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- All eyes on Mt Sholl as it becomes the core focus in Australia for Raiden Resources (RDN)
- Raiden recently expanded the footprint of the Mt Sholl project area by 50 per cent
- The company is poised to start a comprehensive and aggressive drilling campaign this quarter
- Projections for sustained high nickel, copper, cobalt and palladium prices give Mt Sholl great upside value
- Significant Palladium credits at Mt Sholl provide a strategic upside to the asset
- Raiden provides further Tier 1 discovery potential through its large portfolio of copper and gold exploration projects in Eastern Europe and in Australia
Raiden Resources’ Mt Sholl nickel-copper-palladium project is rapidly becoming the company’s flagship Australian project. The recent acquisition of a new permit adjacent to Mt Sholl has expanded on the existing ground position by 50 per cent, providing further targets and upside to the project.
Booming commodity prices fuelled by surging demand from overseas markets — especially the resource-hungry Asian markets — have turned Raiden’s attention to its advanced Mt Sholl project in WA’s Pilbara region.
Located just 22 kilometres southeast of Karratha and associated infrastructure, historical drilling at Mt Sholl has defined three outcropping, high-grade nickel-copper-cobalt-palladium deposits, all commodities which are hitting all-time market highs.
With tight supply and increased demand for battery minerals, nickel prices have more than doubled in the year-to-date to more than US$33,000 per tonne (t), while copper is trading around all-time highs at more than US$10,000/t.
Cobalt and palladium are also hitting their stride, trading high at above US$80,000/t and US$2,000/oz respectively.
Is this another case of the right time, right place? Raiden Managing Director Dusko Ljubojevic thinks so, making Mt Sholl the core focus of its Australian assets.
“It’s perfect timing in terms of the commodity cycle we have an advanced nickel-copper-cobalt-palladium deposit with very good grades in the world’s best mining jurisdiction,” Mr Ljubojevic said.
“As it’s an outcropping deposit, [Mt Sholl] is absolutely going to be the value driver for the company over the medium term.
“We feel with very little work we can add a huge amount of value and it will definitely be the anchor project for the company.”
Ready to Rock
Mr Ljubojevic said the company was well-prepared to start an aggressive drilling campaign this quarter to define a JORC-compliant resource once it agrees near-imminent heritage approvals and access agreements with relevant stakeholders.
Once approvals are processed, Raiden’s team of explorers will look to prove up its three known deposits (Mt Sholl A1, B1 and B2), as well as test direct extensions of those deposits. The objective will be to also increase the potential of the project beyond the JORN Exploration Target of 20 to 40 million tonnes (mt) at a grade ranging between 0.55 to 0.75 per cent nickel equivalent.
Raiden will also be drill testing geophysical targets across the entire project area to define new mineralised bodies. Significantly, very few of the defined geophysical targets have been drill tested to date, so the chances of a new discovery are significant.
“We’ve been planning this for the past few months, lining up drilling contractors and management staff and securing work approvals,” Mr Ljubojevic said.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll be drilling this quarter, and once it starts it will be a pretty comprehensive and aggressive campaign.”
The drill program will focus on those exploration targets, as well as where recent geophysical airborne and electro-magnetic remodelling has uncovered considerable potential nearby.
Mt Sholl Expansion
The Raiden team is so impressed with what they have at Mt Sholl, they decided to jump at the opportunity to snap up a large tenement adjacent to the project from Welcome Exploration — increasing Raiden’s total land holding in the area by 50 per cent.
The deal involves Raiden paying $20,000 in cash and issuing $50,000 worth of RDN shares for the tenement licence.
The holding is at the northern-most extent of the Mt Sholl layered intrusion, giving Raiden extra exposure on the entire northern strike of the intrusive complex.
Mr Ljubojevic said the land increase next to Mt Sholl underscored its objective of advancing the project as a key focus of its Australian operations.
“This acquisition provides further upside potential to the Mt Sholl project, where nearly 80,000 metres of historical drilling has defined three outcropping nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group element deposits,” Mr Ljubojevic said.
“It’s a transformational project for the company.”
To investors, Mr Ljubojevic was eager to note that its large exploration portfolio in Eastern Europe and Australia provides additional Tier 1 exploration potential to investors, with highly prospective copper and gold projects in both jurisdictions.
“[Mt Sholl] is a relatively de-risked project from a technical point of view, with nickel, copper, cobalt and palladium being the resources every explorer wants to be into at the moment,” Mr Ljubojevic said.
“At the same time, our shareholders have exposure to a very large exploration portfolio, multiplying our chances of significant success across the board.”
Shares in Raiden Resources are steady at 1.6 cents each as of 11:46 am AEST.
