Midland Exploration Inc. (“Midland”) (TSX-V: MD) is pleased to announce the start of an important copper-nickel exploration program in Nunavik, following exploration work from 2020 to 2024, during which new Cu-Ni-Co mineralized showings were discovered.
This new program will be carried out within the framework of the strategic alliance (the “Alliance”), signed in August 2020 between Midland’s wholly owned subsidiary, Midland Base Metals Inc., and Rio Algom Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of BHP Group Limited (“BHP”).
The 2025 exploration program will focus on a new major crustal-scale structure and its subsidiary faults, which were identified during the regional magnetotelluric (“MT”) survey and the Z-Tipper axis airborne electromagnetic (“ZTEM”) survey, conducted in 2022-2023. These structures, previously poorly recognized, are considered favorable for copper-nickel mineralization. The 2025 program will consist of an airborne HeliTEM® time-domain electromagnetic (“TDEM”) survey.
Highlights:
- The regional MT survey completed in 2022 identified a new major crustal-scale structure in a poorly explored area, which is considered favorable for copper-nickel mineralization.
- Several lake-bottom copper-nickel anomalies detected following a 1,383-sample survey conducted in July 2023.
- A helicopter-borne Z-Tipper electromagnetic (ZTEM) survey totaling approximately 8,900 linear kilometers conducted in July 2023 identified several new conductive features.
- New Cu-Ni-Co mineralized intrusions discovered through prospecting in 2024.
- Regional airborne time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) survey (HeliTEM®) totaling approximately 6,600 linear kilometers, to be completed in June 2025.
New Cu-Ni-Co showings and occurrences identified from 2022 to 2024
The Copper-Nickel Exploration Alliance with BHP is primarily targeting mafic troctolite/olivine gabbro intrusive rocks similar to those at Voisey’s Bay and the Nain, but which have been the subject of much less historical exploration in Quebec. Nevertheless, several Cu-Ni-Co prospects and showings have been recently discovered there. The 2024 exploration program focused on a major crustal-scale structure and its subsidiaries, which were identified during a regional MT survey in 2022 and refined during the regional Z-Tipper axis airborne electromagnetic (“ZTEM”) survey conducted in 2023. These previously poorly recognized structures would be potentially favorable for copper-nickel mineralization and were therefore followed up with a lake-bottom sediment survey totaling 1,383 samples in 2023. Prospecting programs in 2022-2023 targeting these structures led to the identification of the Target 22 showing, where selected grab samples returned grades of 0.81% Ni, 0.22% Cu and 0.19% Co. The Soisson Intrusive Suite was also recognized over a distance of 15 kilometers long with some local mineralized outcrops (see Midland press release dated July 3, 2024). The 2024 prospecting campaign identified four (4) unmapped Soisson intrusions as well as mineralization in one of them. Selected grab samples returned grades of 0.3% Cu and 0.4% Ni, suggesting Ni/Cu ratios of approximately 1.5, similar to and/or higher than the ratio obtained in other Soisson intrusions in the area.
Regional MT Surveys Completed in 2022
Regional MT surveys consisting of approximately 230 stations in three blocks were completed in 2022 in the Alliance prospect area. Using a mineralizing systems approach, the objective of the surveys was to identify structures that may have channeled copper-nickel-bearing mafic magmas from the mantle to the upper crust. A major crustal-scale structure (the Abloviak Shear Zone) is evident at the Voisey’s Bay Cu-Ni-Co Mine in Labrador and is interpreted to have been critical to the genesis of the deposit. The 2022 MT surveys identified a new major crustal-scale structure, which is interpreted to cross the entire prospect area. This structure is a high-priority target for copper-nickel exploration.
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