A junior mining company with current operations in British Columbia, Canada, North Bay Resources (OTCMKTS:NBRI) on August 6, 2021, announced that the firm is beginning 2021 exploration season at the Tulameen Platinum Project.
The project will be a continuation of its work done in 2018 identifying a target of 135 million tonnes of olivine. The samples gathered showed assays of up to 0.509 g/t platinum, 0.01% cobalt, over 0.12% nickel, and chromium assays of more than 1%. Additionally, magnesium grades have demonstrated an average of 25% throughout the deposit.
The demand for Magnesium is significant, being amongst 35 strategic metals published in Federal Register considered by the US government as critical for “defense metal”.The lightest structural metal materials is vital for the production of military aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, ships, and high-mobility vehicles. It is estimated that the average realization is $4,500 US per tonne in FY 2021 for magnesium.
Olivine has been documented and studied for over three decades for sequestration properties through natural chemical processes such as mineral carbonation. The research and testing have shown that about 1.25 tonnes of CO2 can be captured and stored by a single tonne of olivine. It can potentially eliminate 168 million metric tons of CO2through the Tulameen deposit. Any carbon dioxide sequestered can be monetized through the sale of carbon removal credits.
The firm also announced participation in a collaborative research project with the Environmental Economic Geology Laboratory at the University of Alberta’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences for assessing mineral carbonation potential.
