Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) shares were well in the red today after the company announced the completion of its nickel mineral resources review. At market close, the Neometals share price was trading 8.18% lower at 50.5 cents.
Let's take a closer look at today's news from the Australian minerals explorer.
Mt Edwards project review complete
Today's moves down for the Neometals share price came following the company's announcement it has completed the nickel mineral resources review at its Mt Edwards nickel project. The analysis finalises a two-year examination of the project, which is located in Western Australia.
In the report, the company completed a review of 11 nickel mineral resources, with 9 mineral resources having been re-estimated between November 2019 and June 2021 using "new and existing data".
The new global mineral resource was found to provide 162,560 tonnes of contained nickel, from a total of 10.220 million tonnes of ore that averaged a 1.6% nickel grade.
Regarding the Mt Edwards project, Neometals had this to say in today's update:
The increase for the Mt Edwards 26N Mineral Resource announced 30 June 2021 is the last re-estimation considered necessary with the current information. An assessment of the Cooke1 and Widgie 32 Mineral Resources was completed by Richard Maddocks from Auralia Mining Consultants. In Mr Maddock's assessment, the current estimates do not warrant reinterpretation given the available data.
Today's release comes after a series of announcements made by the company since 29 June, each surrounding the Mt Edwards project.
Since 28 June, including today's trading, the Neometals share price has spiked 9.8%. This is also in spite of today's downside.
Neometals share price snapshot
At the current market price, Neometals has a market capitalisation of around $275 million and earnings per share (EPS) of -2.3 cents.
The Neometals share price has remained firmly in the green over the previous 12 months, clocking a 1-year return of more than 236%.
Since 1 January, the company's shares have returned almost 84% to investors, outpacing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)'s return of around 11% over this time period.
Neometals shares are 5.6% in the red over the previous 1 month but have finished the previous 5 trading sessions in the green. The company's shares are trading off their 52-week high of 59 cents but are above their 52-week low of 14 cents.
