BHP and Kingsrose Mining will renew their Finnmark Alliance for another year, bolstering exploration of nickel, copper and platinum group elements (PGE) in Norway.
The alliance was first created in May 2024, with BHP pledging to fund up to $US20 million in the project generation phase over up to four years and a further $US36 million over seven years from commencement of the earn-in phase.
This provided the Big Australian with the option to establish a joint venture with Kingsrose once the targets became defined projects.
Since then, BHP has provided $US3.84 million to the Finnmark Alliance and $US2 million to the Central Finland Alliance, exceeding its commitment to fund $US5 million during the first year of both alliances.
BHP has decided to cease funding the Central Finland Alliance – based in Finland – to focus on the Finnmark Alliance. All exploration tenure from the Central Finland Alliance will be wholly retained by Kingsrose.
“During the past year, we achieved one of the largest generative exploration programs globally,” Kingsrose managing director Fabian Baker said.
“It is a rare opportunity to explore entire mineral belts from first principles; we are grateful to BHP for supporting these efforts financially and with the support and expertise of their multidisciplinary teams.”
The second year of the Finnmark Alliance will aim to complete a ‘play scale’ prospectivity assessment comprising airborne gravity gradiometry surveys and regional-scale airborne helicopter electromagnetic surveys to cover the remaining un-flown tenure.
“The upcoming work program will produce proprietary datasets over more than 200 kilometres strike of the Karasjok and Kautokeino Greenstone Belts, to define the most prospective areas for potential ‘camps’ of copper-nickel-PGE sulphide mineral deposits,” Baker said.
Results from the 2025 Finnmark Alliance work program will help prioritise camps or clusters of mafic-ultramafic intrusions to generate drill targets and conduct follow-up ground surveys.
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