pd276-Oct19-mag-web_Neat

Time ticking in Africa




fricans and friends of Africa must come We have to become urgent in all that we
Atogether and change the story of Afri- do; the clock is ticking. When there is a
ca, Vector Global director Kojo Annan said. level playing field, excellence knows no
“Change the narrative from poor and boundaries,” Annan said.
impoverished to successful and abundant. “[We need to change the African story]
We, all us Africans and friends of Africa, to one of abundance, equity and power-
have a role to play in ensuring all the play- ful modern, all pervasive humanitarian-
ing fields are level for everyone,” Annan style leadership. However, despite the
said. plethora of opportunity, Africa remains
Annan – a successful investor and en- resource-rich and outcome-poor. Gold, sil-
trepreneur – used his presentation at ver, diamonds, oil, copper, timber, etc are
Africa Down Under to focus attention on all in abundance and yet these resources
Africa’s most powerful resource; it’s youth. haven’t been enough to lift the continent
About 60% of the African population is out of poverty. Perhaps because while the
comprised of young people, most of whom world largely focuses exclusively on profit- Kojo Annan
are under the age of 21. ing from Africa’s wealth of natural resourc-
However, despite the spread of young es, it is almost entirely ignoring Africa’s
talent on the continent, every day over most critical resource – Africa’s youth.” the message for Africa,” he said.
22,000 Africans join the ranks of the Annan, the son of former UN Secretary “The mining sector in particular under-
world’s unemployed, a trend which Annan General, the late Kofi Annan, spent Africa stands very well down to the grams per
said needed changing. Week in Perth engaging with the African tonne or the mineral resources and where
To do so, people in Africa need to be diaspora, spreading his message of inspi- your tenement is. The challenge is to un-
equipped and educated so that the young- ration widely. derstand and map and analyse the other
er generation can impress their stance in He encouraged Africans to turn their great resources; the youth that live in the
the world. weaknesses into indisputable strength and communities in your catchment area.”
“It is now time for us to collectively con- to “play life without any fear”.
tinue shaping the African future and fast. “Just do it, don’t just think about it, this is – Mark Andrews













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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 63

ADu ReVIeW





Uganda calls for Australian support




ganda is eager to attract investment into its mining sector and is
Uturning to Australia for help.
In the country’s first appearance at Africa Down Under, James
Francis Natukunda of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Develop-
ment told delegates the East African country was open for busi-
ness.
“There was a new mining and minerals policy developed in 2018
and we want to transition from artisanal to small-scale and mid-
scale mining; that is why we are here,” Natukunda said.
The Ugandan Government’s stated policy goal is: “To develop
the mining industry through increased investment, value addition,
national participation and revenue generation to contribute signifi-
cantly to socio-economic transformation and poverty eradication.”
Natukunda said to achieve this goal, the Government recog-
nised the need to strengthen its legal and regulatory framework,
establish and promote the country’s mineral potential and enhance
the institutional capacity for governance of the sector.
The move appears to be working. There are now five ASX-listed
juniors exploring for a variety of minerals in Uganda, including nick-
el, tin, rare earths and lithium.
Natukunda said the Government would continue to work pro-
moting investment in the country. It recently completed a mapping
programme which had now covered 90% of the country and has
upgraded its licensing system to allow online applications and pro-
cessing of mineral rights.

West African lithium mine step closer

FORCE COMMODITIES LIMITED James Francis Natukunda


He said the mapping campaign had been combined with results
of a recent airborne geophysical survey to identify potential new
ASX : 4CE mineral targets.
“Uganda is richly endowed with mineral resources; the recently
conducted geological, geochemical and airborne geophysical sur-
veys revealed potential for more mineral resources; specifically,
18 new targets for gold, iron ore and platinum group of metals
(PGMs), REEs, nickel-chromium, copper, cobalt, uranium, tita-
nium, limestone, phosphate, vermiculite, diatomite and bentonite,”
Natukunda said. “The new mining and minerals policy for Uganda,
2018 and revised legislation will offer a conducive mineral invest-
ment climate in Uganda and the Government intends to develop
these resources in partnership with the private sector in a sustain-
able manner.”
Among the incentives in place to attract foreign direct investment
is the 1991 Investment Code which encourages private investment
by streamlining procedures and guaranteeing protection against
appropriation. Foreign companies can hold 100% of Ugandan
businesses and import duties are non-applicable to mining equip-
ment.
The country also has ambitions to build its downstream capa-
ALL SET TO SHINE IN 2019 bilities, Natukunda pointing to the African gold refinery at Entebbe
airport as an example of the type of value addition the Government
wishes to see.
“The Government requires that minerals mined in Uganda
TSHIMPALA PROJECT, MALAWI should be processed and refined in Uganda into semi-finished or
HIGH-GRADE LEAD AND SILVER finished products before they are exported,” he said. “Currently,
copper, cobalt, lithium, graphite and iron ores are not for export in
www.forcecommodities.com.au raw form; the rest can be exported as high grade concentrates.”
– Dominic Piper


Page 64 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Minbos welcomes



open tender




inbos Resources Ltd is confident of IFDC [International Fertiliser Development
Mwinning back the Angolan phosphate Centre] in the last couple of years. Lindsay Reed
licences it was stripped of last year. “We’ve never given up on Angola. We
Following a protracted dispute over work had a problem with our JV, but not with An- Reed was full of praise for the IFDC,
programmes with its former JV partner, gola.” which has been assisting Minbos for more
Minbos was forced to relinquish its rights Should Minbos reclaim the licences, the than two years and is already active in many
to the Cabinda phosphate project despite company intends to focus on development African countries, albeit not yet Angola.
investing more than $20 million in the field of a local product rather than the large ex- IFDC greenhouse trials on Cabinda prod-
over almost a decade. port model it was previously pursuing. uct have reportedly yielded similar results to
With the licences now up for open tender, Reed said the existing 7mt resource at other phosphate rock field tests in Nigeria
Minbos is preparing to make an outright bid Cabinda which would have supported 10 and Kenya.
to pick up where it left off. years of exports is also capable of supply- “If we use the right water soluble fertiliser
“We will be competing with others, but ing Angola’s phosphate nutrient needs for in the right soil with the right crops, we can
we obviously have some advantage in that more than 30 years. take as little as 15% of the imported fertiliser
we’ve been there for a long time, we’ve “With the help of the IFDC, we’ve iden- and mix it together with the Cabinda rock
spent a lot of money and we understand the tified making a local product that is both and we’re getting results in pots that are
resources,” Minbos chief executive Lindsay soluble and cost-effective for phosphate almost identical to the imported fertiliser,”
Reed said. nutrients in the context of Angolan soils and Reed said.
“We’ll leverage on the back of the $20 mil- Angolan crops,” Reed said. “We think we’re going to get around 80%
lion that we’ve already spent on phosphate “That’s particularly important because of the effectiveness of the imported fertiliser
projects in the Congo Basin and the knowl- in the Congo Basin it’s seen as one of the for around about 50% of the cost.”
edge that we have from there, but also the ways of actually lifting up the economies of
knowledge that we’ve developed from the those areas.” – Michael Washbourne


