Research and development tax offset boosts Estrella cash balance

Estrella Resources has filled its coffers to the tune of more than $1 million after receiving a refundable tax offset for research and development expenditure at its Carr Boyd nickel project near Kalgoorlie.

In November 2021 the company engaged three nickel experts from the CSIRO to initiate studies on the age, formation and characterisation of the Carr Boyd igneous complex as well as studying the formation and modes of mineralisation at T5, Broonhill, Tregurtha and Carr Boyd mine.  The studies resulted in the formation of a model that improved the identification of mineralisation at the site.

Estrella says additional seismic work by Ultramag using cutting-edge technology with geophysical interpretation from Hard Rock Seismic has enabled the nickel explorer to target the 16km long basal contact with unprecedented accuracy. The company received a total of $1.015 million from the research and development tax offset.

The company has enjoyed recent success at Carr Boyd 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.

Earlier this month the explorer completed the mining and crushing phase of its nickel sulphide extraction program using ore from its 5A nickel mine near Kambalda in WA. The company plans to treat the high-grade material at Glencore’s Murrin Murrin facility after sealing an offtake and processing agreement late last year.

The company says laboratory analysis is also underway to establish the grade and moisture content of the delivered ore. Estrella plans to keep hold of an additional 1000 tonnes of low-grade nickel sulphide material for further metallurgical test work. The samples will be used to develop a revised process flowsheet to treat its 1A, 5A, 5B and 5D nickel sulphide deposits in WA.

The overall mineral resource for the 5A deposit weighs in at 124,000 tonnes at 1.9 per cent nickel for 2370 tonnes of nickel and 190 tonnes of copper. The operation forms a key cog in the company’s larger Spargoville nickel project, which was first uncovered by Selcast Exploration in the late 1960s.

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