LionOre Mining International (LIM-T, LIM-A, LOR-L) is ready to move to a full feasibility study on the Selkirk nickel-copper deposit in eastern Botswana following prefeasibility work that indicated a 20,000-tonne-per-year nickel producer would be economic.
The prefeasibility study said an open-pit mine feeding a dense media separation (DMS) plant could keep the nearby Phoenix mill — which processes ore from the Phoenix open pit — fed from 2016 onward, after the deposit at Phoenix is depleted. Selkirk would produce about 20,000 tonnes nickel, about 20,000 tonnes copper, and byproduct gold and PGEs.
The study pegged the reserve at 185 million tonnes grading 0.25% nickel and 0.22% copper, out of a resource of 231 million tonnes grading 0.24% nickel and 0.21% copper. More mineralization has been identified to the south of the resource envelope and will be added to the resource figure during the final feasibility study.
Metallurgical testing has shown the Phoenix mill recovers 78% of the nickel in a concentrate from a DMS plant. The concentrate, at 0.4% nickel, is an upgrade from run-of-mine material at 0.24% nickel.
LionOre owns 85% of Tati Nickel, the operating company at Phoenix and Selkirk. The government of Botswana holds the other 15%.
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