West African lithium mine step closer



ali Lithium Ltd is unperturbed by the ium demand is set to increase ninefold in programme designed to upgrade both re-
Mrecent string of setbacks in the Austral- the coming decade. sources and reserves due to start immi-
ian lithium sector and is instead full of con- Evans’ confidence stems from both com- nently and DFS optimisation work started
fidence about the future of its African asset. modity forecasts and the robustness of the on improving recoveries and the quality of
The last 12 months have been a grim pe- company’s Goulamina project in south-east the concentrate product.
riod for lithium players on the ASX with Alita Mali. A PFS published last year showed “We are also working with financiers and
Resources Ltd falling into administration “absolutely fantastic economic outcomes”, offtake strategic partners,” Evans said.
and Pilbara Minerals Ltd having to revise its according to Evans. Based on a long-term In a further boost to the company’s plans,
ambitious growth plans. Further down the conservative outlook of $US670/t – com- Mali Lithium received its full mining permit
development curve, explorers are finding pared to a price of $US1,000/t 18 months from the Malian Government in late August.
their momentum stymied by falling concen- ago and $US600/t currently – Goulamina Evans said Goulamina was the largest
trate prices. has a NPV of $1 billion. The PFS assumed and highest grade uncommitted hard rock
Mali Lithium managing director Chris production of 360,000 tpa of lithium con- lithium reserve in the world and as such he
Evans brushed off the current lithium ma- centrate over 16 years. expected financiers and offtakers to show
laise, telling Africa Down Under delegates Evans arrived as part of a board reshuf- strong interest in the project.
his company was perfectly placed to take fle earlier this year, bringing his experience In December, the company struck an
advantage of a market rebound. at Altura Mining Ltd’s Pilgangoora mine in arrangement with China Minmetals Cor-
“We will be ready for a flying start when Western Australia with him. The refreshed poration which will test the Goulamina con-
the lithium market improves,” Evans said, board undertook a strategic review of Gou- centrate for its ability to feed future lithium
pointing to widespread evidence that lith- lamina earlier this year, identifying four ar- markets.
eas of focus. With the company fully committed to
“The new group all have experience in Goulamina, it is looking for divestment op-
lithium mine development, financing and tions for its gold assets in Mali.
operations,” Evans said. “We used that The company has a JV with Barrick Gold
experience to have a good look at the as- Corp over the Viper and N’tiola tenements
set and decided we needed to focus on and received a $4.46 million royalty pay-
increasing confidence in the resource and ment in July. It also has a larger collection
reserves, optimising the DFS, securing of exploration tenements and Evans said
offtake and position the company to move a decision would be made on how best to
rapidly out of the lithium downturn.” hive off the gold assets.
Work has already begun with a drilling
Chris Evans

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 65

ADu ReVIeW




Mali looks Ghana goes



beyond gold digital




ali, Africa’s fourth largest gold producer, is looking to diversify
Maway from the precious metal into other commodities.
The West African country produced more than 2 moz gold from
13 active mines in 2018 but speaking in the opening session of Af-
rica Down Under Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Lelenta Hawa
Baba Ba, said the Government had plans to expand production
into rare earths, phosphate and bauxite.
Baba Ba’s appearance at the conference came just two weeks
after ASX-listed Mali Lithium Ltd received a mining permit for its
Goulamina lithium project in the country’s south.
Baba Ba said she hoped Goulamina would be the first of a new
generation of mines which would see Mali repeat the success it
has had in gold. She said the country had good prospects for rare
earths, phosphate, uranium, iron ore and bauxite.
The granting of Mali Lithium’s permit highlighted the Govern-
ment’s commitment to diversification, according to the company’s Naana Eyiah
managing director Chris Evans.
“Mali has a developed mining culture and outstanding track re- newly digitised mining cadastre system should increase
cord of facilitating and rapidly permitting projects,” Evans said. “It A transparency and accessibility in Ghana’s exploration sector.
has a supportive government which is actively seeking to diversify Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Naana Ey-
its minerals sector.” iah, said the new system would be up and running before the
Baba Ba said the Government had also reinforced its commit- end of this year.
ment to attracting further investment in the sector by creating a “Ghana is on the brink of going online with our mineral right
department dedicated to making mining one of the main levers of application system,” Eyiah said. “This means that investors can
economic growth. She said the Mining Code and related legisla- sit here in Australia and apply for mining rights on a digital plat-
tion had a number of favourable fiscal regulations, including stable form. Once fully operationalised, by December 2019, it will allow
transfer of funds, tax exemptions for imports and free movement for improved access to information for companies, investors,
of human resources, capital and goods. stakeholders and civil society to access mineral rights informa-
Recent changes to the Mining Code included limiting the State’s tion from any part of the globe and increased transparency in
share of projects to 20%, renewal of licences without dropping mineral rights administration and associated revenues.”
ground and the introduction of new community development re- Ghana is already a major African gold producer, with 4.9 moz
quirements, including the building of infrastructure for local use. gold produced in 2018, however, according to Eyiah, the Gov-
ernment would like to attract further investment, particularly
Lelenta Hawa Baba Ba from Australia.
“Ghana is working hard at enhancing its exploration attrac-
tiveness, with the number of exploration companies working in
Ghana currently standing at 141,” she said.
Among the other initiatives being developed is an enhanced
geoscience database and improvements to the Ghana Minerals
Commission.
“Key roles have been merged or realigned to bring about co-
hesion, speed, flexibility, professionalism and career growth.
Also, new offices have been created to ensure these regulatory
agencies are easily accessible,” Eyiah said.

Ivorian policy revamp imminent




ote d’Ivoire’s eight-year objective of in- manganese production will reach 860,000t tral system – to reduce processing times
Ccreasing mining’s share of GDP from (2011: 41,000t) and lateritic nickel 889,580t. and increase transparency – and improve-
2% to 4% by 2020 is still on track, according With more than 60 exploration compa- ments to the geoscientific database were
to director general of Mines and Geology, nies active in the country, Coulibaly is con- key challenges for Cote d’Ivoire.
Ibrahima Coulibaly. fident Ivorian gold production will continue The Government is also preparing a min-
Cote d’Ivoire has enjoyed steady produc- to grow but admitted the Mining Code and ing policy for the 2020-2025 period with
tion growth since the end of civil war hostili- regulatory environment needed some fine- the selection of a consultant to prepare the
ties in 2010. Gold production was expected tuning. draft policy expected later this year.
to reach 26t in 2019 (2011: 12.4t) while He identified modernisation of the cadas-


Page 66 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

This is why Africa




frica Down Under was the perfect sadors will be joining us and it is spon- do in Korea. And, similarly; we receive
Aplatform for Austrade to launch its sored by the Australian Africa Chamber more foreign direct investment from SA
Why Africa? seminar series. of Commerce. There will be a number than India or Indonesia,” Kamath said.
In a study conducted by The University of Austrade colleagues talking about the “Similarly on the trade side, we have
of Western Australia, the cultural literacy potential opportunities we see in front of a very strong trade relationship and it is
of Australians towards Africa and vice- us in the future between Australia and balanced and complementary. We ex-
versa was found to be low; a situation Africa. We can see the seminar series port particular commodities to SA – coal
Austrade’s Ian Halliday believes can be building over a number of years.” and aluminium – and South Africa’s prin-
rectified through events such as Africa Africa is not yet a priority for Australian ciple export to us is manufactured motor
Down Under and the Australia Africa organisations to do business, with China, vehicles. I think that is a complementary
Universities Network. South East Asia, India, Pacific Islands, relationship.”
“I think we all have a role to play in how US and Europe currently at the forefront The Australia-SA bond has firmed in
we raise the profile of Australian-African of overseas business. recent times, with the Square Kilome-
business relations and I applaud you However, during one of the sessions at tre Array (SKA) project awarded to both
[Dominic Piper] and Bill [Repard] for initi- Africa Down Under featuring an array of countries.
atives like Africa Down Under, which has Australian ambassadors/heads of mis- Australia and SA were in direct com-
now gone into Australia Africa Week,” sion and their African counterparts, Aus- petition to host the SKA project, which
Halliday said. tralian High Commissioner to South Af- entails building the world’s largest tel-
“Why Africa? follows the successful rica Gita Kamath highlighted a few facts escope to explore the universe.
MENA Connections Programme and is a that seemingly go unnoticed. In the end, an inter-government agen-
seminar series, which will start in Perth “People are always very surprised to cy decided the project was best jointly-
and roll out across every [Australian] hear, particularly on the investment side, hosted by Australia and SA, effectively
capital city over the next 10 days. A num- that Australia invests more in South Af- boosting collaboration in science and
ber of high commissioners and ambas- rica than in Indonesia and more than we technology between the two countries.














































