NexMetals rises on strong copper-nickel hits in Botswana

[Redator]

NexMetals Mining (TSXV: NEXM), fresh off its name change from Premium Resources, reported drill results as high as 13.5 metres grading 1.13% copper and 1.25% nickel at its Selebi North deposit in eastern Botswana. Shares surged.

That result, from 772.6 metres depth, included 4.95 metres at 1.76% copper and 1.85% nickel in hole SNUG-25-184 in the South Limb of mineralization, NexMetals reported Monday. Another highlight, hole SNUG-25-185, cut 5.95 metres grading 2.87% copper and 0.62% nickel in the N2 limb.

SNUG-25-184 and SNUG-25-185 are the first two resource expansion holes to be drilled this year at the project, which is located about 410 km north of the nation’s capital, Gaborone.

“The results from drill holes 184 and 185 continue to demonstrate the impressive step-out success and the broader scale of mineralization beyond the boundaries of the current resource,” NexMetals CEO Morgan Lekstrom said in a release. “Drilling has further extended the deposit intercepting mineralization roughly 315 metres down-plunge, well past its modeled limits.”

The drill results come almost one month after NexMetals changed its name from Premium Resources to reflect its focus on critical minerals at the past-producing Selebi project in Botswana. The company received a boost in February after putting together a C$36 million financing led by mining entrepreneur Frank Giustra and his Fiore Group. Cymbria, an affiliate of wealth management firm EdgePoint Investment Group, also agreed to settle Premium’s C$20.8 million term loan debt.

NexMetals shares gained 12.2% to C$11.45 apiece on Monday morning in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$245.59 million. The stock has traded in a 12-month range of C$4.90 to C$20.60.

Prospective limbs

Hole SNUG-25-184 also pierced the N2 limb and returned a highlight result of 6.25 metres at 0.62% copper and 0.75% nickel from 882.75 metres depth.

The mineralized zones were historically mined and later named N2 limb, N3 limb and South limb to delineate their location on the folded mineralized horizon, NexMetals said.

Ongoing drilling is aimed at stepping out and testing the strike extent of mineralization.

Initial resource

Almost one year ago, NexMetals released an initial resource for Selebi, outlining 18.9 million inferred tonnes at 0.88% nickel and 1.69% copper for 165,000 tonnes of nickel and 319,000 tonnes of copper in the Main deposit.

The North deposit, about 6 km away from the main one, hosts 3 million indicated tonnes grading 0.98% nickel and 0.9% copper for 29,500 tonnes contained nickel and 27,100 tonnes copper. It also holds 5.8 million inferred tonnes at 1.07% nickel and 0.9% copper for 62,400 tonnes of nickel and 52,500 tonnes of copper.

The Selebi North underground mine produced 13.9 million tonnes grading 0.74% nickel and 0.66% copper from 1990 to 2016. Selebi Main was in operation from 1980 until 2016, when it was suspended due to a failure in the processing facility.