Equitas Resources: Drill Results a Base to Build On

Those watching the nickel space this year have no doubt heard of Vancouver-based Equitas Resources (TSXV:EQT), which began exploring at its Labrador-based Garland property in February. 
Since then, the company has put out a steady stream of updates on exploration work at the Garland, most recently releasing a handful of initial drill results from the property.
Market participants were expecting great things from the results, in large part because the property is located less than 30 kilometers southeast of the massive Voisey’s Bay nickel mine. That mine was first discovered in 1993 by Robert Friedland’s Diamond Fields Resources, and is now a 6,000-tonne-per-day operation owned by Brazil’s Vale (NYSE:VALE).
But Voisey’s Bay is not just big — it was also discovered in a fairly dramatic fashion, with Diamond Fields hitting high-grade massive sulfides in the second hole it drilled. Equitas’ first results were lower key, but President Kyler Hardy doesn’t see them as a stumbling block.

“For us it’s very significant in that we now have focus points to narrow down and sniff out the better mineralization that we’re looking for,” said Hardy in conversation with the Investing News Network.
He added, “in less than a year, we flew a VTEM airborne survey, allowing us to see five times deeper than anyone else before, identified many possible buried anomalies and are now less than halfway through drilling them to delineate possible nickel sulfide targets. We have now uncovered possible indicators that could lead us to a major discovery on the Garland.”
In particular, he highlighted three factors that should help Equitas direct further work at the Garland property:

• Sulfides from surface in hole GP-15-005 — “One of the more significant events is the fact that we did get sulfides from surface in hole GP-15-005,” said Hardy. GP-15-005 was the fifth of five holes completed at the Garland, and is situated on the Cominco showing, which is historic from Teck Cominco’s work in the area. According to Hardy, Equitas “encountered disseminated sulfides in this hole to depths of about 69 meters.” Hardy also said, “that leads us to believe that we could be in a similar system to the Voisey’s Bay mine. Disseminated sulfides are a targeting tool and a fantastic indicator of a possible major nickel sulfide deposit. A disseminated halo associated with a massive economic deposit is a common feature of many ore environments. We now must get back onto the property and find out where these disseminated sulfides could have come from.”
• Off-hole response in anomaly Q — Hardy also mentioned a “possible off-hole response in anomaly Q.” He explained, “we had to conduct downhole geophysics on it twice, but what we are seeing is a possible significant off-hole anomaly about 50 meters off. A detailed resurvey of the hole needs to be completed to resolve any ambiguity. The modeling indicates that if the response is real, it fits very well in size, conductivity and depth with our exploration model.” The area will be one of the first that Equitas returns to in the new year.
• Interpretation of the E-W lineament — Finally, Hardy said that interpretation of the large E-W lineament in the northern portion of the Garland gives added weight to VTEM Tau anomalies O, P and D. “The adjacent lake has a nickel-copper–cobalt anomaly on the scale of the lakes east of the Voisey’s Bay mine. Target D was part of the five holes drilled, but due to the hole being strategically placed on practically the side of a cliff the geophysics could not be conducted. As soon as the lake freezes Equitas will conduct geophysics over the entire lake,” he said.

Hardy concluded, “in our minds, the Teck Cominco showing, and then the Q off-hole response and then the correct geotectonic framework at O, P and D — that’s the general flow of things that we want to go into [moving forward]. We’ll also continue working on ground-based geophysics, exploration and further drilling.”
Speaking more about geophysics, he emphasized, “one key note that needs to be shared is the fact that the VTEM survey spacing was 300 meters wide, for reasons of economy; a 200-meter survey spacing for the relatively small footprints of nickel sulfide targets is better. We have now zoned in our areas of the property where we can conduct more detailed geophysical surveys.”

But while he’s optimistic about the Garland, Hardy also said that Equitas doesn’t intend to have all its eggs in one basket.
“One thing that we were very adamant about with investors early on in this process was that the Garland is very much a grassroots project — we’re starting from scratch, basically — and if we don’t find anything in our first pass of exploration we’ll be brutal and pull the plug on it immediately.” He added that the company would rather direct its money at properties with a high chance of exploration success.
That’s a strategy that experts are endorsing in today’s difficult markets. For instance, Brent Cook of Exploration Insights said earlier this year that a key problem for many juniors is not knowing when to quit. He’s reiterated that view at other times, and believes it’s good for companies to move elsewhere if a project isn’t delivering.
On that note, Hardy said that since day one, Equitas’ highly technical team has evaluated over 60 properties, and will continue to do so. “Our team is highly skilled at evaluating projects at all different levels of development. We have always been transparent with our shareholders that we intend on having several projects on the go throughout the year. We are highly excited with the progress at the Garland, but at the same time realize we can’t drill year round until we have a discovery.”
Notably, the company is not just looking at nickel properties — Hardy emphasized that while Equitas has been branded as a nickel company, what it’s really interested in is world-class assets that major miners might be interested in acquiring when the markets are better.
All in all, 2016 looks set to be an exciting year for Equitas. As mentioned, the company has more work to do at Garland, and according to Hardy is “getting close” to potentially taking on additional projects.
 
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Equitas Resources is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content. 
The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.