pd267-Dec18-mag-web

WA GOLD PROJECT
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✔ Intensive 40,000m, A$4M drilling campaigns underway
✔ Multiple investment and re-rating catalysts ahead
✔ Fully-funded / free-carried via JV with Ibaera Capital
✔ 624,000oz @ 2.14g/t Au Ore Reserve (update imminent)
✔ Clear path to developing Ghana’s next long-life gold mine
✔ Highly-regarded Board and development team that will deliver
✔ Tremendous value on fundamental and comparative metrics
“The perfect time to become a shareholder!”

Azumah will be attending Arlington Pre-daba, 121 Mining Investment and Mining Indaba in Capetown, February 2019.
To arrange an investor briefing, contact Managing Director Stephen Stone:
e: [email protected] m: +61 (0) 418 804 564

www.azumahresources.com.au
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 101

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Michael Marriott

Norilsk strikes and lower grade ore impacting Marriott welcomed the new stance
not happy production from Nkomati in the nine taken by the South African Government
months to October 2018, Marriott be- under the Minister of Mines Gwede Man-
Norilsk Nickel’s exit from southern Af- lieves circumstances are changing for tashe and remained confident positive
rica remains in limbo five years after the better in the Southern African mining outcomes would prevail.
the Russian giant made the call to focus scene.
interests on home soil. “At Nkomati, there have been a few
Nevertheless, Nornickel’s plan to get challenges in recent times. I think that is
The company re-strategised in 2013/14 out of Africa remains. very much linked to what is happening
which meant leaving its Australian inter- in the broader Southern Africa context,
ests, the Tati nickel mine in Botswana “It is not our strategy to expand outside which has obviously turned out to be a
and its 50% stake in Nkomati, South Af- of Russia at this point in time,” Marriott little bit challenging. But, we are also
rica. said. “Strategies can change and right pleased to say that since the new think-
now our energies and focus are on, ing of the Government has come to the
It thought it had fulfilled its strategy firstly, resolving this issue with BCL and fore with a new minister, Gwede Man-
in 2014 when wholly-owned Botswana the Botswana Government and secondly tashe, we are seeing a lot more positive
Government subsidiary BCL Ltd agreed maintaining our relationship with African signs and stability in the sector,” Marriott
to sale and purchase conditions for Tati Rainbow Minerals in JV at Nkomati. That said.
and Nkomati. is our focus and we have no intentions of
expansion in Africa at this point in time.” “Generally, I do think sentiment is cau-
BCL has since gone into administra- tiously turning positive in the Southern
tion and left Norilsk short of the $45 mil- African region. We still have a way to go
lion needed to satisfy the deal. to ensure that the long-term investment
horizons of the mining industry are actu-
In mid-2018, an application in the Bot- ally understood and there is long-term
swana courts for the matter to be heard policy certainty.
at the International Court of Arbitration,
London, was rejected and a resolution “I think it is going to take a while for
seemingly distant. it to turn bullish. At this point in time, I’d
describe sentiment as being flat, which is
Norilsk Nickel Africa (Nornickel) chief better than the previous sentiment which
executive Michael Marriott told Paydirt was rather bearish.”
the issue had evolved into a protracted
legal wrangle marred by BCL’s liquida- – Mark Andrews
tor’s efforts to declare the transaction
null and void. The sale of Tati, east of Francistown, Botswana,
remains unresolved
“Instead of resolving and basically liq-
uidating the assets of BCL and taking
care of shareholders’ interests, we see
him taking care of all sorts of moves to try
and have the sale and purchase agree-
ment declared null and void through all
sorts of legal means possible,” Marriott
said.

“We think this is a waste of sharehold-
ers’ money; we think it is disingenuous.
Sadly, it is taking a lot of time and money
out of the pockets of the creditors.”

Despite Nornickel’s struggles with
the Botswana Government, plus labour

Page 104 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

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PROFILE

Great Greenland

A government mapping project in the
Maniitsoq area of West Greenland

Greenland is about as far What brings Greenland to Australia? Resources Ltd, Rimbal Pty Ltd and Tan-
away from Australia as breez Mining Greenland SA.
it is possible to get but that We would be keen to increase the
hasn’t stopped ASX-listed number of Australian licensees active in What commodities should explorers
companies embarking on Greenland. This is why we annually host be searching for in Greenland?
exploration campaigns in the a Greenland Day in Perth, Western Aus-
Arctic island. In October, the tralia, where interested stakeholders can The geology of Greenland is unique in
Greenland Ministry of Mineral visit and learn more about the geology being so diverse, with a huge range of
Resources and Labour held and regulatory framework of Greenland geological environments covering almost
its annual Greenland Day in as a mining investment destination. the entire Earth’s history. This means the
Perth and also participated as mineral systems and commodities to be
an exhibitor at the Australian This was also the first year our delega- found in Greenland are equally diverse.
Nickel Conference. Paydirt tion participated in the Australian Nickel There is strong exploration potential in
spoke with Klaus Kuch Jensen, Conference. We found it very useful and Greenland for a wide range of com-
Acting Head of the Licence it seems to have generated some genu- modities including gold, magmatic nickel,
Department at the Ministry, ine interest for Greenland. zinc, rare earth elements, sedimentary-
about the reasons for the visit hosted copper, IOCGs, platinum-group
and the opportunities on offer in What level of participation do elements, tungsten, gemstones (includ-
the country. you already see from Australian ing diamonds), titanium, graphite and
companies? other industrial minerals. What’s more,
the sheer number of operating mines in
The prospective geology of Greenland correlative geological terranes in parts of
has already attracted significant interest Scandinavia and Arctic Canada suggest
from Australia. Currently, we have five that there must be economic deposits
mineral licensees in Greenland originat- so far undiscovered in Greenland.
ing from Australia. One of these has
been granted an Exploitation Licence
(Ironbark Zinc Ltd for its project by Cit-
ronen Fjord in North Greenland). Others
include Greenland Minerals SA, Platina

Page 106 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

What can Australian companies Exclusive Exploration Licences on For more information on Greenland’s
expect if they look at Greenland as a Special Terms are granted in North and mineral potential, please visit the
mining investment destination? East Greenland. The licence area must Ministry of Mineral Resources and
be at least 1,000sq km. In return, the Labour at http://www.govmin.gl, on
Australian companies can expect a reli- yearly financial commitments are signifi- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/
able, accountable, and transparent public cantly reduced compared to those of the GreenlandMin/ or through the Greenland
administration. Additionally, companies regular exploration licence. The licence Mineral Resources Data Portal:
can expect to feel welcomed, not only by is valid for three years and cannot be http://www.greenmin.gl
the pro-mining legislation, but also by the renewed. Should the licensee manage to
pro-mining population of Greenland. delineate a high potential area within the Exploration drilling on the Nanulaq gold
special exploration licence, the licensee project in South Greenland
Can you describe Greenland’s is entitled to have this area granted with Copyright Nalunaq A/S
mining licensing framework? exclusivity on regular exploration licence
terms.
It is a very easy, transparent and predict-
able process to secure a licence for What policies does Greenland have
mineral exploration or prospecting in to attract resources investment?
Greenland. Licences applied for will be
issued no later than three months after The Ministry of Mineral Resources and
registration of application. Labour, as well as the Mineral Licence
and Safety Authority, continuously review
Exploration Licences in Greenland are financial policies on exploration commit-
granted with exclusivity to area defined ments, royalties etc. to insure Green-
by the applicant. The first licence period land remains a competitive investment
is granted for five years, if the licensee destination.
is fully compliant after those five years,
they will be entitled to a renewal of What advice would you give
another five years. After this the licence to Australian companies
must be renewed every third year. considering investment in
Greenland?
Prospecting Licences in Greenland are
granted to non-exclusive standard areas Greenland has some very skilful
(North, West, and East Greenland). and specialised subcontractors,
The prospecting licence comes with no especially to mineral exploration
reporting requirements and no financial companies. However, they tend
commitments. It is valid for five years to be very busy during the summer
and cannot be renewed. If the licensee field season. So, plan ahead
manages to delineate a high potential and reach out to the local
area within the prospecting licence, the subcontractors in due time.
licensee is automatically entitled to have
this area granted with exclusivity on
exploration licence terms.

North American Nickel Inc’s exploration
camp and core yard in Greenland

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 107

regional roundup

Sweden Jenny Greberg
comes to Oz

looking
for friends

They may be at opposite ends of the LKAB and Boliden Mines as a possible strategic innovation programme for the
globe but the Swedish and Australian explanation for the lack of more activity. Swedish mining and metal producing in-
mining sectors continue to face the same dustry – told Paydirt the group’s Vision
challenges in ensuring their industries re- While mining rivals such as Australia 2030 plan was to place mining at the
main relevant in a changing world. and Canada enjoy lively junior mining centre of Sweden’s push for a sustain-
and exploration sectors, Sweden strug- able future.
Sweden is well-established as a min- gles to attract new mining investment.
ing services hub given it is home to global “The world needs metals and minerals
equipment and service suppliers such as Ahl urged Australian companies to to retain the sustainable and highly de-
Sandvik, Atlas Copco/Epiroc and Scania consider Sweden as an exploration des- veloped lifestyle we desire; mining is ab-
but a downward trend in the number of tination. solutely key to that,” Greberg said. “We
domestic mining operations is making it need to position ourselves like that and
increasingly difficult for the country’s re- “I would like to see more companies show that we are the first part of a very
sources sector to retain its standing. come to Sweden. We has very mineral- long value chain that results in sustain-
rich bedrock and Australian companies able living.”
“In 1900, there were 250 mines in Swe- are very experienced in exploration and
den; that has steadily declined to 15 to- attracting investment; much better in fact Greberg said it would take a concerted
day,” Per Ahl, chief executive of Svemin, than we are in Sweden,” Ahl told Paydirt. effort from all stakeholders to fulfil those
the association of mines and metals pro- ambitions. Fortunately, the Swedish min-
duction said at the recent Swedish Min- While there are differences between ing sector prides itself on its ability to co-
ing Initiative held in Perth. the mining cultures of Sweden and Aus- operate.
tralia, they share many similarities. A key
More than 200 participants joined in on topic of discussion at the Swedish Mining “We have a long history of collabora-
discussions on collaboration in innova- Initiative was the challenges facing the tion between companies, equipment
tion and sustainability and the opportuni- industry in both countries in attracting suppliers and universities. This combina-
ties on offer in Sweden. young people to the sector. tion has made the industry very strong,”
Ahl said.
The Nordic country remains one of the “Mining is not seen as an attractive job
most prolific metals producers in Europe, and there are not many graduates com- Greberg agreed.
accounting for 23% of gold, 36% of zinc, ing out of our universities,” Ahl said. “We “Our culture is built on collaboration;
22% of silver 46% of lead, 11% of copper have to improve our social acceptance in order to survive the harsh climate we
and 89% of iron ore production on the and explain what it is we are doing.” had to collaborate,” she said. “Sweden
continent. has world-class equipment suppliers
Last year, Svemin established a road and world-class operators and from a
As a competitive mining jurisdiction, map for the country’s mining industry very early stage in our mining sector they
Sweden has much going for it with high which aims to eliminate fossil fuel use in started to collaborate.”
levels of technical expertise, a vibrant the industry by 2035, build a mining fu- Such collaboration has grown domesti-
mining services sector and quality infra- tures programme and enhance traceabil- cally but Sweden’s equipment suppliers,
structure and it is renowned for being the ity of metals produced by the industry. miners and universities are now looking
most productive mining jurisdiction in the further afield for partnerships.
world. But according to Ahl, the industry “The first project is to become a fossil “In Sweden we are not a very big min-
could achieve much more. fuel-free industry because the Govern- ing cluster and we recognise Australia as
ment has set a target that by 2050 the having a similar industry and we are here
“Sweden’s standing in the Fraser In- country will be carbon neutral,” Ahl said. to find partners with who we can collabo-
stitute survey has fallen to 16th and that “So, politicians will help with efficient and rate,” Greberg said.
is because of a lack of supply of com- fair permitting, investment in R&D and
petence and we have challenges over access to fossil fuel-free power and bio- – Dominic Piper
access to land and permitting,” Ahl said fuels.”
who also pointed to the dominance of
Jenny Greberg, head of technol-
ogy and innovation at SIP STRIM – the

