Location
The Manibridge Project consists of 19 claims totaling 4,368 hectares, located 125km south west of Thompson, and 32km southwest Wabowden, Manitoba. It is accessible by road from highway 6. The claims contain the site of the reclaimed Manibridge Mine.
Geology
The area is part of the Thompson Nickel Belt and contains the same formations as the Thompson Mine area, however the Ospwagan Group appears to be thinner. The Manibridge deposit is hosted by one of several ultramafic intrusions on the property. Of significance is the high nickel tenor in this deposit (20-30% Ni in sulphides) in an ultramafic hosted deposit.
Historical Exploration
The area has been explored for nickel since 1960, starting with an airborne survey by Falconbridge. The Manibridge deposit was discovered shortly thereafter and production decided in 1969. By 1977, 1.3Mt at 2.25% Ni and 0.27% Cu had been mined. Exploration on the Manibridge property consisted in geological mapping, geophysics and drilling predominantly by Falconbridge from the 1970’s to the 1990’s. Inco staked the area in the early 2000’s and carried out ground geophysics. VTEM flown in 2008 covered the western part of the property, but there was no drill follow-up. Crowflight drilled five holes into the deposit structure shown in figure 3 and confirmed mineralisation reported in earlier work.
CanAlaska Work
Significant exploration targets have been defined on both properties based on a compilation of historical exploration. Drilling in 2019 confirmed the mineralization in the Manibridge North zone. Testing of the downdip areas of the Manibridge deposit and its extension to the North East is scheduled for Q1 2022.
The major Ospwagan structure in the East of the property has been tested by a few historical drill holes, some have reported grades up to 3m @ 0.55% Ni, but it lacks the modern airborne EM survey that would provide better drill targets.
Potential
The potential of this project is for nickel deposit equivalent to the Thompson, Birchtree or Pipe deposits but with the higher nickel tenors typical of the South Thompson Belt deposits.
