VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 14, 2022 /CNW/ - FPX Nickel Corp. (TSXV:
FPX) (OTCQB: FPOCF) ("FPX" or the "Company") is
pleased to report an updated mineral resource estimate for the
Baptiste Nickel Project ("Baptiste" or the "Project")
at the Decar Nickel District ("Decar") in central British
Columbia. The 2022 mineral resource estimate incorporates
results from 2021's in-fill drilling program and is based on a new
geological modelling approach and newly improved dike model, all of
which contribute to significantly improved Davis Tube Recoverable
("DTR") nickel grades. The 2022 mineral resource estimate
also reports, for the first time, the content of total nickel and
potential by-product elements, cobalt and iron.
Highlights
- Significant improvement in DTR nickel grade, with a 6% DTR
nickel grade increase in the indicated category and a 15% increase
in the inferred category
- First-time reporting of total nickel content facilitates more
accurate benchmarking to other large-scale nickel projects and
highlights the potential for recovery of non-DTR nickel in the
Baptiste deposit
- First-time reporting of DTR cobalt and DTR iron contents
highlights potential new byproduct value sources for Baptiste
- Improved mineral resource modelling approach and estimate basis
developed in collaboration with Equity Exploration Consultants Ltd.
("Equity") and Next Mine Consulting Ltd. ("NMC")
- An independent third-party review of the new modelling and
estimation approach by SLR Consulting Ltd. ("SLR", formerly
Roscoe Postle Associates)
- 2022 mineral resource estimate will serve as the basis for the
upcoming Baptiste Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS"),
which is forecast for completion in the second half of 2023
"The new mineral resource estimate highlights the potential for
improved project economics owing to a material increase in DTR
nickel grade and new opportunities for recovery of cobalt and
non-DTR nickel contained in the Baptiste deposit," noted
Martin Turenne, FPX's President and
CEO. "This marks an important de-risking step in the ongoing
development of Baptiste as a large-scale, low-cost and low-carbon
nickel project, setting the stage for the completion of our current
metallurgical program which will culminate with the production of
battery-grade nickel sulphate in the first quarter of 2023."
Approach
The new Baptiste Mineral Resource estimate incorporates results
from 2021's successful in-fill drilling program (see the Company's
news release dated March 14, 2022).
The 2021 program included 17 holes totaling 2,856 metres,
bringing total resource drilling to-date to 99 holes, totaling
33,695 metres. As previously reported, the 2021 Baptiste
resource drilling program targeted the conversion of near-surface,
higher-grade inferred resources to the indicated category.
The new modelling approach includes defined geological
sub-domaining, grade shell modelling and more accurate modelling of
dilutive dikes; collectively better representing the scale and
characteristics of the Baptiste deposit. This compares to the
previous approach applied in the 2020 Preliminary Economic
Assessment ("PEA") which solely used lithology domains and
an assumed 3% removal of rock mass to account for waste or dike
sections within the deposit.
Summary of Results
As seen in Table 1, along with updated tonnage and DTR nickel
grades, the 2022 mineral resource estimate now includes total
nickel, DTR cobalt, and DTR iron that all provide new potential
value sources for Baptiste. In addition, the reporting of
total nickel grade facilitates more accurate benchmarking with
other large-scale nickel projects.
Table 1: 2022 Baptiste Deposit Pit-constrained Mineral
Resource Estimate*
Category
|
Tonnes
(Mt)
|
Grade
|
Contained
Metal
|
DTR
Ni
(%)
|
Total
Ni
(%)
|
DTR
Co
(%)
|
DTR
Fe
(%)
|
DTR
Ni
(kt)
|
Total
Ni (kt)
|
DTR
Co
(kt)
|
DTR
Fe
(kt)
|
Indicated
|
1,815
|
0.129
|
0.211
|
0.0035
|
2.40
|
2,435
|
3,828
|
64.4
|
43.5
|
Inferred
|
339
|
0.131
|
0.212
|
0.0037
|
2.55
|
444
|
720
|
12.5
|
8.6
|
*Notes for Tables 1 and 2:
- Mineral Resource estimate prepared by Richard Flynn, P.Geo of NMC using ordinary
kriging within grade shell domains and inverse distance squared in
dike domains.
- Resources are reported using the 2014 CIM Definition
Standards and were estimated in accordance with the CIM 2019 Best
Practices Guidelines.
- Davis Tube magnetically-recovered ("DTR") nickel is the
nickel content recovered by magnetic separation using a Davis Tube,
followed by fusion XRF to determine the nickel content of the
magnetic fraction; in effect a mini-scale metallurgical test. The
Davis Tube method is the global, industry standard metallurgical
testing apparatus for recovery of magnetic minerals.
- Indicated resources are drilled on approximate 200 x 200
metre drill spacing and confined to mineralized lithologic domains.
Inferred resources are drilled on approximate 300 x 300 metre drill
spacing.
- A cut-off grade of 0.06% DTR Ni was applied.