Page 108 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

EUROPE

Berkeley to stay the course
at Salamanca

One approval stands in the way of 2,500 direct and indirect jobs. About petition currently has nearly 1,500 sig-
the Salamanca uranium mine, three 250 people will be required during the natures”.
hours from Madrid, being constructed. construction phase of Salamanca,
which requires one more approval for While litigation against the Spanish
ASX-listed uranium hopeful Berkeley work to begin. Government is not the route Berkeley
Energia Ltd is ready to start construc- wants to take, it believes it is in a strong
tion of the Salamanca mine and po- The mine will be one of the lowest legal position.
tentially invest €250 million in a region cost uranium projects in the world, with
of Spain it has toiled away in for many opex of $US9.90/lb from Zona 7 esti- Development of Salamanca has been
years. mated. stymied since the new socialist govern-
ment was elected in June and while
A primary crusher lays dormant on When in production, Salamanca will Berkeley has no reason to believe Sala-
site and the $US95.7 million in capital be a global top 10 uranium producer. manca won’t be approved, it is none
costs bundled up for now. the wiser as to when a decision will be
“We are committed to developing made.
Media reports suggested the Spanish the project and we fully understand
Government would not deliver Berke- that there are processes that need to The company currently has no “Plan
ley the final approval for the go-ahead be gone through so that everyone is B” for Salamanca and while there is ex-
at Salamanca, with the doubt cast over comfortable with the granting of the ap- ploration potential at the project, efforts
the project’s future smashing the com- proval allowing the project to go ahead,” will be limited while the immediate fu-
pany’s share price. Berkeley managing director Paul Ather- ture of the “world’s best uranium” devel-
ley told Paydirt at the company’s AGM opment is cleared up.
Following a positive AGM in Perth in in November.
late November, Berkeley’s stock gained While everything is on hold at Sala-
7% to 23c/share on the ASX, a long way Prior to the AGM, Spain’s Nuclear manca, Berkeley does have one thing in
from the $1.05c/share it started 2018 Safety Council was dismissed as the its favour at the moment; uranium price.
and even the 70c/share it was trading source of negative media reports, while
prior to negative reports in the media. Berkeley says community support for In Q3, the uranium spot market saw
the project is strong. more transactions and more volume
In July, Berkeley became Spain’s only than any time in history, with the ura-
listed mining company and its Salaman- In September, Berkeley reported that nium price closing out September at
ca mine was seen as a beacon of hope the “entire population of Retortillo, half $US27.38/lb, reflecting a 92c increase
for a region which has seen 120,000 the population of Villavieja de Yeltes on the month and a $US4.58/lb increase
people leave in the last five years. and many more residents from other over the quarter, Berkeley reported.
towns surrounding the project have
In its current state, the Salamanca op- signed a petition to show their support At the time of print, the UxC spot ura-
eration is poised to produce 4.4 mlbpa for Berkeley‘s Salamanca mine. The nium price was $US29.10/lb.
uranium over 14 years and provide
– Mark Andrews

Salamanca is in a region where mining
has occurred for more than 2,000 years

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 109

regional roundup LATIN AMERICA

SolGold doubles the dose
at Alpala

SolGold plc has grown in stature as the generally held requirement of 750mt at Nick Mather
one of the world’s best explorers with a grade of at least 0.9% copper equivalent
an updated resource for its Alpala project, for Tier 1 status for both copper and gold been a boon for Ecuador, with no less
northern Ecuador, doubling the size of projects worldwide. Alpala has got more to than 30 companies becoming active
the deposit in less than a year. grow yet and we are pursuing that aggres- across 300 concessions in the country.
sively over the coming months.”
Since December 2017, a total of However, SolGold’s advantage as a
133,576m across 128 diamond holes has Fast-tracked development of the Cas- first-mover gives it the most extensive
been drilled to produce the latest indicat- cabel project is the aim for SolGold, and best selected position, covering 72
ed resource estimate of 2.05bt @ 0.6% which has indicated that the PEA is pro- licences and 11 major targets.
copper equivalent for 8.4mt copper and gressing well with expected feasibility
19.4 moz gold (0.2% copper eq. cut-off) studies to follow “seamlessly”. “Ecuador covers the same extent,
and estimated inferred resources total- age and gross geology as you see in
ling 900mt @ 0.35% copper eq. for 2.5mt “Alpala is just the beginning for Sol- Northern Chile, which covers 25% of the
copper and 3.8 moz gold (0.2% copper Gold and we can see the emergence of world’s copper resources,” Mather said,
eq. cut-off). the company as a copper-gold major and adding that global electrification was
Ecuador becoming one of the world’s driving copper to such an extent it was
There is a high-grade component of largest copper producers as a result,” becoming the “new iron ore”.
the deposit which hosts 420mt @ 1.47% Mather said.
copper eq. (6.1mt copper eq.) containing “It’s a global ‘must have’,” he said.
3.8mt copper and 12.3 moz gold at 0.9% SolGold’s success at Cascabel has Copper was trading at $US2.79/lb at
copper eq. cut-off, of which 97% is in the the time of print.
indicated category.
SOURCE: KITCO
SolGold’s maiden resource at Alpala
was only released in December 2017 and
within less than 12 months the company
has tripled the amount of drilling and as-
say information and grown tonnages by
273%.

Furthermore, SolGold believes there
remains strong potential to add signifi-
cant resources through drilling in 2019,
with aims to expand the deposit at Alpala
SE, Alpala NW, Trivinio and Alpala West-
ern Limb.

Commenting on the Alpala resource
estimate announced in November,
SolGold chief executive Nick Mather
thanked his 450-strong team – 97% of
which are Ecuadorean – the local com-
munities, and shareholders and inves-
tors, including 11% shareholder BHP Ltd.

“We are very happy with the rapid and
inexorable growth of this resource and
progression of the Alpala project. The
high-grade, gold-rich core of the deposit
now contains double the copper and
gold at a higher grade than in Decem-
ber 2017. The high-grade resource has
increased in size by 99% at a 0.96% cop-
per eq. cut-off to 420mt @ 1.47% copper
eq. Overall, the resource metal content
has increased by 77% at a 0.3% copper
equivalent cut-off and by 108% at a 0.2%
copper equivalent cut-off,” Mather said.

“The project has approximately 950mt
@ 0.97% copper eq. for 6.1mt copper and
16.2 moz gold, significantly exceeding

Page 110 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

LATIN

AMERICA

15-16 May 2019

Perth,Western Australia

The premier forum for Australian-Latin American relations

“Paydirt continues to do an amazing “The meeting room worked
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continents/regions, where they are able to get meet the delegations from slightly less
some credible exposure in our marketplace. well known countries. Our meetings
“These conferences really do make a with the Vice Ministers/Directors were
difference.” – Intertek definitely productive.” – FQM

I had the opportunity to hold important meetings with representatives of diverse
mining companies from Australia and Latin America... It was extremely beneficial
to listen to the successful experiences of representatives of mining companies in
several Latin American countries.” – Embassy of Ecuador

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SPONSORSHIP AND EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITIES NOW AVAILABLE

Contact Mel Fogarty on +61 (0) 8 9321 0355 or +61 (0) 420 495 163
or email [email protected].’SaPuAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 111

regional roundup

BMG salutes
salar potential

Salar West is in the Salar de Atacama, which is the
world’s largest and purest active source of lithium

While Argentina is a favourable des- mand is not going to evaporate and we tional investors to help execute the JV
tination for some Australian min- want to be a small player in that game.” with Chile SpA.
ing companies at the moment, BMG
Resources Ltd is taking its chances in Despite general softness in commodi- Post completion of the transaction,
Chile’s lithium brine sector. ties and an overheated lithium sector McCracken said a drilling campaign in
cooling off, fundamentals driving de- early 2019 was the aim.
The company is close to finalising JV mand for lithium in batteries powering
terms with Lithium Chile SpA after geo- the electric vehicles of the future have Having opted not to pursue gold and
physics defined strong brine potential at not changed. polymetallic projects in Bulgaria – it re-
Salar West in the southern extension of tains a 30% interest in the Treasure gold
the Salar de Atacama. Using 2018 research from McKinsey, project, Cyprus – BMG sees the Chilean
EV-driven demand for lithium is expected lithium brine strategy as the transforma-
The TEM survey has given BMG im- to increase more than threefold by 2025 tive play it has been looking for.
petus to swoop on an opportunity in a as governments like China’s get cracking
region hosting some of the lowest cost, on carbon emissions targets. With new and existing shareholders
highest grade brine projects in the world backing the placement in November, it
and further comfort comes from the ac- “We’d like to establish ourselves with a appears BMG has support for its strat-
tive presence of SQM and Albemarle on nice niche operation, we are not trying to egy.
the salar. take on the world and the relationship we
have has showed us the opportunities. “Even if we are moderately successful
Emulating those lithium powerhouses We are focused on getting good resourc- there is a massive opportunity for us to
is not the aim for BMG, but that doesn’t es and Chile is one of the best places for be re-rated. Having done the geophysics
make managing director Bruce McCrack- it,” McCracken said. we have a good pathway for exploration
en any less ambitious. and development and we can move quite
BMG has more than 12,000ha com- quickly,” McCracken said.
McCracken, a self-confessed battery prised of three projects in northern Chile,
minerals bull, told Paydirt BMG knew its which is part of the Lithium Triangle. “Most importantly, we have a strong
place in the market. local partner and a presence on the
Geophysical results from the survey ground so we can maintain relationships
“We are not seeking to conquer and conducted in October indicated strong on the ground. We fully expect to expand
be the biggest player in the game, but brine potential over 4,200ha of the south- around the existing areas we have with
we want to be a participant and there is ern area of Salar West, with the thick- our partner and into other areas, I’d ex-
plenty of room for that,” McCracken said. nesses in the conductive horizon ranging pect to do that sooner rather than later
between 35m and 180m. and that was also one of the attractions
“There is definitely big demand com- of going with the partner we have.”
ing [for lithium], not everyone will be suc- The results were enough for BMG to
cessful, some will and there is a decent go to market and raise $900,000 via a – Mark Andrews
window to get something going. The de- placement to sophisticated and institu-

