Palladium One (PDM) - Doubles Their Resource & Increases Payables

Palladium One Mining Inc. is a Canadian exploration and development company operating in the Platinum Group Elements (PGE) Nickel-Copper green energy metals space. The company operates in tier 1 jurisdictions and has assets in Finland and Canada. The Tyko property of the company is located in Ontario, Canada.

Matthew Gordon spoke with Derrick Weyrauch the President and CEO, and Neil Pettigrew, the Vice President of Exploration for Palladium One Mining Inc. (TSX-V:PDM) to discuss the company’s recent activities. 

Company Overview

The Läntinen Koillismaa (LK) project of the company is located in north-central Finland and is 100% owned by Palladium One Mining Inc. The project area is covered by exploration permit renewals, new applications, and exploration reservation applications. The exploration permit applications of the project are divided into the Kaukua group consisting of the Kaukua and Murtolampi targets and the Haukiaho group which encapsulates the Lipeävaara and Haukiaho and Salmivaara targets.

The company recently released an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at the Kaukua area of the LK Project. The updated MRE boasts a 248% increase in resources and has highlights including 1.1 million ounces of total precious metals (TMP), 111 million pounds of copper, 92 million pounds of nickel and 5 million pounds of cobalt in the indicated category. The MRE also boasts 1.1 million ounces TMP, 173 million pounds copper, 152 million pounds nickel, and 8 million pounds cobalt, in the inferred category.

Palladium One Mining Inc. believes that the MRE coupled with metallurgical test work and the ability to produce copper and nickel concentrate through a conventional flotation recovery process improves the project economics as well as further de-risks it.

The company will focus the bulk of its exploration drilling initiatives in 2022 on its Tyko Ni-Cu project. The exploration drilling will be funded by the proceeds obtained by the company through its USD$ 4.35 million non-brokered private placement deal consisting of flow-through shares at the end of 2021. The company plans on being aggressive in its exploration approach with it envisioning having three drill rigs turning at some point at the project

Palladium One Mining Inc. also plans to continue its exploration initiatives at the LK project in the coming year which will together with its accelerated baseline environmental studies be aimed at advancing the completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the project.

Recent developments at the Läntinen Koillismaa (LK) Project

The Läntinen Koillismaa (LK) Project of Palladium One Mining Inc. is a 100% owned platinum group elements (PGE), nickel and copper operation located in north-central Finland, approximately 40 km north of the company’s exploration office in Taivalkoski.

The project area is divided into two groups namely the Kaukua Group consisting of the Kaukua and Murtolampi targets and the Haukiaho Group covering the Lipeävaara and Haukiaho targets as well as Salmivaara, which represents the eastern and western extension of the Haukiaho area.

Palladium One Mining Inc., in late April 2022, released two noteworthy announcements regarding the LK project. namely an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) of the project and information regarding the company’s phase 2 metallurgical testing program. The NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate was prepared under the supervision of SLR Consulting Ltd, whilst the phase 2 metallurgical testing program was conducted by SGS.

LK Project Resource Update

Palladium One Mining Inc. is able to boast that the most recent mineral resource estimate (MRE) of the LK-project, that it published, was 248% larger than its predecessor in the indicated category and 14% larger in the inferred category, 44% of the MRE is classified as resources in the indicated category.

The indicated category of the new MRE consists of 1.1 million ounces of total precious metals (TMP) which consists of palladium, platinum and gold. The average TMP grade is 0.89 g/t, with the indicated category further including 111 million pounds of copper at a grade of 0.13%, 92 million pounds of nickel at a grade of 0.11% and 5 million pounds of cobalt at a grade of 65 g/t.

The Inferred category of the MRE consists of 1.1 million ounces of TMP at a grade of 0.68 g/t, 173 million pounds of copper at a grade of 0.16%, 152 million pounds of nickel at a grade of 0.14% and 8 million pounds of cobalt at a grade of 74 g/t.

The mineral resource estimate further includes a waste to ore ratio, also referred to as a strip ratio, of 1.48:1 in the Kaukua Area of the project which includes the Murtolampi area and a 0.58:1 strip ratio at Haukiaho. The MRE further assumes a Net Smelter Return (NSR) cut-off of USD$ 12.50 per ton, based on a 20,000 ton per day milling rate. The MRE also envisions three open pits in the Kaukua Area, including Murtolampi, and one open pit at Haukiaho, which is located 10 km to the south of Kaukua.

The LK project remains open at strike as well as at depth, with the MRE only covering 5 km of the 38 km marginal strike. Reconnaissance drilling previously conducted indicated mineralization along nearly the entire strike length of the project. The near-term mineralisation targets of the company include two additional open-pit targets in the Kaukua area and multiple open-pit targets along with the 17 km Haukiaho trend.

