Eurasia Mining PLC (AIM:EUA) announced a Tier-1 scale resource estimate for the Nittis-Kumuzhya-Travyanaya (NKT) nickel-copper-PGM mine, formerly operated by Norilsk Nickel.
The JORC-compliant resource, prepared by Wardell Armstrong International (WAI), estimates 305,000 tonnes of nickel, 143,000 tonnes of copper, and 57 tonnes of platinum group metal (PGM) and gold (11.2 million ounces of platinum equivalent) for an underground mining operation.
The net present value for the underground part of the NKT project is $1.2bn under the WAI price forecast and $1.7bn under spot prices. Work on the open pit part is in progress and the net present value of that part will be announced separately.
"The directors are jubilant to complete an important milestone of our first of a series of JORC mineral resource estimates, that the WAI team has been working on since April this year,” said Eurasia executive chairman Christian Schaffalitzky.
“We are delighted that a relaunch of the NKT nickel-dominant mine generates a significant NPV of $1.2-1.7bn under various price scenarios. Furthermore, the identification of an open pit part as well as near-surface high-grade veins of the NKT area represent further upsides.”
NKT is located within the license area held by TGK, Eurasia's 80%-owned subsidiary in Russia’s Kola Peninsula, to the north of the TGK-owned West Nittis open pit deposit already licenced for mining.
“NKT's nickel and copper resource is well drilled, trenched and tested and requires further minor assaying for PGM by-products to upgrade the resources into higher confidence categories,” said chief executive James Nieuwenhuys.
Eurasia noted that about two thirds of NKT’s resources were previously defined as reserves under a Russian classification, however they have only been defined as inferred under the JORC code because the drill core and the trenches were just analysed for nickel and copper and not PGMs.
Once all the PGM assays have been completed, this data will be used for re-estimation and re-classification providing additional upside for the next NKT resource update.
JORC-compliant resource estimates for other deposits including on Nyud, another nickel dominant mine that used to be in production, will be released separately.
Multiple options for the relaunch of NKT have been considered, Eurasia said, adding that a brownfield relaunch like NKT and Nyud is generally a faster and simpler process than a greenfield mine launch.