Penikat is one of the world's highest grade Platinum Group Element (PGE) exploration projects outside of South Africa and Russia. Mineralisation occurs as palladium, platinum and contains significant rhodium and iridium with elevated nickel and copper concentrations.

Mineralisation occurs from surface as three tabular reefs within the Penikat layered intrusion, analogous to mineralisation in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa and Stillwater Complex, Montana USA. 

Historical exploration has shown mineralisation to occur over a cumulative strike length of 23 kilometres within Kingsrose's mineral tenure, however the average depth of historical drilling is only 43 metres.

Analogous deposits extend to >1 kilometre down dip. At Penikat, rare deeper historical holes and historical seismic data indicate mineralisation extends to at least 1 kilometre below surface.

An Exploration Target in accordance with the JORC Code was estimated by Kingsrose following extensive relogging and resampling, yielding a range of 21 to 32 Mt at 4.0 to 7.4 g/t 6E (the sum of platinum, palladium, gold, rhodium, iridium and ruthenium) for 2.8 to 7.7 Moz 6E. The potential quantity and grade of the PGE mineralisation at Penikat is conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.

The Company is in the process of applying for exploration licences to permit drilling. Whilst the governing authority cannot commit to a granting date, the Company expects to be drilling at Penikat by Q4 2023 to Q1 2024.

25 kilometres east of the town of Kemi and associated port with rail connections. The port is used to export nickel and copper concentrates from other Finnish operations.

15 kilometres east of the underground Kemi chrome mine with abandoned open pit and surface mineral processing infrastructure.

Close proximity to large windfarm developments and main roads.

Access is via paved main roads and unpaved forest roads into the centre of the project areas.

Uninhabited area but located within the western part of the Martimoaapa-Lumiaapa-Penikat Natura 2000 conservation and mire reserve area.

The Penikat Project comprises three exploration permit applications and two reservation notifications totalling 2012.5 hectares. Kingsrose owns 100% of the project through its subsidiary Kingsrose Exploration Oy. The project is subject to a 1% NSR royalty payable to Mr Andrew Dacey (the project vendor).

Kingsrose is currently applying for exploration permits across all of its mineral tenure at Penikat, a process which takes approximately 10-12 months, although TUKES notes that some licence applications can take longer. The Company anticipates that, subject to appeals, drilling will be permitted to commence from Q4 2023 or Q1 2024.

A summary of the exploration licence application process is given below:

Exploration permits are granted by the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (TUKES).

TUKES require statements on the exploration licence application from the local municipality, the regional Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY), Sami Parliament and reindeer associations (if relevant), and the national authority or organisation who is responsible for the management of the area, if appropriate.

Once TUKES reach a decision to grant an exploration licence, a public consultation period commences of at least 30 days. Appeals against TUKES decision may be made in this time which are reviewed by the local administrative court. The local administrative court decision may also be appealed, within 30 days, with permission from the high administrative court.

As the Penikat Project covers part of the Martimoaapa-Lumiaapa-Penikat Natura 2000 conservation and mire reserve area, a separate research permit has to be applied for from the Ministry of Environment. The decision from the Ministry is required before TUKES can give their decision on the exploration permit application.

Once granted, exploration licences are valid for 4 years with a possibility to apply for extensions for three years at a time, for a total of 15 years exploration prior to application for an Exploitation Licence.

In order to protect the local flora and fauna, drilling will only be possible in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter months using natural and/or artificial snow to provide sufficient cover to mitigate damage from drill rig movements, as well as other mitigation measures as defined in the natura assessment reports.

Penikat is a mafic-ultramafic intrusion hosted PGE-nickel-copper deposit.

The Penikat intrusion is >20 kilometres long and 1 to 3 kilometres thick, and is part of the larger 300-kilometre-long Tornio-Narankavaara belt which contains >20 mafic-ultramafic intrusions.

The Penikat intrusion has been divided into five layered megacyclic units (MCU-I to MCU-V), composed of alternating sequences of bronzite, pyroxenite, gabbronorite, gabbro and anorthosite cumulates. The intrusion dips between 45° and 60°

Mineralisation occurs in three sub-parallel reefs, all of which are hosted in MCU-IV and are each spatially and temporally related to compositional reversals.

Within the Penikat project area, the mineralised reefs have been mapped historically over a cumulative strike length of approximately 25 kilometres, and average 1.5 metres thick, composed of disseminated sulphide (pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite and bornite) mineralisation hosted in websterite, gabbronorite and anorthosite. Chromite and silicate type PGE mineralisation is also observed.

The reefs are termed, from the lowermost to uppermost, as the SJ, AP and PV reefs. The SJ and AP reefs are typically 450 metres apart, and the AP and PV reefs are typically 850 metres apart. Locally the reefs may pinch and swell, with the AP reef recording >20 metre thickness over <100 metres strike at the colloquially termed ‘AP Ballroom’ structure.

The Exploration Target announced on 28 June 2022 Target ranks Penikat as one of the highest grade PGE exploration projects globally. 

The Exploration Target was prepared by Jeremy Witley, Head of Department – Mineral Resources, The MSA Group (Pty) Ltd (South Africa). Mr Witley has 33 years’ experience in Mineral Resource estimation, exploration and mine geology on PGE deposits hosted in the Bushveld (South Africa) and Great Dyke (Zimbabwe) intrusions, which are layered intrusions characterised by strong continuity of mineralisation, similar to Penikat. Previous clients include major PGE producers Anglo American Platinum, Implats, Northam Platinum, Zimplats and Lonmin.

Mineralisation occurs from surface and estimation of the Exploration Target was limited to 500 metres depth, whereas regional seismic data and geological interpretations suggest potential to at least 1 kilometre depth as is commonly seen in similar deposits worldwide.

Exploration Target estimation was limited to the SJ and PV Reefs which are exposed over a strike of 10 and 3.6 kilometres respectively on Kingsrose tenure. The AP Reef was not included due to insufficient distribution of historical drilling. However, the AP Reef is exposed over approximately 8 kilometres of strike and includes the “ballroom” feature where drill hole resampling returned 8.8 metres at 8.1 g/t Pd, 2.3 g/t Pt, 0.2 g/t Rh, 0.5 g/t Au, 0.5 % Cu and 0.2 % Ni from surface (ASX Announcement dated 5 May 2022).

The information in this website that relates to the Exploration Results at the Penikat Project was first reported by the Company in compliance with the 2012 edition of the JORC Code in ASX announcements: 28 June 2022, 5 May 2022 and 23 November 2021.

The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the ASX releases referred to above and it further confirms that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the exploration results and exploration target continue to apply and have not materially changed.

The information in this website that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled under the supervision of Andrew Tunningley, who is a Member and Chartered Professional (Geology) of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and is Head of Exploration for Kingsrose Mining Limited. Mr Tunningley has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.” Mr Tunningley consents to the inclusion in this website of the matter based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

The Exploration Target estimate has been prepared by Mr. J.C. Witley (BSc Hons, MSc (Eng.)) who is a geologist with 33 years’ experience in base and precious metals exploration and mining as well as Mineral Resource evaluation and reporting. He is a Principal Resource Consultant for The MSA Group (an independent consulting company), is registered with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (“SACNASP”) and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa (“GSSA”). Mr. Witley has the appropriate relevant qualifications and experience to be considered a “Competent Person” for the style and type of mineralisation and activity being undertaken as defined by the 2012 Edition of the JORC Code. Mr Witley consents to the inclusion in this website of the matter based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.