Australian-African diplomats out in full force at Africa Down Under. Front row (L-R): High Commissioner to South Africa Gita Kamath,
Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe HE Bronte Moules, High Commissioner for Zambia HE Frank Bwalya, High Commissioner for
Uganda HE Joyce Kikafunda, High Commissioner to HE Kenya Alison Chartres, High Commissioner to Madagascar HE Jenny Dee.
Back row (L-R): High Commissioner for South Africa HE Marthinus van Schalkwyk, High Commissioner for Kenya HE Isaiya Kabira and
Austrade general manager Middle East and Africa Ian Halliday


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 67

ADu ReVIeW




While the outcome has been wel- just think if right from the outset we de- Schalkwyk said.
comed, however, South African High cided to approach that as Australia and “Both of us know what our responsibili-
Commissioner Marthinus van Schalkwyk SA.” ties are in terms of international agree-
questioned why a collaborative effort Van Schalkwyk said there were some ments that we have signed and what we
wasn’t considered from the outset. excellent initiatives and exciting coop- should do; we have all the figures and
“The question was asked about com- eration between Australia and SA in the timeframes. But, it is really on the adap-
petition and the clever people here, the fields of nuclear medicine and marine tation side where we can cooperate a lot
academics will know about cooperative science, which needed to be built upon. more. I look forward to strengthening this
competition and that is how we should “I believe we can add a lot of momen- relationship.”
see this relationship,” van Schalkwyk. tum without a lot of energy on the issue
“In the end it [SKA decision] was basi- of climate change, not on the mitiga- – Mark Andrews
cally a forced political compromise, but tion side, but the adaptation side,” van


Australian technology, particularly in the fields of mining with HE Isaiya Kabira intent on broadening the scope of
and agriculture, is a key attraction for African governments. Australian participation in other sectors.
“We have a wide range of minerals, but we still need the Kabira said Kenya had a rich human resource pool to tap
technology to get the minerals out of the ground,” HE Joyce into and identified the agriculture sector as an area in which
Kikafunda from Uganda said. Australian knowledge could be applied more deeply.
“We are looking for friends. We are looking for partners “We are happy to apply Australia’s technology in our agri-
so we can grow our resources and not just for the interest culture sector; we are very rich in coffee and tea and we are
of Uganda, but mutual benefit. Our current strategy is to seeing more [Kenyan] tea and coffee coming into Australia.
not only take them from the ground but make sure they are We’d like to see some of this product tailor-made to the
processed in the country. That is going to provide much Australian market,” Kabira said.
needed growth and help companies get their profit. That
is where we are now, we are young, but we want to move “Europe has been our biggest trading partner for coffee
ahead.” and tea; Australians love their coffee in a very different way
and we want to ensure that we are bringing the right coffee
Base Resources Ltd has helped put the Kenyan mining in- blend here and the right tea type.”
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Page 68 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

METS urged to collaborate




espite contributing 15% to Australia’s “The first couple of years was really all
DGDP and being one of the country’s about talking to industry and understand-
highest growth industries, the METS sec- ing what it was that the industry wanted,
tor is yet to fully embrace collaboration. both METS companies and mining com-
METS – mining equipment, technology panies,” Clarke said.
and services – companies have record- “Over the next two years we’ll be con-

ed two consecutive years of gross value- tinuing to execute these sorts of pro-
add (GVA) growth. About 6,000 METS grammes.”

firms contribute about 80% to this GVA. The METS sector is responsible for


However, a lack of collaboration con- 75% of all patents lodged in mining in

tinues to plague the sector with METS Australia, compared to 13% from miners
Ignited Australia Ltd general manager and 12% from researchers.

industry engagement Peter Clarke sug- Of the nearly $240 billion the mining

gesting some companies were still and METS sectors collectively contribute

caught up in a “cultural barrier”. Peter Clarke to the Australian economy, about 40%
“One thing we have been pushing is comes directly from the latter.
more collaboration of METS compa- oration is by waving the cheque book and “It really is, if not the leader globally,

nies in order to scale up their offerings,” saying: ‘we’ve got some money here’. then right near the top,” Clarke said. “I’ve

Clarke said. But, unless you’re collaborating with the taken technologies to Latin America,

“It’s a really important message that best one or two other METS companies, North America and Africa, and if you

we’re trying to get out there. Of course you’re not eligible. And we’re starting to walk in the door to a mining company and

there are a lot of culture barriers to col- see that drive a little bit of change.” say ‘this technology is proven, it’s been
laboration in Australia amongst our Now in its fourth year, METS Ignited used in the Australian mining industry’,

METS companies and it’s proving to be is championing a number of initiatives, for many people that’s a tick of approval

quite a challenge to get our METS com- including robotics and automation and because they know that it is world-class

panies to work together. CRC-based programmes such as Minex here.”

“One of the ways we encourage collab- and Future Battery Industries. – Michael Washbourne




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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 69

ADu ReVIeW





Regional law caution




armonisation and regionalisation of law the CEMAC region.”
Hin Africa is progressing a lot quicker than The African Union (AU) is the largest
many investors may realise, according to pan-African organisation and in July all
leading multinational law firm Ashurst. states except Eritrea signed off on the Afri-
Addressing delegates on the opening can Continental Free Trade Agreement (Af-
day of Africa Down Under, London-based CFTA), the largest free trade area since the
Ashurst partner Yann Alix provided an over- formation of the World Trade Organisation.
view of the growing list of regional bodies Eight regional economic communities ex-
in Africa, which has increased dramatically ist within the AU, including ECOWAS (Eco-
since the 1990s. nomic Community of West African States),
“A number of these regional bodies have COMESA (Common Market for Eastern
adopted regulations that apply directly and Yann Alix and Southern Africa) and EAC (East Afri-
prevail over national laws, very similar to EU Some of the more prolific monetary un- can Community).
regulations,” he said. ions in Africa include CEMAC (Economic Alix urged all investors to undertake due
“Often the regional level might be missed and Monetary Community of Central Africa) diligence on these organisations.
or overlooked, so it’s key to identify which and UEMOA (West African Economic and “Harmonisation and regionalisation of
organisations may be relevant to your in- Monetary Union). law in Africa is developing extremely fast
vestment in which country you operate or “CEMAC and UEMOA regulations con- and this is key because it applies directly to
intend to operate.” tain very specific rules on opening offshore stakeholders that are operating in country,”
Alix categorised Africa’s evolving regional accounts, on opening and operating foreign he said.
landscape into four types: OHADA (Organi- currency local account, on authorisations “So far it has mainly developed in West
sation for the Harmonisation of Business that are sometimes required in relation to and Central Africa and it covers essentially
Law in Africa), monetary unions, political certain investments and on the obligation to foreign exchange and competition/anti-trust
and trading blocs, and other organisations. repatriate profits,” Alix said. regimes, but it’s likely to grow in scope and
OHADA comprises 17 countries in West “The CEMAC regulation was amended a geographically in the years to come.”
and Central Africa, most of which have leg- few months ago and I can tell you it’s of the – Michael Washbourne
islation inspired by French law. utmost importance for companies active in




















OPENING OPPORTUNITIES
OPENING OPPORTUNITIES
FOR AUSTRALIAN INVESTMENT
FOR AUSTRALIAN INVESTMENT
OPENING OPPORTUNITIES
AND LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA
AND LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA
FOR AUSTRALIAN INVESTMENT
AND LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA
ADVOCACY. INSIGHTS. CONNECTIONS.
ADVOCACY. INSIGHTS. CONNECTIONS.
ADVOCACY. INSIGHTS. CONNECTIONS.








