Talon Metals Corp., the majority owner and operator of the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project in central Minnesota, confirms the presence of high-grade nickel in the newly discovered “Raptor Zone”, with grades up to 6.93% nickel intersected.
Over the past several months, Talon has been advancing its dual strategy of (i) new exploration along the Tamarack Intrusive Complex, with the primary goal of discovering additional high-grade nickel-copper resources at the Tamarack Nickel Project; and (ii) progressing the requisite drilling, data collection, modelling, and engineering studies and designs to enable Talon to commence the environmental review process that starts the permitting process in the state of Minnesota and completing a feasibility study for the Tamarack Nickel Project. Talon is also progressing planning, design and permitting of its Battery Minerals Processing Facility in Mercer County, North Dakota, which was selected by the US Department of Energy for $114m in grant funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in October of 2022.
Talon CEO, Henri van Rooyen, commented: “Today’s assay results further demonstrate that the United States has additional high-grade nickel growth potential in its mineral endowment. In 1997, the Department of the Interior and US Geological Survey predicted that there were high-grade nickel mineralization zones in the US that are similar to zones in Canada and Russia. They focused on the US Mid-Continental Rift (MCR), which extends from Kansas up through Michigan. Talon is singularly focused on exploring for additional high-grade nickel in the United States to help meet the goals set by Congress and President Biden for a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles and batteries from mining through to recycling.”
Talon has received assay results for the newly drilled Raptor Zone, located nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) outside of the Tamarack Nickel Project’s resource area. Talon believes it has confirmed a new “system” of high-grade nickel-copper mineralization within the Tamarack Intrusive Complex and consequently, is planning to drill an additional 20,000 meters within the Raptor Zone to determine if the 1-2 meters of identified high-grade massive nickel sulphide mineralization further thickens (similar to the Company’s initial discovery within the CGO West area).
Brian Goldner, Chief Exploration and Operations Officer of Talon, said: “These assays confirm that the mineralization drilled in the Raptor Zone is high-grade and that there is exciting potential for additional discoveries within the Raptor Zone. To me, it’s exciting that we have 1500 meters of prospective ground, bookended by intercepts of high-grade nickel mineralization, that has not yet been drilled. There is enough room in this undrilled portion of the Raptor Zone to fit more than 50 of the CGO West resource footprint (discovered by Talon in 2021). The Raptor Zone has all of the criteria needed for a top tier exploration target area – high grades, ample room and within just a few miles of the current Tamarack Nickel Project resource area. The primary objective of the Company’s additional exploration efforts along the Tamarack Intrusive Complex is to enable Talon to identify future mineral resources to support the developing domestic battery manufacturing supply chain from mining through to recycling.”