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- Centaurus Metals (CTM) has delivered the maiden mineral resource estimate for its Jaguar nickel sulphide project in northern Brazil
- The indicated and inferred resource stands at 517,500 tonnes of contained nickel, consisting largely of near-surface deposits with exploration upside
- The shallow nature of the Jaguar resource indicates significant potential for open-pit mining at the project
- The Jaguar resource also remains open at depth and along strike, providing considerable potential to expand the resource estimate
- The resource estimate will underpin a planned scoping study, which will assess the potential economics of the project
- Centaurus Metals is trading 28.4 per cent higher today, with shares priced at 43 cents each
Centaurus Metals (CTM) has delivered the maiden mineral resource estimate for its Jaguar nickel sulphide project in northern Brazil.
The indicated and inferred resource stands at 517,500 tonnes of contained nickel, consisting largely of near-surface deposits with considerable exploration upside remaining across the project.
The resource
The shallow nature of the Jaguar resource indicates significant potential for open-pit mining at the project.
Around 30 per cent of the resource has been classified in the indicated category, with around 60 per cent of the total resource considered high-grade.
Significantly, around 70 per cent of the high-grade resource sits within 200 metres of the surface, meaning early open-pit operations could generate strong cash-flows to support early capital payback.
The Jaguar resource also remains open at depth and along strike, providing considerable potential to expand the resource estimate with further drilling.
Centaurus Managing Director, Darren Gordon, says the project shows great promise.
“This is a phenomenal starting point confirming Jaguar’s status as a new globally-significant nickel sulphide project,” Darren said.
“With a maiden resource containing more than 500,000 tonnes of nickel, this is already one of the largest near-surface undeveloped nickel sulphide projects in the world and, as a maiden JORC Resource number, we believe it is up there with some of the best initial JORC Resources ever published by an ASX-listed junior.”
“Significantly, the resource also includes a high-grade core, grading 1.56 per cent nickel that contains more than 320,000 tonnes of nickel metal, providing an outstanding platform from which to commence scoping and development studies,” Darren added.
Next steps
The second half of 2020 will see the company concentrate on step-out, infill and extensional drilling at several prospects with a view to upgrade the project’s mineral resource.
Electromagnetic surveying will also be deployed to map further targets at Jaguar.
The resource estimate will underpin a planned scoping study, which will assess the potential economics of the project.
Contract talks are underway with a number of engineering groups, with a decision expected in coming weeks.
Jaguar sits within a developed mining precinct, namely the world-class Carajás Mineral Province.
With existing nearby infrastructure, Jaguar could prove to be a viable and valuable development for the company.
Centaurus Metals is trading 28.4 per cent higher today, with shares priced at 43 cents each as at 12:50 pm AEST.