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Page 70 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Battery Minerals goes a ThirdWay




hirdWay Africa has been engaged there is an amount there for operational graphite producer, stated it would pull
Tby Battery Minerals Ltd to help find readiness and pre-strip; so $US55 mil- back on production volumes and con-
financing for the 50,000 tpa stage one lion. If someone wrote a cheque for that duct a review of operations and costs at
Montepuez graphite flake concentrate this afternoon, we are off and running,” Balama.
project in Mozambique. Battery Minerals managing director Jer- While Syrah has struggled to hit its
Montepuez is at the starting gate and emy Sinclair said. straps at Balama, Sinclair has previously
ready to go once $US55 million project “ThirdWay Africa is assisting us in the said the operation had at least proved
development capital can be secured. process of securing funding and they the scale of production possible from
“Everything is done, it just needs fund- have done a whole lot of hard work to rip one mine in Mozambique.
ing. The construction cost of Montepu- some costs out of the business to sweat Sinclair also has no doubt that demand
ez is $US39 million and there’s about our cash with the idea being to give our- for graphite is unwavering and through
$US16 million to be added on that to ac- selves maximum runway to get funding.” Montepuez and Balama Central (mining
count for VAT tax, income tax, $US2 mil- ThirdWay Africa, an African funding licence application lodged in June), Bat-
lion in contingency, working capital and specialist, has extensive networks in Eu- tery Minerals is well placed in the sector.
ropean and North American finance “The world needs a lot of graphite go-
circles, while its skills in attracting ing forward,” he said.
support for African projects extends “We are staring down the barrel of un-
to accessing government-provided precedented demand in graphite off the
development capital. back of clean energy and the transition
In what is already a tough market for that is happening globally. We have got
juniors looking for a funding pathway, two world-class graphite projects in Mo-
the ramifications of Syrah Resources zambique, one of which is Montepuez
Ltd’s plight at Balama, Mozambique, which is fully permitted with a path to
were unknown at the time of print. market through port.”
Post-Africa Down Under, Syrah,
which was considered a world leading – Mark Andrews
Jeremy Sinclair


Juwi with the jump start



enewable energy developer and EPC – and has exceeded the fore-
Rcontractor focused on solar, wind and cast generation during the final
energy storage, Juwi Renewable Energies commissioning phase and is
Pty Ltd had good news to deliver at Africa a true testament to the project
Down Under. and delivery team,” Manning
In the lead up to this year’s confer- said.
ence, West Australian copper-gold pro- An initial target of 55-60% of
ducer Sandfire Resources Ltd won the Agnew’s energy requirements
Golden Gecko Award for Environmental is forecast to be met by the
Excellence for its DeGrussa solar project, micro-grid which is comprised
800km north of Perth. of five wind turbines, deliver-
“The judges said that the DeGrussa pro- ing 18MW of power, a 10,000
ject had provided a blueprint for the adop- panel solar farm generating
tion of renewable energy at mine sites 4MW, a 13MW / 4MWh Bat-
around the world. This award is something tery Energy Storage System
that Juwi and Sandfire are very proud of,” (BESS) and a 16MW gas en-
Juwi global head of hybrid Dave Manning gine power station to underpin
said. supply when required.
It was an apt time for Manning to be Global energy group Energy
explaining the successful impact of re- Developments Pty Ltd (EDL)
newable energy in the mining sector, as and Juwi delivered the hybrid
highlighted by the Golden Gecko Award solar solution at Agnew.
and Sandfire’s project exceeding its guar- The Agnew project builds
anteed forecast generation a month ahead upon Juwi’s growing global portfolio, which Dave Manning
of schedule, proving its robust design and includes over 5GW of installed projects to- solar systems and just over a thousand
ongoing performance. talling $10 billion in investments over the wind turbines. We have a global engineer-
Gold Fields Australia Ltd hopes to repli- last 20 years. ing resource with over 850 employees and
cate the achievements at DeGrussa at its Juwi has projects in development across an extensive network of sub contractors,”
Agnew project, also in WA. the world, including in Mali, Ghana, Sen- Manning said.
“That [Agnew] project was commis- egal and Cote d’Ivoire.
sioned this week – on time and on budget “To date, we have installed over 1,700 – Mark Andrews


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 71

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End of the Mod trend?




n what could be the company’s last ever rica Down Under gave further compelling
Iappearance at Africa Down Under, Mod evidence as to why a combined group could
Resources Ltd managing director Julian have further success in Botswana.
Hanna gave delegates a reminder just why Mod had fielded sizeable interest from Julian Hanna
Sandfire Resources NL was prepared to pay several financing options for T3’s $181 mil- T20 exploration package. Hanna said the
$168 million for the copper developer. lion development but Hanna admitted noth- T20 project contained a 750sq km area with
Mod has been a constant at the forum ing could compare to the opportunities the numerous copper-zinc soil anomalies with
over the last three years, showcasing the Sandfire deal offered in terms of financial the first drilling at T4 and T23 intersecting
rapid progress it has made at its T3 copper backing and technical know-how. wide zones of disseminated and localised
project in Botswana since the maiden hole “Sandfire is a very profitable miner, has vein-hosted copper including a best hit of 2m
was drilled in March 2016. very strong cash flow and a solid balance @ 6.1% copper and 111 g/t silver from T4.
In the intervening period, Mod has built T3 sheet,” Hanna said. “It [the takeover] allows “T3 is just the start and there is regional
into a rare commodity in the copper space, T3 to be developed with a strong team be- scale exploration potential here,” Hanna
a genuine greenfields development pro- hind it.” said.
ject. The company has defined a 60.2mt Adding further ballast to Sandfire’s argu- Mod has defined three broad styles of
@ 0.98% copper and 13.9 g/t silver (with ment is its exploration capabilities. While mineralisation on the Kalahari Copper Belt;
36.6mt @ 1.14% copper and 15.8 g/t silver Mod’s junior credentials would have meant high-grade veining, disseminated high-tenor
indicated) resource at T3 and in March is- parking exploration during T3’s construction chalco and the NPF contact which Hanna
sued a DFS pointing to a project with a NPV and ramp-up, Sandfire’s multi-disciplinary said shared similarities to the DRC copper
of $US368 million, IRR of 33% and life-of- experience means it can continue to explore deposits.
mine EBITDA of $US1.1 billion. while the mine is built. Hanna said discoveries of such styles of
The quality of both deposit and work was This should be seen as a blessing to Mod mineralisation were rare in a copper sector
such that Sandfire made its move in June, shareholders given their company boasts a which had seen the majority of exploration
offering 0.0664 shares or 45c for every Mod tenement package of more than 12,000sq expenditure focused on low-grade, large
share, a 45% premium on Mod’s 20-day km and has several enticing targets in Bot- tonnage porphyry deposits.
VWAP. It represented a 108% premium on swana. “These deposits have much lower capital
Mod’s share price on the day of the offer. “We have so many exploration targets,” intensity and energy exposure than the por-
Mod shareholders were set to vote on Hanna said. phyry deposits we are competing with,” he
the scheme of arrangement proposal on Among the regional targets are the T4 and said.
October 1 but Hanna’s presentation at Af- T23 prospects within the plus-3,000sq km
– Dominic Piper
Powering up in Botswana




Discovery became the first copper miner in the north-west grid, so now anybody who
in the district when it completed construc- wants to open a mine in that area has got
tion of the 36,000 tpa copper and 1 mozpa enough power,” Tshetlhane said.
silver Boseto operation in the second half In Africa, Botswana ranked first in the
of 2012. Fraser Institute’s Policy Perception Index
That was the last time things ran smooth- and Investment Attractiveness Index in
ly, however, and after battling poor recov- 2018, while it was ranked sixth in Africa in
Moses Tshetlhane
eries and struggling to contain cash costs, the Best Practices Mineral Potential Index
ome good has come of Discovery Met- Discovery was voluntarily wound up in last year.
Sals ill-fated Boseto copper project in Bot- 2015. The comfort of doing business in Bot-
swana’s north-west. The troubled venture did not serve com- swana is perhaps reflected in the 210 com-
In 2012, then ASX-listed Discovery ap- pany or country well but Botswana Ministry panies holding a total of 656 licences in the
peared to have cracked the code in a part of Mineral Resources, Green Technology country, with the metals, diamonds and in-
of the highly prospective Kalahari Copper and Energy Security deputy director Moses dustrial minerals sectors attracting the most
Belt with the Boseto copper discovery. Tshetlhane said the north-west of Botswa- attention.
The region around Boseto had previously na was now better equipped to host mining “Our policy framework is very much com-
been shunned by mining companies due projects. petitive in terms of investor confidence and
to poor copper prices and the lack of ad- “Infrastructure-wise, we try to make sure ensuring that you know you can develop
equate infrastructure needed to run a viable that there is power for different mining pro- your mining assets once you find depos-
mining operation. jects. Energy inputs, if the costs are very its in the ground. All in all, Botswana as an
However, upon its arrival in Botswana in high sometimes that kills mining projects, investment destination is a popular choice
2005, Discovery was hell-bent on proving as we discovered with Discovery Metals. for various sectors, but specifically mining
the naysayers wrong. Though majors such They encountered very high costs because which is a mainstay of the country’s econo-
as Anglo American plc and GENCOR had they used diesel generation. But, we have my,” Tshetlhane said.
explored the belt in the 1980s and 1990s, since taken power to that part of the country – Mark Andrews


