Magna Mining drills 0.2% nickel overt 27 metres at Crean Hill, Ontario
Magna Mining Inc. [NICU-TSXV] reported additional assay results from a series of short, near-surface drill holes immediately beneath the surface exposure of the 109 footwall (FW) zone at Crean Hill, Ontario. The surface expression of this high-grade platinum group metal zone has been identified as a potential site for an exploration bulk sample in late 2023, which could be processed through a third-party mill in Sudbury. The technical assessments necessary for such a third party milling agreement are already underway and are expected to conclude in Q3 2023. Additionally, Magna is pleased to provide an update on the progress of the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) that was initiated in Q4 2022.
Highlights: MCB-23-018 returned 0.2% nickel, 0.1c% copper, 5.4 g/t platinum-palladium-gold over 27.0 metres, including 0.2% Ni, 0.1% Cu and 11.2 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 3.9 metres and 0.4% Ni, 0.2% Cu and 11.1 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 5.7 metres.
MCB-23-021 returned 0.2% Ni, 0.5% Cu and 7.3 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 16.9 metres:, including 0.4% Ni, 5.3% Cu and 11.0 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 0.3 metres and 1.2% Ni, 7.7% Cu and 12.3 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 0.3 metres.
Jason Jessup, CEO, stated: “Activities at Crean Hill are progressing on schedule. The additional 109 FW zone assay results reported today are part of a definition drilling program to improve our understanding of the near surface mineralization in this area. The near surface location of this high-grade mineralization, along with the proximity to third-party mills in Sudbury, will allow for a low-cost bulk sampling program and we expect to be able to fund the surface bulk sample from our existing cash balance. The surface bulk sample is expected to be completed before the end of the year, and it will be a significant step towards our goal of producing from near surface underground zones of the Crean Hill deposit via ramp access in in early 2024.”
Drilling continues to intersect near surface, high-grade precious metal mineralization, and improve the understanding of the distribution of mineralization within the footwall breccia.
Magna is also pleased to provide an update on the progress of the ongoing Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), which is nearing completion, and expected to be released in late July.
The PEA base-case will consider Crean Hill as a stand-alone operation, with mineralization processed through one of the third-party mills in Sudbury. In Section 24 of the PEA, an alternative processing scenario will be evaluated, where Crean Hill material is processed through a future mill at Magna’s Shakespeare Project.
Dave King, senior vice-president of technical services, added: “The drilling that Magna has completed since releasing the Mineral Resource Estimate for Crean Hill has been quite positive and has greatly enhanced our understanding of the footwall zones at the deposit. We now believe that with more detailed wireframing and block modeling, there may be improvements to the grade of both the 101 and 109 FW zones. After internal discussions, the decision has been made to not include any of Magna’s drilling in the PEA, in order to have the PEA completed and released in Q3. These results, along with the remaining 7,000 to 8,000 metres of drilling yet to be completed in 2023, will be included in the next technical study.”
Magna Mining is an exploration and development company focused on nickel, copper and PGM projects in the Sudbury Region of Ontario, Canada. The company’s flagship assets are the past producing Shakespeare and Crean Hill Mines. The Shakespeare Mine is a feasibility-stage project which has major permits for the construction of a 4,500 tonne per day open pit mine, processing plant and tailings storage facility and is surrounded by a contiguous 180 km2 prospective land package. Crean Hill is a past producing nickel, copper and PGM mine with a technical report dated August 2022.