RE: Think Disko, Think Disko and Nothing But Disko!6 May 2026 08:41
Disko is regarded as geologically analogous to the Norilsk-Talnakh nickel district in Siberia (Source: RNS 01/02/22). Here are some details of Norilsk:
❖ The copper-nickel-platinum group metal deposits at Norilsk are located at a depth of 500-to 1,500m beneath the surface in a series of flood basalts and sedimentary rocks. The massive sulphide orebodies are hosted within the Talnakh intrusive complex.
❖ The ores range from nickel-rich contact ores with copper, cobalt, platinum, palladium, rhodium, and gold, footwall and hanging wall Cuprous ores rich in copper and precious metals with some nickel and cobalt, and disseminated sulphide mineralisation.
❖ The most recent reserve estimates by the mining company MMC Norilsk Nickel estimate proven and probable ore reserves totalling 663.1 million tonnes ('Mt'), containing 6.0 Mt of nickel, 11.4 Mt of copper and 117.5 million ounces ('Moz') of platinum group metals (Source: MMC Norilsk Nickel, Annual Report 2020).
❖ Reserves are reportedly sufficient to support 80 years of output. Measured and indicated ore resources are in the order of a stunning 1,702.9 Mt containing 11.6 Mt of nickel, 22 Mt of copper and 257.3 Moz of platinum group metals.
❖ It is estimated that since mining started in 1940, the Norilsk district has produced a total of 8.3 Mt of nickel, 16.3 Mt of copper, 178 Moz of platinum group metals, and 3.1 Moz of gold from 691 Mt of ore. After adjusting for mining and processing losses, the total pre-mined resource for the district camp is estimated to be 2,800 Mt at 0.9% nickel, 1.7% copper, 6.0 g/t platinum group metals and 0.2 g/t gold.
❖ Comparing global reserves plus resources the Norilsk camp contains 15% of the global resource of sulphide nickel, 27% of the total global palladium resource, and 30% of the global resource of magmatic sulphide-hosted copper.
❖ Based on the above estimates of combined reserves, resources, and historic production, the total value of the ores in the Norilsk district in 2020 metal prices is US$1.4 trillion, of which the platinum group elements account for about 60%; the Oktyabrysk massive sulphide ore body alone (accessed from the Oktyabrsk and Taimyr mines) contained over half a trillion dollars of metal value, exceeding the value the next 5 largest metal deposits and making it by far the most valuable single orebody of any type on earth.
If Norilsk is the "Gold Standard" for nickel mines, Disko is the "Unopened Vault" that looks exactly like the Gold Standard from the outside. It is my expectation that we will know the answer to the question in 2026 whether the vault actually has the same treasure inside.
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