Nickel Creek Platinum Announces Confirmation of the Carbon Absorbing Characteristics of Both the Tailing and Waste Rock Anticipated At the Nickel Shäw Wellgreen Deposit
analysis using the Rietveld method. qXRD results indicate that all but two of the samples were all highly serpentinized ultramafic rocks. TGA indicates that brucite and/or hydrated magnesium carbonate minerals (e.g., hydromagnesite) were present in 22 of the samples analyzed. Leach testing was completed on four samples (1 control sample to determine Mg leached from serpentine) to assess the leachable Mg content (exclusive of hydromagnesite) and thus confirm the brucite content of the samples. Three of the leach test samples were determined to contain between 1 and 3 weight percent brucite. Brucite content in these samples (that are not representative of the complete tailings stream) represents a capacity to sequester 6 to 22 kg CO2 per tonne of tailings equivalent. These Wellgreen samples contain the key magnesium-rich minerals such as brucite that are known to react quickly with CO2 in air. Hydromagnesite may represent brucite that has reacted with CO 2 in air during sample storage, or could reflect low temperature bedrock alteration. The confirmed presence of brucite and serpentine indicates that there exists significant potential for carbon mineralization within Wellgreen tailings and waste rock. A comparison of mineral content and whole rock chemistry indicates that these minerals can be found in rocks with wt.% Mg contents of 22 or greater. Next steps will include the creation of a preliminary computed mineralogy model to assess the spatial distribution of rocks within the Wellgreen deposit that have high potential to contain brucite and thus sequester carbon. This model will co-relate the 3D whole geochemical database with the mineralogy test work summarized.