Botswana’s critical metals story gains momentum as NexMetals delivers a major Selkirk resource upgrade

NexMetals Mining has announced that Selkirk now hosts approximately 1.1 billion pounds of copper equivalent in the Indicated category and an additional 200 million pounds in the Inferred category, representing a substantial step forward in the project’s maturity. More importantly, the majority of the resource has now moved into the higher-confidence Indicated category, a critical milestone for future project development.

Confidence is becoming as valuable as grade

The updated estimate outlines 78.2 million tonnes grading 0.66% CuEq in the Indicated category and 15.1 million tonnes grading 0.60% CuEq in the Inferred category. While the headline highlights a 70% increase in resources, the real story lies beneath the numbers. Compared with the previous 2024 estimate, Selkirk’s contained copper-equivalent inventory has increased by approximately 63%, driven not by higher commodity prices but by improved technical understanding of the deposit. Better metallurgical recoveries, the addition of cobalt, silver and gold as payable metals, and an extensive re-assaying and twin-drilling program significantly enhanced the project’s value while converting a large proportion of previously inferred material into indicated resources.

Lower development risk, higher strategic value

The project’s strip ratio has been reduced from 1.65:1 to 1.02:1, placing it among the lowest strip ratios reported for emerging open-pit copper development projects globally. Combined with previously announced metallurgical test work confirming the production of clean copper and nickel concentrates meeting commercial smelter specifications, the project continues to reduce technical uncertainty.

Botswana continues to strengthen its critical minerals position

Selkirk is located approximately 75 kilometres from NexMetals’ flagship Selebi Project, reinforcing Botswana’s emergence as an increasingly attractive jurisdiction for diversified critical metals. Beyond copper and nickel, the project now incorporates payable cobalt, platinum, palladium, gold and silver, creating exposure to multiple commodities that are becoming increasingly important for electrification, energy security and advanced manufacturing.

As CEO Sean Whiteford explained: „Through targeted drilling, re-assaying and metallurgical work, we have established over 1.1 billion pounds of contained copper equivalent in the Indicated category. Importantly, this value was unlocked with relatively modest investment.”

From exploration success to development strategy

The updated Mineral Resource positions Selkirk as a strategically important multi-commodity asset capable of supporting future economic studies, potential partnerships, or broader corporate development initiatives. NexMetals has confirmed that it will now evaluate several strategic pathways, including advancing the project toward a pre-feasibility stage while filing a NI 43-101 Technical Report.