Bleikvassli Overview

The Bleikvassli property is composed of six contiguous exploration licences totalling 6000 ha area, in the Hemnes Municipality of the Nordland Fylke Province of Norway. The most prominent feature of the property is the Bleikvassli mine, a past-producing SEDEX-style sediment-hosted massive sulphide Pb-Zn deposit with minor Cu, Au and Ag credits. The mine closed in 1997, following continuous operation since 1957 which saw the extraction of 5.0 million tonnes grading 4.0% Zn, 2% Pb, 0.15% Cu, and 25g/t Ag. Historic resources remaining at time of mine closure, according to the Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU), were 720,000 tonnes grading 5.17% Zn, 2.72% Pb, 0.27% Cu, 45g/t Ag, 0.2g/t Au.  However, previous workers did not outline their key assumptions, parameters and methods of resource estimation and did not specify resource categories for this estimate and as such are not compliant with NI 43-101 standards. These historical estimates have been provided for context only and Norra is not treating these estimates as current resources.

The area covered by the property is generally hilly, with vegetation dominated by boreal forests with a sub-arctic climate. Field work is possible through the summer months, with drilling operations possible year-round. Access and local infrastructure is well developed, with paved roads connecting the property to the rest of Norway, nearby rail and airport access and connections to Norway’s power grid already existing on the property; much of this existing infrastructure is owing to the presence of the now-closed Bleikvassli mine.

Geology of the property is dominated by highly deformed and metamorphosed Late Proterozoic to Early Phanerozoic marine sedimentary sequences of the Scandinavian Caledonides, the Silurian-Devonian age orogenic belt which forms the bedrock of the majority of Norway. The historically mined Bleikvassli ore body is a sediment-hosted Pb-Zn SEDEX deposit composed of lenses of massive pyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite enclosed within metasedimentary rocks of the Kongsfjellet Group. Though little work has been done on showings outside the main deposit, they too are interpreted to be of the same style and hosted in similar geology.

Development at the Bleikvassli mine spans several levels which extend for over a kilometer of strike length accessed via a portal and ramp system. Operations ceased at the mine in 1997 and there are no records of any subsequent development or exploration work. Exploration work outside the immediate vicinity of the mine includes mapping and sampling by the Norwegian Geological Survey and minor exploration drilling; while this work has yielded promising results, it is quite limited in scope and should be expanded upon. Following closure of the mine, mineral rights for the mine itself and surrounding areas became available and were staked by EMX in early 2018.

Reference: 2019 Technical Report on the Bleikvassli Project by David Swanton, M.Sc., P.Geo. dated March 4, 2019