URU upbeat as Zeb Nickel secures environmental authorisation

URU Metals announced on Wednesday that its associate company Zeb Nickel has secured an integrated environmental authorisation from the South African Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) for the Zeb Nickel Project in Limpopo Province.

The AIM-traded firm said the authorisation, granted under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, was a crucial step towards obtaining the mining rights necessary for extracting various minerals, including nickel, copper, platinum-group metals, and more, for the next 30 years.

It said the authorisation marked the culmination of a four-year Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, which involved 16 expert-led environmental studies to ensure that all potential impacts were evaluated and mitigated.

Following the approval, Zeb Nickel notified all interested and affected parties, providing a 20-day window for appeals, which had now concluded.

With the environmental approval in place, the project was poised to proceed with its planned activities, pending the final approval of the mining rights from the DMPR.

Zeb Nickel was focussed on enhancing the project's economics by targeting higher-grade nickel zones identified in recent geological studies.

The strategic focus aimed to increase the overall nickel grade and optimise the project's profitability as it moved closer to the commencement of mining operations.

At 0805 BST, shares in URU Metals were up 10% at 55p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.