Page 72 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Tala Hamza to be built tough




erramin Australia Ltd is preparing the In April, zinc was near $US1.40/lb but start-up capital costs of $449 million
TTala Hamza zinc project to be unlike at the time of print it was trading at just have been started, as Taylor continues
any other in the field. above $US1/lb. local community and government liai-
Richard Taylor, Terramin’s chief execu- “It will be a mine operating for multiple sons in the next 12 months.
tive, said the Algerian asset would be de- cycles. The existing resource is 21 years “We have been delayed by political
veloped to absorb the ebbs and flows of on the 1.3 mtpa case. Unlike other peers changes in Algeria. I was over in Algiers
prices for zinc. in the group we will have a long life pro- about six weeks ago watching the ex-
ject through multiple cycles, including pression of democracy and people on
the times when zinc spikes. Many of our the streets talking about what priorities
peers have mine lives much shorter than they see for the country going forward.
10 years,” Taylor said. They see Tala Hamza as one of the key
A DFS on Tala Hamza was produced priority projects for the new government
in 2018, with one highlight of the study once it is formed and being able to bring
being C1 operating costs over life-of- forward the benefits for the youth of that
mine averaging $US0.53-0.55c/lb. country as it goes forward into the next
Terramin has since been working on stage of development,” Taylor said.
optimising the project “to make that de- Tala Hamza is a JV between Terramin
posit really hum” and has reported prom- (65%) and the Algerian Government
ising upside in terms of a 2 mtpa opera- (35%).
tion at Tala Hamza. – Mark Andrews
Financing discussions for estimated
Richard Taylor



Mining inspires Guinea growth plan




uinea has mining to thank for the sig-
Gnificant growth in its economy over the
past decade.
The country’s GDP has grown from
$US4.74 billion in 2010 to $US6.3 billion in
2016 and $US10.49 billion in 2017.
Increased bauxite exports have been
identified as the premier contributor to
Guinea’s burgeoning economy. The coun-
try is host to the world’s largest untapped
bauxite resources, currently estimated at
40bt with many deposits containing grades
above 40%.
Bauxite production over the past five
years has skyrocketed from 15mt to 60mt
and could reach 150mt as early as 2015.
According to Guinea’s Mining Promotion
and Development Centre, state revenue
from mining has increased from less than Mohamad Lamine Sy Savane
$US150 million in 2012 to almost $US500 “Developments in mining will require fur- “With the increasing mining activity, it is
million in 2017. ther developments in infrastructure, partic- essential to have this facility,” he said.
Mining accounts for almost 99% of all ularly in developing port facilities,” he said “The development of this project will al-
exports from Guinea and contributed “These are opportunities to be seized by low Guinea to not only allow the mining
22.71% to the country’s GDP in 2016. investors who can help develop the mining boom already taking place to continue,
Speaking via a translator, Mining Pro- sector in other areas. but also to develop its own sector with
motion and Development Centre general “The development of hydroelectric pow- increased exports expected through the
manager Mohamad Lamine Sy Savane er will be key to the ongoing development port.”
said Guinea was also looking to develop of bauxite and processing facilities.” Savane said regulators in Guinea con-
other minerals such as iron ore, base met- Savane made special mention of the tinued to review processing times for min-
als, rare earths and uranium. proposed deep-water facility at Port Gon- ing and exploration licences in a bid to at-
Savane said there were also opportuni- zalez which is considered a major devel- tract more foreign investment.
ties to invest in the supporting infrastruc- opment project for the country’s future.
ture required for these mining projects. – Michael Washbourne


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Somaliland solar salt saviour




mere $US10 million is needed for pri- need of critical nutrition sup-
A vate company Salternas Ltd to com- port, including life-saving
plete a DFS on a life-changing solar salt treatment for around 87,000 of
project in Somaliland. these.”
The unlisted Australian entity has al- Solar salt production at a
ready committed $1.8 million to date on rate of 13 mtpa is the initial
a PFS which takes into account a poten- aim for Salternas, which would
tial three-stage project starting with solar require an estimated $US250
salt production, followed by SoP extrac- million to get going.
tion and eventually the construction of An agreement signed be-
desert greenhouses for food production. tween Salternas and the Min-
Salternas chairman Professor Colin istry of Investment & Promo-
Roberts said the food production stage tions, Republic of Somaliland,
– estimated to generate a gross revenue grants the former a 25-year
of $US1.7 billion per year – would ideally lease for sufficient ocean-front Colin Roberts
be managed by locals, trusted partners land to operate the project.
or NGOs. The agreement between private sec- ment and welcoming nature of people in
“This will be a commercial operation, tor and government is renewable for a Somaliland.
however, in periods of drought, food and further 25 years and is perhaps one of “The only news that seems to come
water will be provided to the population the good news stories not being told in out of Somaliland is bad, why is that? Be-
as relief; enough to sustain a million peo- Somaliland. cause they export bad news. There are
ple,” Roberts said. Somaliland is a self-declared inde- 9 million good stories in Somaliland and
“Annually, 6.2 million people are suf- pendent state, but is not given that status we never hear anything about those,”
fering in the Horn of Africa from lack of internationally. Roberts hopes the situa- Roberts said.
nourishment. Overall, some 388,000 tion will change one day and that more
acutely malnourished children are in people will realise the stability of govern- – Mark Andrews


Making tomorrow better than today




eeling the dirt through her shoes is not to create sustainable businesses for com- fruitful, James said B4D’s aim was to cre-
Fonly an exciting part of Karen James’ munities in Africa and the Asia Pacific re- ate enterprises beyond the agriculture
job but also the most effective in her role gion. sector and welcomed the opportunity to
as chief executive of Business for Devel- “Our job is not only to build the agri- work with more mining companies.
opment (B4D). culture sector but create a market for the “We work best when we work with
James started in the position in Janu- produce,” James said. mining companies from the beginning,”
ary after more than 30 years in the fast- B4D has worked closely with Base Re- James said when hosting a roundtable
paced world of IT engineering. sources Ltd in Kenya on the Kwale pro- discussion at Africa Down Under.
Essentially, James’ expertise in sys- ject since 2013, with the end goal being The plight of some junior exploration
tems thinking and engineering will be to eliminate food insecurity and achieve companies constrained by cash means
critical in the not-for-profit’s endeavours sustainable food access and production. the extent to which budgets extend be-
The Kwale pro- yond the drill bit is often limited.
ject involved an James said B4D was assessing other
array of partners streams of funding to support collabora-
integral to the com- tive initiatives and offered companies the
munities’ ability to chance to access B4D’s IP.
now produce sus- “We are going to be humble and share
tainable crops of our IP,” James said, while adding that con-
cotton, chicken necting with communities face-to-face
feed (from cotton was paramount to long-term success.
by-product), poultry, “When you are on the ground you can
cassava, corn, cow- really trust that the work is being done.
peas, green gram, What seems simple at the desk is so dif-
potatoes, rice, sor- ficult on the ground. Building and sustain-
ghum, soybean and ing trust can only be done when working
sunflowers. on the ground.”
While the Kwale – Mark Andrews
project has been
Karen James


