As the world looks to add EV’s to the transportation mix to reduce air pollution the demand for battery metals increases. Nickel is one of these battery metals in demand and there are few new high quality development projects ready to meet this demand. Silver, zinc, copper and even lead are part of this transformation in EV sector. Tartisan is well positioned to be in this battery market through its projects and investments.
Tartisan Nickel Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company whose flagship asset includes the Kenbridge Nickel Deposit near Kenora, Ontario. The Kenbridge Nickel Deposit (Sedar, September 17, 2020) hosts an updated measured and indicated resource estimate of 7.5 Mt of 0.58% nickel and 0.32% copper for a total of 95 Mlb of contained nickel. An additional 0.985 Mt at 1% Ni and 0.62% Cu (22 Mlb contained nickel) were calculated as inferred mineral resources. Pit constrained + out of pit Cu totals 53 Mlbs. Mineralization is open at depth and along strike. The Kenbridge Nickel Deposit is equipped with a 622m deep shaft.
Tartisan also owns equity stakes in: Eloro Resources Ltd. that is exploring the ISKA ISKA project, a Gold, Silver, Zinc and Lead target with a planned 2500m drilling program currently underway in the Potosi district, Bolivia, and the low-sulphidation epithermal La Victoria Gold/Silver Project in Ancash, Peru; Class 1 Nickel & Technologies Limited who are advancing the Alexo-Kelex Dundonald nickel project near Timmins Ontario; and Peruvian Metals Corporation who are operating a toll mill in Peru and announced an exploration and bulk sampling program on the high grade Gold-Silver-Copper Palta Dorada project located in the Ancash Department of Peru.
Tartisan Nickel’s Flagship Project: Kenbridge Nickel Deposit
In 2018 Tartisan Nickel Corp. (formerly Tartisan Resources Corp.) underwent a strategic review of how the Company would move forward in light of weak investment in metals markets. At the time there appeared to be an emerging electric vehicle (EV) movement which Tartisan Nickel Corp. thought was going to become a driving force in the metals market. This thinking lead to a merger with Canadian Arrow Mines Limited, which owned the Kenbridge Nickel Deposit in northwestern Ontario.
The Kenbridge Nickel Deposit was discovered in 1937 by Coniagas and is located in Kenora, Ontario between Fort Frances and Dryden. Falconbridge Limited acquired the property in 1952, began construction in 1954 with a
subsequent mining operation lasting for 2.5 years. A 609 metre deep shaft with two working levels were developed and a bulk sample was extracted. At that time, there was no feasible way to move the ore to facilities, so it was shut down in 1958. The project sat dormant until 2007 when Canadian Arrow acquired the property, completed a 40,000 metre drill campaign and proceeded to establish a NI 43-101 Resource Estimate & Preliminary Economic Assessment (Historic PEA, 2008 various updates in 2010)
The Kenbridge Nickel Deposit is located in a stable political and mining friendly region (New Gold’s Rainy River Gold Deposit is located 80 km to the south) and has all season road access to within 9 kilometres of the deposit.
Kenbridge Nickel Resource Updated Estimates
Tartisan Nickel published (Sedar: September 17, 2020) a NI 43-101 updated resource estimate that outlined a combined open-pit and underground, historic measured and indicated resource of 7.58 Mt at 0.58% nickel, 0.32% copper for a total of 95 million pounds of contained nickel. An additional 0.985 Mt at 1% nickel and 0.62% copper (22 million pounds contained nickel) were calculated as inferred mineral resources. The pit constrained Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources total 5.27 Mt of 0.45% nickel; 0.26% copper; and 0.009% cobalt at an NSR cut-off value of CDN$15/tonne. The out-of-pit Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources total 2.23 Mt of 0.86% nickel; 0.45% copper; and 0.006% cobalt. Inferred Mineral Resources out-of-pit total 0.985 Mt at 1.00% nickel; 0.62% copper; and 0.003% cobalt, at an NSR cut-off value of CDN$60/tonne.
Aster Funds Survey of Kenbridge Nickel Project
Tartisan CEO Mark Appleby said, “the survey picked out the Kenbridge Deposit and has shown the possible extension to the Kenbridge Deposit and three additional trends that relate directly to underlying geology and structure implicit in the Kenbridge Deposit. Of significant interest, the survey found two gold trends as well, which Since the original magnetic survey by Falconbridge Nickel in 1955, approximately 10 detailed geophysical surveys have been conducted over the Kenbridge deposit and property, but none were deep-seeking geophysical studies,” said Tartisan Nickel CEO Mark Appleby. “Since our purchase of the Canadian Arrow assets in February 2018, we have undertaken a careful review of the asset. Our geophysical programs should put our whole geophysical database into a real discovery context so that when we go to drill the Kenbridge property, we will have the best possible target definition.”include the Violet and Nina historic gold occurrences. One of the occurrences is almost 54 hectares in size and covers almost all of three of our staked claims on the border of the Kenbridge property.”
-The Don Pancho property is located in the central region of Peru, nine kilometers west of Trevali Mining’s Santander mine. The Don Pancho’s 1,200 ha. property sits on a polymetallic trend which also includes the world class Iscaycruz and Yauliyacu mines, operated by Glencore. The project is supported by existing mining infrastructure, including gravel access roads, and sits nearby the Tingo hydroelectric plant.
-Historical exploration
The Don Pancho deposit was first identified in 1997. Stellar Mining historically conducted a 2,021-meter diamond drilling program across six holes, all of which intersected zinc-lead-silver mineralizations. Results from this drilling program included grades of up to 4.4 percent zinc, 3.3 percent lead and 61 g/t silver over 1.15 meters and outlined an 800 meter by 200 meter exposed breccia zone on the property. (See table of historic results)
- Upcoming exploration plans
Having analyzed the work conducted on the property, Tartisan believes that the next round of exploration should be conducted with drilling at right angles of the previous holes.
