Upon releasing an updated mine plan including the Savannah North prospect, Panoramic reported an increased mine life from approximately eight years to around 13 years.

This is underpinned by an increase in Savannah’s ore reserve, which as of June stood at 8.3 million tonnes at 1.23 per cent of nickel, 0.59 per cent of copper and 0.08 per cent of cobalt.

Panoramic expects to produce 8810 tonnes of nickel, 4579 tonnes of copper and 659 tonnes of cobalt in concentrate for the first 12 years of production.

Undertake underground development will last from August until the end of March quarter next year. This places Savannah’s potential restart in the first half of next year.

“The updated mine life and ore reserve for Savannah underpin the potential future restart of the operation and confirm the significant value of the asset,” Panoramic managing director and chief executive Victor Rajasooriar said.

“… The project is highly leveraged to upside in nickel prices expected to be driven by the electric vehicle market, as evidenced by the consensus case financial metrics using consensus forecast prices.

“We now have a firm foundation to recommence underground pre-production development next month, to complete ventilation works for Savannah North and complete areas of capital development to lay further groundwork for a potential restart of operations.”

The Panoramic board will make a decision to restart the Savannah mine based on commodity markets, operational factors and the company’s strategic objectives.

The Savannah North orebody remains open along strike and at depth, providing potential to bring more material into the mine plan with future drilling.