Page 74 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Zimbabwe was well represented in Perth
Zimbabwe sets big by government officials and stakehold-
ers in the mining sector. Zimbabwe Is
Open For Business (ZOB) hosted a panel
2023 ambition discussion addressing the state of play
in Zimbabwe. Moses Panashe from
Quadripoint hosted the session which
included thoughts from Stanbic Bank’s
Isabella Nyoka, Lavan, partner, corpo-
ews had just broken that former Zim- 2023,” Chitando said.
Nbabwe president Robert Mugabe had “The country is underexplored and we rate services team, Krista Bates, Zim-
passed away as the country’s Minister of are looking for capital to come in to under- babwe Minister of Mines Hon Winston
Mines Hon Winston Chitando and business take exploration in Zimbabwe. We have Chitando, Chamber of Mines President
leaders gathered to speak about investment over 40 minerals, but less than 10 are being Elizabeth Nerwande, Invictus Energy Ltd
opportunities in the southern African nation. extracted. managing director Scott Macmillan and
Respectfully, despite the high ranking “Those minerals have not been exploited, Zimplats Holdings Ltd chief executive
officials present for Africa Down Under in simply because the capital has not been Alexander Mhembere
Perth not receiving official confirmation of flowing.”
Mugabe’s passing on September 6, a mo- Investment from ASX companies in Zim- A review of the Mining Act is under way
ment’s silence was called during the Zimba- babwe’s resources sector has been steady, and the Chamber of Mines is not expecting
bwe Is Open For Business forum. with the likes of lithium hopeful Prospect any surprise moves to be made.
After serving as Prime Minister of Zim- Resources Ltd, Invictus Energy Ltd, Lati- “Things are improving well in terms of the
babwe from 1980-1987, Mugabe followed tude Consolidated Ltd and Zimplats Hold- dialogue between the chamber and gov-
on with a presidential reign that lasted until ings Ltd just some of the entities actively ernment. The 12 Billion Vision is a shared
2017. engaged in the country. value and it’s time for us and not them to re-
There were triumphant scenes in Zimba- Zimplats, market capped at $1 billion and alise that vision,” Chamber of Mines Presi-
bwe when Mugabe was deposed by now trading at $9.85/share on the ASX at the dent Elizabeth Nerwande said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the time of print, is committed to Zimbabwe, Chitando said the Government was de-
Zimbabwe is open for business theme be- with chief executive Alexander Mhembere termined to deliver policy consistency and
gun. telling delegates the platinum-focused clarity and welcomed ongoing communica-
Mining is an industry Zimbabwe has high company was looking for further opportuni- tions with all relevant stakeholders in Zim-
hopes for, with the Government setting it- ties in the country. babwe’s mining sector.
self ambitious targets with its 12 Billion Min- The positive sentiment expressed by While there is progress being made in
ing Industry Vision 2023 policy. Mhembere was repeated by Invictus man- Zimbabwe, Chitando also acknowledges
“We made $US2.7 billion in 2017 [from aging director Scott Macmillan who said the issues that must be faced.
mining] and we want $US12 billion by there was dynamic change occurring in Delivering a sustainable currency to the
Zimbabwe. economy is one such challenge as is pro-
Invictus is an oil and gas ex- viding security of power, to which Chitando
ploration company, which has made assurances.
250,000 acres in the Cabora “Suffice to say that the issues of power
Bassa basin, northern Zimba- will be a thing of the past,” Chitando said.
bwe, previously explored by Mo- Power shortages and load shedding are
bil Oil. current day-to-day concerns in Zimbabwe
“There has been great cultural with the impact of drought crippling the use
and legislative change, which of hydropower.
has made it easier to invest in Chitando said there were measures in
Zimbabwe,” Macmillan said. place to ensure that Zimbabwe would be
The Government has recog- self-reliant for power by 2023.
nised it must provide investors
with an enabling environment – Mark Andrews
and indications are that it is on
the right path.
Hon Winston Chitando
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The calm before agreement with the US – one of 55 overall
– Morocco’s geographical location appears
to have driven its “economic destiny”, ac-
cording to Australian High Commissioner to
election storm Morocco, Berenice Owen-Jones.
“Morocco has undergone an incredible
transformation over the last decade to sup-
port its ambitions to be an economic regional
ith four countries on his patch headed all four. For Australian interests out of all of hub between Europe and Africa,” she said.
Wfor the polls over the next 15 months, that, I think that it probably is a good thing for “It’s important to note that in the rather
Andrew Barnes will be one of the busiest dip- continuity and for relationships that we don’t turbulent world of North African politics, the
lomats in West Africa. see significant change politically in the land- Kingdom of Morocco builds itself as a haven
Elections are scheduled to be held in Gha- scape across those countries.” of stability…it’s now one of the most devel-
na, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea Election season is always a challenging oped countries in Africa, with vast liberalising
next year and Barnes – Australia’s High time for foreign companies to undertake and a diversified economy and it now has
Commissioner to Ghana – will be watching business in African countries and many will the fifth largest GDP in Africa.
on with great interest. actually set aside plans until after the results “Morocco has also made the most of its
Barnes – who also has diplomatic accredi- are confirmed. strategic location to create the largest port in
tation in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Street riots and protests can accompany Africa and the Mediterranean – Tanger Med
Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone – expects elections in different parts of the continent, port – a very large transhipment port with an
the incumbent governments to be returned often leading to the perception that Africa in industrial zone around it. The other thing Mo-
in each of the four countries with upcoming general is unstable and not a place for out- rocco is making the most of is its proximity
elections and believes that will have posi- siders. to 500 million consumers in the EU, which
tive implications for Australians operating in Canberra-based High Commissioner for represents an invaluable boon to investors.”
West Africa. Ghana, Edwin Nii Adjei, said it was impor- Recently appointed Australian High Com-
“I’m fairly positive about the implications tant for all Australian companies operating in missioner to Nigeria, Claire Ireland, barely
for the economic, political and security sta- Africa to actively promote their positive expe- had time to settle into her new role before
bility with those elections, I don’t think there riences on the continent. joining other Australia-Africa diplomats on
is any cause for alarm in any of those coun- “Australian companies who are already stage at Africa Down Under.
tries,” Barnes said. engaged in Africa, we try to encourage them Ireland, who has spent more than a dec-
“There will be some implications, I think to share their positive stories here back ade working in Africa, is keen to play a role
on the economic front perhaps, there will be home with others to also strengthen their re- in what she believes is as an emerging eco-
a loosening of the purse strings by some of solve to want to take that step into coming to nomic partnership between Australia and
the countries, some of the governments, and Africa,” he said. Nigeria.
they will tend to spend a bit more. That will, of “We also continue to promote more peo- “That relationship…it’s very much moved
course, in the short term give a bit of a stimu- ple to be advocates to encouraging tourism and matured from what was once in the past
lus to the economies, but in the longer term it into Africa and so on.” an aid relationship to an economic partner-
might undermine their fiscal stability. Morocco is one country which has ship between the two countries and I think
“On the political front, I think we’re not go- emerged as a gateway for foreign invest- that’s very impressive and exciting to be part
ing to see major changes in those countries, ment into Africa, particularly from Europe. of,” she said.
I think the incumbents will be returned in The only African nation with a free trade “Australia is very committed to
that relationship and to the part-
nership, in particular. We’ve just
purchased a piece of land and
we’re building a new High Com-
mission and that very much dem-
onstrates that we’re there for the
long term. I think it sends a very
positive message that we’re here
to stay, it’s an economic partner-
ship and it’s one that is really
growing.”

