With receipt of the permit to take water, Magna Mining (TSXV: NICU; OTCQB: MGMNF) says its 100%-owned Crean Hill nickel-copper project is fully permitted for advanced exploration and test mining. The underground workings can now be dewatered. The project is focused on the former Crean Hill mine at Sudbury, Ont.
Magna plans to take a 400,000-tonne bulk sample from surface and underground. A ramp will be developed to reach the 101 footwall, 109 footwall, and Intermediate zones for test mining. Material will be crushed on the surface, sampled, and shipped to Vale’s Clarabelle mill for processing.
Magna CEO Jeson Jessup said his company acquired Crean Hill in November 2022. He is proud that his company could advance the project to this point in only 17 months.
“This is a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to our team and the jurisdiction in which we are building our company,” he said. “Magna plans to initiate the surface bulk sample on the 109 FW zone by the end of Q2 2024 and commence portal construction and underground advanced exploration in the second half of 2024."
Test mining will allow reconciliation against the current resource block model, confirm continuity of the high-grade mineralization, and further de-risk the project. Currently the company is drilling several short diamond drill holes in the area of the surface bulk sample which will facilitate the final bulk sample design.
A second drill is active testing geophysical anomalies in the footwall environment, approximately 300 metres south of the Main Contact zone at Crean Hill.
Underground exploration will include areas of the 101 footwall zone and Intermediate Contact zone, which were drilled by Magna in 2023. Highlights of this drilling include holes MCR-22-005 which intersected 4.0% nickel, 0.7% copper, and 0.7 g/t platinum, palladium, and gold (Pt+Pd+Au) over 31.1 metres, and MCR-23-042 which intersected 4.2% nickel, 1.4% copper, and 1.0 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 27.6 metres.
Magna completed a preliminary economic assessment of Crean Hill in the last half of 2023. It included an indicated resource of 16.8 million tonnes grading 0.53% nickel, 0.49% copper and an inferred resource of 434,000 tonnes at 0.43% nickel and 0.49% copper within a proposed pit. Resources suitable for underground mining include 14.5 million indicated tonnes at 0.96% nickel and 0.84% copper plus 1.2 million inferred tonnes grading 0.61% nickel and 0.46% copper.
Crean Hill was mined sporadically from 1906 to 2002, during which time about 20 million tonnes or ore were recovered at an average grade of 1.31% nickel and 1.09% copper.
Click here to see a video providing an explanation of Sudbury footwall deposits on the Magnan website.
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