The company achieved a number of milestones during the March quarter, including the delivery of first ore to BHP Nickel West's nearby Kambalda concentrator.

Mincor managing director David Southam said the company had a clear pathway towards first nickel-in-concentrate production later this quarter.

"Significant credit should be given to the Cassini operations team, who delivered first development ore in early March, notching up a major milestone for the Kambalda District given that this is the first new high-grade nickel mine in Kambalda in over a decade to be taken from discovery, through approvals and into development - all during a global pandemic," he said.

"Development at both Cassini and the Northern Operations has forged ahead, despite the current highly competitive environment for people and resources in the WA resources sector. At the same time, mitigation strategies implemented last quarter to manage COVID outbreaks have worked well, with no transmission detected at any of our operations."

Once in production, Kambalda will ramp up to 16,000 tonnes per annum of nickel.

The nickel price is currently trading at a healthy US$33,875 per tonne, up from $20,880/t at the start of the year.

"While the recent ‘short squeeze' which drove the LME nickel price to over $100,000/t in March has grabbed headlines around the world, the nickel price has in fact been trending in an upward direction for some time given surging global EV battery demand and diminishing stockpiles," Sotuhsam said.

"While a degree of volatility will always be a characteristic of the nickel sector, the underlying forces driving the market bode well for the long term.

"The current nickel price of around A$44,000/t, which is nearly double the price assumed in our March 2020 DFS, puts Mincor in a very strong position as we start production." 

Mincor finished the quarter with $84.4 million in cash, down $25.1 million since the start of the year due to project development costs.

Shares in Mincor dropped 1.6% to $2.48 this morning, valuing the company at $1.2 billion.

Earlier this week, the stock hit a 14-year high of $2.81.