Some Royal Nickle Information for New, Interested InvestorsDigging Deeper into RNX Kambalda Gold Bonanza This find was no accident. Rather, it was the result of a deliberate strategy at Beta Hunt to focus on small-scale mining in specimen gold areas, which has seen its grades increase for six consecutive quarters to 3.14 grams/tonne at the end of July. The mine had also begun targeting deeper sections of the host Lunnon Basalt formation than before, after drilling indicated improving grades with depth. This resulted in an increase in indicated resources from 92,000 ounces to 239,000 ounces in December 2017.
The geological setting of the mineralisation gives significant potential for further deposits along strike and down dip, or in parallel gold lodes. Indeed, the model that directed geologists towards this discovery was developed when enrichment in the A Zone and Western Flanks of Beta Hunt was found to repeat in the less well-understood Fletcher trend.
The Beta Hunt Mine sits in the Kambalda region near the mining hotspot of Kalgoorlie, approximately 630km east of Perth. Although the Kalgoorlie area is best known as a gold field, Beta Hunt was run from the 1970s as a nickel operation, with gold extraction only commencing in 2015. The nickel mineralisation in the region occurs, predictably, in a Kambalda-type deposit.
The Father’s Day find was the first at the site to be located entirely within the Lunnon Basalt, and is associated with two narrow (<0.3m) sediment layers within the Lunnon formation. These horizons consist of strongly pyritic black shales located around 150m below the basalt-komatiite contact, and regionally signify the boundary between the Upper and Lower Lunnon Basalt.
Geologists at the mine believe that gold-bearing fluids interacted with this reducing, sulphur-rich horizon, allowing for the growth of large gold crystals. In particular, the Father’s Day Vein occurs in a zone of dilation and shearing, which would have concentrated fluid flow during the gold deposition event.
The discovery of the extent of this mineralisation process in well-documented strata opens up new potential for gold exploration in the Kambalda region. The Beta Hunt mine stands to gain particularly from this, since it lies in a prime location on the Lunnon Basalt, which extends for kilometres at depth.
Naturally, the mine is now expected to attract dramatically more interest. Other selling points include over 100 million AUD invested in an extension of the underground ramp system, an expert team of 114 employees already established, and a desirable position close to the infrastructure of one of the largest mining provinces in the world.
RNC is a nickel-focussed company whose chief asset is the Dumont Nickel Project in Qubec, a shovel-ready deposit expected to become the world’s fifth largest nickel-sulphide operation after development. Dumont contains proven and probable nickel reserves of approximately 1,177 million tonnes at 0.27%, and is also believed to be the second largest undeveloped cobalt reserve in the world.
The mineralisation occurs in a serpentenised dunite layer of a large sill that intrudes the Superior geologic province. In addition to Dumont and the Beta Hunt Mine, RNC has a 27% stake in the copper-gold producing Reed Mine in Manitoba, which will cease operation in Q4 2018. RNC also owns stakes in exploration projects at Qiqavik (Au), West Raglan (Ni-Cu-PGE) and part of the Hudbay Reed Exploration Joint Venture (Cu-Au). The Beta Hunt Mine is operated by an RNC subsidiary, Salt Lake Mining Pty Ltd.
