Africa-Press – Botswana. Premium Nickel Resources Limited (PNRL) has announced encouraging results from the ongoing drilling programme at the BCL mine, buoying up the company to continue with further explorations to bring back to life the mothballed mines.
The Canadian mining company has presented additional assay results from seven drilling holes at its past-producing nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide (Ni-Cu-Co) Selebi North underground (SNUG). Previous results for 16 holes were released late last year. To date a total of 23 holes have been released representing an aggregate of approximately 8,242 metres including the holes and metres released herein
“The Company is very encouraged with these and past results as they continue to further substantiate our views that higher grade zones relating to the conductive massive sulphide Ni-Cu-Co mineralization exist at Selebi North underground,” said Keith Morrison, the chief executive officer of PNRL.
“During the Holiday season we completed additional borehole EM surveys in the area down plunge from these mineralized structures at the Selebi North deposit. Our underground drilling will now continue to progress down plunge, aiming to intercept additional mineralization that was not accounted for in the historic resource.”
In June 2023, PNRL secured C$34 million (P343 million) to be partly used in bringing back the shuttered BCL mines. The financing was through three concurrent and inter-conditional transactions.
PNRL entered into a binding term sheet with a Canadian investment company, Cymbria, over an equity financing involving the sale of 14.8 million units for gross proceeds of C$16.25 million (P163 million). PNRL and Cymbria also agreed on a C$15M (P150 million) three-year term loan, with an interest rate of 10 percent per annum, payable quarterly in arrears. The term loan related obligations will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by each of the company’s existing and future subsidiaries.
Moreover, PNRL agreed to issue an aggregate of 2 million non-transferable share purchase warrants in connection with the term loan, excisable by the lender. Cymbria agreed to pay an aggregate of C$2.75 million (P27.5 million) in option payment to two subsidiaries of PNRL.
PNRL intends to use approximately C$7.36 million (P73.7 million) of the proceeds to prepay all principal and interest related to the currently outstanding principal and interest owing in favor of Pinnacle Island. The balance of the net proceeds will be used to advance exploration and resource development at PNRL’s Selebi and Selkirk nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum-group elements sulphide mines in Botswana, including the acquisition of adjacent mineral and property rights as appropriate, and for general corporate purposes.
PNRL acquired the BCL mining assets last year for an estimated P837 million. The BCL mines were closed in 2016 by the Botswana government, which was the main shareholder, citing unfavourable copper market.
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