- An optimized pit shell was generated using the following
assumptions: US $8.50 per
pound nickel price; pit slopes between 42-44°; nickel payability of
96%; mining recovery of 97% DTR Ni; process recovery of 85% DTR Ni;
exchange rate of US$1.00 =
C$0.77; and total operating cost and
minimum profit of US$9.37 per
tonne.
- Totals may not sum due to rounding.
- Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have
demonstrated economic viability.
As seen in Table 2, contained DTR nickel metal in the indicated
category remains unchanged at 2.435 million tonnes, with an
approximate 9% reduction in tonnage offset by an approximate 6%
increase in DTR nickel grade. The indicated grade increase is
primarily due to (a) the introduction of grade shell modeling; and
(b) the exclusion of near or below cut-off grade material within
the mineralized zone through the improved dike model; and (c) the
conversion of previously inferred higher-grade material through the
inclusion of 2021 in-fill drilling data.
In the inferred category, tonnage is down by 42%; however, the
average DTR nickel grade has increased by 15% which mutes the
reduction in contained DTR nickel metal to 34%. The reduction
of inferred tonnage is due to (a) conversion of inferred to the
indicated category; and (b) the exclusion of near or below cut-off
grade material at the periphery of the mineralized zone through the
new geological modelling approach.
Table 2: Updated Baptiste Resource Estimate vs. 2020 PEA
Resource Estimate
Category
|
Tonnes
(MT)
|
Grade
(DTR Nickel)
|
Contained Metal
(DTR Nickel, kt)
|
2020
PEA
|
2022
Resource
Estimate
|
Change
(%)
|
2020
PEA
|
2022
Resource
Estimate
|
Change
(%)
|
2020
PEA
|
2022
Resource
Estimate
|
Change
(%)
|
Indicated
|
1,996
|
1,815
|
-9 %
|
0.122
|
0.129
|
+6 %
|
2,435
|
2,435
|
-
|
Inferred
|
593
|
339
|
-42 %
|
0.114
|
0.131
|
+15 %
|
675
|
444
|
-34 %
|
Geological Model Update
The new modelling approach includes defined geological
sub-domaining, new grade shell modelling and an improved dike model
to provide an improved basis for the exclusion of near or below
cut-off grade material for mine design purposes. This
compares to the previous approach, applied in the 2020 PEA, which
solely used lithology domains and an assumed 3% removal of rock
mass to account for waste or dike sections within the deposit.
The new grade shell modelling methodology includes grouping of
DTR nickel intercepts into high-, medium-, and low-grade
domains. As seen in Figure 1, this approach defines two
high-grade DTR nickel domains (>0.10% DTR nickel), each
surrounded by a medium-grade domain (0.08-0.10% DTR nickel) and
collectively bound by a low-grade halo (0.06-0.08% DTR nickel).
This grade shell domaining has been used in conjunction with
geological sub-domaining to further refine and accurately model the
internal deposit variability.
The newly improved dike model incorporates data from 2021's
in-fill drilling program, previously unincorporated oriented core
drilling, surface geophysics, and lithological logging.
Within the deposit, two dike swarms are interpreted to strike
northwest to southeast and wrap around the intrusion to the east of
the deposit. The updated interpretation now has a 95%
coincidence between wireframes and assays. The previous
explicit model had a much lower coincidence at less than 65%, which
means dike grades in the 2020 mineral resource estimate were
associated with serpentinized peridotite and vice versa.
Dikes are non-mineralized, steeply dipping, and have widths
ranging from an average of 2 to 3 metres up to 15 metres.
Separation of dike and mineralized material during mining is
considered feasible due to the consistency of dike orientation and
visual distinction between the respective rock types. Figure
1 presents a plan view of the grade shell model within the
mineralized peridotite and the orientation of the dike
swarms. Figure 2 presents a cross section through the
thickest part of the deposit (Section A-A' from Figure 1).
The Company expects to publish the results of the updated
Baptiste Mineral Resource estimate with a NI-43-101 compliant PFS
report in the second half of 2023.
Data Verification
The data used in this Mineral Resource estimate is supported by
industry standard Quality Assurance and Quality Control
("QA/QC") procedures, such as the insertion of certified
standards and blanks into the sample stream and the utilization of
certified independent analytical laboratories for all assays.
Historical QA/QC data and methodology on the project were
reviewed and will be presented in detail in the upcoming PFS
technical report. No significant QA/QC issues were discovered
during review of the data.
All geological data used in the Mineral Resource estimate was
reviewed and verified by Ron
Voordouw, PhD, P.Geo. (Director of Geoscience at Equity) and
Richard Flynn, P.Geo. (Principal
Consultant at NMC). Mr. Voordouw and Mr. Flynn visited the
Baptiste project from July
3rd to 5th, 2022. The site visit
included a review of historical and recent drill core; a review of
procedures used to collect, record, store and analyze project
exploration data; independent sampling of ten duplicate assays sent
for analysis; observation of drill hole locations; and an overview
of claim/property boundaries.
NMC compared a portion of the original laboratory data
certificates, geological logs, and downhole deviation in surveys
within the drillhole database. The database subset was
compared line-by-line to the fundamental data and no material
errors were observed during the review. The verification data
represents approximately 5% of total drilling.
