PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Base metals developer Centaurus Metals has reported a 50% increase in the indicated resource of its Jaguar project, in Brazil.
The project’s indicated mineral resource estimate now stands at 19.9-million tonnes, grading 1.12% nickel for 223 400 t of contained nickel.
The global mineral resource estimate for the Jaguar project was estimated at 58.6-million tonnes, grading 0.95% nickel for 558 800 t of contained nickel, with the indicated resource accounting for 40% of the global mineral resource estimate.
MD Darren Gordon said on Thursday that the company had achieved or exceeded all of its key objectives with its recent infill drilling programme over the past six months, which delivered a substantial increase in the higher-confidence indicated resource to underpin an upcoming scoping study.
“In addition to achieving our primary goal of upgrading the indicated resource by 50%, which has significantly de-risked the project ahead of the upcoming scoping study we have also achieved a further increase in the global mineral resource estimate.
“This reinforces the quality of the Jaguar project as a globally significant, near-surface, nickel sulphide deposit with outstanding potential for continued growth. It is also a fitting reward for the efforts of our exploration team, who have done a great job in advancing our drill programmes over the past six months.”
Gordon noted that some 80% of the contained nickel tonnes is less than 200 m from surface, with the company expecting pit optimisation and mine planning work to show that Jaguar had the potential to be a low strip ratio, long life openpit operation, with strong economics, placing the company in a strong position to deliver on its aspirations of becoming a 20 000 t/y nickel producer by the end of 2024.
A scoping study for the Jaguar project is expected to be completed during March this year.