Nigerian Nickel Discovery Is First Of Its Kind - Australian Mining Firm

The abundance of native nickel balls recently discovered
in Nigeria is “an extraordinary occurrence in a style not
known to have been previously documented”, Comet, a
private mining syndicate headed by veteran Australian
miner, Hugh Morgan, has said.
In a paper distributed at the Africa Down Under Conference
which held September 7 – 9 in Perth, Australia, the
company said the discovery had “important implications”
for nickel exploration worldwide.
The paper was delivered by the Comet team comprising
Mr. Morgan, Professor Louisa Lawrence, Stephen Davis, and
Steven Pragnell.
The metal named “Titan”, measuring 0.1-5.0 millimetres
in diameter and weighing an estimated three weight
percent, was found on the southern margin of the Jos
Plateau, near the rural villages of Dangoma and Bakin Kogi,
Kaduna State.
“Although the bedrock has not been tested at depth, the
wide distribution of abundant nickel metal balls and their
secondary ferruginous alteration product within residual
weathered bedrock at Titan, indicates a highly endowed
primary mineralised system,” Comet said.
“To our knowledge, this style of high-grade native nickel
metal deposit has not been previously documented.”
PREMIUM TIMES had reported, last month, about the “world
class and highly unusual” nickel discovery in Nigeria,
ahead of the Perth conference.
Nigeria’s Minister for Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi, was
among the speakers at the three-day event held at the
Pan Pacific Hotel in Australia.
Mohammed Abbas, the permanent secretary at the
ministry, said the discovery was made “many months ago”
and urged the public to allow the government produce a
detailed report.
The Comet team said the metal was identified and
exploration commenced in early 2015.
“Pits dug up to six metres deep, at roughly 200 metre
centres, show the nickel occurs in a coarse-grained
micaceous felsic unit, associated with localised zones of
mafic and olivine-rich ultramafic bedrocks”, the team said.
Traces of other metals such as zinc, copper, lead, and
cobalt were also detected in the core and rims of the
nickel.
The team said ongoing activation of major bedrock
structures in the area had resulted in recent tectonic shift
and exposure of fresh nickel metal at the surface in an
erosional drainage basin at Titan.
“However, the nickel balls are not physically
(concentrated) into a heavy mineral fraction within the soil
cover sequence due to the low erosional gradient in the
catchment and the freshness of the bedrock.
“Furthermore, the exposed metal balls are prevented from
significant oxidation due to good drainage and the
formation of a protective stable secondary oxide layer on
the metal surface.”
The project area spans 20 square kilometres where high
concentrations of ferruginous brown balls extend over a
half a kilometre to the north and west of the nickel metal
occurrence.
“Although the bedrock has not yet been tested at depth,
the wide distribution of abundant nickel metal balls and
their secondary ferruginous alteration product within
residual weathered bedrock at Titan, indicates a large
highly endowed primary mineralized system,” Comet said.
“To our knowledge, this style of high-grade native nickel
metal has not been previously documented.”
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Comet is currently focusing
its exploration on developing a nickel project that targets
the native nickel balls in the shallow weathered bedrock
over an area of a half square kilometre.
The company is reportedly seeking funding to continue
exploration and has approached a few interested parties.
Nickel is primarily sold for first use as a refined metal.
About 65 percent of it, consumed in the West, is used to
produce stainless steel.
The world’s largest producers of the metal include The
Philippines, Indonesia, Russia, Canada, and Australia,
according to the US Geological Survey.
Last month, Mr. Fayemi told Bloomberg that one of the
Nigerian government’s priorities is to meet its annual steel
demand of 6.8 metric tons, from a current output of less
than 2.5 metric tons, produced mainly from scrap iron.
“In two to five years, we want to have started production of
iron ore, lead, zinc, bitumen, nickel, coal, and gold at a
serious scale,” Mr. Fayemi had said.