Lac du Bonnet, Man. — As nickel exploration properties go, you would be hard-pressed to find a more accessible one than Maskwa, about a 2-hour drive northeast of Winnipeg, Man.
In quick succession,
Situated about 60 km from the town of Lac du Bonnet, close to the Ontario border, the Maskwa property hosts both the Maskwa and the Dumbarton deposits, which saw considerable nickel and copper production in the late 1960s and 1970s.
In 1999, the Maskwa deposit was estimated to host a measured resource of 2.7 million tonnes grading 1.27% nickel, 0.21% copper, 0.04% cobalt, and 1.37 grams platinum plus palladium per tonne to a vertical depth of 335 metres. (The estimate preceded National Instrument 43-101.)
Mustang has initially concentrated its drilling below the Maskwa open pit, aiming to improve the certainty of the historic resource. To date, 16 holes have been drilled, intersecting significant nickel-copper mineralization.
One hole cut three zones of mineralization between 90 and 125 metres down-hole. This hole intersected: 4.6 metres grading 1% nickel and 0.16% copper at 90 metres; 10.7 metres grading 1.4% nickel and 0.35% copper (including 3 metres of 1.85% nickel) in hangingwall zones; and 8.2 metres of 1.26% nickel and 0.27% copper (including 3.7 metres of 1.6% nickel and 0.27% copper) in the Maskwa zone.
Another hole hit 16 metres grading 1.74% nickel and 0.12% copper at a down-hole depth of 261 metres, including a 1.5-metre section of 2.98% nickel.
The holes were drilled along a 400-metre strike and to a maximum vertical depth of 275 metres. Every hole intersected the zone. Apart from the aforementioned intersections, 13 holes cut 0.97-1.7% nickel over widths of 4.7-18.3 metres. Several holes contained narrower intervals with higher grades.
The layered Bird River sill extends for 8 km across the property and hosts the Maskwa nickel deposit along its basal contact with andesite. The Maskwa zone varies from 3 to 18 metres in width and averages 10 metres.
In the core, the mineralized zone is associated with altered ultramafic rock; serpentinite and talc-carbonate give the core a greasy feel. Up to 25% finely disseminated, net-textured sulphides (pyrrhotite, pyrite, pentlandite and chalcopyrite) are present.
In the hangingwall and footwall of the Maskwa zone, a couple of holes intersected massive sulphide veins about 0.25 metre wide, which graded 3.5-3.8% nickel, 0.96-3.2% copper, and 0.15-0.2% cobalt.
The sill is about 1 km thick and intercalated with metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks belonging to the Archean Bird River greenstone belt. The property is cut by numerous north-northwest-trending faults and block faults.
From 1974 to 1976, about 332,000 tonnes were mined by open-pit methods from the Maskwa deposit to a vertical depth of 46 metres. This ore graded 1.16% nickel and 0.2% copper, and contained about 15% sulphides.
The open pit is flooded and looks like a narrow lake bordered on one end by outcrop. A couple of gossans with local malachite staining are the surface expression of the mineralization. They are capped by overburden and fall steeply into the water. Nearby, about 50 metres from the pit, lies a large pile of broken rock, which is waste that was hauled from the pit.
Access to the Dumbarton deposit, 1.2 km east of Maskwa, was made possible by ramp and underground development between 1969 and 1974. Dumbarton produced 1.5 million tonnes grading 0.81% nickel and 0.3% copper and was mined to a vertical depth of 150 metres along a 430-metre strike length.
The Dumbarton nickel deposit was hosted along a contact between granite and andesite in sporadic contact with sulphide facies iron formation.
To the east is the F-zone copper deposit, which was partially developed by ramp and underground workings.
Mustang President Robin Dunbar says that in the next 18 months the company is aiming to prove up an initial reserve of 4.5 million tonnes, and that this should support annual production of 680,000 tonnes (15-20 million lbs. nickel) over seven years.
At US$4 per lb. nickel, cash flow for the operation is estimated to be $30-40 million. The spot price for nickel has not traded that low in more than a year, and on the last day of September, the nickel spot price rose more than US50 to close at US$7.30 per lb.
Mining was carried out by Maskwa Nickel Chrome Mines, a unit of
Geophysics
In 1998, Quantec carried out geophysical surveys that outlined 14 conductive zones of interest.
The Maskwa and Dumbarton deposits stand out on the geophysical maps, and several other anomalies have similar signatures. West of the Dumbarton deposit, the anomaly is offset by a fault. There are major untested anomalies.
Ken Lapierre, Mustang Minerals’ vice-president of exploration and chief geologist on the project, stresses the “blue-sky potential” of the property. He explains that Falconbridge concentrated on production and left a huge area unexplored. A number of the anomalies are covered by swamp and need to be drilled.
Another advantage for the company is the low-cost electricity available in Manitoba. Manitoba Hydro boasts that it has “the lowest published electricity rates in North America.” The property is already connected to a power grid.
A large corrugated steel warehouse, a portion of which is currently used for core logging and storage, stands directly beside the ramp that was used to gain access to the Dumbarton deposit.
Between 1996 and 2000, Canmine, which had acquired the property from Maskwa Nickel Chrome Mines, carried out geophysical surveys, drilled 47 holes, and initiated environmental and scoping studies.
The 12.5-sq.-km property comprises a mining lease as well as mineral claims. The mineral lease has a 21-year term, and the surface lease allows for a 2,000-ton-per-day operation. Environmental monitoring is still required prior to permitting. The mining lease is near the edge but within Nopiming Provincial Park. The claims extend the property outside the park.
The mineral rights are owned by Global Nickel, a unit of Mustang Minerals. There is a 1% net smelter return royalty payable on the property.
In addition to the Maskwa property, Mustang has properties in the Timmins and Sudbury areas.
The Bannockburn nickel property, about 100 km southeast of Timmins, has been covered by an airborne electromagnetic survey, and multiple targets have been identified. Part of the property is optioned from
Mustang discovered the C-zone and has drilled it to a vertical depth of 235 metres.
Twelve holes intersected the zone at the contact between komatiite and dacite and hit widths of 1-8 metres grading 1.1-2.4% nickel and 0.03-0.09% cobalt. An initial resource estimate is being calculated.
At mid-August, Mustang had 40.2 million shares outstanding (49.9 million shares fully diluted). Shares at presstime were trading at 45-50, and the 12-month high is $1.25.
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