Rupert Resources (“Rupert”) is a gold exploration and development company working to expand the multi-million ounce Ikkari gold discovery in Central Lapland, Northern Finland.
The discovery was "science led” and achieved in an extremely short time by normal industry standards. It was found through systematic base of till drilling across the land package held by Rupert. Follow up drilling of the Ikkari discovery led to the announcement in 2021 of a maiden resource of 3.95 million oz. based on only 36,000 meters of drilling. Discovery to maiden resource took 1.5 years.
In 2022, an additional 80,000 meters of infill and extension drilling is planned to grow Ikkari, investigate five largely untested discoveries, and generate further discoveries on a highly prospective land package.
Drill Core Analysis Using Portable XRF for Gold Discovery and Development
Portable X-ray fluorescence, or pXRF for short, plays an important role in their gold exploration work. For the past 5 years, the geologists at Rupert have been using our trusted pXRF device—the Vanta™ handheld XRF analyzer—to systematically interrogate their drill core.
The Vanta handheld XRF analyzer measures the elemental chemistry of drill core on-site. The Vanta Soil Foot provides a stable three-point support for the analyzer, enabling the operator to perform a comfortable hands-free analysis.
In the two-minute video below, Rupert Geologist Manuel Naveiras Villamea explains how the Vanta XRF analyzer is used on the drill core being generated from six rigs turning on their land package as of February 2022.
Six operating rigs result in a lot of meters that require logging, sampling, and lab analysis of samples. The Vanta XRF analyzer is used to obtain quick information from the rocks to help in daily interpretation and logging of drill core. Lab turnaround time in 2022 is at best several weeks but generally several months. In comparison, the pXRF data generated by the Vanta analyzer provides informed geological interpretation in a fraction of the time.
For Rupert’s geologists, the Vanta XRF analyzer mostly helps them understand the protolith of the rocks being logged. This can be difficult to do visually due to deformation and hydrothermal alteration. By measuring elemental chemistry on drill core using the Vanta analyzer, geologists at Rupert can identify many things in seconds that could otherwise take months with lab analysis. Among other applications, the geologists are using zirconium (Zr) and magnesium (Mg) as reported by the Vanta analyzer to inform of the rock’s sedimentary or ultramafic origins.
Learn more about drill core analysis using pXRF by watching the video interview below:
Evident wishes Rupert Resources continued exploration success, and we look forward to supporting their continued efforts.
We’d also like to thank Rupert Resources for their time and participation in this video (particularly Manuel Naveiras Villamea, James Withall, and Thomas Credland), as well as Liam Hardy at Spotlight Mining for his support and great quality work.
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