Magna Hits 4.0% Nickel Near Surface at Levack's West Main
Magna Mining's latest Levack drilling pairs a 4.6-metre near-surface nickel hit in the West Main Orebody with high-grade copper a kilometre down in the R2 Footwall Zone.
Magna Mining Inc. (TSX: NICU) reported that initial drilling of the near-surface extension of the West Main Orebody at its past-producing Levack Mine in Sudbury, Ontario returned 1.7% copper, 4.0% nickel and 3.5 g/t platinum+palladium+gold over 4.6 metres from 198.7 metres down hole, alongside a 9.5% copper, 2.6% nickel intercept in the deeper R2 Footwall Zone.
Magna Mining Inc. (TSX: NICU) has put two very different kinds of drill result into the same news release, and the contrast is the story. At the past-producing Levack Mine on the North Range of Ontario's Sudbury Basin, the company reported high-grade copper from roughly a kilometre below surface in the R2 Footwall Zone, and — for the first time — nickel-dominant mineralisation from under 200 metres depth in the near-surface extension of the West Main Orebody.
The shallow hole is the one that changes the arithmetic of a restart. Hole MLV-26-68 returned 0.4% copper, 1.7% nickel and 0.4 g/t platinum+palladium+gold over 32.9 metres from 177.0 metres down hole, a broad envelope that includes 0.2% copper, 3.2% nickel and 0.1 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 3.2 metres, and 1.0% copper, 2.9% nickel and 1.9 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 3.8 metres. Separately the company reported 1.7% copper, 4.0% nickel, 3.5 g/t Pt+Pd+Au and 4.1 g/t silver over 4.6 metres from 198.7 metres down hole — a 8.3% copper-equivalent grade, on the company's stated conversion.
Why 200 metres matters more than 1,000 metres
In an operating underground mine, the cost of a tonne of ore is largely a function of how far it has to travel and how much new development is needed to reach it. Mineralisation sitting at less than 200 metres down hole in the upper part of an old orebody is, in principle, reachable from existing infrastructure at a fraction of the capital required to drive new access a kilometre deep. That is the practical difference between the West Main results and the R2 Footwall Zone.
The R2 numbers are the flashier ones. Hole FNX2038A W1 cut 9.5% copper, 2.6% nickel, 17.5 g/t Pt+Pd+Au and 24.9 g/t silver over 2.1 metres from 999.2 metres down hole — 23.5% copper-equivalent — and a second intercept of 15.4% copper, 1.9% nickel, 7.0 g/t Pt+Pd+Au and 43.0 g/t silver over 0.7 metres from 1,068.6 metres. Those are the kinds of grades Sudbury footwall systems are known for: narrow, copper- and precious-metal-rich sulphide veins that sit outboard of the main nickel contact orebodies. They are also deep, and they are the sort of tonnage that gets sequenced into a mine plan over years rather than months.
Read together, the release sketches a two-speed asset. The near-surface West Main extension is the potential early feed; the R2 Footwall Zone, still expanding, is the grade that could lift the back half of any production schedule. Delineation drilling at the Intermediate Orebody — the third programme covered in the results — is the infill work that turns inferred material into something a mine planner can actually schedule.
Nickel-dominant versus copper-dominant feed
The metal mix in these holes is not incidental. The West Main intercepts are nickel-led: 4.0% nickel against 1.7% copper in the 4.6-metre hit, and 1.7% nickel against 0.4% copper across the wider 32.9-metre interval. The R2 Footwall intercepts invert that ratio entirely, running 9.5% and 15.4% copper against nickel in the low single digits, with platinum, palladium, gold and silver credits attached.
For a company weighing a restart, that matters for two reasons. First, blending: a concentrator and an offtake contract are tuned to a particular head grade and metal ratio, and having both nickel-dominant and copper-dominant sources gives flexibility. Second, price exposure. Nickel and copper have not moved in lockstep — copper has been the metal the market associates with grid build-out and electrification wiring, while nickel demand has been tied more closely to stainless steel and to battery cathode chemistries whose share of the mix keeps shifting. A deposit that can lean either way is less hostage to one price deck.
Copper-equivalent grades, which Magna quotes alongside each intercept, fold all payable metals into a single copper-grade number using assumed prices and recoveries. They are a convenient shorthand and a heavily assumption-dependent one: change the nickel or palladium price input and the CuEq figure moves without a single new assay. The underlying individual grades are what should be compared hole to hole.
Brownfield drilling, with the infrastructure already sunk
Copper-equivalent grades, which Magna quotes alongside each intercept, fold all payable metals into a single copper-grade number using assumed prices and recoveries.
