Uranium explorer A-Cap will double down on its new battery metals focus, paying up to $11m for up to 75 per cent of Blackham Resources’  Wilconi nickel cobalt project in Western Australia.

A-Cap (ASX:ACB) shares didn’t move on the news on Monday, but last Friday the share price spiked over 41 per cent to close at 5.8c on no news.

An “aggressive” drilling campaign at Wilconi – near Blackham’s (ASX:BLK) Wiluna gold project – will begin immediately to extend known resources and bring existing resources up to current JORC (2012) standards, A-Cap stated.

JORC refers to the mining industry’s official code for reporting exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves, managed by the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee.

A JORC (2004) inferred resource of 80.5 million tonnes grading 0.77 per cent nickel and 0.058 per cent cobalt was estimated by a previous owner in 2005.

A-Cap will pay Blackham $2.8m for an initial 20 per cent of the project, and can earn up to 75 per cent of Wilconi if it completes a definitive feasibility study within three years.

The A-Cap Resources share price over the past year.
The A-Cap Resources (ASX:ACB) share price over the past year.

A-Cap – which also formed a JV with a Castillo Copper over a Queensland nickel cobalt project in July – has been looking to diversify into battery metals but maintains it is focused on the development of its Letlhakane uranium project in Botswana.

Meanwhile, despite revenues jumping 150 per cent to $118m from 2017, Blackham recorded a $20m loss for the last financial year on a horror first half at its high-cost Wiluna operations.