Page 112 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

LATIN AMERICA

Big boys get busy in Chile

ASX junior Southern Hemisphere is lapping up the
big company attention in Chile’s copper space

Reports that Rio Tinto Ltd is pitching for Teck doing something there and that is Hudbay was expected to start drilling at
a minority stake in Teck Resources fantastic because you need the focus of the Llahuin JV in the last quarter of 2018,
Ltd’s $US4.8 billion Quebrada Blanca mine these sorts of big companies to put it on having completed a soil geochemical
expansion has cast the spotlight on Chile’s the map for people take notice,” Southern sampling programme and relogging of old
copper sector. Hemisphere Mining Ltd non-executive di- holes.
rector Keith Coughlan told Paydirt.
Teck received regulatory approval for Drilling at Llahuin couldn’t have been
the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) pro- “It needs that sort of focus, that money timed any better, as a decision by Teck on
ject in the Tarapacá region, northern Chile, spent on it, to get it moving and back on the way forward at Quebrada is also likely
in August and was expected to decide on people’s radar. Notwithstanding that we in the same period.
a preferred investment partner for the ex- are in a reasonably tough little macro en-
pansion in Q4. vironment, I think the outlook for copper is “I think the Hudbay JV ticks all those
still pretty strong and when you see majors boxes. If you look at the terms of it, by the
Reuters reported that a development do things that support that view I think it is time they have spent the money to earn
partner’s contribution of $US2 billion to encouraging.” 70% interest it will be a fairly heavily devel-
the expansion could see it gain a 30-40% oped project,” Coughlan said.
in Quebrada, with the likes of Mitsubi- Coughlan and non-executive chairman
shi Corp, Aluminium Corp of China and David Lenigas joined Southern Hemi- “There is a free-carry there for the
Lundin Mining Corp also likely to join the sphere in 2017 with the mandate to ex- Southern Hemisphere shareholders. We
queue with Rio Tinto. tract whatever value they could from the could have gone two ways about the pro-
company’s suite of assets, including the ject, the other being to make a full commit-
It is estimated that 9,000-11,000 people Llahuin copper-gold porphyry project in ment, go to shareholders and raise a big
will be required during peak construction Chile’s Coquimbo Region, 250km north of chunk of money and do it yourself. I think in
at Quebrada and in excess of 2,000 on- Santiago. this environment that would have proven to
going jobs (direct and indirect) provided by be difficult as it is not at all easy for juniors.
operations at Quebrada. The pair acted quickly and struck a JV To raise that sort of money would obvious-
agreement with Hudbay Minerals Inc (trad- ly have been highly dilutive as well.”
The Quebrada expansion is estimated ing at $C6.46/share on the TSX at the time
to produce 300,000 tpa copper equivalent of print) in February 2018. Coughlan said while Hudbay was taking
for the first five years, with initial permits in care of business in Chile, Southern Hemi-
place for a 25-year operation. Hudbay can earn 70% in Llahuin by sphere would continue to scour the world
making a series of cash payments to- for other opportunities and was agnostic
Current production rates are based on talling $US5.8 million over five years on commodity and jurisdiction.
a quarter of the reserves and resources at ($US250,000 due in February 2019) and
Quebrada, with plenty of exploration up- committing to spend $US3.5 million on ex- The company is keen on gold prospects
side, according to Teck. ploration in the first three years. in the southern Pilbara basin, Western
Australia, where it plans to ramp up explo-
Of all commodities, the forecasts for “They have fired up and done a fair bit ration.
copper are the strongest given the lack of of work on it. We are just trying to get an
exploration success and capital commit- understanding from them now on what The region received worldwide attention
ted to finding the next generation of Tier they are planning specifically for the drill after Novo Resources Corp starting pluck-
1 plays. programme,” Coughlan said. ing Witwatersrand, conglomerate-style
gold nuggets and sparked a prospecting
Copper usage in electrification will con- “They are doing it justice, spending good frenzy.
tinue to grow and put a strain on supply money there and even on their website the
and demand, which is the back story be- project features on their corporate video, With a number of companies active in
hind the world’s largest miners chasing so I think they believe there is a fair bit of the Pilbara for gold, Coughlan expects ac-
participation in assets in copper hot spots potential there. The deal we have done tivity to increase and further consolidation
such as Chile and Ecuador. means they have to commit and spend a to occur in the field.
fair bit of dough to earn anything.”
“Clearly there is some focus in Chile, – Mark Andrews
there has been some talk of Rio Tinto and

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 113

regional roundup LATIN AMERICA

Galan to get going
in Argentina

Galan Lithium Ltd is gearing up to get recently separated from FMC Corp – is Galan is well positioned to start an
active in a region of Argentina which going gangbusters at the El Fenix opera- initial drilling campaign at Candelas
is to lithium what the Pilbara is to iron ore. tion where it has been extracting lithium in Argentina’s Catarmarca province
brine for more than 20 years.
An option underwriting agreement for ing in the final stages at the time of print.
its quoted options was entered into in late Meanwhile, even closer to home, Gal- The company has its eye on a driller
November, with Barclay Wells Ltd under- axy Resources Ltd’s sale of mining rights
writing $1.59 million worth of quoted op- at Sal de Vida to POSCO for $US280 mil- it wants to carry out work at Candelas,
tions exercisable at 14c/share. lion in mid-2018 has ignited the Hombre while community information meetings
Muerto salar. were also in progress in late November.
If the full number of quoted options on
issue are exercised, a total of $2.18 mil- Galan has an area of 25,000ha cover- Galan – trading at 25.5c/share at the
lion would have been raised by Galan as ing six projects at Hombre Muerto, where time of print – is confident of hitting its
it looks to make inroads at Hombre Muer- the in-country team’s long association target of starting exploration in Q4.
to, which hosts the Candelas project in with the region has been instrumental
Catarmarca province. in rapidly advancing Candelas to a drill- – Mark Andrews
ready position.
The funds have arrived at the right time
for Galan, given the wave of excitement Formerly Dempsey Minerals, the com-
in Argentina’s lithium sector. pany completed the acquisition of Hom-
bre Muerto via acquiring all shares in pri-
Fellow-ASX lithium aspirant Argosy vate entity Blue Sky in June.
Minerals Ltd recently upgraded its re-
source at Rincon in Salta province to Galan has since conducted a number
245,120t, while on the doorstep of Hom- of activities, including a series of geo-
bre Muerto, Livent Corp – the vehicle physical surveys, with permitting for drill-

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AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 115

regional roundup

Kingston brings Misima
to the fore

Andrew Corbett

A view over the rehabilitated 3km-long Umuna open pit.
The mining operation ceased in 1999, stockpile processing

was completed by 2004. The processing plant was
decommissioned in 2005

It appears timely that Kingston Resources The company’s current status is that of think that 15 years of low-cost production
Ltd completed earn-in requirements for an advanced explorer, with Misima hosting also de-risks the project somewhat for in-
70% of the Misima gold project, Papua a 82.3mt @ 1.1 g/t gold, 5.3 g/t silver for vestors, too. We also have all the data from
New Guinea, this year. 2.8 moz resource (1.3 moz indicated). Placer/Barrick [Gold Corp],” Corbett said.

The well-known mining jurisdiction Up until 12 months ago, Canadian outfit Kingston has made good of the intel-
hasn’t necessarily whet the appetite of WCB Resources had Misima and there- ligence thus far with discovery of Ginam-
investors in recent times, but there is fair fore exposure to the Australian audience wamwa – 14m @ 12.24 g/t gold and 35.5
reason to get excited about the place once was limited. g/t silver, including 2m @ 39.5 g/t; 34m @
again. 3.19 g/t, including 8m @ 7.96 g/t; 50m @
However, the merger of WCB and King- 2.06 g/t, including 8m @ 5.38 g/t; 5m @
With operations at Lihir going “flat-out”, ston in late 2017 – the deal was completed 9.57 g/t and 25m @ 1.67 g/t – from chan-
St Barbara Ltd’s improvements and pos- in September this year – has opened the nel sampling at surface.
sible expansion of operations at Simberi door to local investors to scope a potential
and a decision pending on the Tier 1 Wafi- low-cost, large-scale open pit gold produc- The company has also identified six
Golpu project, there is much buoyancy in ing asset. exploration targets outside of the current
Papua New Guinea’s mining sector. resources which are hosted at Umuna
“Completing the earn-in is a material (2.6 moz gold) and Quartz Mountain
A quick turn into production at Woodlark milestone for people to see the potential. (200,000oz).
Island by Geopacific Resources Ltd would Historically it produced 4 moz gold and
also continue the wave of good momen- we’re sitting on 2.8 moz,” Kingston manag- Kingston’s success, relative to the short
tum and further endorse Kingston’s strat- ing director Andrew Corbett told Paydirt. time it has spent on the project, has not
egy in Papua New Guinea. gone unnoticed with OceanaGold Corp
“It has definitely flown under the radar chief executive Mick Wilkes joining the
Mick Wilkes until now.” board as a non-executive director in July.

The company started drilling in May and “It says something about the project,
apart from a break over Christmas, Cor- Mick likes the look of Misima, he speaks
bett said there were no plans to stop given Pisin, and he has joined in his own inter-
the success from the diamond rig. est,” Corbett said.