Levack is a past producer, and that is the central economic argument for the programme. Shafts, ramps, ventilation and dewatering at a formerly operating Sudbury mine represent capital someone else has already spent. Exploration success in that setting converts more directly into near-term ounces and tonnes than an equivalent discovery in a greenfield camp, because the gap between intercept and mill feed is shorter. Dave King, Magna's SVP Exploration, is running three distinct programmes across the property — expansion, delineation and first-pass near-surface drilling — which is the signature of a company testing several restart scenarios in parallel rather than chasing a single target.
The results were disclosed through INN Battery Metals.
What would confirm the thesis
Three things are worth watching. One, whether follow-up holes on the near-surface West Main extension show continuity — a single 4.6-metre intercept at 4.0% nickel is an encouragement, not a zone, until it is repeated on adjacent sections. Two, how much of the wider 32.9-metre interval survives into a resource estimate once cut-off grades are applied; broad low-grade envelopes with narrow high-grade cores can be attractive or marginal depending entirely on mining method. Three, whether the R2 Footwall Zone keeps growing along strike and down plunge, because footwall vein systems tend to reveal their scale only after several stepped-out holes.
Investors should also note the macro frame in which this lands. Equity markets closed 16 September on a mixed note, with the S&P 500 tracker (NYSEARCA: SPY) finishing at $754.05, down 0.44% from the prior close of $757.39, while the Nasdaq 100 fund (NASDAQ: QQQ) ended at $704.72, up 0.03%, and the Dow 30 fund (NYSEARCA: DIA) fell 1.15% to $515.22. A single set of drill results does not clear a risk-off tape, but base-metals developers with brownfield infrastructure and grades in the percentage points, rather than fractions of a percent, are the ones that tend to keep funding options open when the broader market turns choosier.
Key facts
- Company: Magna Mining Inc. (TSX: NICU)
- Best near-surface intercept: 1.7% Cu, 4.0% Ni, 3.5 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 4.6 m from 198.7 m (8.3% CuEq)
- Best R2 Footwall intercept: 15.4% Cu, 1.9% Ni, 43.0 g/t Ag over 0.7 m from 1,068.6 m (19.1% CuEq)
- Benchmark close, 16 Sep 2026 20:00 GMT: SPY $754.05 (-0.44%); QQQ $704.72 (+0.03%); DIA $515.22 (-1.15%)
Frequently asked questions
What did Magna Mining report at the Levack Mine?
Magna reported assays from three programmes at the past-producing Levack Mine in Sudbury, Ontario: expansion drilling of the R2 Footwall Zone, delineation drilling at the Intermediate Orebody, and initial drilling of the near-surface extension of the West Main Orebody. Highlights included 1.7% copper, 4.0% nickel and 3.5 g/t Pt+Pd+Au over 4.6 metres from 198.7 metres down hole.
Why are the near-surface West Main results significant?
Mineralisation encountered at under 200 metres down hole is generally cheaper and faster to access from existing underground infrastructure than material a kilometre deep. In a past-producing mine where shafts, ramps and ventilation already exist, shallow intercepts can shorten the path from drill result to mill feed and reduce the development capital needed early in a restart.
What were the strongest R2 Footwall Zone grades?
Hole FNX2038A W1 returned 9.5% copper, 2.6% nickel, 17.5 g/t platinum+palladium+gold and 24.9 g/t silver over 2.1 metres from 999.2 metres down hole, equal to 23.5% copper-equivalent. A second intercept returned 15.4% copper, 1.9% nickel, 7.0 g/t Pt+Pd+Au and 43.0 g/t silver over 0.7 metres from 1,068.6 metres.
What does copper-equivalent grade mean?
Copper-equivalent, or CuEq, combines all payable metals in a sample into one copper-grade figure using assumed metal prices and recovery rates. It makes multi-metal intercepts easier to compare at a glance, but the number shifts whenever the price assumptions change. The individual copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, gold and silver grades are the more durable measure.
Where is the Levack Mine located?
Levack sits on the North Range of the Sudbury Basin in Ontario, Canada, one of the world's longest-established nickel-copper-platinum group metal mining districts. It is a past-producing mine, meaning existing underground infrastructure is in place, which is central to the economic case for Magna's current exploration programme there.
Who is leading Magna's exploration work?
Dave King is Magna Mining's SVP Exploration. The company is running three separate drill programmes at Levack simultaneously — expansion drilling in the deep R2 Footwall Zone, delineation drilling at the Intermediate Orebody, and first-pass drilling of the shallow West Main extension — which points to several potential development sequences being tested in parallel.
Sources
Photo: Tamba1987 · BY-SA 4.0 — source