LK Project Phase 2 Metallurgical testing

The phase 2 metallurgical testing program of the LK project was conducted by SGS and consisted of approximately 1 metric ton of mixed material from the Kaukua and Kaukua South areas of the project. The metallurgical testing found consistent recovery rates throughout the project, with the palladium equivalent not being affected by the grade of the ore. The nickel recovery however is slightly affected by grade, this is due to a silicate nickel component, resulting in lower recoveries as the grade drops.

The phase 2 metallurgical testing program was able to produce both high-value copper and high-value nickel concentrate by implementing a conventional three-stage flotation circuit. The metallurgical testing program was able to repeatedly produce the concentrates. The produced copper concentrate showed a grade of 30.0% copper with 1.43% nickel, 0.1% cobalt, 38.3 g/t palladium, 13.1 g/t platinum and 11.2 g/t gold. The composition of the copper concentrate represents a value of USD$ 6,300 per ton of concentrate. The produced Nickel concentrate showed a composition of 4.8% nickel, 3.9% copper, 0.2% cobalt, 40.8 g/t palladium, 11.0 g/t platinum and 2.9 g/t gold which represents a value of USD$ 4,200 per ton of concentrate. The concentrates both have high iron and sulphur content with very low magnesium oxide (MgO), which results in it having a higher allure to the market.

The metallurgical testing achieved a 1.2% mass pull, which suggests low transportation charges. The term mass pull refers to the weight of the concentrate in relation to the amount of ore processed. The mass pull of 1.2%, in this case, means that 1.2% of the initial ore remains. The company will implement the results of the phase 2 metallurgical test work to evaluate the best business case regarding smelter selection and supply.

Palladium On Mining Inc. will implement the results of the phase 2 metallurgical test work and the updated mineral resource estimate, towards the creation of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), whilst it pursues its exploration efforts at its Tyko Ni-Cu project in Canada.

Tyko Ni-Cu Project exploration initiatives

The Tyko Ni-Cu project of Palladium One Mining Inc. is located 25 km north of the Hemlo mining complex, near White River in northwestern Ontario. The project consists of 143 km2 of claims and is accessible by road and trail. The Smoke Lake Zone of the project showed mineralisation of up to 9.9% nickel equivalent (NiEq) over 3.8 m in previous exploration initiatives. Palladium One Mining Inc. was awarded the Bernie Schnieders Discovery of the Year Award in 2020 for the Smoke Lake discovery.

The bulk of the company’s 2022 exploration initiatives will be focused on several multi-line VTEM anomalies where highly anomalous soil sample values of copper, nickel and cobalt were discovered in 2021. The company believes in following a systematic approach to target identification which has served it well in the past. Palladium On Mining Inc. announced in the middle of May 2022, that it had received three of the five exploration drilling permits for its planned diamond drilling program. The drilling program will consist of 15,000 m of drilling scheduled to begin at the end of May 2022. The drilling program will be aimed at several targets at the project, which include the Bulldozer North, Bulldozer South and West Pickle Lake multi-line VTEMmax anomalies.

The West Pickle Lake Anomaly is believed to represent a continuation of the RJ and Tyko Zones of the project, which have in the past returned mineralisation of 1.04% nickel and 0.23% copper. The VTEM analysis of the project suggests semi-massive to massive sulphide occurrences, with soil samples that were taken at the anomaly having returned up to 153 ppm copper and 116 ppm nickel in the past.

The Bulldozer North and South Anomalies are large mafic-ultramafic targets at the Bulldozer intrusion. The Bulldozer North and South Anomalies represent the first Electro Magnetic (EM) anomalies detected within the intrusion, which has shown copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum group elements historically. The historic soil sampling conducted by Palladium One Mining Inc. in 2021 at the Bulldozer South anomaly showed mineralisation of up to 891 ppm copper and 142 ppm cobalt.

The exploration drilling will be funded by the proceeds obtained from the company’s USD$ 4.35 million non-brokered private placement deal which consisted of flow-through shares at the end of 2021. The company plans on being aggressive in its exploration approach with it envisioning having three drill rigs operating at the Tyko Ni-Cu project at some point in the future.

Future

Palladium One Mining Inc. will continue its exploration of the LK project in the coming year. The exploration will be aimed at increasing and/or defining the size of the LK Project. The company has also accelerated the completion of baseline environmental studies of the project, which will be aimed at initiating the creation of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the LK project. The PEA will be based on the current mineral resource estimate of the project

The company is also awaiting the final two exploration drill permits it submitted its application for in early September 2021. The company continues to respond to any queries or requests from the relevant authorities and believes that it will receive the outstanding permits in the near future.

To find out more, go to the Palladium One Mining website