Gaborone - Australian miner Botswana Metals has said preliminary results from ongoing exploration works at the Maibele North nickel project indicated the existence of significant resources.
These could boost its stock and improve investor confidence in resource viability if listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).
The ASX-listed mining and exploration company is working on the project in partnership with the State-owned Bamangwato Concession Limited (BCL).
BCL desperately needs new mineral resources after exhausting over 175 million tonnes of nickel over the past 50 years at its major operation in the south-eastern town of Selebi-Phikwe.
In a cautionary notice issued to investors ahead of the release of a pre-feasibility study report on Maibele North sometime in the first quarter of this year, the company said it was on track to benefit from the outcome.
“The study is expected to add value to company stock) by re-classifying the [Maibele North nickel] project's inventory from an inferred to an indicated and/or measured category. There is also potential to significantly increase resources tonnes at the site.
“Recent drilling at Maibele North has delivered significant sulphide mineralisation along strike to the east of the project resource. This includes several zones of massive and semi-massive mineralisation. These new intersections are both infilling and adding depth extents to the new discovery zone,” the advisory note stated.
To date, exploration operations at the site have confirmed the existence of 2.38 million tonnes of mineralised ore estimated to 0.72 per cent nickel, 0.21 per cent copper, 0.63 grams per tonne of Platinum Group Metals (PGM) and sub-industrial measures of gold. The company has already applied for a license to start mining operations while targeting new drilling sites in the Takane concession which lies in the Limpopo Mobile Belt mining district in south-eastern Botswana.
The company said an off-take agreement has already been signed with BCL, which is funding the Maibele North project and further exploratory drilling activities in the Takane concession. Further, the company said its partnership with the established BCL was likely to be a catalyst for success of the project.
“A new [nickel] discovery on the Limpopo Belt could be a game-changer for Botswana Metals, especially considering the Takane prospect's similar style of anomalies to the Nova-Bollinger discovery.
“Maibele North is expected to benefit from long-term nickel prices being underpinned by a dearth of planned nickel project and a decline in the production of cheaper nickel pig iron.”
According to the business plan, nickel ore from the new sites in Maibele North and Takane will be processed at the main BCL plant in Selebi-Phikwe, which lies 40 km away and is accessible by heavy truck.
AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY