Premium Nickel Resources Botswana (PNRB) has entered into an agreement with the liquidator of Tati Nickel Mining Company (TNMC) to buy the Selkirk Copper cobalt-platinum group metals and surrounding prospecting licenses and infrastructure formerly operated by TMNC.
According to a press statement, the Company has been undertaking due diligence work programs on Selkirk since being selected as the preferred bidder in the TNMC liquidation process.
PNRB CEO Montwedi Mphathi says the execution of the Selkirk APA, combined with the recent acquisition of the Selebi Mines, is the final step in the negotiations to acquire the former BCL and TNMC assets.
He says PNRB will now focus on moving forward with closing of the Selkirk Mine transaction and assuming the ownership to fast track the redevelopment, based on modern, environmental best practices.
“In addition, PNRB is taking steps to review and plan the mitigation of the impact of its operations on the extensive archeological sites in the Selkirk mining lease,” Mphathi said.
Mphathi further explained how the plan to acquire Selkirk mine initially started.
“The legacy underground Selkirk Mine is situated 28 km south-east of the city of Francistown, and 75 km north of the Selebi Mines. BCL acquired Selkirk from Norilsk Nickel through a purchase agreement that was finalized in October 2014. Norilsk was preparing Selkirk as an open pit operation and had completed Definitive Feasibility Studies in 2012 and 2013. Selkirk was then advanced to a bankable feasibility in 2016 as an open pit resource, prior to the liquidation of TNMC,” he said.
Mphathi added that the proposed work plan for Selkirk includes drilling to better define existing resources, build up a geological model, further update the structural model, exploration for additional resources and additional metallurgical studies.
“PNRB will focus on bringing the legacy bankable feasibility back to compliance and update the environmental baseline to include a tailings management facility and dedicated processing plant to produce concentrates,” he explained.
