- Kuniko (KNI) is progressing exploration activities at its Vangrøfta and Skuterud projects in Norway
- KNI is carrying out reconnaissance work and geochemical sampling across the historical projects to help meet the growing demand for battery metals
- Early next month Kuniko will begin airborne geophysical work over the projects and it expects to receive data in October
- Kuniko is positioning itself as a sustainable supplier of ethically mined battery metals for the European Economic Area
- Company shares have spiked 69.9 per cent to trade at $1.30 at 1:38 pm AEST
Kuniko (KNI) has begun exploration work at two historical projects in Norway.
The company is focused on meeting the demand for sustainably supplied and ethically mined battery metals from within the European Economic Area (EEA).
Vangrøfta Copper Project
The Vangrøfta licence hosts the historical Fredrick IV mine which had 30 years of small-scale production up until 1908.
In 2018, the company’s major shareholder, Vulcan Energy Resources (VUL), identified rock chip results including up to 16.75 per cent copper, 3.33 grams of gold per tonne (g/t) and 0.216 per cent cobalt from historical mine workings and dumps.
Kuniko recently completed initial reconnaissance work before it moved to the Skuterud Cobalt Project.
Skuterud Cobalt Project
The Skuterud Cobalt Project hosts the Skuterud mine which produced more than one million tonnes of cobalt between 1773 and 1898. At that time, it was the world’s largest cobalt producer.
Earlier this month, Kuniko began geochemical sampling and collected 378 soil samples and seven rock samples to assess a nine-kilometre-long trend of historical cobalt workings at the mine.
The company expects to receive initial results in September.
Upcoming work
Early next month, Kuniko will begin airborne geophysical work over these projects which will include magnetics, electromagnetics, induced polarisation and radiometric components.
The data from these surveys is expected to be received in October and will be integrated with historical data, as well as the data from recent work at both projects.
Ultimately, these activities will contribute to an evaluation of the potential of the projects and to plan for drilling programs next year.
Chairman Gavin Rezos commented on the exploration activities and Kuniko’s plans.
“Kuniko aims to extend historical battery metals resources on our project sites by applying modern exploration and processing methods, whilst applying the same ESG culture to our projects to demonstrate a zero-carbon footprint that we have learnt from Vulcan, which importantly has retained a 25.85 per cent stake in the company.”
Company shares had spiked 69.9 per cent to trade at $1.30 at 1:38 pm AEST.