“Bigger and better than Raglan.” That sums up the view of First Marathon Securities regarding Diamond Fields Resources’ (TSE) Voisey Bay nickel-copper-cobalt project in Labrador. “There is little doubt that this is the most significant base metals find in Canada for many years,” analyst John Lydall notes in his latest research report.
This bullish view, as well as the favorable comparisons with Falconbridge’s Raglan deposits in northern Quebec, is based on the results of drilling to date, and on reports that two recent holes, drilled to test an eastern electromagnetic anomaly, have resulted in a new discovery.
Assay results are still awaited for these two holes, which Diamond Fields says returned “significant intercepts” of disseminated and semi-massive sulphides within a troctolitic host similar to the ovoid structure. The geometry of this eastern discovery is not yet understood, and the structure is being defined by means of additional drilling.
Two rigs are at work on the site, and a third is being mobilized. The company says it will soon release results from holes 95-12 through 95-19, as well as a map showing the location of drill holes.
These results, obtained from drilling within the large wine-glass-shaped zone (the original discovery area), are expected to be encouraging. Diamond Fields notes that all 17 holes drilled within the wine-glass-shaped body intercepted “significant intercepts of massive sulphide(s).”
Drilling is continuing to block out tonnage, and the company expects it will soon be in a position to announce reserves, once all holes drilled on 50-metre centres have been completed and assays are returned. An airborne geophysical survey is being flown over all Diamond Fields’ 1,800-sq.-km claim blocks. The survey is aimed at identifying additional targets for ground-testing during this summer’s field program. First Marathon says a large, high-grade reserve is emerging at Voisey Bay, a reserve that, combined with metallurgy which appears to be excellent and the possibility of open-pit mining with a low stripping ratio, has the makings of a highly profitable mine.
Raglan, in comparison, features a combination of open-pit and underground reserves, together with metallurgy that is considered more complex. Minable reserves at Raglan, where a $400-million mine has been proposed, are estimated at 13.9 million tonnes grading 2.96% nickel and 0.77% copper. Of this total, 1.9 million tonnes grading 3.23% nickel and 0.85% copper are reported to be minable by open-pit methods.
“There is little doubt that Voisey Bay, which is much farther south and only six miles from tidewater, could be much more profitable than Raglan,” First Marathon notes.
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