Mirabela Nickel (MNB-T, MBN-A) has calculated a new resource for its Santa Rita hard-rock nickel deposit in Brazil, increasing the measured and indicated tonnage by 21%.
Mirabela, in southern Bahia state about 180 km southwest of Salvador de Bahia, now has a measured and indicated resource of 90 million tonnes grading 0.6% nickel and 0.16% copper. An additional inferred resource runs to 10.7 million tonnes at grades of 0.6% nickel and 0.17% copper.
The estimate uses variable cutoff grades, corresponding to each major host rock unit (T.N.M., June 2/07). Weighted by the abundance of each rock type, the average cutoff grade is 0.36% nickel.
A pit designed around the resource has a stripping ratio of 7.6, and inside the pit shell is a low-grade measured and indicated resource of 38.2 million tonnes grading 0.31% nickel and 0.07% copper, plus inferred resources of 3.4 million tonnes at 0.29% nickel and 0.08% copper. The low-grade resource is considered part of the pit waste for the stripping ratio calculation, but current plans are to stockpile it for processing at the end of the pit’s life.
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