Spruce Ridge completes Crawford mineralogical studies
2019-06-11 10:38 ET – News Release
See News Release (C-SHL) Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd
Mr. John Ryan of Spruce Ridge reports
SPRUCE RIDGE ANNOUNCES ENCOURAGING PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM MINERALOGICAL STUDIES ON THE CRAWFORD PROPERTY
Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd. has released the results of mineralogical studies on drill core samples from the company’s Crawford project near Timmins, Ont. The recent 1,818-metre, four-hole drill program resulted in wide intersections of up to 558 metres of serpentinized peridotite and dunite with consistent concentrations of nickel, cobalt, palladium and platinum (see news release of March 1, 2019).
Twelve samples of drill core were selected from 1.5-metre analyzed intervals, to cover a range of nickel, cobalt and palladium contents as well as differing degrees of serpentinization and a range of sulphur contents. Polished thin sections were made from the core samples and were examined under reflected-light microscope and a scanning electron microscope, which provided chemical analyses of individual mineral grains to aid in their identification.
The following minerals were identified as carrying most of the nickel and cobalt (in order of decreasing abundance): pentlandite (nickel-iron sulphide), heazlewoodite (nickel sulphide), awaruite (nickel-iron alloy) and minor godlevskite (nickel sulphide with minor iron). The pentlandite, which dominates the sulphide mineral assemblage, typically contains between 3 per cent and 4 per cent of cobalt by weight. Grain size varies from five to 100 microns, with most of the cobaltiferous pentlandite being in the coarsest fraction.
Also noted in small quantities were an unknown cobalt-nickel-iron sulphide mineral and an unknown copper-iron-palladium-platinum oxide mineral with the approximate composition 40 per cent Cu, 15 per cent Pd and 1 per cent Pt.
In addition to the mineralogical identification, additional analysis was performed on pulps of the 12 core intervals from which the mineralogy samples were taken. The original multielement analysis was performed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry on samples prepared by sodium peroxide fusion, which digests the entire rock to give total concentrations of the analyzed elements. The new analysis was also done by ICP-OES on samples digested in aqua regia, which will dissolve sulphides, oxides and metallic minerals but will not have an effect on silicate minerals like the olivine which originally contained most of the nickel and associated metals, or the serpentine that formed during low-temperature alteration of the rock. The aqua regia analyses give an estimate of the percentages of nickel and cobalt that were “liberated” during serpentinization. The following table gives the original peroxide fusion-ICP and the aqua regia-ICP analyses of nickel and cobalt, and the per cent of “liberation”. The reader is cautioned that not all the “liberated” metals would be recoverable because some of them are in very fine mineral grains.
DDH No. From To Length (m) Co fus Co AR Per cent Ni % Ni % Per cent S %
ppm ppm liberated FUS AR-ICP liberated FUS
CR18-01 165.0 166.5 1.5 240 193 80% 0.669 0.431 64% 0.28
CR18-01 238.5 240.0 1.5 120 105 88% 0.297 0.203 68% 0.02
CR18-01 243.0 244.5 1.5 170 149 88% 0.487 0.332 68% 0.15
CR18-01 286.5 288.0 1.5 150 130 87% 0.345 0.232 67% 0.18
CR18-01 423.0 424.5 1.5 120 85 71% 0.317 0.203 64% 0.03
CR18-01 588.0 589.5 1.5 110 87 79% 0.272 0.178 65% 0.01
CR18-03 508.5 510.0 1.5 140 108 77% 0.332 0.217 65% 0.01
CR18-03 535.5 537.0 1.5 140 109 78% 0.337 0.227 67% 0.07
CR18-03 594.0 595.5 1.5 150 110 73% 0.349 0.205 59% 0.05
CR18-04 165.0 166.5 1.5 120 52 43% 0.182 0.050 27% less than 0.01
CR18-04 216.0 217.5 1.5 260 206 79% 0.647 0.423 65% 0.60
CR18-04 337.5 339.0 1.5 130 103 79% 0.427 0.275 64% 0.20
Mean Co liberation 77 per cent Mean Ni liberation 62 per cent
John Ryan stated: “We are very encouraged by these preliminary results which suggest that a significant portion of the metals contained in this deposit may be recoverable by conventional metallurgical processes. We will continue to explore and evaluate the Crawford ultramafic complex, which is 3.8 kilometres long and 1.9 kilometres wide. So far, we have barely scratched the surface.”
Future plans for the Crawford project include additional drilling to assess the dimensions of the mineralized zone and additional metallurgical tests to determine how much of the nickel and associated metals are recoverable by standard methods.
Spruce Ridge and its joint venture partner, a group of private investors, have the option to earn up to 75-per-cent interest in 2,000 hectares of the Crawford project from Noble Mineral Exploration Ltd.
Technical material in this news release has been prepared and/or reviewed by Colin Bowdidge, PhD, PGeo, a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Analyses quoted in this news release were performed by Activation Laboratories Ltd. in their Timmins and Ancaster facilities.
About Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd.
Spruce Ridge holds a 100-per-cent interest in the Great Burnt copper-gold property in central Newfoundland which covers a series of copper-plus-or-minus-gold-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. Spruce Ridge and its joint venture partner, a private investor group, are currently drilling magnetic and electromagnetic anomalies in a complex of ultramafic and mafic intrusive rocks that have been interpreted as prospective for nickel mineralization on the optioned Crawford property, 45 kilometres north of Timmins, Ont. In 2015, Spruce Ridge optioned its Viking/Kramer gold properties in western Newfoundland to Anaconda Mining Inc. The company also has a 50-per-cent joint venture with Americas Silver Corp. on property that contains tailings with low-grade gold and silver from the Drumlummon mine in Montana.
We seek Safe Harbor.
https://spruceridgeresources.com/
http://www.noblemineralexploration.com
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
