The Løkken and Venna projects together cover 1,039 sq. km. The Løkken concessions span 542 sq. km, with 428 sq. km of this area being 100% owned by Teako. These surround the historic Løkken copper-zinc mine to the south and west. The remaining 114 sq. km of the Løkken concessions, which include the Løkken mine itself and 5 drill targets, are 90% owned by Teako, with Capella Minerals holding a 10% interest. The Venna concessions, covering 497 sq. km, extend a significant strike of similarly prospective stratigraphy to the northeast of Løkken. The primary target types at Løkken and Venna are high-grade copper-cobalt-zinc massive sulfide (“VMS”) deposits, with copper and cobalt being critical components in batteries and the transition to green energy.

The Løkken and Venna projects are located approximately 50km SW and 30km SE, respectively, of the regional administrative centre of Trondheim, Trøndelag Province, central Norway.  Løkken also covers the former Løkken mining district (reported historical production of 24MT @ 2.3% Cu + 1.9% Zn plus silver and gold credits¹), whilst the Venna project covers similar prospective stratigraphy to the NE of Løkken (Figure 1). The former Løkken mine is considered to be one of the largest ophiolite-hosted Cyprus-type VMS deposits (by tonnage) to have been developed in the world. The Løkken claim block covers a significant portion of the old Løkken mine infrastructure (shafts, historical mineral processing facilities, railway loading area for concentrate, etc.), in addition to multiple satellite occurrences of copper-rich VMS mineralization with varying degrees of development.

 

Figure 1: Løkken & Venna Exploration Claims

 

The Løkken VMS district lies within the so-called Caledonian orogeny of Norway, which is interpreted to have extended from the productive VMS districts in NE Canada (Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick; Buchans District, Newfoundland) and the Appalachian US to northern Norway.  Mineralization at Løkken is hosted by a sequence of Ordovician-age metabasalts (mixed pillow and massive basalts) within an overturned ophiolite (ancient sea floor crust) sequence (Figure 2).

 

Figure 2: Location of the Løkken deposit in the Caledonian orogeny (bottom) and mine-scale geology (top).

The former Løkken mine is a stratiform massive sulfide deposit characterized by its impressive dimensions – approximately 4 km in length, a maximum depth of 1 km, and an average thickness of 60 meters (picture 1). Its rich mineral composition predominantly consisted of chalcopyrite, sphalerite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite. Given the geological propensity for these deposits to occur in clusters, there is a high likelihood of additional undiscovered deposits within the broader district.  The Løkken deposit was discovered from a subtle massive sulfide outcrop which measured less than 1m in width (picture 2).

^{1 Historic production values quoted for Løkken are from Grenne T, Ihlen PM, Vokes FM (1999) Scandinavian Caledonide metallogeny in a plate-tectonic perspective.  Mineral Deposita 34:422–471, TMIN has not performed sufficient work to verify the published data reported above, but the Company believes this information to be considered reliable and relevant.}

The proximity of the Løkken claims to the former Løkken mine places the Company in an advantageous position to explore potential extensions of this prolific deposit. Similarly, the Venna project is located within the same mineral belt northeast of Løkken and presents a promising opportunity for discovering new deposits.

 

Picture 1: 3D model of Løkken (looking from East – the shallowest part – to the West – the deepest part

 

Picture 2: The Løkken Discovery Outcrop <1m of Massive Sulfide

 

The geology of these two regions (Figure 3) is dominated by a package of basalts, gabbros, and metasedimentary units of varying types. The similarities in the geology confirm the potential for further mineralization similar to that identified at Løkken.

 

Figure 3: Geology map of Løkken and Venna

 

The geological similarities are also confirmed when comparing the newly released regional magnetics data provided by the NGU for the Venna area. The datasets appear to correlate well with the geology and highlight the resemblances of the two areas (Figure 4).

 

Figure 4: Magnetics data for Løkken and Venna hot colours indicating magnetic highs, cooler colours indicating lows

 

This could potentially indicate further deposits like that of Løkken could be within the geological packages Teako has staked at Lomunda and Venna. A lot of work has been undertaken historically around the Løkken area and Lomunda claims, whilst less information is known about Venna with limited NGU resources available until recently. However, the new geophysics data has confirmed the similarities to the Lomunda area.

Teako believes there is a high likelihood of additional undiscovered deposits within the district along a broadly E-W-oriented mineralization trend (see Figure 5). The Løkken deposit outcrops on its eastern margin, whereas the western margin (yellow polygon in Figure 5) is interpreted to be truncated by a post-mineralization fault zone, which the Orkla River now occupies. The Orkla River lies at the current known western margin of the Løkken deposit (Astrup Shaft) and is interpreted by Capella to represent a broadly N-S-trending post-mineralization fault which has dissected the original Løkken VMS deposit. Accordingly, the potential exists for the discovery of displaced blocks of the original Løkken deposit on the western side of the Orkla River valley. Given the depth of mineralization at the nearby Astrup Shaft (approximately 900m vertically below the surface), the Company anticipates that any displaced blocks of mineralization at Løkken West would lie at similar depths to Astrup and, therefore, be beyond detection for the standard geophysical and geochemical techniques currently being applied at Løkken.

