Panoramic Resources Limited (ASX:PAN) has announced a maiden Savannah Project Lower Zone Reserve of 43,200t Nickel, 23,500t Copper and 2,160t Cobalt.

Peter Harold, managing director said the Savannah Lower Reserve should extend mine life beyond 2018, based on an Upper Zone Reserve at 30 June 2009 of 27,200t Ni contained, less ore production of 336,200t at 1.32%Ni for 4,440t Ni contained to 30 December 2009, plus the Lower Zone Reserve of 43,200t Ni contained.

The Savannah Project is located 240 kilometres south of Kununurra in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The new Lower Zone Reserve incorporates mineralisation below the 500 Fault down to approximately 900m below surface where the Savannah Intrusion has been off-set by a fault along a sub-horizontal mafic dyke.

During the Lower Zone Resource and Reserve diamond drilling program, several drill holes were extended down into the vicinity of the off-set block below the mafic dyke.

The deepest of these holes (KUD810) was terminated 400m below the mafic dyke. Immediately below the dyke for a distance of 350m, hole KUD810 skimmed in and out of the Savannah Intrusion intersecting several zones of Savannah Style massive sulphide mineralisation.

Over the same interval, KUD810 returned a strong, continuous Electro-Magnetic (EM) anomaly incorporating both on-hole and off-hole responses. The character and magnitude of the KUD810 EM response is equal to the best of the EM anomalies recorded in the vicinity of the Savannah deposit to date.

Offtake has been extended a further 10 years, with Jinchuan covering expected production from the remaining Upper Zone Reserve and the new Lower Zone Reserve and there is excellent resource to reserve conversion of 86% for the Lower Zone.

Panoramic recently reported a net profit after tax of $23.1 million for the first half of FY2010. The Company also declared a 5 cent, fully franked, interim dividend and a special, fully franked, dividend of 5 cents, reflecting the solid half year profit performance and strong cash flows.