Amur Minerals PLC (LON:AMC) now has more than one million tonnes of nickel classified at its Kun-Manie project in Far East Russia after the latest resource upgrade.
Robin Young, chief executive, said that based on this information it could produce 40,000 to 60,000 nickel tonnes a year, which would place it at number eight in the list of the world’s nickel producers.
The total resource at Kun-Manie is 101.3mln ore tonnes at a grade of 1.03%, which equates to 1.04mln tonnes with a value of US$10.5bn at current prices.
This latest estimate saw a 38% increase in the total tonnage following an extensive drill programme at two of the possible five targets, Maly Kurumkon/ Flangovy, over the summer.
Importantly, more than 80% (81.2 mln ore tonnes) of the resource is classified as higher confidence Measured and Indicated and can therefore be included as reserves in the mine plan.
Based on a cut-off grade of 0.4% nickel and a recovery rate of 80%, Amur estimates it can break even in a range of US$3.40 to US$5.70. The current market price is around US$4.75 per pound.
Young added that with the latest resource it can now identify mining ore reserves available for both an open pit and underground operation.
''With more than 80 million ore tonnes of the 101.3 million resource tonnes classified as Measured and Indicated resource, we anticipate having two thirds of our Life of Mine reserve defined.
It is rare to see a junior resource company have such a large asset with so much of it drilled to such a high level of confidence.”