Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) has reported “highly productive” drilling activity for the month of August at its Kun-Manie nickel copper sulphide project in eastern Russia, with its Ikenskoe / Sobolevsky (IKEN) Inferred High Grade Zone (IIHG) expanding its deposit size by 81%.
The AIM-listed miner said a total of 29 holes had been drilled over the month, with the IKEN IIHG increasing the deposit size from 0.16 square kilometres to 0.29 square kilometres.
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The mineralisation within the IIHG was also indicated at a thickness of 30.9 meters averaging 0.91% for nickel and 0.25% for copper.
The company expects that the update of the IKEN mineral resource estimate, which includes the IIHG area, will result in a substantial increase with regard to total mineralised tonnes and the JORC resource category.
At the beginning of the drill season, the IIHG was estimated to contain 14.6mln tonnes of Inferred resource averaging 0.87% nickel and 0.24% copper. With expansion of the resource, the area could source as much as four years of higher grade production for the processing plant.
Amur also said it had joined up the ISK and Kubuk orebodies with the discovery of a 400m long mineralised zone between the two. In addition, drilling had expanded the ISK orebody by an additional 100m to the west.
The total length of the unified orebody from the west end of ISK to the east end of the KUB orebody is projected to be 2,800m.
The firm added that four holes drilled along the strike of this connected orebody indicated an average thickness of 67.3m at 0.75% nickel and 0.20% copper.
"Unexpected but promising results"
Looking to September, Amur said it planned to continue drilling with the target being the final portion of the metallurgical sample, defining the up-dip limits of mineralisation of the ISK area, and continue drilling the west end of the ISK adjacent to a 100m barren area.
Robin Young, chief executive of Amur Minerals, the drilling results were anticipated to have “a material impact” on the mineral resource estimate, the mining ore reserve, the optimisation of the production schedule and the projected economic potential of Kun-Manie.
He added that drilling of secondary priority targets had provided “unexpected, but promising results” with “substantial” discoveries of new mineral in areas thought to have had limited potential, including the firm’s best ever interval of 98.6m of 0.89% nickel and 0.23% copper.
In mid-morning trading Wednesday, Amur Minerals shares were steady around 3.9p.