The latest set of results, released at the Wilkes joins a highly capable team at
time of print, included an intersection of Kingston, which has PPC – a JV between
40m @ 3.17 g/t gold and 10.88 g/t silver JX Nippon Metals and Mining and Mitsui
from 234m, including 6m @ 14.06 g/t gold Mining and Smelting – as partners on the
and 13.33 g/t silver from 268m. project, while Sandfire Resources NL re-
mains a major shareholder of Kingston
Kingston’s current programme is the with 9.3%.
most extensive at Misima in 20 years.
The company is well supported and
A decision was made to close the mine hopes to deliver with the drill bit in the next
in 1999 due to low gold prices, with pro- short while, with mining studies on Misima
duction by Placer Dome between 1989- potentially starting in the second half of
2004 totalling 3.7 moz at an average cash 2019.
cost of $US218/oz.
– Mark Andrews
“It was very low cost processing be-
cause of the soft dirt through the mill. We

Page 116 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

asia

Woodlark set
to launch

Geopacific needs only to secure project finance to
develop a mine at Woodlark Island, Papua New Guinea

Geopacific Resources Ltd managing di- at Woodlark for a capex of $198.5 million the lower in-pit cut-off grade.
rector Ron Heeks expects to be build- and would generate post-tax cash flow of Heeks remains adamant his company
ing a gold mine at Woodlark Island, Papua $343.2 million, NPV of $197.4 million and
New Guinea, in 2019. IRR of 29%. Payback is estimated at 2.2 has a potential 5 moz field on its hands at
years. the underexplored Woodlark Island, with
With a robust DFS complete and all regional exploration to continue in a bid to
operating permits granted, Geopacific is Low ASIC of $866/oz in the first five add more ounces to the inventory from the
now piecing together a funding package to years is the key highlight of the study, ac- proposed mining of the Busai, Kulumadau
construct a 100,000 ozpa open-cut mining cording to Heeks, who credited this to the and Woodlark King deposits.
operation at Woodlark, about 500km east wide, near-surface ore zones which allow
of mainland PNG. for low strip ratios of 2.7:1 in the first two “We’ve got 1.5 moz in resources
years of operation and 3.9:1 over the life- now, we’ve probably easily got another
Heeks said his company had lined up of-mine (currently 13 years, based on an 500,000-600,000oz floating around near
a number of prospective debt providers, updated reserve of 28.9mt @ 1.12 g/t gold pit and that’s before you go and find any-
adding the final project funding package for 1.04 moz). thing else,” Heeks said.
would be “as vanilla as we can possibly
make it”. Recoveries are expected to average “There’s easily 5 moz here and for this
90.2% over the first five years of produc- part of the world 5 moz still makes it very
“It will be a conventional debt/equity tion and 88.8% over the life-of-mine. small would you believe. You’re at the bot-
split, something like 60:40, 70:30, or some- Grade also holds up well, averaging 1.52 tom end of orebodies in this part of the
where around there,” Heeks told Paydirt. g/t gold for the first five years and 1.11 g/t world if you’ve only got 5 moz.”
gold over the life-of-mine.
“As it stands at the moment, we’re well Geopacific holds both mining and envi-
engaged with a large number of groups, Heeks said there was very little, if any, ronmental approvals for Woodlark and a
but of course everybody is sitting there technical work left to do on the project, local community which is eager to see a
waiting to see the DFS, so that work be- which Geopacific acquired via its takeover potential new source of economy estab-
gins in earnest now. of Kula Gold last year. lished on the island.

“We’ve got our debt providers engaged, “We’ve put a huge amount of effort into Heeks also hopes his company can em-
they’ve been engaged for several months this and when we got towards the end ulate the success of St Barbara at its Sim-
now, so there’s been a lot of that lead-in of the DFS and we saw the actual num- beri mine just a few hundred kilometres to
work done, there’s been validations by bers, we did extend that because we were the north of Woodlark Island, especially if
groups on our resources and reserves tweaking a little bit more,” Heeks said. early comparisons are anything to go by.
because they can do that without seeing
the final numbers. We’re pretty well ad- “I’ve been a very strong proponent of “We have a higher grade than them,
vanced.” not putting out a DFS and then two weeks we have better recoveries, we have a lot
later putting out another DFS and then easier logistics because we’re a totally flat
The upcoming Christmas-New Year pe- putting out an optimised DFS and a doubly island whereas they’ve got big mountains,”
riod appears to be the only thing likely to optimised DFS after that. I think that’s ex- he said.
hold up Geopacific’s plans to push the go tremely unprofessional.
button on development activities at Wood- “They’re knocking out $20 million free
lark, but Heeks and his management team “This is it. There might be a little bit of cash a quarter now, they’ve completely
remain unfazed. tweaking to do here and there. We’ve done turned that whole operation around. You’d
this as an owner-operator, we might look be hard pressed to find a better compari-
“We want to be building this thing as at contractor mining, but we’re happy that son to us. And consider this; five years
soon as possible next year, that’s prob- nothing else really needs to be done to this ago they had a market cap less than ours
ably the best answer that I can give [on the to move forward.” and now I think it’s nearly $3 billion. It just
likely start of development],” Heeks said. shows what you can do.”
“We’re flat out on that, there’s no benefit Geopacific has removed the upgrade
for us to sit around here.” plant it had entertained in the PFS from – Michael Washbourne
its flowsheet, reducing the overall capital
The DFS confirmed a conventional 2.4 requirement of the project and increasing
mtpa CIL operation could be developed

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 117

regional roundup RCT’s ControlMaster
Teleremote solutions were
RCT brings installed on two CAT 6050
smarts to Lihir
(Terex RH200) hydraulic
shovels and two CAT 6050
D11T dozers at Lihir where
technology and innovation
has been a game-changer

for Newcrest

Newcrest Mining Ltd’s willingness to em- Lihir is situated in Papua New Guinea’s Carrington told Paydirt.
brace technology and innovation is pay- north, on an extinct volcanic crater that is “We’re in discussions with the guys at Lihir
ing dividends at the Lihir gold mine in Papua geothermally active, meaning safeguarding
New Guinea. operations is paramount. about what else can be done. They are still
getting comfortable with operations of the
Alongside Cadia, New South Wales, Lihir Taking workers away from the mine face CAT 6050. We certainly have the capabilities
is the other Tier 1 asset in Newcrest’s portfo- is in vogue and the situation is no different at of tele-remoting and automating any piece of
lio where throughput has been incrementally Lihir, with advanced smart technology com- gear they use at Lihir, so really we are just
increasing from 10 mtpa in FY2014 to 14.3 pany – RCT – rolling out remote controlled continuing to get the message across to Lihir
mtpa in FY2018. CAT 6050 (Terex RH200) hydraulic shovels and all of our customers that we are able to
at Lihir. meet any requirements.”
The last financial year saw record produc-
tion of 955,000oz gold from Lihir, which is RCT’s trademarked ControlMaster Teler- The CAT 6050 (Terex RH200) is by far the
a reflection of the partial oxidation strategy emote solutions were installed on two CAT largest machine RCT has installed the tele-
Newcrest implemented four years ago. 6050 (Terex RH200) hydraulic shovels at Li- remote system on. It essentially removes
hir, which is believed to be the first time such workers from the Lihir open cut into a control
The shift at Lihir from the high-cost full equipment has been remote controlled via centre, reducing fatigue issues and increas-
oxidation operating approach to the current tele-remote. ing productivity.
one “highlights the magnitude of business-
changing improvements that innovation and “It was a custom solution designed for the RCT’s technological smarts are part of
technology provide”. CAT 6050, but like all of our systems they are Newcrest’s wider innovation and technology
agnostic and the technology can be rolled strategy at Lihir, where it has been reported
Newcrest’s geologists and metallurgists out across any type of machine regardless that proximity sensing is also about to be
are at the forefront of delivering better out- of the manufacturer. It’s a modular type brought online.
comes from the diverse ore types at Lihir piece of gear that we just build on depending
and testing new technology on the ground on the tasks that the mines use our equip- – Mark Andrews
has also had an impact on operating safely ment for,” RCT account manager Wayne
in what is challenging environment.

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Page 118 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

asia

Emerald is close to finalising
debt funding for its Okvau
gold project in Cambodia

Emerald steels for Okvau build

Emerald Resources NL will begin de- mon Lee, Ross Stanley and Mick Evans from there we’ll pick the bits that we want
velopment work on its Okvau gold contributed $12.2 million to the place- to take forward in mandates and that
project in Cambodia as it looks to tie up ment, with other long-term supporters should drastically reduce the amount of
debt finance for the country’s first com- once again jumping at the chance to time required to finish the banking.”
mercial mining operation. back the team which has previously de-
livered projects for Equigold and Regis Emerald is also finalising a mineral
Having pocketed $30 million – $27 Resources Ltd. investment agreement with the Cambo-
million share placement, $3 million SPP dian Government to appease the even-
– last month, Emerald is now funded to “It was actually pretty bullish to put it tual project financiers with security on
launch into key development activities away that week, to be honest,” Hart said. tax and other standard lending criteria.
such as construction of an access road Formal documentation is understood to
to site. “All markets are contracted, all the be imminent.
US funds were getting redemptions, so
Emerald managing director Morgan it was a pretty bad week to be trying to According to the 2017 DFS, Okvau
Hart said the impending dry season in do a capital raising. But, the fact we were is forecast to produce 106,000 ozpa at
Cambodia, coupled with the company’s putting our own money in – and quite a $US731/oz AISC for an initial 7.2 years of
low share price, had prompted the capital significant portion of it – and the people mine life. Development capex of $US98
raising. we were targeting were people that have million is estimated, with payback of 2.2
been long-term supporters of ours, it years.
“We were low on the cash reserves wasn’t that hard for us to put away. It’s
[$1.3 million end of September] because the development team they’re backing to Key financial returns include a pre-tax
we’ve spent all the money on the pro- build more projects in a similar vein.” NPV of $US223 million, IRR of 48% and
ject, getting the mining licence granted operating cash flow of $US419 million,
and getting the DFS in place,” Hart told Hart said the company had signed assuming a gold price of $US1,250/oz.
Paydirt. confidentiality agreements with seven
banks capable of providing debt finance Emerald was awarded a 15-year min-
“It’s the beginning of the dry season for Okvau. Emerald remains open to ing licence – with two 10-year renewal
this month [November] so for us to take striking deals with multiple parties. options – in July and has also been
full advantage of this year’s dry season granted environmental approval for the
in terms of construction, we need to be Given the company has just raised $30 project it acquired via its takeover of Re-
doing the access road now, which meant million for initial development activities, it naissance Minerals in 2016.
that we needed to fund it. So, we fig- may not need to go back to the market,
ured with our share price quite low and according to Hart. The company recently wrapped a
because we [Emerald directors] were grade control drilling programme at
always going to put money in ourselves, “The way we’re looking to gear it is Okvau which Hart said was designed to
we decided we would do it now and then about 50:50, but we have had offers of make the project “as bulletproof as pos-
invite the friendlies and the supporters debt in the past that would be enough not sible”.
along to be involved as well. to raise any more money, so it just de-
pends on where we see the best deal for “We drilled the top 120m of the project
“We will end up putting $30 million in shareholders,” he said. when we first got involved down to 25m
the bank. That lets us do the road, move by 25m spaces to give absolute certainty
58 families off site, fence the project and “We’ve taken a little bit of a different ap- about the first four years of the project in
order the long-lead items.” proach in that instead of dealing with one terms of the resource to reserve conver-
or two banks and mandating one or two, sion,” he said.
Funds from the placement will also be we’ve gone down the path of contracting
directed towards regional exploration on the independent technical experts report “This 10m by 10m programme just
Emerald’s 1,422sq km Cambodian foot- for all bankers, on our account, and then gives us certainty on the ROM before we
print, as well as repayment of unsecured we’ll give that to all the banks. even turn a sod on the project. We’re not
loans and ongoing working capital re- going to be surprised by grade.”
quirements. “On the back of a fully independent
technical experts report, they should be – Michael Washbourne
Hart and fellow Emerald directors Si- able to put their best foot forward and

