The Northern Miner Volume 86 Number 2 March 6-12, 2000
EXPLORATION 2000 -- Price rally spawns -- PGM commodity play
By Virginia Heffernan
Special to The Northern Miner
A sustained rally in platinum and palladium prices has rejuvenated exploration for these rare metals and
breathed some life into the sickly junior mining sector.
Platinum rocketed past $500 recently while palladium has tripled in just a few years and had been trading near
US$800 in late February. Prices for the other platinum group metals (PGMs) -- iridium, osmium, rhodium and
ruthenium -- are also robust, because of supply disruptions coupled with increasing demand.
The widening gap between PGMs and slumping gold prices has prompted some juniors to cut their traditional
ties to gold and redirect their exploration efforts towards platinum and palladium. Several projects are now
under way in Canada, South Africa, the U.S. and Brazil, and a handful of juniors has raised significant financing
for the search, mainly through private placements.
Anooraq Resources (ARQ-V), for example, secured $3.2 million to drill the Platreef properties in South Africa,
whereas Muskox Minerals (MSK-V) raised $3 million to explore the Muskox layered intrusion in Nunavut. Pacific
North West Capital (PFN-V) closed a private placement worth nearly $1 million for the company's Canadian
projects.
But PGM exploration is challenging. Although the metals are commonly found in layered mafic intrusions and
associated with nickel-copper sulphide deposits, their distribution tends to be spotty, and economic
concentrations are rare. More than 90% of the world's supply comes from only three mining camps: Bushveld in
South Africa, Noril'sk in Russia and Stillwater in the U.S.
"You need sulphides to come into equilibrium with a very large amount of magma in order to concentrate
platinum group metals in one place," says Anthony Naldrett, emeritus professor in University of Toronto's
geology department and an expert on magmatic sulphide deposits. "This simply doesn't seem to happen very
effectively very often."
Even in the Bushveld complex, which produces about 80% of the world's platinum and contains 90% of global
PGM reserves, concentrations border on the sub-economic, owing to the difficult mining conditions associated
with the deep deposits.
"Its doubtful whether we could mine the Bushveld complex in North America with our more expensive labour and
possibly more stringent environmental regulations," says Naldrett.
Grades at the Stillwater complex in Montana, the only profitable primary producer in North America, are about
four times higher than those of the Bushveld mines, though tonnages are smaller. At the end of 1998, Stillwater
had proven and probable reserves of 36 million tonnes grading 24 grams per tonne palladium and platinum
(mostly palladium), compared with 642 million tonnes grading 5.5 grams per tonne PGMs (mostly platinum) at
Anglo American Platinum's Merensky-Platreef operations.
There are two main sources of PGMs: sulphide-rich nickel-copper deposits in which PGMs are a byproduct,
such as Noril'sk; and primary PGM deposits (mostly stratabound) that occur in mafic-to-ultramafic layered
intrusions, such as Bushveld and Stillwater. The latter are associated with either sulphide or chromitite. Primary
deposits can be elusive because sulphides are often sparsely disseminated or nonexistent.
PGM deposits also tend to be metallurgically complex, which reduces their appeal as exploration targets.
"There needs to be a breakthrough in the metallurgical department to give this sector a boost." says John
Kaiser, editor of the Kaiser Bottom-Fishing Report.
But Kaiser says the massive jump in the palladium price, even if unsustainable at current levels, has
dramatically improved the economics of deposits discovered during previous PGM rushes.
"During the last big exploration waves, the palladium price was negligible, so all these systems were dismissed
as hopelessly uneconomic," he says. "The systems with a dominant palladium credit need to be re-interpreted."
Kaiser believes palladium prices, which are currently responding to supply disruptions in Russia, will eventually
retrench to the US$300-to-$400 level but remain robust because of growing usage in automobile catalysts.
Platinum prices are also expected to remain healthy as demand for the metal for use in computer hard drives,
jewelry and fuel cells grows.
The cost of PGM assays has dropped considerably over the past 20 years, making PGM exploration more
accessible to junior companies. A typical fire assay for platinum, palladium and gold costs $15 to $30 per
sample, only slightly higher than the range for comparable gold and silver analyses.
Most importantly, the major South African producers have put their seal of approval on the search for PGMs in
Canada, where Lac des ×les is the only primary producer, by partnering with juniors. Both Anglo American
Platinum (Amplats) and Impala Platinum Holdings (Implats) are focusing on the River Valley Intrusive -- a
30-by-15-km, layered intrusion about 50 km northeast of Sudbury, Ont.
