Nordic Nickel (NNL.AX) has released the assay results from the first diamond drill hole it has completed at the Pulju Nickel project in Finland. Hole HOT001 reached a total depth of just over 1,100 meters and was aimed to start testing the EM conductors and lateral and depth extensions of the existing resource estimate of almost 134 million tonnes at 0.21% nickel.
The deep hole intersected multiple layers of nickel mineralization with for instance 94 meters of 0.20% nickel starting just 6.4 meters downhole followed by several other intersections. The grade is pretty low: 0.20% nickel contains just 4.4 pounds of nickel per tonne of rock so even at $10 nickel, the gross rock value is just US$44/t. That’s great for the open pittable zones but a higher nickel price will be required to ensure the underground zones could be mined at a profit.
Disclosure: The author has no position in Nordic Nickel. Please read our disclaimer.
