Estrella Resources has kicked off extraction of a bulk high-grade nickel sulphide sample from the company’s 5A nickel mine near Kambalda that will be processed at Glencore’s Murrin Murrin facility.
The initial mining phase will see the company extract between 2000 and 4000 tonnes of high-grade nickel sulphide ore before it is crushed and screened on-site and sent to Murrin Murrin.
Estrella signed the offtake and ore processing agreement with Glencore subsidiary Murrin Murrin Operations in November and says it has engaged a number of local contractors for the bulk sample extraction operation. Whilst the commercial terms of the offtake agreement remain confidential, Estrella expects to see a positive financial return from the sample at current nickel prices.
The 5A deposit’s total mineral resource sits at 124,000 tonnes going 1.9 per cent nickel for 2370 tonnes of nickel and 190 tonnes of copper. The site forms part of the company’s greater Spargoville project that was first discovered by Selcast Exploration in the late 1960s.
Since then, the 1A, 5A, 5B and 5D deposits have been discovered and developed. Estrella acquired the project in 2017 when the company bought WA Nickel. The 5A deposit was mined as an open pit for a short period in the 1990s. The company believes a high-grade body of nickel, copper and cobalt was left behind and is located directly below the old pit floor.
Estrella says a positive process outcome for the bulk metallurgical sample will provide the company with a strong basis to mine the 5A ore resource using simple pit cut-back methods in addition to further developing its Andrews, 5B and 1A nickel deposits.
The company has also enjoyed recent success at its Carr Boyd nickel project where Estrella declared a maiden inferred mineral resource estimate of 0.86 million tonnes at 0.66 per cent nickel and 0.42 per cent copper at its T5 deposit.
Estrella says the T5 estimate also includes more than 12,000 ounces of platinum and palladium with about 55,000 ounces of silver associated with sulphide mineralisation at the site.
The T5 mineral resource estimate has been calculated using 43 diamond drill holes and three RC holes covering a strike length of 500m from near surface to a depth of 720m.
The Carr Boyd nickel mine was discovered in the late 1960s by Great Boulder Mines and operated by Western Mining Corporation between 1973 and 1977. After repeatedly changing hands for the next 40 years the site was acquired by Estrella in 2017.
With the bulk sample extraction at 5A now underway, Estrella could be looking at joining the ranks of WA nickel producers in 2023.
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By Matt Birney
