FINLAND - SCANDINAVIAN GOLD of Toronto reported this week that smelter-grade concentrates can be produced from its Keivitsa nickel-copper-PGE deposit in northern Finland. Bench-scale flotation tests showed that a nickel concentrate with at least 8% Ni and less than 0.8% Cu can be produced at a recovery rate of 70% Ni. At 60% recovery, concentrates with 8-12% Ni were possible. The copper concentrates produced assayed 20-26% Cu and 0.5-0.6% Ni.
This new option for the treatment of Keivitsa ores is encouraging. Scandinavian Gold has commissioned the building of a mini-pilot program to fine-tune the flowsheet. This program will also produce concentrate samples for evaluation by smelters that have expressed interest in treating the material.
The company is considering two scenarios in parallel for the development of Keivitsa, in order to determine the best means of bringing the project into production. One is based on the production of separate nickel and copper concentrates suitable for sale to smelters, as outlined above. The other involves the treatment of a bulk concentrate by pressure acid leach.
In view of the latest results, Scandinavian gold intends to embark on a new prefeasibility study based on open pit mining of between 2 million and 4 million tonnes of ore per year, with production of separate nickel and copper concentrates for sale to smelters. This study is scheduled to begin in August and to be completed by early 2006.
Keivitsa is one of the largest mineral discoveries in Finland's history, hosting a probable reserve of 120 million tonnes within an indicated resource of 150 million tonnes and an inferred resource of 315 million tonnes. As such, it constitutes one of the world's major undeveloped sulphide nickel deposits.
A history of the Keivitsa property and its geological context is available at www.ScandinavianGold.com.
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