After receiving a special mining licence from Tanzania, Kabanga Nickel is to step up its project in the East African country.
Kabanga Nickel is the largest development-ready nickel sulphide deposit in the world, unmatched in scale and grade, with at least 30 years life of mining and further exploration upside.
Their mineralisation of the latest resource is greater than 95% massive sulphide. An extensive amount of exploration and resource definition has been completed to date, including over 600km of drilling – setting the Kabanga Nickel Project on a well-defined path to production.
Special mining licence secured
The granting of the special mining licence (SML) follows the signing of the framework agreement in January and is valid for the full life of the project which is currently put at in excess of 30 years. The SML grants Kabanga Nickel’s local partnership vehicle, Tembo Nickel, full mineral privileges that will unlock the substantial economic potential of the Kabanga Nickel Project.
Based on the in-situ mineral reserve estimate to date, the Kabanga Nickel Project has 58 million tons at 2.62% nickel containing more than 1.52 million tons or 3.3 billion pounds of nickel. Glencore and Barrick spent $290m exploring the prospect during the 10 years of their ownership to 2014.
CEO of Kabanga Nickel, Chris Showalter stated, “Kabanga will be critical to accelerating the supply of much needed battery metals, essential for the global transition to a low carbon economy.”
The requirement for Electric Vehicle batteries will drive new demand for nickel, with the total global nickel supply forecast to more than double – from an estimated 2.25 million tons in 2020 to five million tons by 2040, said Kabanga Nickel citing industry analysts at Roskill.
