Summary:
The CarLang A Nickel Project lies within the southwestern part of the Abitibi Subprovince of the Archean Superior Province, proximal to the Shaw Dome. The Abitibi Subprovince or "greenstone belt" is the world's largest and best preserved example of an Archean supracrustal sequence. The Abitibi Greenstone Belt (“AGB”) is an assemblage of volcanic, sedimentary, and intrusive rocks deformed into a roughly east-trending, 200 km wide belt exposed from the Kapuskasing Structure in Ontario to the Grenville Orogen in Quebec, a distance of 400 kilometres (Ayer et al., 1999).
Property Geology
The CarLang A Nickel Project is underlain by Archean intermediate to mafic metavolcanic rocks, intermediate to felsic metavolcanic rocks, and chemical metasedimentary rocks (silica and sulphide facies iron formation) of the Deloro Assemblage (2730 to 2724 Ma) and intermediate to felsic metavolcanic rocks, ultramafic (komatiitic) metavolcanics and/or ultramafic (komatiitic) intrusive rocks, chemical sedimentary rocks (silica and sulphide facies iron formation; argillite) of the Tisdale Assemblage (2710 to 2704 Ma). Younger high-magnesium ultramafic intrusive rocks (komatiitic), comprising variably serpentinized dunite, peridotite, and pyroxenite, intrude rocks of the Deloro and Tisdale assemblages and are the target rocks for exploration on the Property.
Rock units form northeast-trending sequences in the southern part of the Property, changing to northwesttrending sequences in the north and northwest parts of the Property, intruded by felsic to intermediate intrusive rocks (2690 to 2685 Ma). All of these rock units are cut by north-northwest trending mafic intrusive rocks of the Matachewan Diabase Dike Swarm (2500-2450 Ma) and east-northeast mafic intrusive rocks of the Abitibi Diabase Dike Swarm (1140 Ma). Although outcrop exposure is locally high, it is generally about 20% across the Property and as such the majority of rock units were interpreted from geophysical survey information.
The CarLang A Nickel Project overlies upper komatiite horizon (“UKH”) and lower komatiite horizon (“LKH”) (Stone and Stone, 2000) ultramafic rocks, representing the flows and associated feeder sills, respectively. The A Zone Deposit is interpreted to be part of the LKH, a differentiated ultramafic sill consisting largely of peridotite-dunitic rocks, estimated to be 400 to 600 m wide, and steeply dipping to the east.
The CarLang A Nickel Project also overlies UKH ultramafic sequences that typically consist of mesocumulate to adcumulate peridotite flows with flow tops that indicate younging radially outward from the Shaw Dome. Graphitic argillite units are locally present between the peridotite flows.
The mafic sequences consist of massive to pillowed basalt-andesite flows and dip toward the east. Property stratigraphy is cross-cut by regional northwest- and northeast-trending faults with the regionally extensive northwest-trending Montreal River Fault located immediately west of the Property.
Based on historical and drilling within the Property, overburden depth is estimated to be between 0 and 35 metres. Overburden is composed of lacustrine and shallow marine sediments with occasional boulders; no till sequences are reported (Campbell, 2011).
Property Mineralization
There are 10 mineral occurrences in the CarLang A Nickel Project as identified by Houlé and Hill (2007) and OMI (2023), the most significant to date being the CarLang (aka Mespi Mines):
• Hanna Mining (Ni) - surface;
• Marvel Mines (Ni, Au) – diamond drill hole;
• Mespi Mines (Ni, asb) – diamond drill hole [A Zone Deposit];
• Paramaque (Ni, Cu, asb) – diamond drill hole;
• Allerston Option (Au, Cu, Ag) – surface;
• Golden Pheasant (Au, Cu) – diamond drill hole;
• Golden Pheasant (Au) – diamond drill hole;
• Golden Pheasant (Au) – diamond drill hole;
• Kavanaugh (Au) – surface;
• Kensull Gold Mines (Au) – diamond drill hole.
A Zone and Ultramafic Trend
The A Zone, as defined by diamond drilling and outcrop mapping, extends for approximately 1.6 km within a 6 km long northeast-southwest ridge of ultramafic rocks.
Sulphide mineralization content is low and is generally not visible to the naked eye. Mineralization, unlike typical komatiitic deposits which host magmatic sulphide, the A Zone mineralization is considered to be derived by release of nickel from the primary silicates during serpentinization.
All drill holes from the EVNi 2022 Phase diamond drilling program intersected the host stratigraphic horizon with the presence of altered (serpentinized) peridotite and dunite. No significant sulphide mineralization, magmatic or otherwise, was observed in the drill holes.
Based upon airborne geophysical surveys and known surface exposures of dunitic outcrops, the CarLang Ultramafic Trend is interpreted to represent >10 km of prospective strike length of peridotite-dunite, with the drilling at the A Zone covering about 1.6 km of the entire interpreted strike length or about 15% of its total potential. The peridotitic-dunitic body forming the A Zone has interpreted widths that range from approximately 350 to 500 m based on the drilling, airborne geophysical surveys, and surface outcrop exposures (EV Nickel news release October 24, 2022).
The Company has only tested the A Zone to a vertical depth of approximately 250 m, even though multiple holes ended in the dunitic body, as it has interpreted 250 m as the optimal depth for any potential open pit development in the area. Both higher grade and lower grade nickel sulphide mineralization occurs below 250 m vertical depth with a number of holes ending in both higher and lower grade sulphide mineralization (EV Nickel news release February 28, 2023).
Deposit Type
Unlike other sulphide nickel deposits associated with high-magnesium ultramafic rocks, which are typically Type I Kambalda-style (stratiform-basal) or Type II Mt. Keith-style in the classification of Lesher and Keays (2002), the A Zone Deposit is most similar to the ultramafic-hosted sulphide mineralization in the Crawford Ultramafic Complex (“CUC”), located about 35 km north of Timmins (e.g., Jobin-Bevans et al., 2020).
These deposit types consist of large volumes of altered ultramafic rocks comprising relatively low nickel grades, derived as a result of serpentinization of the peridotitic to dunitic protolith. The ultramafic rocks within the CarLang A Nickel Project are considered prospective for nickel sulfide mineralization due to the serpentinization of olivine (Vicker and Klapheke, 2023), with serpentinization occurring when peridotite-dunite alter via metasomatism as per the following reaction: 3 Mg2SiO4 (olivine) + SiO2 + H2O > 2 Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 (serpentine) (Brownlow, 2006).
During serpentinization, Ni, which also fits within the olivine structure substituting for Mg, is liberated and can form higher nickel tenor sulphides within the altered ultramafic rock (Sciortino, 2014).