An initial estimate for Premium Resources’ (TSXV: PREM) past-producing Selkirk project in eastern Botswana outlines 44.2 million inferred tonnes grading 0.3% copper and 0.24% nickel, the company reported Wednesday. Shares gained 11.5%.
The resource also includes 0.55 gram palladium per tonne and 0.12 gram platinum, for contained metal of 132,000 tonnes copper, 108,000 tonnes nickel, 775,000 oz. palladium and 174,000 oz. platinum. It uses a net smelter return cut-off value of $25 per tonne.
“This initial (resource) serves as a solid foundation for advancing the Selkirk deposit to an economic study,” Premium CEO Keith Morrison said in a release. “The company is currently evaluating whether the initial (resource) cut-off grade assumptions can be improved through future engineering and metallurgical studies aimed at optimizing the overall efficiency of the mine.”
The report’s release helps build momentum for Premium, following the publication in the summer of an initial resource for its Selebi nickel-copper-cobalt mine, 75 km south of Selkirk. That resource increased tonnages by 67% over the deposit’s historic resource.
Shares in Premium, which earlier this month changed its name from Premium Nickel Resources, traded for 52¢ apiece on Wednesday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at $96.5 million. Its shares traded in a year-long period of 43¢ to $1.76.
High price assumptions
The resources were estimated using long-term metal prices of US$10.50 per lb. nickel, US$4.75 per lb. copper, US$1,450 per oz. platinum and US$1,500 per oz. palladium. With the exception of copper, which in May went above US$5 per lb., those metal prices are significantly higher than have been seen in recent years.
The resource was based on drill results from 232 surface and 10 underground historic holes drilled between 2003 and 2016, five 2016 holes sampled by the company in 2021, and 17 historic holes resampled in 2024.
Analysis of re-sampling showed higher PGE values than were in historic results.
Unlike at the Selebi mine, where drilling in the summer returned cobalt results as high as 0.11%, cobalt wasn’t included in the Selkirk resource because the critical metal is less available in the deposit.
Anglo American (LSE: AAL) started production at Selkirk in 1989. Until 2002, 1 million tonnes at 2.6% nickel and 1.5% copper were mined. Former operator BCL acquired Selkirk from Russia’s Norilsk Nickel in 2014. Premium acquired Selkirk in 2022.
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