Nordic Nickel flags string of ‘encouraging’ exploration results from Pulju Project, Finland

Nickel sulphide explorer Nordic Nickel (ASX:NNL) has defined further wide zones of nickel sulphide mineralisation at the Hotinvaara prospect within its flagship Pulju Nickel Project in northern Finland.

The company, which has a $27.65 million market capitalisation, says these latest results come from diamond drilling in the area and confirm the presence of an ‘extensive’ nickel system with ‘significant’ potential at Hotinvaara.

As a result, Nordic believes these results show the potential to ‘significantly’ expand the current Hotinvaara Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), with an updated MRE scheduled for completion later this year.

Nordic reports that the nickel mineralisation is pervasive and disseminated by nature within discrete ‘high-grade’, semi-massive, and net-textured sulphide zones.

The company notes results delivered a peak assay nickel (Ni) grade of 4.66% Ni obtained in HOT006 and also demonstrated the presence of shallow, anomalous copper intersected for the first time in HOT003.

Key results include hole HOT006 with 199.1m @ 0.22% Ni from 20.9m and 25.3m @ 0.29% Ni from 340m, including 0.6m @ 4.66% Ni and 0.1% cobalt (Co) from 359.6m; and hole HOT003 with 20m @ 0.26% Ni and 0.01% Co from 284m, including 2.4m @ 0.73% Ni and 0.03% Co from 288m that included 0.4m @ 1.68% Ni and 0.06% Co from 288m.

The results were generated from 3 diamond holes (HOT002, 003, and 006) completed as part of the company’s maiden diamond drilling program at the Hotinvaara prospect. Drilling is focused on the dual exploration strategy of targeting ‘high-grade’ massive nickel-copper sulphides of a similar style to the nearby world-class Sakatti deposit.

Drilling is currently paused for a planned break during the northern hemisphere summer and is scheduled to restart in early August 2023. Samples are currently being submitted for core cutting and assaying, with results expected to be received every 3-4 weeks.

Speaking on the results, Nordic Nickel Managing Director Todd Ross says: “Nordic’s maiden drill campaign continues to confirm historical drilling and, importantly, expand the mineralisation footprint at Hotinvaara. The wide intersections of shallow disseminated nickel sulphides we are seeing in the assays bode well for when we re-evaluate the Mineral Resource at the end of the Phase One drilling program. 

The high-grade nickel sulphide intersections are highly encouraging, confirming that the mechanisms for the massive sulphide formations were operating at Hotinvaara.

When drilling re-commences after the northern summer break, our activities will continue to focus on zones of both known and potential massive sulphides and systematically step out from historically drilled areas with the aim of expanding the Mineral Resource. 

“THE HIGH-GRADE NICKEL SULPHIDE INTERSECTIONS ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGING, CONFIRMING THAT THE MECHANISMS FOR THE MASSIVE SULPHIDE FORMATIONS WERE OPERATING AT HOTINVAARA”

Based on what we are seeing at Hotinvaara, the company believes that the Pulju project has the potential to host multiple world-class nickel deposits and thereby produce for many generations the critical minerals desperately needed for the energy transition.”

Nordic Nickel is an ASX-listed explorer that holds a district-scale landholding of ‘highly prospective’ nickel sulphide tenements in the world-class Central Lapland Greenstone Belt of Finland.

The company’s Pulju Nickel Project contains mafic-ultramafic lithologies analogous to Anglo American’s nearby world-class 44Mt Sakatti copper-nickel-PGE deposit, with historical drilling confirming the presence of widespread nickel sulphide mineralisation, including a number of high nickel tenor massive sulphide veins.

Nordic Nickel had $8.02 million cash at hand as of 31 March 2023, according to its latest quarterly report.