“The Company is excited to start a new phase of exploration targeting lead-zinc-silver-manganese mineralization along this extensive altered brecciated zone,” said Tartisan CEO Mark Appleby. “Besides being located in a prolific polymetallic belt, having a better understanding of the structural controls for locating new mineralized zones and the recent renewed interest in zinc and silver, the Don Pancho property is a great opportunity for our company.”
The Company purchased a 100 percent interest in 13 single cell mining claims in the Vankoughnet Township of Sault Ste. Marie Mining District in Ontario, comprising the Sill Lake Project covering 372.8 ha.The purchase of the Sill Lake Lead-Silver claims is in keeping with the company’s strategy of acquiring advanced properties with long term potential. Sill Lake is an excellent project to generate shareholder value in the short term through exploration and resource development.
The Sill Lake Lead-silver mineralization was discovered at Sill Lake in 1892, when a 30m adit was driven to a 17m internal shaft, with approximately 40m of lateral development to exploit a lead-silver vein. This was later defined by other explorers including some 3750m of diamond drilling along a defined steeply dipping mineralized trend some 850m in length, with mineralized widths varying between 1.5m and 4.5m. The Project has seen two distinct periods of underground development and production and it was estimated that 7,000 tonnes of ore containing lead and silver were mined. In 2010, a historical NI 43-101 Technical Report gave a measured and indicated mineral resource of 112,751 tonnes at 134 g/t silver; 0.62 percent lead, and 0.21 percent zinc. The historic resource estimate used a silver cutoff grade of 60 g/t; but no cutoff grade for the base metal content was used.
-Investments:
In October 2019, Eloro signed an option to aquire 100 percent of the Iska Iska Property in Bolivia covering 900 hectares in the resource rich Potosi Department. Iska Iska is a road accessible, royalty-free property, wholly-owned by the Title Holder and is located 48 km north of Tupiza city, in the Sud Chichas Province of the Department of Potosi. The Property can be classified as a polymetallic (Ag, Zn, Pb, Au, Cu, Bi, Sn, In) epithermal-porphyry complex, which overprints an early higher temperature xenothermal phase.
Geological mapping on the Property has revealed the spatial and temporal zonation of alteration and vein minerals in an area of about 5 square kilometres through the property area.
In August 2019, Eloro performed preliminary evaluation work at Iska Iska that included geological mapping and sampling, whereby 42 channel samples were collected. All of the channel samples included altered wall rock with widths ranging between 1.20 to 5.55m, averaging 2.90 m. Four underground workings were sampled, including the Huayra Kasa which has two branches, one bearing a W-NW direction and the second oriented in a North-South direction, with the latter appearing to be more enriched in gold.
Additionally, the Santa Barbara, Porco and Mine 2 adits were sampled, together with two sectors on surface. Chemical assays were performed at the ALS Laboratory in both Oruro, Bolivia (preparation) and in Lima, Peru (analysis).
The Company signed a Definitive Purchase Agreement with Class 1 Nickel & Technologies Inc. of Perth, Western Australia, formally “VaniCom”, for the sale of a 100 percent interest in the Alexo-Kelex Nickel Project located near Timmins, Ontario. The Alexo-Kelex Project produced 30,138 tonnes of ore averaging 1.92 percent nickel containing 1.3 million pounds of nickel in 2004 and 2005. Historically, the Alexo Deposit produced an additional 57,000 tonnes at 3.6% nickel for a total of 4.5 million pounds of contained nickel.
The Alexo-Kelex deposit estimated total NI 43-101 compliant Indicated Mineral Resources of 571.7k tonnes at an average grade of 0.77% Ni plus Inferred Mineral Resources of 67.2k tonnes at an average grade of 0.63% Ni and only includes the the Alexo and Kelex Mineral Resources, that is open along strike, at depth and down plunge. The deposit also contains appreciable copper and cobalt.
The deposits are classified as Kambalda-style named after similar type-deposits occurring in Western Australia. The Alexo and Kelex deposits are composed of massive to semi-massive nickel sulphide accumulations inhabiting basal embayments along the footwalls of steeply dipping komatiitic ultramafic volcanic flows. The massive, semi-massive sulphides are overlain by stringer, net-textured, blebby and lower grade disseminated sulphide haloes extending upwards and away from the contact. The flows contact with intermediate volcanic country rocks. Other komatiitic hosted nickel sulphide deposits and occurrences in the area include the Redstone, McWatters, Hart, Langmuir 1 and 2, and Texmont.
Peruvian Metals (TSXV:PER) owns an 80 percent interest in the Aguila Norte Process Plant that is strategically located just off the Pan American highway, near Peru’s second largest city, Trujillo. Abundant small-scale mining activity occurs in northern Peru but there are very few independent processing facilities available. The Aguila Norte mineral processing plant hosts crushing, milling, gravity separation and flotation circuits with an initial throughput capacity of 100 tonnes per day. Peruvian Metals is currently processing high-grade polymetallic material and delivering high-value concentrates available for sale to the Peruvian metal trading market for miners. Peruvian Metals and its experienced Peruvian team have been identifying multiple sources of mineral feed to fill the initial process plant capacity. The company is well advanced to receive full permits and licenses which will enable the expansion of the Aguila Norte Process Plant. Expansion is expected to be funded via internal cash flow from plant profitability.
Tartisan Nickle Corp. is traded on the OTC under the ticker symbol TTSRF .This is not investment advice. Please view the disclaimer found on this website.