– Michael Washbourne






Emphasising the importance
of Australia-Africa relations:
Australian High Commissioner
to Ghana HE Andrew Barnes,
Australian High Commissioner to
Morocco HE Berenice Owen-Jones
and Australian High Commissioner
to Nigeria HE Claire Ireland


Page 76 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Force mixes with the best




dmittedly, Jason Brewer barely followed of all lead and silver production from the trenching work and drill pad preparation at
Athe lead-silver market prior to the mine. Tshimpala, 30 minutes west of Lilongwe.
Tshimpala opportunity in Malawi prevailed Post Africa Down Under, a phased ap- Force also has a short-list of contractors
for Force Commodities Ltd. proach to civil engineering and construc- it is negotiating with to carry out mining
“Silver was $US15/oz when we acquired tion services had started with Malawian and beneficiation work, as open pit mine
the project, it is now $US19/oz,” Brewer group Shire Construction Ltd awarded the development studies progress.
said at Africa Down Under. contract for works, including the establish- The company aims to have Tshimpala
As quick as the silver price alone has ap- ment of site offices and camp facilities, in- coming online at a time of positivity in the
preciated, Brewer has come up to speed frastructure upgrades and improvements base metals market and increasing lead
with the market dynamics and managed to to access bridges and roads, exploration and silver prices.
sign-off a number of key milestones since Resource drilling was under way at the
activities started at Tshimpala in June. time of print, with a programme comprising
Swiss-based global trader Transamine 150 RC holes for 2,500m.
Trading SA wasted no time in securing As a spur before drilling started, a recent
off-take on future production from Force’s XRF analysis of grab samples returned ex-
51% interest in Tshimpala, while one of ceptionally high-grade silver of 2,411 g/t at
the world’s top 500 companies, African Tshimpala.
logistics experts – Bolloré Transport and Previous bulk sampling assays have re-
Logistics – will export high-grade lead- turned results in the ilk of 60% lead and
silver concentrate from the port of Beira, 735 g/t silver with up to plus 80% lead in
Mozambique, to select ports in Asia. some chemical assay results.
As manager and operator for Tshimpala,
Force will organise all funding for mining – Mark Andrews
operations and the marketing and sale
Jason Brewer

Comet story four




hapter one of the Titan nickel balls sto- of Abuja, outcrops at surface and appears Assuming a $US6/lb nickel price, $US200
Cry was unveiled at Africa Down Under as native nickel metal ranging in size up to million in annual revenue was estimated at
in 2016. Comet Minerals Ltd director Hugh 0.5cm in diameter, comprising 95% nickel C3 costs of $US3/lb.
Morgan AC and team, including Stephen disseminated in host rock grading 1.5-3%. Perth-based WildIp has granted Comet
Davies and consultant geologist Profes- Last year, Comet revealed back-of- a royalty free licence to use its patented
sor Louisa Lawrance, have returned every envelope details about what stage one metal extraction process potentially appli-
year since to tell delegates more about economics at Titan would look like at a cable to the Titan metallurgy, with a scop-
what is an extraordinary nickel discovery throughput rate of 1 mtpa. ing study now under way to determine the
in Nigeria. Comet guided potential production of viability of building a pilot plant to test the
“We have been engaged in that [project] 15,000 tpa @ 1.5% nickel over 10 years. new processing method.
now for seven years and it has been com-
plicated primarily because it is unique in
every aspect; in terms of geological back-
ground, extraction processes and we’re
into the fourth chapter now,” Morgan said.
“The first [chapter] was to really an-
nounce the discovery, something that I
think was regarded with a high degree
of incredulity that it existed and that was
our reaction when we first got engaged
ourselves. The second was to actually
produce, with the help of Prof Louisa Law-
rance, a geological model to explain why
this was, how it came. Last year, when we
were here, it was to actually point out the fi-
nancial implications of this very significant
discovery. This year, our fourth year, is to
really concentrate on metallurgical issues
that have been addressed in this time to
ensure that there is significant capacity to
exploit this extraordinary deposit.”
The style of nickel balls Comet has dis-
covered at the Titan project, 200km east Hugh Morgan


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 77

ADu ReVIeW




Social licence spans more mands around sustainable production.
“If you can brand yourself as a more sus-
tainable business it could put you ahead of
the competition,” Burnell said.
than site surrounds one of a number of issues when commu-
The changes to social licence are just

nity and legislative opinions are shifting in
ining’s social licence to operate require- the sustainability of their supply chains and the mining space. Burnell said the recent
Mments extend well beyond the mine they in turn are forcing suppliers to provide spate of fatal tailings spills in Brazil had led
gate now but savvy companies could use custody of supply. to greater awareness around mine closure
the situation to their advantage, according This has created problems in the mineral across the globe. He warned company di-
to one leading African lawyer. space, particularly for products with con- rectors should be thoroughly aware of their
Matthew Burnell, director of the Africa nections to illegal mining and human rights legal requirements to conduct assessments
group at Herbert Smith Freehills said during abuses. of tailings dams.
Africa Down Under that the scope of social Burnell believes there is opportunity for Other areas companies should be vigi-
licence to operate had changed over recent those mining companies who can meet de- lant around, according to Burnell, are cli-
years. mate change legislation, shareholder activ-
“There has been a revision of social li- ism and stakeholder engagement. He said
cence to operate in recent years,” Burnell future trends identified by Herbert Smith
said. “Now there is a new focus with the Freehills included cyberattacks with envi-
end-consumer looking through the whole ronmental impacts, mental wellness and
value chain to see as to whether companies new technology, climate change and cli-
are taking green issues into account.” mate change migration and disruptions in
Major retail brands such as Apple and the waste supply chain.
global car manufacturers are under in- – Dominic Piper
creasing pressure from consumers to prove
Matthew Burnell



PRI appetite still strong for Africa




allagher UK structured political risks profile policy changes, insurers were still 2009 and 2019 with the market now worth
Gexecutive director Rupert Morgan told supportive of mining companies on the $US3.092 billion.
Africa Down Under delegates that insurers continent. Morgan said Sub-Saharan Africa ac-
were showing a strong appetite for good He said factors which could be expect- counted for 9.7% of Lloyd’s of London po-
projects, even in challenging environments. ed to affect political risk premium rates litical risk insurance claims between 1997
Gallagher has been an active participant included country appetite, risk specifics, and 2017. Latin America and the Caribbe-
in the African mining space in recent years, capacity availability, sector exposure ag- an accounted for the highest share (26.7%)
providing political risks and mining project gregation and the loss history of individual followed by Asia-Pacific (19.9%) and Com-
insurance services to mining project devel- sectors and countries. monwealth of Independent States (17.7%)
opers, contractors and their financiers. There has been a 116% increase in before Africa.
Morgan said despite a number of high- political risk insurance capacity between



























Political risk insurance premium rates for Sub-Saharan Africa Rupert Morgan


Page 78 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Sudan steps in the right direction




s HE Dr Abbas Elshaikh Mohamed strives for peace and stability. purely exporting chromite,” Salih said.
ASalih, acting Minister of Minerals for Salih said there were more than 160 As the chromite sector takes shape,
the Republic of Sudan, took to the po- new blocks opened up for mining and ex- potential investors interested in Sudan
dium at Africa Down Under his country ploration activities and welcomed inves- may well be looking to the success of
was being reinstated as a member of the tors to Sudan. Canadian company Orca Gold Inc.
African Union. Meanwhile, he was encouraged to see Orca is in the final stages of permitting
The move came after 25 years of mili- that the chromite industry in Sudan was the Block 14 gold project, which is de-
tary rule was ended in August and a Sov- being expanded on. scribed as one of the best construction-
ereign Council administered to install a “Some companies are starting to con- ready projects in Africa.
new leadership. centrate chromite as Sudan shifts from Orca said it was optimistic it would
Abdalla Hamdok, an economist and demonstrate Sudan could host a large-
technocrat whose most recent work has scale commercial gold mine and looked
been with the African Development Bank forward to progressing discussions with
and the UN Economic Commission for the new government.
Africa, is Sudan’s new Prime Minister. Block 14 is primed to produce 5.8 mtpa
Hamdok and his cabinet of 18 ministers @ 1.49 g/t gold at an average 228,000
(two more to be added), which includes ozpa over the first seven years, with
the country’s first ever female Foreign Af- 167,000 ozpa scheduled for the 13.6
fairs Minister, will lead the Government years life of mine.
towards proposed democratic elections Pre-production capital of $US328 mil-
in 2022-23. lion to get Block 14 going, with life-of-
Under the new government, Sudan mine AISC estimated at $US783/oz.
hopes its mining sector can contribute
to economic prosperity as the country – Mark Andrews
HE Abbas Salih













































