Photo by: Comet Minerals
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Privately held Comet Minerals has unveiled a new style of native nickel mineralisation at its Titan deposit, in Nigeria.
The discovery is believed to be the first of its kind, with the native nickel appearing in sizes of up to 5 mm, at 90% nickel.
While native nickel is known to occur within the earth’s crust, the nickel is usually found by microscopic studies and is usually the size of a hair.
“It's of the most improbable kind, it's not your typical resource,” said Comet director and mining personality Hugh Morgan.
Morgan said at the first day of the Africa Downunder conference, in Perth, on Wednesday, that it was with a great sense of incredulity that Comet approached the deposit and worked to "rationally understand" what the deposit would mean in terms of development.
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Morgan noted that, pending approvals, Comet was evaluating the start of a small alluvium operation, which would not require a significant capital investment, but could deliver "very attractive" economic returns.
However, he pointed out that infrastructure investments were needed to service the deposit, including basic infrastructure.
While only 63 pits, around 6 m deep each, have been explored, the Titan project is thought to be a potential world-class deposit.
In order to drill the Titan deposit, Comet would require more funding, Morgan said. The company is currently in discussions with a number of parties regarding possible fund raising, and is also investigating other capital raising opportunities, including an initial public offering.