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 119

regional roundup

Blackstone’s Jewel in little gem

With a solid year of exploration in Brit- Blackstone Minerals managing director Scott Williamson
ish Colombia under its belt, Black- and technical director Andrew Radonjic
stone Minerals Ltd believes it has made
significant inroads at the Little Gem pro- similar to Australia,” Williamson said. dicate Blackstone has chosen a prolific
ject. “The labour costs are lower and the ac- district to be a part of.

Two new discoveries – Erebor cobalt- cess to drilling and services are probably “We are in a gold mining district where
gold and Roxey gold-copper – indicate better because there is not as much work 4.4 moz gold has been mined and it is
the degree of success Blackstone is for them as there is in Australia; it [explo- a part of Canada that needs mines be-
having along the Little Gem and Jewel ration] has not picked up as much as it cause it is a part of Canada that thrives on
trends at its BC cobalt project. has in Australia.” them. The nearby towns are small, they
are only 5-6 hours away from Vancouver
“Our understanding of our BC pro- Canadian miners and explorers are but it is worlds away from Kalgoorlie such
ject has come a long way in the last 2-3 still starved of the risk capital, which con- is the isolation,” Williamson said.
months of the year. That is very exciting tinues to favour technology and medical
because we now know more and this is marijuana stocks. Williamson believes The Canadian exploration sector is
probably a better project than we first Australian companies can take advan- feeling just isolated from capital markets,
thought. We are talking about something tage of the situation. with the equity tap switched off for now.
that is much larger and of the scale that
the end-users are after,” Blackstone “There is more capital here for explo- Williamson hopes the narrative for
managing director Scott Williamson told ration which we can take over there and explorers will change in the next 6-12
Paydirt. use,” he said. months and that battery minerals hope-
fuls would be the biggest benefactors.
“As we understand, end-users are af- “The prospects are probably less ad-
ter 20-30 years’ worth of supply, our first vanced than they are in Australia for a “When that money starts to flow back
target was never going to deliver that and few reasons and also because of that into resources then we will know that
it didn’t. Our next lot of targets have the lack of capital. These assets are isolated; we are in a proper bull market because
potential to deliver many years of supply we are going into areas that haven’t been there is a lot more money up there [North
over the long term. It is a much bigger touched since the 1930s/40s. But, they America]. It will be exciting when that
play than we first thought. We believe we are great greenfields-type plays with that money comes back in and I think it will go
are in the right metal and we are ending brownfields history of exploration and back into battery minerals first,” he said.
the year on a high.” mining that allows you to move them for-
ward quickly.” “What we know now that we didn’t
The potential size of the project means know when we first got into battery met-
Blackstone is seeking an end-user as a Blackstone’s BC project, six hours als is that this story is not going any-
strategic partner. The sulphide-bearing from Vancouver, is in a gold mining dis- where, it is something that will be played
targets untouched by modern explora- trict boasting 4.4 moz of historical gold out over 10-20 years. This is a once in a
tion at Little Gem (4.3m @ 1% cobalt, 15 production. lifetime opportunity. The underlying fun-
g/t gold, including 1.1m @ 3% cobalt and damentals of supply and demand have
44 g/t gold drill intersection), Roxey (up Amarc Resources Inc has an emerg- not changed, cobalt equities are down
to 24 g/t gold and 1.9% copper from rock ing copper-moly-silver play near the BC 50-70%, but the actual underlying de-
chips), Erebor (2.3% cobalt, 32 g/t gold, project, while Copper Mountain (233mt mand over the medium to long term is
1.6% copper and 1.1% nickel rock chips) @ 0.36% copper and 1.3 g/t silver), New strong.”
and Jewel are attracting interest. Prosperity (831mt @ 0.23% copper and
0.41 g/t gold) and Mt Polley (247mt @ – Mark Andrews
A diamond drilling campaign of about 0.27% copper and 0.26 g/t gold) also in-
12 holes is planned for along the Little
Gem-Jewel trend.

Williamson is particularly excited by
the 1.5km-long Jewel prospect, with IP
lighting up and rock sampling at surface
returning over 5% for both copper and
cobalt.

Williamson said he hoped to drill Jew-
el as quickly as possible and generate
some excitement in the Canadian explo-
ration sector.

“We think it is a great environment to
be in because we get technical people
cheaply, we can drill very cheaply and
we can move through the process with-
out too many issues. We have been there
just on 12 months, we have done one full
season and we have learnt a lot about the
geology, we have learned a lot about how
to do business in Canada, which is very

Page 120 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

An EIS on Black Butte is expected NORTH AMERICA
to be available for public feedback
in calendar Q1 2019

Sandfire headed for key
milestone in Montana

Release of a draft EIS for public com- what it is in Australia, with past failures and Karl Simich
mentary on the Black Butte copper negative perceptions of the mining sector
project in Montana is expected in Q1 of needing to be addressed. nothing discovered in the last decade with
calendar year 2019. the relatively small amount spent explora-
Therefore, Sandfire has committed to tion,” Simich.
Black Butte flies under the TSX-V listed fully rehabilitating the site – character-
Sandfire America Inc banner in which ised by ranches – hosting Black Butte to Grade has not been a concern for Sand-
Sandfire Resources NL owns an 86% in- its original land uses, which includes de- fire at either its cornerstone DeGrussa as-
terest. watering and cementing the tailings dam set in Western Australia or Black Butte.
impoundment.
Sandfire managing director Karl Simich Underground production from Black
told Paydirt there had been no formal ob- “In the US, there is a lot of misinforma- Butte is primed to deliver 30,000 tpa cop-
jections to the project thus far and didn’t tion about mining because it isn’t as big per-in-concentrate over an initial 11 years
expect any impediments which would pro- an industry as it other parts of the world at a throughput of 11.8 mtpa and average
hibit the development of Black Butte. like Australia. Therefore, the industry gets head grade of 3.1% copper.
a bum-wrap. Emotions can create a lot of
A mine operating permit (MOP) for the fanfare at times, but what needs to be un- The two-year construction phase will
Johnny Lee deposit has already been derstood is that for a greener, more pro- attract a workforce of about 380 people,
deemed “complete and compliant” by the gressive, efficient world we need the ex- while the operation will need 300 staff over
Montana Department of Environmental tractives industry,” Simich said. the life-of-mine. Not that Simich expects
Quality (DEQ), while record of decision is Black Butte to close after its initial decade
expected to follow a positive EIS outcome. “The extractives industry needs to artic- of operation.
ulate better what it does and the net posi-
“We are expecting that to be in the af- tive impact it has.” “There is good organic potential there
firmative, we have been working hand-in- and we are optimistic it could be some-
hand with the department for many years With a resource of 18mt @ 3.3% cop- thing more than the 11-14 years estimated.
on this,” Simich said. per, 14 g/t silver, 0.1% cobalt for 597,000t It has been underexplored since discovery
copper, 7.98 moz silver and 18,000t co- in the 1980s and it will be a meaningful
Should the necessary approvals pro- balt, Black Butte is one of the top 10 un- contributor to taxes, royalties, jobs and will
gress favourably for Sandfire, Simich developed copper projects in the world by bring improvement to the nearby commu-
could be on his way to building mine No.9 grade. nities and environment,” he said.
during his 32-year career in the junior min-
ing sector. Average copper grades in the world “We are optimistic about doing business
have fallen substantially from a height of in the state of Montana, which has been
Metallurgical test work is currently under 1% in 2003 to 0.35% in 2017. very supportive of the project. There is no
way on Black Butte material and prepara- impediment or reason to prohibit develop-
tions well advanced for a feasibility study, Despite “sideways” movement in the ment of the resource at Black Butte.”
with Sandfire indicating development copper market and more broadly across
could potentially start in mid-2019. commodities – a trend Simich attributes – Mark Andrews
to a combination of mid-term elections in
Due process in Montana has taken long- the US, trade wars and tariff impositions –
er compared to similar activities in Aus- funding for the $US220 million Black Butte
tralia, however, the wait is all worthwhile in project is not concerning Sandfire.
Simich’s eyes.
Goldman Sachs has forecast a severe
“We want to set standards above what copper deficit in 2023, while research from
is required, it is a valuable commodity that Richard Schodde indicates that more cop-
we want to extract responsibly which will per will need to be mined between 2016
create other opportunities for us in Amer- and 2042 than has ever been mined be-
ica, Canada, even southern America that fore to accommodate demand.
we want to avail ourselves to,” Simich said.
“Something has to give, there has been
The extractives industry in the US is not

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 121

regional roundup

Sayona seeks offtake

If managing director Dan O’Neill’s bonate or lithium hydroxide processing
plan stays on course, Sayona Min- facility.

ing Ltd will start construction of its A PFS on a downstream option is

Authier lithium project in Quebec, under way, with the company having

Canada, in September. already completed a scoping study

With a busy travel itinerary in the which indicated production of lithium

works, O’Neill is quietly confident hydroxide would lift the project’s pre-

his company can secure offtake and tax NPV to $C794 million with an IRR

obtain the required approvals for of 44%.

