Magna Mining (NICU.V) has confirmed the Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Crean Hill project as a standalone operation should be completed by the end of this month. That PEA will use a third party toll milling scenario as base case scenario but it will also include a separate section where an alternative processing scenario will be evaluated. As Magna Mining’s Shakespeare zone has reached the feasibility stage (and is permitted for the construction of a 4,500 tonnes per day mine and mill), it seems likely the Crean Hill deposit could be a satellite deposit to that mill.
As a reminder, the Shakespeare mine contains a total indicated resource of 20.3 million tonnes of which 11.8 million tonnes are included in a reserve calculation. Crean Hill contains 16.8 million tonnes of rock in an open pit at an average grade of 108% NiEq and an additional 14.5 million tonnes in an underground resource with an average grade of 2.07% NiEq.
The upcoming PEA at Crean Hill will not include the assay results from Magna’s drill program in the PEA to avoid any delays. This means that all existing assays as well as the assay results from the remaining 7-8,000 meters of drilling that still has to be completed this year will only be included in the next study.
Disclosure: The author has no position in Magna Mining. Please read our disclaimer.
