade of 1.08% Nickel (Table 1). The total estimated Indicated Mineral Resource has increased by 119% and the Inferred Mineral Resource has increased by 1,400% since the previously reported Mineral Resource Estimate contained in the NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report dated June 30, 2020. Details of the current pit-constrained and out-of-pit Mineral Resources are provided in Table 2.
The October 24, 2020 NI 43-101 compliant Updated Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared by Yungang Wu, P.Geo. and Eugene Puritch, P.Eng, FEC, CET of P&E Mining Consultants Inc, both Independent Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate was done for pit constrained and out-of-pit nickel, copper, and cobalt Mineral Resources. The total Indicated Mineral Resource Estimate based on NSR cut-off values of CDN$30 per tonne for the pit constrained Mineral Resource and CDN$90 per tonne for the out-of-pit Mineral Resource. The total Indicated Mineral Resource based on a Net Smelter Return (NSR) for the out-of-pit Mineral Resource is 1.25 Mt at 0.99%, 0.04% Cu and 0.02% Co for a total of 27.35 Mlbs of contained nickel. An additional 1.0 Mt at 1.08% Ni, 0.03% Cu and 0.02 Co (23.90 Mlbs contained nickel) were calculated as the Inferred Mineral Resource.
In addition, Class 1 recently completed a modern VTEM plus time-domain airborne electromagnetic survey over the 20 km2 square land package, the first modern geophysical survey of this kind over the Property. The Company looks forward to updating the market with the results of this survey when expert analysis and targeting is completed, and recommendations have been made.
The Company is in the process of planning its near-term surface exploration program to include a diamond drilling program aimed at testing priority mag-EM targets generated from the recently completed VTEM survey. In addition, the Company will be planning step-out and expansion drilling programs to potentially increase the size and grade of the current Mineral Resource, moving the project toward an eventual Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) in order to examine the possibility of direct shipping nickel production.
The Alexo-Dundonald Class 1 Nickel Project sits on a 14 km strike-length, folded komatiite unit containing several nickel-copper-cobalt and platinum-group element Mineral Resources. Decades of successful capital expenditure and investment into the Project by previous owners has resulted in the discovery and delineation of four main nickel Mineral Resources that occur along the folded komatiite unit. A total of 102,883 metres of drilling has been conducted on and around the komatiite fold and a valuable data set has been assembled, which confirms the existence of numerous other smaller high-grade deposits and mineralized lenses that occur between and alongside the four main Updated Mineral Resources reported herein.
Eugene Puritch, P.Eng, FEC, CET, President of P&E, heads a specialist Mineral Resource and Mine Engineering consulting firm that has successfully built mine plans for several Canadian mining companies stated “The Alexo-Dundonald Project was previously mined via a direct shipping model, and the Preliminary Economic Assessment that P&E will soon commence is being designed around similar principles.”
Small-scale open pit mining of Nickel and direct shipping mineralized material production at Alexo-Dundonald last occurred in 2004-2005. Subsequently in 2011, more mining and stockpiling of mineralized material occurred in conjunction with the signing of a custom processing agreement with Glencore’s Strathcona process facility near Sudbury.
This analysis will be used to couple with deeper penetrating ground geophysics prior to commencing step-out and expansion drilling aimed at adding more tonnage to the overall Mineral Resource. After the completion of the diamond drilling campaign, the Company will produce a PEA inclusive of a mine and production plan with a view to re-initiating the direct shipping operation.
Class 1 President Mr. Benjamin H Cooper stated “This Project has indicated the viability of a direct shipping model on several occasions in the past. This time we are operating in a rising class 1 nickel market with truly global demand and our Company is envisioning a much bolder, larger, stronger approach utilizing greater financial backing and capacity with a plan to ship more mineralized material, faster and more efficiently than previously possible. This approach is anticipated to fund deeper drilling and a systematic Mineral Resource expansion to scale-up production.
Tony Donaghy, Class 1 adviser and consultant for CSA Global confirmed “The Alexo-Dundonald Project has the potential of a rapid turnaround to production turnkey operation that has the ability to increase more new nearby nickel sulphide discoveries and grow the Mineral Resource base to allow for a diversified restart.”
The advanced permitting status, close to surface high grade mineralization, and direct shipping mining model fits nicely into the local infrastructure of Sudbury-Timmins thus allowing Class 1 to avoid any need for high start-up capital costs. Additionally, there is also untested potential at depth.
“International exploration for similar komatiite-hosted nickel sulphide systems in Australia, as well as within systems such as Thompson and Raglan in Canada, has demonstrated that there is good potential for exploration and discovery of continued and/or additional sulphide mineralization along strike/plunge within mineralized channelized flow. The shallow nature of previous exploration and the tight focus on the near-surface known mineralization at Alexo-Dundonald means these possibilities have not yet been tested on the Project,” said Mr. Donaghy.
P&E’s Senior Associate Geologist, William Stone, Ph.D, P,Geo. Stated “The Alexo-Dundonald host rocks are part of a regional geophysical trend that extends tens of kilometres westward and includes the giant Kidd-Creek base metal VMS mine and even the Montcalm nickel mine, 100 km away. This regional trend corresponds to the komatiite-bearing Kidd-Munro assemblage, which has been subject to very little modern airborne electromagnetic surveys and systematic mineral exploration for nickel sulphide deposits. Consequently, the potential for discovery of additional nickel sulphide deposits under cover along this favourable trend remains high.”
Most Recent 2011 Metallurgical Testwork
In 2011, Xstrata Process Support — formerly Falconbridge, now Glencore Nickel — at its laboratories in Falconbridge near Sudbury, Ontario, performed scoping level metallurgical testing and quantitative mineralogy for the Alexo South project. The scope included a custom flowsheet assessment and quantitative mineralogy using EPMA microprobe assessment.
The Alexo North and Alexo South Mineral Resources extend along strike and depth and down plunge and will be extension drilled to add more tonnage to the current NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate. The majority of drilling and mining in the past 30 years has been shallow work (less than 100 m vertical depth below surface.
The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate was completed by P&E Mining Consultants Inc (“P&E”) and has been reviewed internally by the Company. The full NI 43-101 Technical Report in respect of the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate (the “Technical Report”) will be available on SEDAR under the Company’s issuer profile within 45 calendar days of this news release.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Three programs of due diligence sampling were conducted between 2010 and 2020 with 161 samples collected and analyzed at AGAT Laboratories an ISO accredited facility in Mississauga, Ontario. Good correlation between original and due diligence assays was observed. In addition, during the same period 2,420 assays were checked against independently acquired laboratory analysis certificates with only a few minor errors encountered and corrected.
Qualified Person
The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate disclosed in this press release was prepared under the supervision of Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., FEC, CET of P&E Mining Consultants Inc., and the supporting Technical Report will be available on SEDAR under the Company’s issued profile within 45 calendar days. Mr. Puritch who is an Independent Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the Mineral Resource Estimate and technical and scientific information disclosed in this press release.
About Class 1
Class 1 Nickel and Technologies is a Mineral Resource Company focused on the development of its 100% owned Alexo-Dundonald Project, a portfolio of komatiite hosted magmatic nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide Mineral Resources located near Timmins, Ontario. The Company also holds an option over the Somanike komatiite hosted nickel copper project in Quebec, which includes the famous Marbridge Mine.
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