Fathom Nickel Inc. [CSE-FNI; OTCQB-FNICF; FSE-6Q5] reported nickel assay results from the seven-hole September drill program completed at the historic Gochager Lake deposit within the company’s 22,620-hectare, north-central Saskatchewan.
Highlights: Continuous nickel-copper-cobalt mineralization occurs in broad halos, which host steeply oriented chutes of very conductive, semi-massive sulphide mineralization grading approximately 1-3% nickel.
Drilling continues to confirm that zones of greater than 1% nickel are associated with zones of high conductivity, as defined by borehole electromagnetic (BHEM) surveys.
A massive sulphide vein intersected in GL23008 returned 3.25% nickel over 0.64 metres; very strong and complex off-hole conductivity (BHEM) responses from this drill hole suggest additional mineralization of this type and grade occurs proximal to this intercept.
Semi-massive sulphide mineralization intersected at approximately 335 metres below surface remains open to depth.
Nickel tenor calculations suggest Gochager Lake mineralization tenor of approximately 3.5 per cent (Ni100), which is comparable with nickel tenors within the Sudbury nickel camp.
Ian Fraser, CEO and vice-president, exploration, stated: “The September drill program was successful in providing insight into the steep orientation of the mineralization we intersected in GL23003 and, importantly, its orientation along strike. It is now very evident that steeply oriented chutes of semi-massive mineralization occur within broad halos of disseminated mineralization. This recent drill campaign intersected multiple halos of broad disseminated mineralization that all have the potential to host additional chutes of semi-massive sulphide nickel-copper-cobalt mineralization.
“BHEM surveys have detected numerous strong off-hole conductors within the broad disseminated mineralization halos. We are also extremely excited and encouraged by the presence of the massive sulphide vein in GL23008. Clearly, massive sulphides equate to high-grade nickel — 3.25 per cent in this case – and the BHEM tells us there is very strong conductivity off-hole of GL23008. BHEM is also telling us we didn’t drill deep enough in GL23008 and several other drill holes as conductivity continues to increase to the end of the drill holes. We have made tremendous strides with only nine drill holes drilled at the Gochager Lake project in 2023. We look forward to continuing this success as we prepare to execute the winter 2024 drill program, which we are planning to initiate in Q1 2024.”
The company will spend the remainder of 2023 continuing to interpret the drilling and geophysical data sets accumulated in 2023. The company’s goal is to drill 3,000 to 5,000 metres in Q1 2024 at Gochager Lake to further delineate the broad mineralized halos and the more conductive and higher-grade mineralization occurring within these halos.
The company now has a portfolio of two high-quality exploration projects located in the prolific Trans-Hudson corridor in Saskatchewan: the Albert Lake project, a 90,000-plus-hectare project that was host to the historic and past-producing Rottenstone deposit (produced high-grade nickel/copper/platinum group elements from 1965 to 1969); and the Gochager Lake project, a 19,000-plus-hectare project host to a historic, NI 43-101 non-compliant open-pit resource – the Gochager Lake deposit (of 4.3 million tonnes at 0.295% nickel and 0.081% copper defined from 1967 to 1970), an analogous drill-tested nickel occurrence of drill intersections greater than 1% nickel (Mal Lake last drilled in 1967), and the Borys Lake zinc/copper/lead plus silver occurrence.
