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In 1993, Albert Chislett and Chris Verbiski of Archean Resources Ltd.,
discovered significant sulphide mineralization south of Nain, Labrador.
In August 1996 Inco Limited purchased the Voisey Bay property from Diamond
Fields for $4.6 Billion.
 The Voisey’s Bay Mine commenced production in 2005, with reported
reserves of 17.2 million tonnes of ore grading 2.38% Ni, 1.34% Cu and 0.11%
Co (2013 proven and probable reserves).
The Voisey’s Bay open pit nickel mine will be expanded to include
underground mining and extending the life of the mine to 2035.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has also agreed to allow Vale to
delay completion of its $4-billion nickel processing plant in Long Harbour.
Nickel concentrate from Voisey’s Bay won’t be processed at Long Harbour until
sometime in 2015. Vale can continue sending nickel concentrate to processing
plants in other provinces until Long Harbour is completed.
“Voisey’s Bay is a world-class nickel deposit, but it is not the largest
or richest example of its type; based on its contained nickel metal, it is
probably the seventh largest in the world. However, it is probably the only
place in today’s world where high-grade nickel sulphide ores are known to sit
close to deep-water access…Large, high-grade nickel deposits are rare,
because they are difficult exploration targets. The large exploration
expenditures in Labrador in the post-Voisey’s Bay years have still only
scratched the surface of a remote and poorly explored region.”A. Kerr,
VOISEY’S BAY AND THE NICKEL POTENTIAL OF LABRADOR
The Voisey’s Bay district is at a very early stage of exploration and
development compared to other world‐class
nickel and base metal districts, such as Sudbury, Ontario and Thompson,
Manitoba.
Equitas Resource TSX.V - EQT
The Voisey’s Bay deposit is associated with a geological feature known as
the Voisey’s Bay Intrusion (VBI).
The VBI is a body of igneous rock, which is a type of that rock
crystallized from a magma that rose in the Earth’s crust over a billion years
ago.
These igneous rocks are mostly made up of rocks called gabbro and
troctolite - which have higher nickel contents than most other
common rock types (at Voiseys Bay the most significant nickel host rock is
troctolite).
These rock types most often occur under a thin layer of younger granite
with surface outcrops making up only a small proportion (10% or less) of the
surface geology.
Nickel exploration programs in the surrounding area have historically
considered that the best potential for additional nickel discoveries lie
within rocks of similar composition to the Voisey’s Bay Intrusion (troctolite
and olivine gabbro).
Areas known, or suspected, to be underlain by gabbroic and troctolitic
rocks are prime exploration targets. This situation may exist immediately
south of Voisey’s Bay, where existing mapping shows mostly granite and
anorthosite.
Garland Nickel‐Cobalt‐PGM Project
Equitas Resource’s (TSX.V: EQT) Garland nickel‐cobalt‐PGM
project is located approximately 30km’s south‐east
of Vale's Voisey’s Bay mine in Labrador, Canada.
The Garland Project was acquired after a systematic review of historic
exploration data generated since the original Voisey’s Bay staking rush of
1994.
The review showed the Garland Property to be within a suitable geological
host rock setting, and with strikingly similar features when compared to the
Voisey’s Bay Mine area. Since the discovery of the Voisey’s Bay deposit in
the early 1990’s, small parcels of Equitas’ Garland Property have been owned
and explored by nine separate companies. This is the first time that this
large property has been consolidated under one ‘roof.’
 
Historical exploration methods focused on the use of outdated frequency
domain airborne Electro‐Magnetic
(“EM”) surveys which have very shallow depth penetration capabilities
(estimated at 75 meters or less).
Reconnaissance rock sampling and mapping has covered only a fraction of
the Property.
Equitas plans to employ the latest VTEM Max technology (over the entire
25,050 hectare property), which has the potential to penetrate up to about
750 meters depth.
The survey results will be integrated with existing airborne gravity and
magnetic data, thus allowing for the rapid identification of geophysical
targets similar to other magmatic nickel-copper sulfide occurrences in the
area (ie. Voisey’s Bay).
Targets will be ground tested with applicable ground geophysics and
geological mapping/sampling to identify high priority targets that may
warrant drilling.
Conclusion
Modern, advanced technology should provide a new understanding of
geological information critical to defining quality drill targets.
Historic exploration barely scratched the surface of the Garland Property,
while the latest VTEM Max technology will provide information on the geophysical
characteristics of rock types (ie. magmatic sulfide deposits like Voisey’s
Bay) to considerable depth. This is an important step for this project
when considering the Voisey’s Bay deposits’ continue from surface to depths
of up to 1,200 meters!
Pure nickel
exploration plays aren't common. Is there an extremely interesting
nickel/cobalt/PGE focused exploration program, in a highly prospective area
for discovery, being run by a fully cashed up junior with a tight share
structure on your radar screen?
If not, maybe there should be.
Richard lives with his family on a 160 acre ranch in
northern British Columbia. He invests in the resource and
biotechnology/pharmaceutical sectors and is the owner of Aheadoftheherd.com.
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***
Legal Notice / Disclaimer
This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or
the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment.
Richard Mills has based this document on information obtained from
sources he believes to be reliable but which has not been independently
verified.
Richard Mills makes no guarantee, representation or warranty and
accepts no responsibility or liability as to its accuracy or completeness.
Expressions of opinion are those of Richard Mills only and are subject to
change without notice. Richard Mills assumes no warranty, liability or
guarantee for the current relevance, correctness or completeness of any information
provided within this Report and will not be held liable for the consequence
of reliance upon any opinion or statement contained herein or any omission.
Furthermore, I, Richard Mills, assume no liability for any direct or
indirect loss or damage or, in particular, for lost profit, which you may
incur as a result of the use and existence of the information provided within
this Report.
Equitas Resource Corp. TSX.V: EQT is a paid sponsor of Richard’s site
aheadoftheherd.com
Richard does not own shares in Equitas.
This article is not paid for content.
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