In 1993, Albert Chislett and Chris Verbiski of Archean Resources Ltd., discovered significant sulphide mineralization south of Nain, Labrador.
In August 1996 Inco Limited purchased the Voisey Bay property from Diamond Fields for $4.6 Billion.
The Voisey’s Bay Mine commenced production in 2005, with reported reserves of 17.2 million tonnes of ore grading 2.38% Ni, 1.34% Cu and 0.11% Co (2013 proven and probable reserves).
The Voisey’s Bay open pit nickel mine will be expanded to include underground mining and extending the life of the mine to 2035.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has also agreed to allow Vale to delay completion of its $4-billion nickel processing plant in Long Harbour. Nickel concentrate from Voisey’s Bay won’t be processed at Long Harbour until sometime in 2015. Vale can continue sending nickel concentrate to processing plants in other provinces until Long Harbour is completed.
“Voisey’s Bay is a world-class nickel deposit, but it is not the largest or richest example of its type; based on its contained nickel metal, it is probably the seventh largest in the world. However, it is probably the only place in today’s world where high-grade nickel sulphide ores are known to sit close to deep-water access…Large, high-grade nickel deposits are rare, because they are difficult exploration targets. The large exploration expenditures in Labrador in the post-Voisey’s Bay years have still only scratched the surface of a remote and poorly explored region.” A. Kerr, VOISEY’S BAY AND THE NICKEL POTENTIAL OF LABRADOR
The Voisey’s Bay district is at a very early stage of exploration and development compared to other world‐class nickel and base metal districts, such as Sudbury, Ontario and Thompson, Manitoba.
Equitas Resource TSX.V - EQT
The Voisey’s Bay deposit is associated with a geological feature known as the Voisey’s Bay Intrusion (VBI).
The VBI is a body of igneous rock, which is a type of that rock crystallized from a magma that rose in the Earth’s crust over a billion years ago.
These igneous rocks are mostly made up of rocks called gabbro and troctolite - which have higher nickel contents than most other common rock types (at Voiseys Bay the most significant nickel host rock is troctolite).
These rock types most often occur under a thin layer of younger granite with surface outcrops making up only a small proportion (10% or less) of the surface geology.
Nickel exploration programs in the surrounding area have historically considered that the best potential for additional nickel discoveries lie within rocks of similar composition to the Voisey’s Bay Intrusion (troctolite and olivine gabbro).
Areas known, or suspected, to be underlain by gabbroic and troctolitic rocks are prime exploration targets. This situation may exist immediately south of Voisey’s Bay, where existing mapping shows mostly granite and anorthosite.
Garland Nickel‐Cobalt‐PGM Project
Equitas Resources' (TSX: V.EQT, Stock Forum) Garland nickel‐cobalt‐PGM project is located approximately 30km’s south‐east of Vale's Voisey’s Bay mine in Labrador, Canada.
The Garland Project was acquired after a systematic review of historic exploration data generated since the original Voisey’s Bay staking rush of 1994.
The review showed the Garland Property to be within a suitable geological host rock setting, and with strikingly similar features when compared to the Voisey’s Bay Mine area. Since the discovery of the Voisey’s Bay deposit in the early 1990’s, small parcels of Equitas’ Garland Property have been owned and explored by nine separate companies. This is the first time that this large property has been consolidated under one ‘roof.’
Historical exploration methods focused on the use of outdated frequency domain airborne Electro‐Magnetic (“EM”) surveys which have very shallow depth penetration capabilities (estimated at 75 meters or less).
Reconnaissance rock sampling and mapping has covered only a fraction of the Property.
Equitas plans to employ the latest VTEM Max technology (over the entire 25,050 hectare property), which has the potential to penetrate up to about 750 meters depth.
The survey results will be integrated with existing airborne gravity and magnetic data, thus allowing for the rapid identification of geophysical targets similar to other magmatic nickel-copper sulfide occurrences in the area (ie. Voisey’s Bay).
Targets will be ground tested with applicable ground geophysics and geological mapping/sampling to identify high priority targets that may warrant drilling.
Conclusion
Modern, advanced technology should provide a new understanding of geological information critical to defining quality drill targets.
Historic exploration barely scratched the surface of the Garland Property, while the latest VTEM Max technology will provide information on the geophysical characteristics of rock types (ie. magmatic sulfide deposits like Voisey’s Bay) to considerable depth. This is an important step for this project when considering the Voisey’s Bay deposits’ continue from surface to depths of up to 1,200 meters!
Pure nickel exploration plays aren't common. Is there an extremely interesting nickel/cobalt/PGE focused exploration program, in a highly prospective area for discovery, being run by a fully cashed up junior with a tight share structure on your radar screen?
If not, maybe there should be.