Authier, about 45km north-west of “The value-add here is enormous,

Val d’Or, over the next nine months. but for that we will need a partner be-

Sayona is targeting first produc- cause we don’t have that expertise,”

tion from Authier in 2020, having O’Neill said.

recently completed a DFS which “What’s the attraction of going down-

flagged an initial development stream in Quebec? Well, some of the

capex of $C89.9 million plus addi- cheapest power in the world, which is

tional life-of-mine capital of $C83.6 hydro and just 5c/kWh. We’ve also got

million. Sayona is confident of starting construction of its a natural gas pipeline running past the
A pre-Christmas trip to China to Authier lithium project in Quebec in September project and plenty of mining infrastruc-
ture in the sense that Val d’Or is just
sound out potential offtake partners

shapes as a key moment for O’Neill vice-president, corporate affairs Alexis like Kalgoorlie, it’s a mining service
and his team in that quest. Segal – a former Rio Tinto Ltd executive centre.”
– is overseeing the permitting process. O’Neill expects the finance package
“There’s very strong interest in China for Authier’s development will ultimately
for spodumene,” O’Neill told Paydirt. “We should have everything permitted be a combination of debt and equity,
by September of next year, based on pre- similar to what Altura Mining Ltd pulled
“I’ll be going up there to meet a number vious company experience,” O’Neill said. together for its newly minted Pilgangoora
of companies that have expressed strong lithium mine in Western Australia.
interest in what we’re doing. We need an “We have no environmental issues and “Altura raised a lot of debt out of North
offtake partner and we would hope that the council where we are, they’re 100% America and we don’t see why we would
offtake partner can come in with an eq- behind us, so we don’t anticipate any is- be any different,” O’Neill said. “Three of
uity investment or maybe a pre-payment sues. the four members of the [Sayona] board
for the offtake.” are on the Altura board as well, so I don’t
“This is no different to anywhere else see any reason why we won’t be suc-
According to the DFS, Authier is pro- where you need community acceptance cessful in financing the mine.
jected to generate a pre-tax NPV of of what you’re doing and as I said the La “Lithium is not like copper, so you can’t
$C184.8 million and IRR of 33.7% from Mott community are behind us. We’re hedge, therefore we’re not going to get
production of 87,400 tpa lithium concen- also talking with the First Nations people any finance from a bank at this stage, I
trate over its initial 18-year mine life. Mine with a view to getting an arrangement wouldn’t have thought, so we’ll be going
gate cash costs of $C416/t and FOB port with them as well.” through bondholders in New York and
cash costs of $C482/t have also been other sources.”
estimated. While Sayona’s initial production is
focused on producing a concentrate for – Michael Washbourne
At the time of print, Sayona was due sale into China, the company is keen to
to submit its first permit application to add a downstream option to the project,
Canadian authorities. Newly appointed most likely in the form of a lithium car-

Marquee Canadian cobalt hopeful Marquee Re- further $1.5 million to move to 70%. Any
pitches to sources Ltd has signed a non-binding agreement with China Hitrans will only
MoU for potential offtake with leading Chi- apply to whatever interest in the project
China nese cathode manufacturer Zhejiang Mei- the company holds.
du Haichuang Lithium Battery Technology
Co Ltd, also known as China Hitrans. Signing this type of agreement at this
stage of development is another very im-
Under the terms of the MoU, Marquee portant milestone for the company,” Mar-
will provide China Hitrans with a metallur- quee managing director Charles Thomas
gical sample from its Werner Lake cobalt- said. “The interest shown by numerous
copper project for independent testing, Chinese end-users demonstrates the
with both parties to work on designing strong appetite for cobalt and, in particu-
suitable best cobalt sulphide products lar, the potential product that Werner Lake
while negotiating a potential binding could deliver. One thing that was evident
agreement. from our China visit was the strong de-
mand for cobalt sulphide projects, such
Marquee recently met the expenditure as Werner Lake.”
commitments to stake a 30% interest
in Werner Lake and now must spend a

Page 122 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

NORTH AMERICA

Peninsula looks to new horizon

Above: Peninsula Energy has started a low pH field demonstration at Lance, Wyoming
Left: Wayne Heili

Wayne Heili’s assignment of repairing three-stage expansion strategy, whereby Heili said he was pleased to see a
the reputation of Peninsula Energy stage one is expected to start in 2019. steady increase in uranium pricing in
Ltd is on a positive course. 2018, rather than a dramatic surge.
A capex of $US5.3 million would be re-
The ASX-listed uranium producer quired for stage one with 1.15 mlbpa pro- “The slow and steady nature of this tells
started operations at Lance in Wyoming, duced at production costs of $US14.67/lb me that it has some sustainability to it.
US in 2015, but has failed to hit its straps for total AISC of $US40.58/lb. Here in the US we are all paying attention
amid a bearish market for yellowcake. to the Section 232 investigation [Trade
Lance would then be ramped up in Expansion Act] in front of the Department
“I think the scepticism is well-founded,” the ensuing five years, with a capex of of Commerce that has added a level of
Heili told Paydirt. $US43.1 million needed to increase out- uncertainty to the market,” Heili said.
put to 2.3 mlbpa at production costs of
“I don’t see the market behaviour as $US8.93/lb (AISC of $US31.52/lb) and “Most observers believe the market
being irrational, but properly placed on its a further $US70.3 million for stage three would be higher if not for the ongoing in-
scepticism. There is a new management production of 3 mlbpa at production costs vestigation, which has dampened utility
team now and the new direction we are of $US9.16/lb (AISC $US30.36/lb). buying. But, when you put that into con-
heading I think we are going to deliver re- text, I see the market climbing and per-
sults in a way that the company hasn’t in Stage three has been proposed for sistently climbing over the next year or so.
the past.” 2026 and a breakeven cost of $US34/lb I think we have some good upward mo-
guided in the feasibility study, which has mentum and now is the time to be prepar-
Heili replaced long-serving Peninsula been warmly received, according to Heili. ing to be a stronger producer and have
managing director Gus Simpson in March inventory for sales into the future.”
2017 and has since gone about rendering “We are undervalued today, but we are
operations at Lance. doing all the right things to correct that. Heili said the rebound in uranium price
There is a lot of investor interest, includ- was on the back of supply drying up from
Heili, a Wyoming-based uranium vet- ing in Australia, and when I sit down and curtailed production brought on by a 10-
eran of 30 years, appears to have a firm tell the story investors say they are excit- year lull in the yellowcake market.
grip on how to approach Lance and has ed by it,” he said.
proposed to change the operation from He said there was a wave of new funds
an alkaline lixiviant-based project to a low “However, we haven’t been able to instil participating in uranium stocks or buying
pH lixiviant model. a sense of urgency yet, because we are physical uranium.
telling the story very plainly. We have to
The change in method reflects uranium get regulatory approval and we have to “Today, market fundamentals are driv-
recoveries using alkaline not meeting confirm some of our technical assump- ing the market up for all the right rea-
pre-mining targets. tions, but to that end the regulatory pro- sons. The fund purchasers have sup-
cesses is going wonderful. There have ported higher prices, but they have also
A low pH feasibility study on the Lance been very few times in my career where tested the depths of the spot market and
projects was completed in September we have had such efficient regulatory the conclusion is coming now that the
and highlighted the potential for life-of- progress.” spot market is not as deep as everybody
mine uranium production of 33.4 mlb thought it was,” Heili said.
over 17 years at an estimated life-of-mine At the time of print, Peninsula had been
AISC of $US31.77/lb. authorised by the Wyoming Department “Looking at our share price, there is a
of Environment Quality for testing of low dichotomy there in what we are doing,
The feasibility study was based on a pH lixiviant for uranium recovery at Lance. how the market is behaving and how our
share price is performing. There is prob-
The trial demonstration is expected to ably good reason for that because Pen-
run for 6-8 months and will comprise both insula is actively involved in rebuilding or
mining and restoration phases. reassembling our production at Lance
and changing the way that we produce.
It is with apt timing that Peninsula is There is certainly a wait-and-see attitude
building a stronger investment case as in the market about how that is going to
the uranium market is starting to show go, both on the regulatory front and tech-
signs of a pulse. nical front.”

The UxC spot uranium price at the time – Mark Andrews
of print was $US29.10/lb after starting
2018 at $US21.88/lb.

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 123

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED www.nucleussc.co.za

MHE-Demag cranes in MHE-Demag has launched a new V-type SMS dials into Mount
new approach crane it is taking directly to customers Peake

Material handling experts MHE-Demag Thiess taps in to TNG Ltd has looked no further than
believe they have revolutionised their Fortescue’s autonomous long-term supporter SMS Group to un-
business approach in the overhead crane vision dertake FEED work for the Mount Peake
industry with the launch of the new Demag vanadium-titanium-iron project in the
V-type crane. CIMIC Group mining services provid- Northern Territory.
er Thiess has secured a contract from
MHE-Demag is taking the V-type crane Fortescue Metals Group Ltd to install Under the mandate, SMS will include
to its customers instead of promoting it autonomous haulage system technology all process plant equipment required
through conventional methods. A scaled- at the iron ore miner’s Christmas Creek for the Mount Peake operation, includ-
down but fully functional mobile Demag operations. ing the mine site concentrator and as-
V-type crane will be taken to key cities sociated TIVAN downstream processing
on a roadshow this month, making MHE- Under the 18-month contract, Thiess plant, as well as all associated plant and
Demag the first in the crane industry to will convert a minimum of 65 convention- equipment.
adopt such an innovative approach. al haul trucks to the system, along with
various sub-component installs on ancil- In addition, TNG has negotiated the
“We are using this vehicle to approach lary equipment to allow the machinery work scope with SMS to result in a
the Australian market in what is a totally to autonomously operate at Fortescue’s fixed-price EPC proposal. SMS will also
new way for the equipment manufacturing Chichester hubs. provide TNG with production quantity,
industry,” MHE-Demag Australia manag- production rate and product quality guar-
ing director Vince Di Costanzo said. The contracted work includes the in- antees.
stallation of the system on Fortescue’s
“Engineering and heavy machinery Komatsu 930E and Caterpillar 789D ma- SMS will now design and engineer the
companies typically face challenges in chines. entire processing flow sheet for Mount
showing their potential customers the ac- Peake, including the mine site concen-
tual products before manufacturing takes Meanwhile, CIMIC’s mineral pro- trator where magnetite concentrate is to
place…to overcome this, we are taking cessing company Sedgman has been be produced and the downstream pro-
our new crane to our clients, giving them awarded contracts with Mach Energy cessing plant where three products – va-
the opportunity to experience it in action.” and QCoal to operate and maintain the nadium pentoxide, titanium dioxide and
Mount Pleasant and Byerwen coal han- iron oxide – are to be produced.
The V-type crane is 17% lighter than dling and preparation plants. The con-
an average conventional box-section tracts have a combined value of $100 The scope of work for the TIVAN plant
profile girder, giving designers greater million. will include a titanium pigment plant, to
freedom in designing factories and other be developed in collaboration with the
buildings. nominated subcontractor Ti-Cons.

