Mincor Hits High Grade Nickel Right Across The Development Portfolio

The latest research from GMP Securities on Mincor makes no bones about what the implications are of the recent drill results from the company’s Cassini, Voyce and Durkin nickel projects.

“Impact: positive”, says GMP succinctly. “These are very encouraging results.” Mincor, as regular Minesite readers will already know, is well-established as an existing nickel miner, bringing up good volumes of ore from its Miitel and Mariners mines in the famous Kambalda mining district of Western Australia.

In its most recent quarter the company produced just under 2,500 tonnes of nickel-in-ore, produced at cash costs of A$5.07 per payable pound of nickel. And while it’s true that the nickel price has weakened again lately, the current spot price of A$6.52 does leave Mincor with room for manoeuvre.

But the question for some time has been where to, after Mariners and Miitel? The answers: new developments not far away at Cassini, Voyce and Durkin.

And the most recent work at these projects has been, as GMP says, very encouraging. At Cassini Mincor has now defined high grade mineralisation over a 430 metre plunge depth, with the most recent intercepts showing grades of 4.81% nickel over nearly seven metres.

At Voyce meanwhile, the company has hit 8.81 metres at 7.72% nickel, while at Durkin North recent infill drilling continues to confirm good grades, with the latest intercept showing 6.45% over 2.39 metres.

Preparing to blast

GMP particularly likes the Cassini results, but has plenty to say on the other projects too. “Cassini is starting to take shape as a significant discovery just nine kilometres from the Mariners mine”, writes analyst Duncan Hughes. “Importantly the mineralisation remains open down plunge and indications are that the prospective geology continues for a kilometre along strike.”

At Voyce, the mineralisation is similar to that encountered at Mariners, which bodes well for production and processing down the line.

All told, says GMP, “These discoveries just go to show that despite a mining history since the late 1960’s, exploration potential is still alive and well at Kambalda. Mincor is well placed to benefit from this potential with the largest tenement holding in the region and these significant emerging discoveries.”

The results from the rest of the ongoing drilling campaign ought to make for very interesting reading indeed.