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SOUKER PROPERTY
The Souker Property is host to a Nickel Copper deposit ("the deposit") which is reported to contain historic Soviet classified C2 and P1 resources which indicate a global exploration target ranging from 11 million to as much as 179 million tonnes grading from 0.38% to 0.65% Nickel and from 0.13% to 0.29% Copper. This historic estimate suggests that the Souker property could contain in excess of 1 billion pounds of nickel. Investors are cautioned that the potential quantity and grade of the historic estimate is conceptual in nature and that there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in the confirmation or discovery of a mineral resource.
The Souker Property lies within the Pechenga Nickel Belt, one of the major nickel producing regions of Russia, approximately 180 kilometers west of Murmansk in the northwest corner of the Kola Peninsula. The main highway from Murmansk to the Norwegian border lies on the north edge of the property and there is excellent access to power, water and a local work force. A Norilsk nickel smelter is located twelve kilometres west of the property in the city of Nikel, while a second, locally owned smelter is located 14 kilometres east of the property in the town of Zapolyarny.
Nickel-copper mineralization occurs in the deposit as disseminated, semi massive and massive sulfides within a gently dipping sequence of ultramafic flows, intrusives and sediments. The deposit, including the higher grade mineralization, outcrops at surface and has excellent geometry for open pit mining. In 1985, a Soviet State approved resource was calculated by Gipronickel Institute using 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5% Ni cut off grades to the maximum drilled depth of 1,000 meters. The details of the estimates are tabulated below.
Historic Soviet Resource Estimates
|
Nickel cut off grade, % |
Soviet Resource Category |
Ore reserves, x1000t. |
Average grade |
Metal reserves, | ||
|
Ni |
Cu |
Ni |
Cu | |||
|
0.3 |
С2 |
71,788 |
0.39 |
0.13 |
283.4 |
92.2 |
|
Р1 |
107,338 |
0.37 |
0.14 |
395.0 |
151.0 | |
|
С2+Р1 |
179,126 |
0.38 |
0.13 |
678.4 |
243.3 | |
|
0.4 |
С2 |
14,611 |
0.55 |
0.22 |
80.4 |
32.4 |
|
Р1 |
28,082 |
0.46 |
0.20 |
129.4 |
54.8 | |
|
С2+Р1 |
42,693 |
0.49 |
0.20 |
209.8 |
87.2 | |
|
0.5 |
С2 |
6,444 |
0.68 |
0.28 |
436 |
18.2 |
|
Р1 |
4,818 |
0.63 |
0.31 |
30.2 |
14.8 | |
|
С2+Р1 |
11,262 |
0.65 |
0.29 |
73.9 |
31.0 | |
Highlights from the first assay results of the 2007 drill program are tabled below (see news release August 14, 2007):
|
Drill Hole |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Interval (m) |
Ni (%) |
Cu (%) |
|
CP07-05 |
2.8 |
24.3 |
21.5 |
0.53 |
0.24 |
|
CP07-06 |
18.5 |
40.5 |
22.0 |
0.29 |
0.08 |
|
CP07-11 |
0.0 |
46.5 |
46.5 |
0.29 |
0.06 |
The 2007 drill program was initially laid out to achieve a maximum100 metre by 100 metre ore intercept spacing in order to verify and upgrade the historic Soviet resource estimate from a C2 to C1 category (See May 14, 2007 Press Release). The 22 holes completed to date, range from 50 metres to 287.7 metres in depth, for a total of 2810 metres. The drill data from the 2007 drill campaign will also be used to convert the historic Soviet resource into a NI43-101 compliant resource at the end of 2007. All drill data to date from the Souker Deposit is being currently modeled in house and statistics from analytical results will be used to determine what intercept spacing will be required for classifying JORC ("Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee") defined resource categories.
