Decided to take a peek at past nickel miners in the vicinity of, Shaw Dome area.
Wanted to know what type of ore geology is present and if, dunite was present along with sulphide nickel - turns out - both forms of feology are indigenous to this zip code -
Former nickel grades were a tad richer, and could it be a result of,
former operators pulled nickel from several types of ore geology ?
Which begs.... I wonder if EV Nickel is performing specialized assay tests to not only detect nickel in sulphides but also in dunite - whereas, nickel goes into solid solution ( olivines ).
EV's geologist ( based on video interviews ) sounds like he has racked up knowledgable years studying minerals in, Australia, which can in some cases have similar nickel geology to that of the Shaw Dome area.
EXCERPT - The Shaw Dome volcanic succession is divided by Pyke (1980) into two lithostratigraphic Groups, the Deloro and Tisdale.
The Deloro Group is subdivided into two Formations. The lower, Formation H, is composed almost entirely of calc-aflcaline basaltic and andeshic flows with subadiary pyroclastic rocks which increase upwards to dominate at the top of the formation. Pyke placed the upper boundary of this formation at the base of the first recognizable and persistent unit of dacitic volcanic rocks, most of ' which are pyroclastic. A
series of semi-continuous peridotitic to dumtic komatiitic units within the upper part of the Deloro Group (Formation ID), were interpreted as intrusive sills by both Muir (1979) and Pyke (1980). This was based on the massive nature and mineralogy of these bodies. In keeping with recent re-interpretation of similar lenticular bodies of peridotite/dunhe in Western Australia, especially whhin the Agnew-Wihina belt, Le. Agnew and Six Mile Well complex, these units are more likely to be extrusive flows. On this basis, much, if not afl of Pykes Formation m (the upper part of the Deloro Group) would fall within Formation IV (the lower part of the Tidsdale Group).
The nickel sulphide deposits are within Formation IV. Formations TO. and IV are readily identifiable, around the perimeter of the Shaw Dome, using regional airborne magnetic and electromagnetic survey data, as a belt, 3km to 5km in width; consisting of a series of overlapping, lensoidal areas of high magnetic susceptibility, paralleling regional stratigraphy, whh numerous associated input EM conductors. Whhin this beh, the areas of highest magnetic susceptibility correspond largely to komatiitic peridotite and dunite units. Areas of lowest magnetic susceptibility are generally underlain by calc-alkalic units. Areas of intermediate magnetic susceptibility are underlain by both komatiites and komatiitic rocks; especially komatiitic basats but also, locally, altered komatihes and komatiitic peridotite^ and calc-alkalic rocks.
The komatntes and komatiitic rocks tend to be naled with the upper end of the range of susceptibilities and the cate-alkalics with the lower end, considerable overlap, however, does occur. The distributional patterns formed by the areas of high and low magnetic susceptibility are complex and vary along strike, around the dome. In our opinion, these patterns are almost entirely the result of primary stratigraphic distribution rather than tectonic disruption or repetition. The reasons for this opinion wffl become apparent later in this report. LINK - 1992 RPORT - https://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/afri/data/imaging/42A07SW0032/42A07SW0032.pdf
WHAT TYPE OF MINERALS IN ... Komatiite:
- An ultramafic, volcanic rock that is primarily composed of the minerals pyroxene and olivine.
HISTORICALS As one can read in the report above,
historical nickel grades were far higher which is quite interesting,
Pentlandite and
two other forms of nickel were factored.
PERMANENT MAGNETS - Interesting tid bit.... According to our invention alloys containing ,5 to 70% cobalt, 10 to 50% nickel and 20 to 85% copper are employed in the manufacture of } permanent magnets. I still think, under valued CNC would be wise to scoop up EV Nickel, while they're still in pre resource calculation mode.... CNC would be the " big boy " on the block having not only upper Timmins but
also, lower Timmins nickel trends.
A good move for EV Nickel? Send ores to nearby mill see what type of concentrate they could obtain, and...
create a secondary contingency whereas, the what if a Sudbury major would want the nickel concentrates - an idea....Instead of walking the route of, bioleaching which most often creates incredible downtime for small juniors and dips into the sharestructure - simple concentrate shipped to Sudbury would place them on a - fast track - an idea...
Cheers....