Figure 5: The Løkken Target Area

Løkken Drill Targets

Work at the Løkken project has been focused on advancing drill hole targeting within the five highest priority target areas – the drill-ready Åmot target, together with the satellite targets at Høydal, Grefstofjellet, Dragset-Helsetasen, and Fjellslett (see Figure 6) – but with a clear focus on the 5km long Løkken Mine – Høydal – Åmot corridor. Work completed included systematic ground magnetic surveys and soil (Ionic Leach, or “IL”) sampling, with almost 1,000 IL samples taken over the Åmot, Høydal, and Dragset target areas. The Åmot target is drill-ready, with initial permitting for a maiden core drilling program having been completed by Capella.

 

Figure 6: Overview of Løkken Priority Drill Targets

The Åmot Target

The Åmot Cu-Co-Zn target is located 5km East of the former Løkken mining operations. It is hosted within stratigraphy considered favourable for the discovery of further Løkken-type massive sulfide (VMS) deposits. The primary target is a large (up to 2km in length) coincident electromagnetic (EM), ground magnetic, and geochemical anomaly, which together represent a highly favourable combination for a buried VMS deposit (see Figure 7). The Åmot target is interpreted from geophysical data to lie approximately 150 m below the surface and has never been drill-tested. Åmot is drill-ready and represents one of the highest-priority drill targets on the Løkken property.

 

Figure 7: Overview of Åmot Target Showing Ground Magnetics and Soil Geochemistry

The Høydal Target

The Høydal Cu-Co-Zn target lies immediately to the East of the former Løkken mining operations and within the highly prospective Løkken-Høydal-Åmot corridor. The primary target at Høydal is a 3 km-long corridor containing Cu-Zn-rich VMS-style mineralization (see Figure 8), with approximately 1km of this corridor having been tested by historical core drilling. A total of 20,846m of core drilling (see Figure 9) is reported to have been completed at Høydal by Orkla Grube AB between 1910 and 1976 (Grammelvedt, 1986); future exploration is expected to focus on extending higher grade (+2% Cu and +2% Zn) zones. The Company’s initial priority at Høydal will be to confirm the high Cu-Zn grades reported in the sector through the twinning of select historical drill holes. Recent geological work completed by Capella has also identified a potential new corridor of mineralization located approximately 500m South of the primary Høydal trend. Høydal represents a priority target for further drill testing based on its favourable geology / known mineralization and its proximity to the former mineral processing facilities at the old Løkken mine.

 

Figure 8: Overview of Høydal Target Showing Ground Magnetics and Soil Geochemistry

 

Figure 9: Høydal Historical Drilling and Model of Historical Mineralization Envelope

Caveat: The 3D model shown in Figure 5 was generated using LeapfrogTM software using a copper cut-off grade of 1% and with the explicit purpose of understanding the geological context of the historic Høydal mineralization with respect to the newly defined surface geophysical and geochemical anomalies. The historic mineralization envelope does not constitute a mineral resource estimate, and the Company does not treat the historic mineralization as a current resource.

The Dragset-Halsetasen Target

The Dragset-Halsetasen target hosts the former Dragset open pit and underground mining operation located approximately 5km West of the former Løkken mine. High-grade Cu-Co-Zn mineralization at Dragset is interpreted from both geological and geophysical data to be hosted within a fold nose, with the southern mineralized limb of the fold zone interpreted to extend eastwards towards the Halsetasen sector (see Figure 10). Further work is recommended in this Dragset-Halsetasen target to determine high-grade resource potential.

 

Figure 10: Overview of the Dragset-Halsetasen Target Showing Ground Magnetics and Soil Geochemistry

The Fjellslett Target

The Fjellslett Cu-Co-Zn target lies on the western margin of the Løkken property. It contains outcropping high-grade Cu-Co +/- Zn mineralization hosted within a broadly ENE-WSW-trending corridor as defined by both geology and ground magnetic survey data (see Figure 11). Additional exploration work, including ground-loop EM surveys and preliminary drilling, has been proposed by Capella for the Fjellslett target area.

 

Figure 11: Overview of Fjellslett Target Showing Ground Magnetics

The Grefstoffjellet Target

The southernmost Grefstoffjellet area consists of a series of copper-rich prospects/workings (e.g., Kong Karls Gruvan) hosted by meta-basalts, which appear to have strong structural controls on the emplacement of mineralization. Capella has completed little work at Grefstoffjellet to date, and further work is recommended to determine the full extent of copper mineralization in the area.