The Arthrath Ni-Cu-PGE Project

The Arthrath project is located approximately six kilometres north of the town of Ellon (population of approximately 9000) some thirty kilometers north of the city of Aberdeen, in the Eastern Grampian Region, Scotland.

Location of the Arthrath property on a simplified geology map

In early 2004, Alba geologists recognised the prospectivity of the area for nickel, copper and PGE (platinum-group-element) mineralization and specifically the Arthrath area near Ellon. Previous exploration work in the area during the mid to late 1960s and early 1970s culminated in the drilling of 36 diamond drill holes which intersected wide, generally weakly-mineralized, intervals (up to 170 metres) of nickel-copper sulphides over an extensive area.

In drill-hole AD17 Rio Tinto Zinc reported 32 metres averaging 0.34% nickel and 0.28% copper from 18.6 metres depth. Whilst being sub-economic, such grades over extensive intervals suggest the presence of a large mineralizing system which may contain higher-grade, potentially economic zones.

Alba has worked to secure access and mineral rights options over much of the area, including five known mineralized zones identified by previous drilling, and have collated disparate data relating to the project into a single functional database. Alba plans to aggressively explore at Arthrath with the objective of identifying potentially economic deposits of nickel, copper, PGEs and cobalt, by applying relatively recent understandings of the genetic development of similar mineralizing systems, in conjunction with the utilization of recent technological advances in mineral exploration.

Taxitic norite containing pyrrhotite, pentlandite and chalcopyrite. Each scale division is 1 cm.	Geological cross-section across the most easternly known mineralization at Arthrath.

Exploration Model and Potential

Over thirty years ago, exploration of the Aberdeenshire mafic-ultramafic intrusives was led by major international mining companies using a layered intrusive exploration model, and resulted in the delineation of a small sub-economic nickel-copper resource at Littlemill-Auchencrieve (3Mt averaging 0.52% Ni and 0.27% Cu) and the identification of an extensive nickel-copper mineralizing system at Arthrath.

The discovery of the world-class Voisey's Bay Ni-Cu-Co deposit near Nain in Labrador, Canada in November 1994 has ultimately led to a complete reinterpretation of the mineralization controls for these magmatic deposits. The Arthrath Ni-Cu deposit has some important affinities with Voisey's Bay and consequently Alba intends to adopt this relatively new conceptual model to guide our exploration programmes, which will test the potential for zones of economic-grade nickel-copper:

• deeper within the existing Arthrath mineralized system;
• further east along strike where faulting may be exposing deeper levels in the Arthrath intrusive;
• further west in the Arnage Haddo-House intrusive mass, particularly at the base or entry point of the Arthrath dyke.

At this stage Alba considers that the main value of the Arthrath nickel-sulphide mineralization lies in the possibility of successfully applying this new and appropriate conceptual exploration model to transform the potential of the project by identifying higher grade areas within currently known mineralized zones or new zones of previously unknown mineralization.

Western extent of known mineralization at Arthrath. Mineralization is present over a strike-length of 4.5 km.