Metal Energy Corp. (TSX.V: MERG) is pleased to announce that Phase 2 of the Manibridge high-grade nickel and copper-cobalt (“Ni-Cu-Co”) project in the Thompson Nickel Belt of Manitoba is progressing. The drilling is happening near the old mine, which produced 1.3 million tonnes of nickel at 2.55% and 0.27% copper from 1971 to 1977. 

The Project is situated within the world-famous Thompson Nickel Belt, which covers 4,368 hectares. Wabowden, 20 kilometers southwest of which has substantial infrastructure and capacity, is located 20 kilometers southwest of Wabowden. Highway 6 provides year-round highway access. 

The Manibridge Project is planned for 33 diamond drill holes measuring 10,000 meters in length. Between June 6 and July 28, five thousand three hundred and thirty-one meters were drilled in nineteen drill holes (MNB007 to MNB025). All the drill holes were located 300 to 600 meters from the old mine workings. The remaining drill holes will extend 150 to 300 meters from the old mine workings. Drill hole depths will range from 225 to 400 meters. All drill holes will be inclined from -45 to -85.

All sixteen drill holes that successfully penetrated the bedrock reached Ni-Cu-Co sulfide mineralization, verified with a handheld XRF. The sulfide-rich lithostratigraphy ranges from 1 m to 55 m in thickness (MNB018 to MNB021, respectively), with an average thickness of at least 15 m. Fourteen of the drill holes intersected two or more Ni-Cu-Co sulfide zones. Dispersed Ni-Cu-Co sulfides were discovered in mafic to ultramafic host rocks, remobilized in foliations and shears, vein-hosted, and net-textured or brecciated in all drill holes.

The Company’s Technical team will review geochemical assays as they become available from the lab for quality assurance and quality control. 

Metal Energy is currently operating 70% of the Project, and Manibridge, which the company owns, is expected to be entirely owned by the end of 2022. CanAlaska Uranium Ltd is currently holding the remaining 30%.