AIM-listed explorer 80 Mile has received all exploration permits and signed a definitive agreement with USFM to commence drilling at its Disko nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group elements project in West Greenland, with a 5,000-metre initial drill programme scheduled to begin in the first week of July.
Under the agreement, USFM will fund an initial $30 million to earn up to a 51% interest in the Disko project. The opening drill campaign carries an approved and fully funded budget of $7.5 million provided by USFM. SRK Exploration has been engaged as geological manager, and Forage Fusion Drilling will supply two diamond drill rigs for the campaign — marking the first systematic drilling ever undertaken at the project.
The Disko-Nuussuaq project in West Greenland has been identified as having potential to host mineralisation comparable to the Norilsk-Talnakh nickel-copper sulphide system in northern Russia, one of the world’s most significant base metals deposits. 80 Mile chief operating officer Olga Solovieva said the agreement secured the company a free-carried position for 49% of Disko after its partners spend $30 million, describing it as a major step forward for the company’s Greenlandic mineral assets.
80 Mile, which holds exploration projects across Greenland, Finland and Italy, said it has a first-mover advantage in Greenland having secured what it describes as two of the highest-potential commodity projects known in the country.