Samapleu Nickel Copper Project, Ivory Coast

Overview

The Sampleu Nickel-Copper project is located in the Ivory Coast, west Africa. Mineralization occurs in ultramafic and mafic rock and in the overlying laterite soils. It is 60% owned by Ivanhoe Electric Incorporated and 40% owned by Sama Resources. Measured and indicated resources stand at 33.18 Mt at 0.269% Ni equivalent, with inferred resources of 17.78% Ni equivalent. Mine life is estimated at 16 years, with production from an open pit. Net present value is $463 million.

Sama owns a similar project directly across the border in the neighboring Republic of Guinea.

Regional Geology

Archean aged (~2.8 billion years old) high grade metamorphic rocks dominate the region. This archean basement rock is largely overlain by tropical laterite soils. A series of later ultramafic to mafic intrusions are the source of the mineralization.

Project Geology

The ultramafic and mafic intrusions that host the nickel, copper and minor PGM mineralization occur in lenses intruded into existing metamorphic  rock. Mineralization occurs as both disseminated (dispersed) and massive (solid) sulfides. The nickel occurs primarily as the nickel-iron sulfide, pentlandite, while the copper occurs as the copper-iron sulfide chalcopyrite. Laterite soils overlying the mineralized intrusions are also mineralized as ultramafic and mafic ore rocks are generally more prone to erosion and weathering.

Discussion

Despite the well known political instability of many African nations, the lure of vast untapped resources and cheap labour is hard to resist. The main criticism that might be leveled against the company at this point is the very low cut-off grade of 0.1% nickel used in their technical report. While a 0.1% cut-off is not without precedent, similar mines using these cut-off grades are currently on “care and maintenance”. That said, the Samapleu project hosts some respectably high grade nickel, copper and PGM zones with lots of room for further extension of the identified resources.

Further Reading

Ivanhoe Electric: https://ivanhoeelectric.com (website)

Sama Resources Press Release Reviews

Sama Resources (Corporate Site)