Kingsrose Spends US$2.7M in Year One of BHP-Funded Exploration Alliances

Exploration Momentum Builds in Europe

Kingsrose Mining Limited (ASX: KRM) has delivered a robust progress update on its exploration alliances with mining giant BHP, focusing on the Finnmark region of Norway and Central Finland. Since launching one of Europe’s largest generative exploration programs in May 2024, the joint effort has rapidly advanced with significant geological and geochemical milestones.

With a combined Year 1 budget of US$5 million, of which US$2.7 million has already been invested, Kingsrose is leveraging BHP’s expertise in mineral systems analysis to pinpoint prospective polymetallic copper-nickel-PGE massive sulphide deposits. This systematic approach is designed to reduce exploration risk by integrating large-scale geophysical surveys with targeted field sampling.

High-Grade Discoveries in Finnmark

The Finnmark Alliance has completed a 5,067 line kilometre airborne gravity gradiometry survey, complemented by 554 soil samples and 208 rockchip samples. These efforts have yielded standout results, including exceptionally high-grade copper mineralisation in polymetallic veins. Notably, samples from the Porsanger area returned 29.7% copper, 1.1 g/t gold, 53 g/t silver, and 0.54 g/t palladium, while Virdnechokka samples showed 4.4% copper and 1.8 g/t gold.

These veins, hosted in amphibolite and paragneiss, are interpreted as surface expressions or vectors towards deeper magmatic sulphide accumulations, akin to world-class deposits such as Anglo American’s Sakatti project in Finland. The upcoming regional-scale helicopter-borne electromagnetic surveys, scheduled for late February 2025, aim to detect conductive bodies associated with these intrusions, potentially indicating massive sulphide mineralisation at depth.

Central Finland Alliance Advances with New Targets

In Central Finland, Kingsrose has completed nearly 5,000 line kilometres of drone and ground magnetic surveys over the Haapajarvi reservation, alongside extensive soil and rockchip sampling. A new zone of outcropping mineralisation was discovered at the Rehula target, with rockchip assays returning up to 0.46% copper and 110 ppm cobalt, signalling promising magmatic copper sulphide mineralisation hosted by ultramafic intrusions.

The Kotalahti Nickel Belt, where these activities are focused, is a historically significant greenstone belt with known nickel-copper sulphide deposits. Kingsrose’s exploration strategy here integrates geophysical data with geochemical sampling to refine target prioritisation ahead of more invasive exploration phases.

Community Engagement and Environmental Stewardship

Beyond the technical achievements, Kingsrose emphasizes its commitment to social and environmental responsibility. The company has engaged extensively with Indigenous Sámi communities and local municipalities in Norway, conducting biodiversity, cultural heritage, and baseline water surveys. These efforts ensure exploration activities are sensitive to traditional land uses, such as reindeer herding, with operational adjustments like phased airborne EM surveys to mitigate impacts.

Fabian Baker, Managing Director of Kingsrose, highlighted the significance of these early results and the strong partnership with BHP, noting the high prospectivity of these underexplored European mineral belts for critical minerals essential to the energy transition.

Looking Ahead

With the foundational geophysical and geochemical datasets now in place, Kingsrose plans to advance to camp-scale exploration, including detailed mapping, sampling, and eventually drilling to test the most promising targets. The collaboration with BHP and the methodical exploration workflow position Kingsrose to potentially unlock new polymetallic districts in Europe’s frontier mineral provinces.