Amplats can earn a half-interest in properties held by Pacific Northwest by paying $300,000 cash and spending
$4 million on exploration over four years. Implats is earning a 60% interest in 511 claims from Mustang Minerals
(mmin-c) by making cash payments of $255,000 and spending $6 million over five years.
"Because the mineralization tends to be rather spotty, their problem will be to put together sensible tonnages
that can be mined, rather than just nice intersections that don't connect up," Naldrett says of the Sudbury area
explorers.
Some other ongoing PGM projects are outlined below.
Canada
North American Palladium (PDL-T) is seeking financing and environmental permits to expand the daily
tonnage at the Lac des ×les open-pit mine, north of Thunder Bay, Ont., to 15,000 from 2,400. The
US$127-million expansion would boost annual production at the money-losing mine to an estimated
249,000 oz. palladium, 24,200 oz. platinum and 19,100 oz. gold. Drilling has increased reserves to 74
million tonnes grading 1.64 grams palladium, 0.18 gram platinum and 0.14 gram gold.
Adjacent to Lac des ×les, Avalon Ventures (AVL-V) and Starcore Resources (SOE-V) have formed a joint
venture to explore the Legris Lake mafic-ultramafic complex, where grab samples from a new showing
returned an average of 3.22 grams combined palladium, platinum and gold (Pd-Pt-Au).
Houston Lake Mining (HLM-V) is investigating the Tib Lake Gabbro, near Lac des Iles. Drilling has
returned a 13-metre width grading 1.68 grams combined Pd-Pt-Au.
Aquiline Resources (AQI-V), the second-largest landholder in the River Valley intrusive, near Sudbury,
expects geophysical surveys to be followed by drilling on its 232 claims this spring.
Mustang Minerals continues to explore the East Bull Lake intrusion, southwest of Sudbury, where drilling
intersected narrow intervals grading up to 5.65 grams Pd-Pt-Au.
Freewest Resources (FWR-T) has optioned the Tyko Lake property, which covers mafic-to-ultramafic
intrusions of the Black-Pic River batholith, northeast of Hemlo, Ont. Freewest and Sparton Resources
(SPTN-C) can each earn a 50% interest in the property, where grab samples returned up to 3.82% nickel,
1% copper and 2.43 grams per tonne Pd-Pt-Au.
MacDonald Mines Exploration (MMP-C) has optioned the Casson Lake PGM property near Whitefish
Falls in northern Ontario. To earn a 100% interest, MacDonald must make cash payments and spend
$400,000 on exploration over four years. Grab samples taken along a 5,000-metre mineralized strike
length returned average grades of 1.73 grams Pd-Pt-Au.
Billiton Metals Canada can earn a half-interest in Virginia Gold Mines' (VIA-T) Gayot project, in northern
Quebec, by spending $4.5 million on exploration over 3.5 years. The major is also taking an equity
position in Virginia through a $750,000 private placement at $1 per share. Surface sampling on property
showings returned up to 17.3 grams per tonne Pd-Pt and up to 9.5% nickel.
Muskox Minerals is launching a $2.5-million drill program on the Muskox layered intrusive in Nunavut. The
junior has already spent $4.5 million exploring the intrusion, where sulphide mineralization along the
margins has been found to grade in excess of 100 grams palladium, 33 grams platinum and 28 grams
gold per tonne.
South Africa
Anooraq Resources (ARQ-V) is drilling the Platreef properties on the northern limb of the Bushveld
complex in South Africa. The properties are adjacent to Amplats' operations, which contain resources of
55 million oz. PGMs in eight separate deposits. Anooraq is using a new geological model to follow up
results from previous exploration.
Platexco (PTX-T) is completing a feasibility study on the Winnaarshoek project, where proven and
probable reserves stand at 11 million tonnes grading 5.5 grams PGMs per tonne.
United States
Stillwater Mining (SWC-X) has launched an US$385-million expansion program designed to triple annual
production to 1.2 million oz. at its namesake mine by 2001. Most of the development is taking place at the
East Boulder Lake project, west of the main operation.
Idaho Consolidated Metals (IDO-V) has signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture
with Chrome Corp. of America to explore and develop PGM-rich chromite and nickel-copper sulphide
prospects in the Stillwater complex. The work will focus on nickel-copper deposits that were identified by
Anaconda Minerals in the 1960s and on a series of chromitite units that overlie these deposits.
Brazil
Altoro Gold (ATG-V) is earning a 70% interest in the Pedra Branca Pd-Pt project in northeastern Brazil
from Eldorado Gold (ELD-T). Recent drilling returned up to 35 metres grading 1.52 grams combined
Pt-Pd, including 3 metres of 9.44 grams. Mapping and trenching are ongoing. |
