Blackstone Mineralsannounced Today that it has increased the global mineral resource at its Ta Khoa project in northern Vietnam by 73% to 485,000 tonnes of nickel.
Mineral resources are estimated to include the Ban Phuc and Ban Khoa disseminated sulfide (DSS) deposits and the Ban Chang and King Snake massive sulfide vein (MSV) deposits, equating to a total mineral resource of 130 million tons containing 0.37% nickel at 485,000 tons.
Ta Khoa's exploration and resource delineation is part of the company's core strategy to continue its efforts to secure nickel supplies to downstream smelters in Vietnam.
Ban Phuc is expected to provide base load supply for a concentrator of 8 million tonnes per annum, which is undergoing an upstream pre-feasibility study to be completed next year. The mineral resources of the Ban Phuc deposit are now estimated at 123 million tons of ore containing 0.37% nickel and 452,000 tons of nickel resources. The indicated resource is 102 million tons with 0.38% nickel content, and the inferred resource is 21 million tons with 0.33% nickel content.
Blackstone has pursued a number of exploration and development initiatives since acquiring the Ta Khoa project in late 2019.
