Mincor Resources has awarded Hampton Mining and Civil Services with an early works contract to kick off the pre-development stage of a new nickel sulphide mine at its Cassini project in Kambalda, Western Australia.

The award of the contract follows board approval for the early works program and is consistent with one of the key uses of funds outlined in the company’s recent A$35.6 million ($23.8 million) capital raising.

The scope of works involves a “discrete two-month program” focused on site clearance activities for infrastructure and services, plus the excavation of the box-cut at Cassini, Mincor said.

Hamptons had a previous successful association with Mincor undertaking open-pit mining at its Widgiemooltha gold operations, and has therefore been able to mobilise promptly to complete work on this contract, according to the ASX-listed miner.

Following the completion of the updated Cassini mineral resource in November, the total nickel resources across Mincor’s Kambalda tenements now stands at 4.9 Mt at 3.8% Ni for 187,900 t of nickel.

Mincor’s Managing Director, David Southam, said the award of this early works contract, prior to completion of the definitive feasibility study scheduled for later this quarter, represents a strong vote of confidence by the board in the long-term future of Cassini – a key pillar in the company’s integrated nickel restart strategy.

“Given that Cassini is our flagship deposit, and with the project recently receiving all necessary key State Government approvals, it was a logical decision to commence pre-mining works as soon as possible,” he said. “We are currently assessing the mining contract tenders for both the Northern and Southern Operations, and these contractors are, importantly, separate from Hamptons for this discrete program.”

He added: “With Hamptons commencing work immediately, we expect this initial program of site works to be largely completed by the end of the current quarter. This will ultimately save the company time by having this preparatory work finished early, particularly as decline development to access the new underground mine at Cassini is one of the longer lead items in our overall development timeline.”