Ausenco ready to rock
at Achmmach

Kasbah Resources Ltd has appointed
Ausenco Services Pty Ltd to undertake
FEED work for the Achmmach tin project
in Morocco.

The FEED contract is a pre-cursor to
Kasbah appointing an EPC contractor to
build the project following the release of
a positive DFS in July.

Ausenco is expected to complete its
work by February 2019, with the aim of
enhancing and improving the design and

NUCLEUS

Nucleus Mining Logistics

Providing turn-key logistics and supply chain solutions into Africa

Page 124 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

www.nucleussc.co.za

efficiencies in the processing plant. Pacific generates new Pacific Energy has restarted a 12MW
The scope of the FEED work includes energy for Savannah diesel power station servicing

optimisation of process plant layout and Power generation specialists Pacific Panoramic’s Savannah nickel mine
design and reduction of overall project Energy Ltd will again supply electricity to
costs through efficient design and effec- Panoramic Resources Ltd’s Savannah ElectraNet to power up
tive sourcing of materials. nickel mine in Western Australia’s Kimber- Prominent Hill
ley region.
Centurion raises the bat Oz Minerals Ltd has formally entered
with GEMCO Under the new contract, Pacific sub- into an agreement with ElectraNet Pty Ltd
sidiary Contract Power Australia Pty Ltd to construct a new transmission line and
Transport and logistics group Centu- restarted its existing 12MW diesel power associated high voltage infrastructure to
rion has begun a multi-year contract to station on November 1 and has also begun connect the Prominent Hill mine to the
provide road and air freight services to upgrading and expanding the facility with South Australian grid power supply.
South32 Ltd’s Groote Eylandt Mining an additional 2MW of power generation ca-
Company (GEMCO) operation on an is- pacity. The new transmission line will be
land in the Gulf of Carpentaria. constructed under a build-own-operate-
In line with the revised Savannah mine maintain agreement and will replace the
As part of the contract award, Centu- life, Pacific’s new contract has a term of 8.3 existing BHP Ltd facility in 2020.
rion is operating an off-site receipting years, with the option to extend by a further
facility at its new Darwin supply base five years. ElectraNet has awarded a sub-con-
where it will inspect, consolidate and tract to design, build and commission
package freight destined for the mine. Meanwhile, RCT’s ControlMaster guid- the high voltage substations and trans-
ance automation, point-to-point and G- mission lines to CIMIC Group company
GEMCO is being provided with en- Dash systems will soon be installed on the UGL, with the revenue expected to be
hanced end-to-end supply chain visibility mine site’s existing CAT R2900 loaders, generated from the project estimate at
through adopting Centurion’s advanced allowing operators to safely control the ma- $180 million over two years.
integrated logistics solutions platform. chines from the comfort of an automation
centre on the surface. Oz will support the construction and
The contract also requires Centurion operational phases of the project with
to implement significant quarantine and The guidance automation and point-to- associated guarantee agreements. This
biosecurity measures throughout their point systems are designed to increase agreement is a key element of the first
operations to support and protect the productivity by allowing for “hot-seat” during phase of Oz’s power strategy for its SA
delicate ecosystem of Groote Eylandt. shift changes, reducing unexpected down- assets.
time associated with machine damage
Centurion is providing road and and increasing overall machine utilisation,
air freight services to South32 which in turn should increase profitability.

Nucleus Mining Logistics pNrUoCviLdEesUhSigh levels

of service to clients seeking world-class
supply chain management solutions.

greenfield exploration / construction projects / operational logistics

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 125

DrReIgLLioBInTSal roundup www.capdrill.com

St George executive chairman Manas bowled over by 43.17m and 5.3m @ 3.04% nickel, 0.84%
John Prineas maiden drilling in Côte copper, 1.96 g/t PGE and 0.13% cobalt
d’Ivoire from 63.30m.
St George fires away
Manas Resources Ltd has reported the Broad intersections included 20.8m @
St George Mining Ltd continues to go first-ever diamond drilling results from the 1.18% nickel and 1.5% copper from 40.7m
hard at its Investigators nickel-copper dis- M’bengué gold project, northern Côte and 24.17m @ 1.23% nickel and 2.31%
covery with six further holes drilled since d’Ivoire, where it is earning a 70% interest copper from 53.1m.
hole MAD127 identified extensions to min- through funding exploration.
eralised channels. TopTung’s acquisition of Canadian Nickel
The maiden diamond drilling programme has delivered it three advanced projects in
“Additional intersections of nickel-copper at M’bengué comprised 13 holes for Midrim, LaForce and Lac Kelly.
sulphides have now confirmed extensions 1,312m, with seven holes drilled at the Tu-
to the mineralised ultramafic both laterally raco prospect, and two each at the Burki- Another paver for
and at depth in the northerly down-dip di- nabe, Madala and Le Vieux prospects. Gold Road
rection,” St George executive chairman
John Prineas said. Results from Turaco included 1m @ 14.8 Results from framework exploration
g/t gold 87m; 9m @ 5.05 g/t from 60m; 21m drilling within Gold Road Resources Ltd’s
The programme was still in play at the @ 2.11 g/t from 6m; 9m @ 2.6 g/t from 74m; 100%-owned Southern Yamarna project
time of print, with the company focused on 10m @ 1.22 g/t from 38m. in the Yamarna greenstone belt has con-
“scoping out the scale of the discovery at firmed continuity of high-grade gold miner-
Investigators with drilling continuing 24/7”. A significant intercept of 7m @ 7.54 g/t alisation at the Gilmour deposit.
from 46m was hit at Madala, while 1m @
A great start for TNT 12.6 g/t from 9m was reported from Le “The widths, grades and extent of miner-
Vieux and 1m @ 4.14 g/t from 12m at Burki- alisation identified to date provide encour-
Assays from the first diamond drill hole nabe. agement to progress Gilmour as one of the
completed at TNT Mines Ltd’s Great Pyra- priority projects going into 2019,” Gold Road
mid tin project, north-east Tasmania, have TopTung gung-ho on executive director Justin Osborne said.
delivered encouraging results. nickel sulphides
Recent intersections included 4m @
A thick near-surface tin zone contain- TopTung Ltd has completed its acquisi- 19.61 g/t gold from 111m (including 1m
ing 59.5m @ 0.28% tin, including 2.5m @ tion of Canadian Nickel Corp’s ground in @ 74.98 g/t from 113m); 8.14m @ 7.11 g/t
1.09% tin and 6m @ 0.67% tin was report- the Belleterre Angliers Greenstone Belt from 261m (including 1.23m @ 31.98 g/t
ed from hole 18GPD001 at Great Pyramid. (BAGB), which is considered highly pro- from 267.91m); 3m @ 12.77 g/t from 170m
spective for 3-5mt nickel-copper sulphide (including 2m @18.98 g/t from 170m) and
A deeper mineralised zone of 30m @ deposits. 5m @ 5.12 g/t from 219m (including 1m @
0.26% tin is associated with disseminated 24.06 g/t from 221m).
sulphides and includes a high-grade zone Recent drilling at Alotta in the BAGB suc-
of 3m @ 1.14% tin. cessfully intersected massive sulphides in Resource definition drilling is under way
eight out of nine holes. over a 500m strike length, with mineralisa-
tion intersected over 250m below surface
Massive sulphide intersects at Alotta in- and is open at depth.
cluded 9.2m @ 2.59% nickel, 2.79% cop-
per, 3.37 g/t PGE and 0.11% cobalt from Gold Road executive director Justin Osborne
85.2m; 11.28m @ 2.17% nickel, 2.15% cop-
per, 2.94 g/t PGE and 0.11% cobalt from
61.15m; 3.27m @ 2.06% nickel, 3.77%
copper, 3.09 g/t PGE and 0.12% cobalt
from 53.10m; 7.1m @ 2.38% nickel, 1.87%
copper, 1.9 g/t PGE and 0.11% cobalt from
70.17m; 8.13m @ 1.74% nickel, 2.06% cop-
per, 1.59 g/t PGE and 0.11% cobalt from

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www.capdrill.com

Peel brings heat to Magnetic managing director fied magnetic structures to the immedi-
Southern Nights George Sakalidis ate north and south of the mining pit to
“ground truth” the magnetite mineralisa-
Resource drilling by Peel Mining Ltd The combined 1.5km-long target has tion indicated by geophysical modelling
at Southern Nights, New South Wales, 42 intersections greater than 0.5 g/t gold, of these structures.
has yielded a stunning zinc-lead-silver- with 13 intercepts greater than 1 g/t.
gold-copper massive sulphide intercept The trek starts
of 18.2m @ 40.3% zinc, 15.21% lead, “The HN9 drilling programme is testing in Gabon
0.97% copper, 356 g/t silver and 2.77 g/t a very long underexplored 1.5km shallow
gold from 182m. gold target with numerous existing signif- Trek Metals Ltd is getting further en-
icant near-surface drill intersections on couragement from follow-up work at the
The intercept was hit in WTRCDD150 Magnetic’s extensive holdings in the pro- historic Dikaki zinc-lead project in Ga-
and coupled with adjacent drill hole inter- spective Laverton district. This zone is bon.
cepts, indicates a zone of near-surface, growing and is not closed off in a north or
very high-grade mineralisation. south or east direction and augers well Intersections from historic drilling and
for our extensive 40 RC hole and 587 soil recent drilling by Trek included 2.8m @
Close-spaced infill drilling to better de- sample programmes,” Magnetic manag- 24.5% zinc-lead; 2m @ 31.65% zinc-lead;
fine the geometry and scale of the target ing director George Sakalidis said. 2m @ 32.6% zinc-lead; 3.8m @ 235%
zone was under way at the time of print. zinc-lead and 1.1m @ 26.7% zinc-lead.
Freehill first drilling
Peel continues its success in in Chile Trek has demonstrated that drilling
NSW’s Cobar Basin down-dip and long strike from the histor-
Freehill Mining Ltd has started its ic, high-grade intervals can yield signifi-
Magnetic goes large maiden drilling programme at its flag- cant thicknesses of mineralisation and
at H9 ship Yerbas Buenas magnetite project in therefore potential for large tonnages of
Chile. ore to be delineated.
Magnetic Resources NL has pro-
posed a 1,645m, 40-hole RC drilling Major Drilling Group International Inc Deeper thoughts
programme at HN9, Laverton, Western has been contracted to conduct 4,500m for Ausmex
Australia. of RC drilling in and around the current
trial mining pit, designated at the YB1 Ausmex Mining Group Ltd has planned
The programme will test shallow magentite structure, to define a resource. to drill two deep diamond holes into the
down-dip extensions of the drill miner- Tier 1 IOCG target it shares with New-
alised shears, which show potential for More holes will be drilled at identi- crest Mining Ltd at the Mt Freda Com-
near-surface bulk tonnage mineralisa- plex in Cloncurry, Queensland.
tion over a significant 1.5km underex-
plored gold target. The first target will be an 800m cored
hole targeting very high total magnetic
intensity (TMI) within EPM15923, sub-
block CLON 825U, 100m east of the his-
toric high-grade Iron Duke gold mine in
the Golden Mile.

