Pivotal Metals edges Horden Lake towards development with stronger resource and metallurgy

Pivotal Metals Limited (ASX:PVT) is approaching the point where Horden Lake must move from an exploration story to an economic proposition. The Quebec copper-nickel-gold-PGM project now carries a 52.4 million tonne mineral resource at 1.05% copper equivalent, while metallurgical work has delivered copper recovery of 90.5% into a concentrate grading 26% copper. The next test is the company’s maiden scoping study, targeted for release in the September 2026 quarter.

Horden Lake resource reaches 549kt CuEq

The post-year-end resource update contains 549,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent metal, including 292,000 tonnes of contained copper, 91,000 tonnes of nickel and substantial gold, silver, palladium, platinum and cobalt credits. Some 45.5Mt sits within an open-pit constraint, representing 87% of the total resource, while 24.3Mt is classified as Measured and Indicated.

The deposit remains open along strike and at depth. Pivotal says step-out drilling extended sulphide mineralisation by 600 metres and that geophysical conductors beneath and around the existing deposit remain largely untested. The resource itself is supported by a 2.1-times run-of-mine grade upgrade in TOMRA X-ray transmission sorting testwork, with the company presenting ore sorting as a potential route to a smaller processing plant and lower material throughput.

Metallurgy strengthens the development case

Phase 2 flotation testwork used 17 samples across a range of grades and mineral combinations. The second locked-cycle test recovered 90.5% of copper into a 26% copper concentrate, while the company’s modelling at the in-pit resource head grades estimates 92% copper recovery overall. Estimated recoveries were lower and more variable for other metals, including 46% for nickel, 61% for gold and 73% for silver.

That distinction matters. The recovery figures are testwork-based estimates rather than production results, and the company says nickel recovery is driven by sulphur content and remains variable. Even so, the work has given Pivotal recovery algorithms for all seven payable elements ahead of mine planning and economic modelling. The project’s simple sequential flotation flowsheet remains unchanged.

Belleterre adds drilling and Bambino exposure

At Belleterre, the first drilling since acquisition produced a notable Alotta intersection of 21.8 metres at 1.27% nickel, 1.03% copper and 1.29 grams per tonne of platinum group elements from 73 metres. Pivotal has expanded the programme to about 3,000 metres, including targets east of the past-producing Lorraine Mine, where a further 1,500 metres of drilling was added after year-end.

The company also secured an option over the 3,320-hectare Bambino project, consolidating a reported five-kilometre trend of copper-nickel-PGM occurrences within the wider Belleterre package. The arrangement includes staged cash payments, up to 9.615 million shares subject to conditions and C$500,000 of exploration expenditure over three years, with the vendors retaining a 2% net smelter return royalty.

Cash supports work but funding remains central

Pivotal ended the financial year with A$3.48 million in cash after raising A$5.4 million, including A$2.9 million through flow-through shares. Operating cash outflow rose to A$1.33 million from A$441,213 a year earlier, while exploration and evaluation spending was A$2.11 million. The annual loss narrowed to A$1.31 million from A$1.55 million, but the company generated no meaningful operating revenue and says additional funds may be required.

The immediate investment question is therefore less about whether Pivotal has accumulated exploration headlines and more about whether the scoping study can convert them into credible project economics. Environmental assessment work, winter resource drilling, Belleterre assays and the Bambino option conditions will all compete for attention, but the study’s capital intensity, operating costs, mine life and funding assumptions should provide the clearest measure yet of how much further the Horden Lake thesis has to travel.