Nicola Mining (TSX-V:NIM) has secured a long-term extension with Lower Nicola Site Services (LNSS) for the extraction of material from the company’s Craigmont mine site in British Columbia, Canada.
Under a March 2022 agreement, LNSS has the exclusive right to extract gravel and rock from Nicola’s Craigmont mine site, with Nicola receiving a per-tonne royalty for material extracted.
The agreement also gave LNSS preferential engagement for services it provides where those services are competitive.
The new deal extends the agreement until 3 March 2033.
The extension preserves the existing commercial framework and provides a longer-term foundation for collaboration at the Craigmont mine.
“The extension of our agreement with LNSS is important not simply because it lengthens a commercial relationship, but because it reflects the durability of a model in which economic participation, responsible site stewardship, and regional infrastructure needs can reinforce one another,” CEO Peter Espig says.
LNSS is an indirectly majority-owned company formed through a partnership between the Lower Nicola Indian Band Development Corporation and Infracon Construction.
Located approximately 14km from Merritt, Craigmont is a past-producing underground and open-pit copper mine that remains under exploration.
The property is also the site of Nicola’s Merritt mill, which it says is the only facility permitted to process third-party gold and silver mill feed from across the province.
Treasure Mountain drilling
Separately, Nicola says it has completed the first-ever diamond drill program at the MB zone of its Treasure Mountain Silver Project, also in BC.
The company calls this an ‘important milestone’ in the systematic evaluation of a target that had not previously been drilled.
Four holes totalling about 800m were completed to test a quartz-sulphide vein system identified through previous surface mapping and geochemical sampling.
Visual examination of drill cores has identified intervals of ‘intense’ sulphide mineralisation, including pyrite, pyrrhotite, and sphalerite, although the company warns that these findings are preliminary.
Nicola is now completing detailed geological logging, core sampling, and preparation for laboratory multi-element analysis.
The assay data, once received and interpreted in conjunction with the structural, lithological, and surface geochemical datasets, will provide the first subsurface geochemical information from the MB zone.
The overall results will help refine the geological model and assess the scale, continuity, and mineralogical character of the mineralised system, the company adds.
Recently, an independent evaluation was conducted at the Treasure Mountain Project to assess a potential resumption of mining following approximately 13 years of inactivity.
The report found no conditions that would prevent the historical underground silver-lead-zinc mine from undergoing further assessment for a restart, as reported.
Nicola Mining is a junior mining company that operates the 100%-owned Merritt mill and tailings facility in BC.
Write to Jackson Chen at Mining.com.au
Main image: Nicola Mining
