Properties prospective for large, near-surface, sulphide nickel deposits
Nickel demand to accelerate fueled by rising adoption of electric vehicles
Vancouver, British Columbia, July 2, 2020 – Inomin Mines Inc. (TSX.V: MINE) is pleased to announce the filing of a technical report (“Technical Report”), in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101“), for the Beaver and Lynx sulphide nickel properties located in south-central, British Columbia.
Highlights
- Large volumes of relatively shallow uniformly distributed sulphide nickel occurs at Beaver property
- Drilling of 25 drill holes at Beaver has delineated nickel and cobalt in four zones over 3 km total strike
- Nickel intersected 8 to 150 metres in thickness grading 0.17% to 0.34% total nickel
- Nickel mineralization amenable to conventional floatation extraction techniques
- Initial exploration at nearby Lynx property suggest comparable nickel results to Beaver
Inomin’s 100% owned Beaver-Lynx nickel project consists of the Beaver and Lynx properties totaling 20,190 hectares, located 15 – 25 kilometres east and southeast respectively of Taseko Mines Ltd.’s Gibraltar Mine in British Columbia’s Cariboo Mining Division. Initial exploration at Beaver, including geophysical surveys and diamond drilling programs during 2013 – 2015, demonstrated the properties’ potential to host large areas of near-surface, disseminated nickel and cobalt, amenable to conventional extraction methods.
Magnetics surveys have proven very effective at delineating large areas prospective in magnetite serpentinite hosted rocks associated with nickel. At Beaver, airborne and ground magnetic surveys have identified four magnetite serpentinite zones with a cumulative strike length of approximately 10 kilometres. Three drill programs totaling 25 holes (2,718 metres) at Beaver intersected sulphide nickel mineralization in shallow dipping magnetite-rich serpentinites in all four zones. Nickel and cobalt grades were quite uniform in all zones, delineating nickel between 10 to 150 metres in thickness grading 0.18% to 0.28% nickel.
Given the positive drill results related to areas of significant magnetite serpentinite rocks, Beaver displays potential to host multiple zones of large, disseminated, sulphide nickel. Cobalt occurs with nickel mineralization ranging from 0.009% to 0.012% cobalt. The less explored Lynx property (no drilling) is geologically similar to Beaver with larger-bearing nickel zones. Lynx also covers the highest nickel stream and lake sediment nickel anomaly in the region.
In 2015, SGS Canada Inc. completed a QEMSCAN (Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscopy) metallurgical study on a sample from Beaver’s South Lobe zone demonstrating that 91% of the nickel is present in a recoverable form. Of the 91% recoverable nickel, 48% is Heazlewoodite, 42% Pentlandite, and just 1% forms the nickel alloy awaruite.
The Beaver and Lynx properties are easily accessible via all-season paved roads; a network of forestry roads provide access within the grounds. Other important complementary infrastructure nearby includes electricity and railroad. Skilled workers, laboratories, and supplies are available locally including from the resource city of Williams Lake situated about 20 kilometres south of Lynx. The topography of the properties is relatively flat, ideal for mining.
Demand for nickel for electric vehicle (EV) batteries is expected to increase considerably over the coming decade. Wood Mackenzie is predicting nickel demand to almost double, growing from 2.29 million tons in 2018 to over 4 million tons by 2040, creating significant potential supply shortages in the coming years. Most electric vehicles rely on lithium-ion batteries, with the main component comprised mostly of nickel. Sulphide nickel, also referred as “Class 1” nickel, is the type most sought by EV battery manufacturers.
John Gomez, President of Inomin says, “The Beaver and Lynx properties provide the potential to delineate significant class 1 nickel resources in a mining-friendly, infrastructure-rich, Tier-1 jurisdiction. Initial exploration demonstrates the properties are of sufficient scale to be attractive to mining companies seeking large, long-life, low-cost project opportunities. With the recent consolidation of our land position and filing of our maiden technical report, we look forward to working with a partner to advance Beaver-Lynx.”
The June 24, 2020 Technical Report is available on the Company’s issuer profile at SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and Inomin’s website www.inominmines.com.
About Inomin Mines
Inomin Mines is engaged in the identification, acquisition and exploration of mineral properties. The company holds a 100% interest in the Beaver-Lynx sulphide nickel project in south-central British Columbia, and the Fleetwood zinc-copper-gold-silver VMS project in south-west British Columbia. Inomin also owns 100% of the King’s Point gold-copper-zinc project in Newfoundland under option to Maritime Resources Corp. (TSX.V MAE). Inomin trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol MINE. For more information visit www.inominmines.com and follow us on Twitter @InominMines.
Inomin Director, L. John Peters P.Geo, a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.
On behalf of the board of Inomin Mines:
Inomin Mines Inc.
Per: “John Gomez”
President and CEO
For more information please contact:
John Gomez
Tel. 604.566.8703
Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will”, “would”, “may”, “could” or “should” occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
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