Sirius Resources has unveiled its maiden resource for the Nova nickel-copper-cobalt project, and the result has exceeded the explorer’s expectations.
The Balcatta-based company today announced the highly anticipated resource estimate for Nova, which contains 242,000 tonnes of nickel, 100,000t of copper and 7700t of cobalt.
A cut off grade of 0.6 per cent nickel equivalent has been used. Overall, the resource estimate is 10.2 million tonnes at 2.4 per cent nickel, 1 per cent copper and 0.08 per cent cobalt.
Sirius said the resource was 90 per cent in the indicated resource category, which is “sufficient to use as a basis for estimating a probable ore reserve and undertaking a feasibility study".
Shares in Sirius, which were placed in a trading halt, rose slightly on the news however fell at close to $4.20, down 15c from yesterday.
had been placed in a trading halt before the announcement and have not yet been released. Shares last traded at $4.35.
The explorer said drilling at Nova is continuing, with mining anticipated to be an underground operation. The resource estimate allows Sirius to carry out a scoping study, which it will start soon.
Earlier this month, Sirius joined the $1 billion market capitalisation club after its shares skyrocketed following positive drilling results from its Bollinger nickel discovery.
Sirius had previously said the massive sulphides at Bollinger were similar to those discovered at its nearby Nova discovery.
The explorer this month also recruited three executives from copper miner Sandfire Resources, which rapidly developed the DeGrussa copper mine following a series of positive drilling results, similar to that of Sirius.
