Lunnon Metals Limited has updated the nickel Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Warren deposit in line with Joint Ore Reserve Committee (JORC) standards.
The updated estimates increase the company’s global MRE across its Kambalda Nickel Project (KNP) to 2.9 million tonnes at 3.1 per cent nickel for 87,000 contained nickel tonnes, representing a 125 per cent increase in contained metals since Lunnon’s listing in June 2021.
The updated Warren MRE now stands at 445,000 tonnes at 2.5 per cent nickel for 11,200 contained nickel tonnes, which consist of 345,000 tonnes at 2.6 per cent nickel for 8,000 nickel tonnes in indicated mineral resource and 100,000 tonnes at 2.4 per cent nickel for 2,400 nickel tonnes in the inferred mineral resource.
According to the company, diamond drilling has increased the length of continuous nickel mineralisation at Warren to a plunge length of 1,200 m.
It added that the quantity and grade of nickel mineralisation in the updated MRE confirm that Warren is a significant expansion that will support any future restart efforts at the Foster mine.
The increased MRE allows the company to consider a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) that covers the 1.95 Mt at 2.9 per cent nickel for 57,000 tonnes of nickel metal, which will be accessible from the Foster mine decline and workings once dewatering and portal re-entry operations have been completed.
The study will address mine design and production scheduling and examine the necessary metallurgical and geotechnical considerations of a Foster restart.
Commenting on the update, Lunnon Managing Director Ed Ainscough said the drilling efforts at Warren had provided steady growth to the MRE and opened up a new exploration search space.
“To test this potential properly, we will likely need to get underground and this MRE provides confidence that Warren will form an important part of the PFS studies for a possible restart of the Foster nickel mine, from which Warren would be accessed,” Ainscough added.