The second target will be a 650m
cored hole targeting a high-response
EM anomaly produced from the Ausmex
SAM survey that correlates with IOCG
indicator minerals, including high-grade
cobalt, copper and gold drilling results
up to 2,030 ppm cobalt.

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 Page 127

comings and goings

Andrew Haslam, Julian Damian Marantelli has re- Ltd. Copulos originally joined ent technical consultant for its
Tapp and Vanessa Guthrie placed Warren Hallam as the Tanzanian graphite hope- early stage vanadium projects
have stepped down from the managing director and chief ful as its chairman and major in South Africa. Dr Reichhardt
board of Vimy Resources Ltd. executive of Metals X Ltd. A shareholder in January 2015. is an African-based geologist
Haslam will remain chairman of mining engineer with more with more than 25 years of ex-
the company’s base metals ex- than 40 years of experience, Tolga Kumova perience in vanadium-titanium-
ploration subsidiary company Marantelli joined the company magnetite deposits and is the
Vélo Resources Pty Ltd, while as a non-executive director in African bauxite developer principal consulting geologist
Tapp retains his executive po- September. Hallam had served Canyon Resources Ltd for the MSA Group.
sition of chief nuclear officer, as managing director of Met- has appointed Tolga Kumova
managing uranium markets als X since the demerger of as a strategic advisor to the Former Barminco Holdings
and economics, stakeholder its gold business in December company. Kumova was the Ltd chairman Keith Gordon
engagement and approvals. 2016 and was a director of the founding shareholder of Syrah has joined the board of Ausdrill
company for 14 years. Chief Resources Ltd and to date has Ltd. Gordon, who will also be a
operating officer Allan King has raised more than $500 million member of Ausdrill’s audit and
also departed the company, for various mining ventures, risk committee, will not be con-
while Rod Corps has returned predominantly in Africa. sidered independent as he was
as investor relations manager appointed to represent certain
on a part-time basis. Gabriel Chiappini has been Barminco vendors.
appointed joint company
Brandon Munro secretary of Adriatic Metals Ltd Paul Stephen
alongside Sean Duffy, who is
Brandon Munro (chairman), Warren Hallam also the company’s chief finan- Paul Stephen will step down
David Minchin (manag- cial officer. from his executive director
ing director) and Ian Burvill West Wits Mining Ltd has role with Crusader Resources
(non-executive director) have hired experienced mining Terrence Strapp has retired Ltd at the end of January after
been appointed to the board of executive Jac Van Heerden to as a director of GR Engi- almost 10 years with the Brazil-
ScandiVanadium Ltd following lead the company’s South Af- neering Services Ltd after eight focused company.
the company’s acquisition of rican operations. Van Heerden years on the board.
the Skåne vanadium project in is a mining engineer who is Fausto Taddei and Martina
Sweden. currently president and general Calidus Resources Ltd Blahova have been added
manager of ERG Africa’s cop- has appointed Fernando to Euro Manganese Inc’s ex-
John Bovard will retire as a per-cobalt mine in the DRC. He Moutinho as project manager. panded management team.
director of SolGold plc at the will begin his new role in Janu- Moutinho has assisted with Taddei has been appointed
company’s AGM in December. ary. project development for Syrah vice-president, corporate de-
Bovard was appointed to the Resources Ltd, Tungsten Min- velopment and corporate sec-
board in 2009 and served on ing NL, Sheffield Resources retary, while Czech-born Bla-
the company’s audit remunera- Ltd, New Century Resources hova has joined the company
tion committees. Ltd and Grange Resources as corporate controller.
Ltd.
Alex Dorsch has been Founding directors Heath Cardinal Resources Ltd has
promoted to the manag- Hellewell and Peter Lang- Mike Brown has been ap- appointed veteran mining
ing director’s chair at Chalice worthy have retired from the pointed managing direc- identity Kenneth Thomas as a
Gold Mines Ltd. Dorsch was board of Capricorn Metals Ltd. tor of Chesser Resources Ltd, non-executive director. Thom-
appointed chief executive in Hellewell, who has served as replacing outgoing chief execu- as was most recently senior
March 2018. both executive chairman and tive Simon McDonald. Brown vice-president of projects for
more recently as managing previously held senior execu- Kinross Gold Corp and is the
John Braham has been ap- director, will remain with the tive roles with Kinross Gold former global managing direc-
pointed an executive di- company in an executive ca- Corp and Pacific Hydro and tor of engineering and con-
rector of Equus Mining Ltd pacity on an interim part-time was most recently a member struction firm Hatch Ltd. Prior
following the resignation of basis, pending the appoint- of the executive team at junior to that, he served in various
managing director Edward Le- ment of a new chief executive. producer Austral Gold Ltd. roles for Barrick Gold Corp
schke. Braham spent 24 years Meanwhile, experienced min- over 14 years after more than
with Macquarie Bank, the last ing executive Peter Benjamin Baraka Energy & Resources a decade in Zambia and South
11 of which were as an execu- and corporate and resources Ltd has appointed Dr Fried- Africa with Anglo American plc.
tive director within the mining lawyer Geoff Rogers have er Reichhardt as an independ-
finance division. joined the company’s board as
non-executive directors.
Helen Wiseman has re-
signed as a director of Stephen Copulos has
WPG Resources Ltd due to stepped down from the
family reasons. board of Black Rock Mining

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leftfield

Celebrating our State’s tectonic setting, crus- South African and WA mines ministers
130 years of tal architecture and geological Gwede Mantashe and Bill Johnston
geological evolution.
excellence “Technology has come a long way
The GSWA has remained since the inception of GSWA when ge-
With a hive of activity in the State and faithful to its dual objectives ologists explored WA on horseback and
speculation rife that another Tier 1 of conducting proactive, field- camels,” WA Minister of Mines and Pe-
project has been discovered, the 130th based research and providing troleum Bill Johnston said.
anniversary of the Department of Mines, solid, unbiased geoscientific ad-
Industry Regulation and Safety’s Geolog- vice to government, industry and “Today, men and women in the field
ical Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) the public. have the advantage of amazing technol-
was celebrated in style in 2018. ogy including drones that can map inac-
Mapping of Western Australia cessible outcrops.”
Since 1888, the GSWA has become began in the 19th century, al-
an internationally respected institution though the tools of the trade
and produced robust interpretations of have evolved from pencils,
compasses and theodolites to
sophisticated GPS tracking and
capturing information digitally in the field.

GSWA also manages the Perth and
Kalgoorlie core libraries, where drill
cores are preserved as an invaluable re-
source held in perpetuity for the explora-
tion industry.

Digital delivery is essential for GSWA’s
data and information products today, and
includes leading products such as drill
hole core atlases, 3D models and digital
geological packages.



INDEX

Adriatic 128 Emerald 119 Livent 114 Rio Tinto 6, 8, 9, 10, 42, 113, 122
Encounter 9 LKAB 108
African Rainbow 104 Endeavour Lundin 113 Roxgold 24, 98, 100
Equus 23, 24, 37
Albemarle 112 Eramet 128
Euro Manganese 46
Altura 91, 122 Evolution 128 Sandfire 6, 116, 121
Exore
Aluminium Corp 113 24, 68 Magnetic 127 Sayona 122
31, 32-35 Manas 31, 126
Anglo American 12, 42-43, 77, Marquee ScandiVanadium 128
Metalicity 122
78, 128 Metals X 10 Sheffield 46, 128
Metalsearch
AngloGold 23, 62-63, 77, 82, 100 Minbos 8, 128 Sipa 10
Ming Gold 82
Antipa 6, 8 MMG 50 SolGold 110, 128
Mod 10
Apollo Consolidated 33 FMC 114 MZI Sovereign 90
Force 82 76, 96
Argosy 114 Fortescue 8, 9, 10, 68, 124 60 South32 12, 78, 125
Freehill 127 46
Austral Gold 128 Southern Hemisphere 113

Ausmex 127 SQM 112

AVZ 82 St Barbara 116, 117

Galan 114 St George 126
Galaxy 114
B2Gold 23, 37 Geopacific 116, 117 Syrah 86, 87-88, 128
Glencore 78, 96
Baraka 82, 128 Gold Fields 20, 23, 24 New Century 76, 128
Gold Road 20, 127
Barrick 22-25, 39, 63, 116, 128 Glencore 12 Newcrest 6, 9, 118, 127 Tando 78
Grange 128 Tao 82
Base 46-47 Graphex 91 Newmont 20, 23, 80, 84, 98, 100 Teck 113
Greatland Teranga 24, 70, 84
Berkeley 109 6 Nordgold 23, 37 TNG 124
TNT 126
BHP 12, 42, 66, 68, 110, 125 Norilsk 104 TopTung 126
Toro Gold 70
Black Rock 128 Northern Star 24, 68 Trek 127
Tungsten Mining 128
Blackstone 120 Novo 113

BMG 112 Nzuri 96

Boliden 108

Bushveld 78 Harmony 77 OceanaGold 116
Heron 91 Orion 76-77
Calidus 128 Hudbay 113 Orocobre
Canyon 128 Oz 92
Capricorn 128 125 Vale 90
Carawine Vector 62-63, 82
Cardinal 8 Iluka 46 Paladin 6 Vedanta
Celamin 128 Image 46, 91 Vimy 76
Celsius Independence Panoramic 125 128
Centaurus 58 9
Chalice 94
Chesser Peel 127
Crusader 6
128 Jupiter 78 Peninsula Energy 123 Walkabout 86
128
128 Perseus 24, 26-31, 33, 37, 84 West African 24, 36-41, 82, 84

Kasbah 92, 124 West Wits 72, 128
Kefi 80-81
Kenmare 46 Randgold 22-25, 31, 33-35, 37, Winmar 82
Kingston 116
Kinross 128 63, 66, 68, 70, 96 WPG 128
Kusile 12
Regis 119

Danakali 54-55 Renascor 16
DRD Gold 72
Resolute 24, 66, 68, 84

Page 130 DECEMBER 2018 - JANUARY 2019 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT

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