Norrland Gold to drill Vittantrasket Project, Sweden
Norrland Gold Corp. [TSXV-NORR; FSE-8VC] provided an update on substantial amendments and improvements in the Swedish regulatory framework, enabling the company to commence the previously announced drilling campaign at the Vittantrasket Project
The amendments of most significance for Norrland include: requirements for municipal water and environmental permits prior to drilling are now abolished. These requirements were major bottlenecks.
The requirement for a permit for motorized transport in the terrain during drilling is abolished.
In general, political as well as public perceptions of exploration and mining have greatly improved, demonstrated by the following (for example):
On May 23, 2024, the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act entered into force, giving priority to mining projects of national interest over other land uses.
Environmental impact assessments of Natura 2000 areas are now only required at the mining stage as part of the process of an application for an environmental permit for mining, not prior to that stage. This was earlier a major bottleneck.
After the improvements, the required environmental permit as well as the consent of the stakeholders were granted to Norrland in record time.
The anomalies at Vittantrasket will now be the subject of shallow exploratory drilling to investigate the geology below recent glacial moraine cover.
The Vittantrasket tenement is covered by one of the most substantial soil geochemical gold anomalies in Sweden.
A significant north-south-trending magnetic-high anomaly is partly overlapping the area covered by anomalous gold-in-moraine samples, taken during the widely spaced regional surveys of the Swedish Geological Survey (SGU).
Moraine is unsorted boulder debris left behind by the glaciation of northern Europe approximately 10,000 years ago. Since that time, the moraine has been in situ and subjected to natural geochemical processes. The moraine cover is substantial in the gold-prospective region in northern Sweden; thus, potential exists for previously undiscovered deposits.
A shallow subsurface scout drilling program will start by the end of August 2024 by conventional track-mounted drilling equipment to interpret the geology. Results from the program are expected on or around the end of the third quarter of 2024.
Anders West, CEO, commented: “It is encouraging to note the Swedish government actions that are supportive for mineral exploration. I look forward to upcoming drilling and updating the market in due course.”