ball park figures to keep it simple, assuming Nova type grades for Ni and Cu.
A quick google search indicates:
IGO effectively paid ~$100M per 1M tonnes of Ni ore for Nova
~17Mt for $ 1.8 Bn
17 Mt tonnes could be outlined by a rectangle 20m thick x 200m down/up dip x 1000m long x density,
(let's say 4.2 for density (sg) assuming combination of heavy matrix to massive sulphide.)
Example: let's take a smaller block of Nickel Sulphide mineralisation:
20m x 50m x 500m x 4.2 sg
~ 2Mt
or 20m x 100m x 250m x 4.2 sg
~2Mt
let's say at $100M/Mt
very simplistically, something of that size with Nova type grades could be worth in the order of $200M to the right company, assuming it could be mined economically.
Mining! now that's a whole different topic!
So it's always useful to draw a schematic rectangle ( to scale) on paper or in your mind to visualise what a 5Mt or 10Mt ore body might look like in 3D.
As one can probably imagine to drill something economic takes a lot of drill holes and time to complete.
something in the order of ~30 holes could possibly outline/delineate ~2Mt into a resource as a rough guide, 6x 50m cross sections , 4 X holes per section, plus some infill holes to check data, including twin holes and /or scissor holes if warranted.
Hope that helps you get a feel for scale when reviewing drilling data.
LEG Price at posting:
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