JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE- and Aim-listed nickel exploration and development company African Eagle Resources on Tuesday announced a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee- compliant inferred resource of 27-million tons at its 85%-owned Zanzui nickel complex, in Tanzania.
Estimated metal contained in the newly defined resource was around 219 000 t of nickel at a grade of 0.81% and 16 000 t of cobalt at a grade of 0.06%.
The announcement followed a two-phase drilling programme, which started in 2008.
Confirmation of the maiden resource at Zanzui – located some 50 km south of the company’s flagship Dutwa nickel project – has strengthened the probability that the lithology of nickel mineralisation discovered at Dutwa exists throughout the region.
African Eagle CEO Trevor Moss said the resource confirmed the medium-term potential for Zanzui to become an extension of the flagship Dutwa project, as it was positioned within a reasonable transport distance to the planned nickel processing plant at Dutwa.
“As the Zanzui complex covers an area of some 140 km2 and the defined inferred nickel resource measures only around 3 km2, the company will further explore the potential for ore from Zanzui to become supplemental feed to our Dutwa project,” he indicated.
The company further reported that it would look to expand exploration on primary areas of the complex, considering the strong potential for significant additional sulphide mineralisation.
African Eagle was currently conducting a bankable feasibility study on the Dutwa project area, the results of which it planned to publish later this year.