Inco options Atikokan ground

An option agreement with Atikokan Resources (AKN-V) sets the stage for Inco (N-T) to earn a 55% interest in the junior’s Lumby Lake project in northwestern Ontario. The target is believed prospective for base metals and/or platinum group metals (PGMs).

To earn the interest, the major must spend $1.5 million on exploration and pay Atikokan $200,000 over five years. The partners will form a joint venture to carry out ongoing work.

Inco intends to perform lithogeochemical sampling, geological mapping, deep-pulse electromagnetic surveys and, if warranted, diamond drilling. Atikokan holds other properties in the Lumby Lake region, which will be explored for their base metal and PGM potential. The junior is particularly interested in the Bufo Lake, Richardson Lake and Pinecone Lake areas, where geophysical surveys have identified two standard-frequency horizontal loop-electromagnetic conductors. One is in the Bufo Lake area, situated west of, and on strike with, a known gold and base metal horizon with values of up to 2% copper and 0.31 oz. gold per ton. Two newly identified targets were identified by the Ontario Geological Survey in the Richardson Lake and Pinecone Lake areas.