09:23 AM EDT, 04/04/2016 (MT Newswires) -- Royal Nickel (RNX.TO) said Monday that high grade visible coarse gold has been successfully mined in a development drive at the Beta Hunt Mine in Australia. The area was nicknamed Hand of Faith by the mine operators because of its significant coarse gold content.

"RNC acquired Beta Hunt with a focus on the remarkable gold exploration potential of a mine situated in one of the great gold camps -- a potential that had been largely ignored because Beta Hunt operated primarily as a nickel mine for many decades," said Mark Selby, president and CEO of Royal Nickel. "There is significant potential for multiple Hand of Faith type areas. Historical drilling focused primarily on nickel resources has identified a number of high grade multi-ounce gold intersections in similar geological structures outside the existing Beta Hunt resource and a number of potential target areas that remain untested because of the lack of focus on gold."

Development has been completed at Beta Hunt to allow ongoing mining from the area. Approximately 100 tonnes of high grade material was extracted and is awaiting processing.

Royal Nickel owns 66% of Salt Lake Mining, the 100% owner of Beta Hunt. The company has signed an agreement with shareholders who hold the remaining 34% of SLM, giving Royal the right to acquire their SLM shares in a share exchange deal calculated based on the date of exercise.

Royal intends to seek approval for the share issuance at a special meeting of shareholders expected to be held next month.