Assays were composited at 5 metres to match the block size in
the z-direction. DTR nickel composite grades within the
updated grade shell sub-domains of the mineralized peridotite and
the dikes illustrate adequate stationarity.
Specific gravity was assigned based on lithology with only minor
changes from the 2018 values; updating was based on an additional
224 measurements to bring the total number of measurements to
1,202.
Estimation
Kriging parameters, search parameters and anisotropy were
determined with semi-variograms for DTR nickel content using
composites falling within the mineralized domains. As
presented in Figure 3, models showed a maximum range of 1,500
metres. The resulting search ellipsoid has a major axis
trending at an azimuth of 110° with a near vertical semi-major
axis.
The block model was created in Leapfrog Edge using a block size
of 10 metres x 10 metres x 5 metres, while the previous block model
was created in Surpac using a block size of 10 metres x 10 metres x
10 metres.
DTR nickel grades within the corresponding domains were
estimated in two passes using ordinary kriging ("OK") for
grade shells and inverse distance squared ("ID2")
for the dikes. A single pass nearest-neighbour ("NN")
estimate was used to decluster composites for use in model
validation swath plots. The anisotropy conforms to the search
ellipsoids derived from the variogram models. Locally varying
anisotropy was used for all grade shell and dike domains. The
grade shells utilized concentric patterns that honoured the shape
of their "nested" contacts and samples should be paired as such for
estimation. The high-grade shell also used the major axis of
the variogram model.
Resource classifications used in this study conform to the CIM
Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves
(CIM, 2014). To be classified as Indicated material, a block had to
be:
- Estimated using composites from three separate holes and
restricted to the one of the four mineralized sub-domains (high-,
medium-, and low-grade shells or in the dike domain); and
- Within a 200-metre drill spacing
Blocks not classified as indicated were assigned to the inferred
category if they fell within a 300-metre drill spacing and used a
minimum of two holes.
Qualified Persons
The scientific and technical information contained in this news
release pertaining to the Baptiste deposit has been reviewed and
approved by the following qualified persons under NI 43-101:
- Mineral Resource estimate: Richard
Flynn, P.Geo., Principal Consultant at Next Mine Consulting
Ltd.
- Data QA/QC: Ron Voordouw, PhD,
P.Geo., Director of Geoscience at Equity Exploration Consultants
Ltd.
- Geology: Erin Wilson, P.Geo.,
Principal Geologist at FPX Nickel Corp, and Richard Flynn, P.Geo.,
The qualified persons have verified the information disclosed
herein and are not aware of any significant risks and uncertainties
that could be expected to affect the reliability or confidence in
the information discussed herein.
Additionally, an independent third-party review by SLR
Consulting (formerly Roscoe Postle Associates) was undertaken of
the new modelling and estimation approach.
About the Decar Nickel
District
The Company's Decar Nickel District claims cover 245
km2 of the Mount Sidney Williams
ultramafic/ophiolite complex, 90 km northwest of Fort St. James in central British Columbia. The district is a two-hour
drive from Fort St. James on a
high-speed logging road.
Decar hosts a greenfield discovery of nickel mineralization in
the form of a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy called awaruite
(Ni3Fe), which is amenable to bulk-tonnage, open-pit
mining. Awaruite mineralization has been identified in four target
areas within this ophiolite complex, being the Baptiste deposit,
and the B, Sid and Van targets, as confirmed by drilling,
petrographic examination, electron probe analyses and outcrop
sampling on all four targets. Since 2010, approximately
US$28 million has been spent on the
exploration and development of Decar.
Of the four targets in the Decar Nickel District, the Baptiste
deposit, which is the most accessible and has the biggest surface
footprint, has been the focus of diamond drilling since 2010 with a
total of 99 holes and 33,695 m of
drilling completed. The Sid target was tested with two holes
in 2010 and the B target had a single hole drilled in 2011; all
three holes intersected nickel-iron alloy mineralization over wide
intervals with DTR nickel grades comparable to the Baptiste
deposit. At the Van target, the Company followed up 2021's
highly successful maiden drilling program with an aggressive
step-out program in the summer of 2022, with results forecast for
sequential release in the fourth quarter of 2022 and first quarter
of 2023.
About FPX Nickel Corp.
FPX Nickel Corp. is focused on the exploration and development
of the Decar Nickel District, located in central British Columbia, and other occurrences of the
same unique style of naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy
mineralization known as awaruite. For more information, please view
the Company's website at www.fpxnickel.com or contact
Martin Turenne, President and CEO,
at (604) 681-8600 or ceo@fpxnickel.com.
On behalf of FPX Nickel Corp.
"Martin Turenne"
Martin Turenne, President, CEO and
Director
Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain of the statements made and information contained
herein is considered "forward-looking information" within the
meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements
address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks
and uncertainties, as disclosed in the Company's periodic filings
with Canadian securities regulators. Actual results could differ
from those currently projected. The Company does not assume the
obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
SOURCE FPX Nickel Corp.