Nordic Nickel Limited holds a district-scale land package of highly prospective nickel sulfide tenements in Finland’s world-class Central Lapland Greenstone Belt (CLGB). The CLGB hosts several major deposits including Agnico-Eagle’s Kittilä gold mine, Boliden’s Kevitsa nickel-copper mine, and Anglo American’s Sakatti copper-nickel project.
Nordic Nickel is focused on advancing the Pulju Project, with historical drilling having confirmed widespread nickel sulfide mineralization, along with the earlier-stage Maaninkijoki 3 (MJ3) Project. Using modern exploration techniques and partnering with local stakeholders, the company aims to expand known mineralization and make new discoveries.
Nordic Nickel’s goal is to develop traceable, sustainably sourced, low carbon, high purity class 1 nickel sulfides and other battery minerals to supply the enormous forecast growth in demand from electric vehicle manufacturing.
Pulju Project Delivering High-Grade Drill Results
Nordic Nickel’s key asset is the 100% owned Pulju project in northern Finland. Covering 240km2, Pulju already hosts a JORC nickel resource of 278,000 tons (133Mt at 0.21% Ni). Following promising historical drilling and geophysics, the company kicked off an aggressive maiden drilling campaign this year.
Drilling Progress in 2023
15,000 meters of diamond drilling was completed across 28 holes, significantly expanding the project dataset. Importantly, drilling continued to intersect shallow high-grade massive sulfide mineralization, including 4.6% Ni over narrow widths.
While no massive sulfide zones of significant size have been discovered yet, assay results reinforce that the mineralizing system at Pulju is extremely nickel-rich. With further drilling and analysis, Nordic Nickel is vectoring in on thicker zones of high-grade mineralization.
2024 Drilling Campaign
Building on 2023’s success, the company is planning at least 4,500m of follow-up drilling, likely commencing in January 2023. The upcoming program will focus on testing structural targets using the latest geophysical surveys and field mapping data. Additional drilling has strong potential to substantially expand existing resources while making new high-grade discoveries.
Finland Offers Prime Mining Location
As the sole projects are located in northern Finland, Nordic Nickel is well placed to benefit from the country’s extensive mining-related infrastructure. The region offers ready access to skilled professionals and contractors thanks to long-established mining activity and expertise.
While some jurisdictions face multi-year permitting delays, Finland has been actively improving development timelines to support the build-out of its battery metals sector. With Europe aggressively pursuing greater self-sufficiency in critical minerals like nickel, Finland has recognized the need to attract efficiently run junior explorers like Nordic Nickel.
Early Interest from Potential Partners
In just the first 20 months since listing, Nordic Nickel has already received significant third-party endorsement. Industry major BHP selected the tiny company for its competitive global exploration program last year. Automakers and mining companies are also taking notice of Nordic Nickel’s prime nickel ground package.
Several confidential discussions are ongoing regarding potential development partnerships and project acquisitions. While details remain tightly held, this early interest underscores the strategic value of Nordic Nickel’s assets.
Funding Plans
With encouraging drill results in hand, Nordic Nickel is focused on securing additional funding over the next few months. This will support an expanded 2024 field program and subsequent resource estimate updates.
Favourable sentiment towards battery metals projects in Europe may allow the company to source more financing from European institutional investors. Management is also weighing a potential future listing in markets like London or Frankfurt to broaden its investor base.
Conclusion
In just a short period, Nordic Nickel has demonstrated promising initial drilling success and built an extensive portfolio of nickel exploration ground. It operates in a low-risk mining jurisdiction while retaining exposure to surging demand for nickel from the European EV battery industry.
As the company continues drilling at Pulju next year and assessing strategic partnerships, Nordic Nickel appears positioned to create significant investor value. It provides pure-play leverage to further high-grade nickel discoveries in Finland’s rich mineral belts. Risk-tolerant investors may consider initiating a starter position before further drill results.
Source: Crux Investor