Prospero contains 960,000 tonnes grading 5.4% nickel, and Jubilee said “expectations are that the resource will continue to grow”. Mineralisation starts at about 500m depth.
A recent drill hit assayed 28m at 3.97% nickel, including an interval of 10.1m at 8.35% nickel. Three diamond rigs are continuing to probe the resource, which is said to remain open in most directions.
Prospero is situated 4.5km south of the company’s bonanza Cosmos mine, with Jubilee recently committing $6 million towards a six-month feasibility study at the discovery ahead of possible production from the September quarter of 2007.
On current calculations it’s believed that production from Cosmos will be exhausted around 2007/08, freeing up the Cosmos plant for Prospero ore. To date, Cosmos has yielded more than 706,151t grading 8.18% nickel.
Jubilee shares were up 19c to $6.08 in early afternoon trade.
