Centaurus Metals (ASX: CTM) has unveiled a significant increase in both the size and confidence levels of the Mineral Resource for its flagship 100%-owned Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project in northern Brazil, cementing its position as a Tier-1 global nickel sulphide development project with class-leading GHG emission credentials.
The updated JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), comprising 108.0Mt @ 0.87% Ni for 938,500 tonnes of contained nickel, confirms Jaguar as one of the largest nickel sulphide resources held by an ASX-listed company and the largest outside of the major mining companies.
Importantly, the success of the in-fill resource development program completed over the last 12 months has resulted in a 100% increase in the Measured & Indicated component of the Resource to 85.8Mt @ 0.85% Ni for 730,300 tonnes of contained nickel, representing more than 75% of the Global MRE.
The Measured and Indicated component of the MRE is set to underpin the company’s maiden Ore Reserve Estimate and Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) due for completion in mid-2023.
The global MRE at Jaguar has increased by 28% since the previous Resource Estimate that was announced in December 2021 and + 80% since the Company’s maiden Resource was announced in June 2020.
Managing Director, Darren Gordon, said the strength of the resource upgrade represented an exceptional outcome and marked a pivotal milestone in the rapid evolution of the Jaguar Project to become one of the world’s premier nickel sulphide development projects with class-leading ESG credentials.
“Delivering another major step-up in the global MRE, including a more than 100% increase in the higher-confidence Measured and Indicated categories to over 730kt of contained nickel, is a fantastic achievement by the entire Centaurus team, and marks the culmination of a huge effort over the past 12 months,” he said.
“Importantly more than 600kt nickel metal in the Measured and Indicated categories sit within a US$22,000/t Ni pit shell and as such we expect to see a strong conversion of the Measured and Indicated Resource to Ore Reserves to underpin the DFS that is set for delivery mid-2023.
“This provides a great platform for Jaguar to produce +20,000t of nickel in sulphate per annum for 20 plus years, setting Centaurus on the path to become a top-10 nickel sulphide miner globally.
“It is clear to us that the demand for nickel sulphate is growing rapidly as auto-makers increasingly focus on where they are going to source their Class-1 nickel from and what the emissions footprint looks like for the nickel that is essential to their EV roll-out.
“We are extremely confident that Jaguar can deliver nickel with class-leading ESG credentials, including very low levels of GHG emissions, as a result of the relatively high-grade nature of the ore, the fact that 80% of the power in Brazil is generated from renewable sources and that a value-added nickel sulphate product will be produced on site at Jaguar.
“At the presently assessed level of 4.69 tonnes of CO2/tonne of nickel equivalent, the Jaguar Project will be one of the lowest carbon emission projects in the global nickel industry.
“With the DFS resource now locked away, drilling activities will focus on organic resource growth through systematic step-out and extensional drilling, as well as a move to focus on greenfields drilling to target new discoveries. We are already very close and now more confident than ever that we can deliver an MRE with more than one million tonnes of contained nickel metal in 2023, which would be an outstanding achievement for the Company, confirming Jaguar as a truly world-class deposit.”
Continued successful step-out and extensional drilling has contributed to delivering an exceptional 421,000 tonnes of additional contained nickel metal since the company’s maiden Resource in June 2020, reflecting an impressive track record of defining new resources at the rate of ~165,000 tonnes of contained nickel per annum through a sustained and focused drilling program at Jaguar.
At 938,500 tonnes of contained nickel, Jaguar is the sixth largest nickel sulphide resource held by an ASX-listed company and the largest outside of the majors. Of all deposits that are open pit or combined open pit/underground operations, only BHPs’ Leinster Operations has a higher head-grade than Jaguar.
Underpinned by a 0.87% Ni Resource head-grade, Jaguar is expected to be one of the highest grade open-pit nickel sulphide operations globally.
The successful in-fill drilling at the Jaguar and Onça Deposits means that more than 75% of the Global MRE is now classified in the higher-confidence Measured and Indicated categories. These Measured and Indicated Resources will be available for conversion to Ore Reserves as part of the DFS due for completion next year.
In-fill drilling targeting the first three years of operation at Jaguar Central and Onça Preta has returned a Measured Resource estimate of 14.0Mt @ 1.06% Ni for 149,400 tonnes of contained nickel metal. The high-grade and higher confidence resources will be an important part of the early mine plan during the project pay-back period.
The Jaguar mineralisation remains open down-dip at all deposits and locally along strike, with outstanding potential to continue strong resource growth driven by step-out and extensional drilling targeting DHEM conductor plates and greenfields drilling of the extensive regional exploration pipeline. The Company is targeting to deliver more than one million tonnes of contained nickel metal in the next MRE update, set for mid-2023.
For further information please visit: https://www.centaurus.com.au
