Riddarhyttan picks up property in Finland

Swedish-based and -listed Riddarhyttan Resources has expanded its land package in northern Finland by acquiring the Iso-Kuotko property immediately north of its Suurikuusikko gold deposit.

Iso-Kuotko, which covers the extension of the northeast-striking Suurikuusikko shear zone, was offered for tender by the Finnish government. The Finnish Geological Survey discovered gold showings on the property in 1987 and, to 1999, had drilled 93 holes on four separate prospects: Kati, Tiira, Nimeton and Retu.

Gold mineralization at Iso-Kuotko is similar to that at Suurikuusikko, occurring in pyrite-arsenopyrite-quartz-carbonate veins in shear structures. The host rocks are Kittila greenstones of Proterozoic age. Some of the better intersections on the Iso-Kuotko prospects are in the range of 2-5 metres grading 9-38 grams gold per tonne.

Iso-Kuotko, about 15 km north of Suurikuusikko and 50 km northeast of Kittila in Finnish Lapland, is a potential satellite operation for Riddarhyttan’s main project at Suurikuusikko. There, a resource of 8.3 million tonnes grading 6.1 grams gold has been blocked out, up from 1.5 million tonnes grading 6.6 grams when the project was let out for tender by the government.

Ongoing feasibility studies at Suurikuusikko have estimated a cash production cost of US$140-154 per oz. in a 125,000-oz.-per-year operation. Recent metallurgical tests on Suurikuusikko bulk samples gave recoveries of more than 88%; plans call for the sulphides to be floated and the concentrate to be bio-oxidized, followed by a cyanidation stage. The arsenopyrite-rich Suurikuusikko material is excellent for the bacteria used in the bio-oxidation process, and the tailings products contain an immobile arsenic compound, rather than environmentally dangerous arsenic trioxide.