PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Nickel miner Mincor Resources has extended the reserve-backed mine life at its Kambalda nickel operations, in Western Australia, to six years, following an initial ore reserve for the Golden Mile.

The company on Friday announced an ore reserve of 475 000 t at 2.6% nickel for 12 500 t of nickel at Golden Mile, increasing the ore reserve for the Northern operations by 58%, and the total ore reserves for the Kambalda nickel operations by 18%.

Mincor said on Friday that given the close proximity of the new mining area to existing underground infrastructure connecting the Long and Durkin North operations, access development was planned to commence in the new area over the course of the 2023 financial year, with first stoping targeted for late in the 2023 calendar year.

The company said that the new mining zone would provide a third discrete mining front at the Northern operations, substantially increasing mining flexibility and de-risking Mincor’s broader ramp-up objectives.

“Delivering an initial ore reserve on the Golden Mile less than 16 months after exploration drilling first commenced in this sector of the Northern operations is a remarkable achievement by our geology and mining teams,” said Mincor chairperson Brett Lambert.

“The initial ore reserve for the Golden Mile has not only provided a brand-new mining front for our Northern operations, but has also proven the largely untapped potential of this vast exploration space to host significant economic nickel ore reserves that can be fast-tracked into production utilising extensive existing infrastructure.

“Within 16 months of the first diamond drill hole into the Golden Mile we’ve increased our Northern operations reserve base by a stunning 58%, and our global ore reserves by 18%. In mine life terms, we’ve added a full extra year of reserve-backed production with our very first Golden Mile programme - a remarkable achievement!

“Importantly, the mineral resource underpinning this initial ore reserve remains open, both up-dip and along strike, as this zone extends along the Golden Mile towards Durkin North, with significant drilling programmes continuing throughout the remainder of the 2023 financial year to define extensions,” said Lambert.