Paydirt chairman Bill Repard, West Australian Governor Kim Beasley and Australian High Commissioner to Accra Andrew Barnes at
the Africa Down Under Ministerial Dinner at Fraser’s Restaurant, Kings Park. Following the conference, Africa Down Under creator
Repard was reappointed to the Federal Government’s Advisory Group for Australia-Africa Relations (AGAAR) for three years. Repard
has served on AGAAR since the group’s inception in 2015 having built Africa Down Under into the largest forum for Australian-African
relations in the world


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 79

CUP 2019






Togo, Uganda take



football honours



he annual Africa Down Under Cup – definitely
Tthe most competitive segment on the Africa
Down Under agenda – took place once again at
Langley Park with Togo winning the men’s competi-
tion for the second year in a row and Uganda taking
out the first-ever women’s tournament.
This was the eighth edition of the event and a record
16 teams took part in a competition which is a joint ini-
tiative of Paydirt and Football West.
All of the teams were sponsored by Africa Down
Under participants and Football West chief executive
James Curtis said it was great to see big business get-
ting behind community football.
“This is one of the most popular events on our calen-
dar and it is growing every year,” Curtis said.
“We know the mining delegates and African govern-
ment representatives love to come down and enjoy
the football and their involvement is very much appre-
ciated. Football is probably the most diverse sport in
the world and in Western Australia and this is a great
celebration of African culture.
“It is important that we continue to celebrate diversity
within WA football and the broader community, and this
is another step forward to ensure the game is acces-
sible to anyone in WA,” he said.
Togo, sponsored by BDO, defeated Kenya (spon-
sored by Base Resources Ltd) 2-0 in the final of the
men’s tournament, while Uganda finished top of the
women’s round-robin mini-tournament with Seychelles
the runners-up.
The teams were joined in the post-cup celebrations
by Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Hon Bill Johnston,
who presented the winning trophies and Paydirt editor
Dominic Piper who awarded the player of the tourna-
ment awards. They were joined by Football West chair-
man and BDO global mining leader Sherif Andrawes.
Paydirt and Football West would also like to thank all
the companies who sponsored individual teams includ-
ing; PCF Capital Group, BDO, Gold Fields Ltd, Reso-
lute Mining Ltd, Base Resources, Capital Drilling Ltd,
Cardinal Resources Ltd, Walkabout Resources Ltd,
Force Commodities Ltd, Lycopodium Ltd and Arthur J
Gallagher.






Page 80 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 81

NICKel CoNFeReNCe PReVIeW



















Wave of





optimism spreads





through nickel









There will be a definite upbeat feel in the air around the Australian Nickel

Conference (October 15 at the Pan Pacific Perth) this year with the base metal’s
recent price run giving the sector a much-needed boost.


he LME nickel price hit $US18,620/t and Panoramic Resources Ltd are bringing
Ton September 2, having opened the their operations out of mothballs and Black
year at $US10,435/t. The rise was fuelled Mountain Mining Ltd, Poseidon Nickel Ltd
by falling LME and SHFE warehouse and Ardea Resources Ltd all have produc-
stocks and geopolitical uncertainty in In- tion plans.
donesia and the Philippines. In August, Even nickel explorers are basking in
Indonesia said it would bring forward a some rare market sunshine with St George
ban on the export of raw nickel ore by two Mining Ltd and Legend Mining Ltd enjoying
years, starting in January 2020. In Sep- recent share price spikes.
tember, the Government of Bangsamoro For Western Areas managing director
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Dan Lougher, the prevailing market has
(BARMM) suspended operations of all ushered in a new dimension to investor
four mining companies in its jurisdiction meetings; where once discussions were
on environmental grounds. about survival, now the queries are around
The geopolitical shifts and subsequent expansion and the Welshman couldn’t be
price rise has added impetus to the West happier to field the questions.
Australian nickel sector’s recent recovery. “The last results roadshow we did, in
Established producers such as Independ- February/March, there were a lot of ques- Dan Lougher
ence Group NL and Western Areas Ltd tions about why we were spending money
have enjoyed strong investor support on the on [development project] Odysseus now. the hedge funds which can be erratic and
back of nickel’s role in the emerging EV nar- During this latest roadshow everyone was focus on short-term opportunities.”
rative. It is a story BHP Ltd has fully commit- asking if we would accelerate our growth Lougher’s comments speak to the wide-
ted to. Just two years ago the company was projects,” Lougher explained to Paydirt, spread acceptance that a structural change
desperately looking for a buyer for its Nickel straight after his return from overseas du- is coming in the nickel sector, even if short-
West division but today the WA-based ties. term factors are driving the current price
group is a darling of the parent company “We hit London just as the nickel price surge.
with a major expansion, including a nickel went through the roof [end of August] so the For years industry dynamics have been
sulphate production facility at its Kwinana timing was good and there are a few groups dominated by the stainless steel sector, by
site is now operational. particularly interested now. There are lots far the biggest consumer of nickel produc-
Further down the development pipeline, of inquiries coming in and most groups are tion. However, the emergence of the EV
companies such as Mincor Resources NL interested in the fundamentals, rather than narrative has tipped projection of future


Page 82 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

market balance. Although “We are also looking at long lead items Now performing to expectations, MREP is
the EV segment of demand for the mill and the reserve position in the producing a separate product sold through
is currently only 6%, there is AM5/6 orebody which is currently outside an offtake agreement with Sumitomo. The
consensus among analysts the 10-year reserve.” next step is to construct a heap leach pad
that it is set to rise above 20% Lougher said the current timetable would using the patented BioHeap technology to
in the coming decade. still be adhered to but also suggested other produce a nickel sulphate feed.
“The EV market may take options were available should the company “That MREP product is a 45% nickel
a while to meet expectations wish to pursue an early mining scenario; grade concentrate which is direct feed and
but if the price holds around “the mill isn’t a constraint”, he said. the signed offtake with Sumitomo contained
$US7-7.50/lb with the occa- The increased margins are also eas- much higher payability than normal concen-
sional jump up to $US8, we’ll ing any concerns investors may have had trate.
be very happy,” Lougher said. about funding plans for Odysseus. “If we can consolidate the technology the
In Western Areas’ full-year “The current price environment is creat- heap leaching could be a valuable tool for
FY19 results, released on Au- ing encouragement, making people under- lower grades [1.5-2%] such as the mill scats
gust 20, there was evidence stand that we don’t need to raise money for and those stockpiles are already right next
of just how profitable a plus- Odysseus,” Lougher said. “We have more to the mill. The BioHeap will start getting its
$US7/lb nickel price could than $100 million in the bank and we are own life and we always thought, even 10
make the company. Western due to receive $33 million from the Kidman/ years ago when we bought it, that it would
Areas posted a net profit af- Wesfarmers deal next week. come into play as grades began declining.”
ter tax of $14.2 million for the “We do have options on equity raisings The next four months loom as a true
year, based on an average on the back of the good share price but that marker of just how far the nickel market has
nickel price of just $US5.59/lb. is not always ideal and we certainly aren’t shifted. Both Western Areas and Independ-
The price rise since the turn short of ideas. There are several large con- ence have begun negotiations over their
of the financial year will only next three-year offtake contracts with the
push that margin higher if sus- new period to being in 2020.
tained through 2020. Lougher expects the move towards EV
The operating margin bo- demand to be reflected in the offtake terms.
nus of higher prices is a given “Instead of a load of scattered jigsaw
but Lougher said nickel’s rise pieces, there is a clearer picture coming to-
offered even more to his com- gether,” he said. “The good news for nickel
pany. is that it hasn’t had its EV-related spike yet.
“The price spike means more operating The EV sector still only accounts for 6% of
cash at the sites and it boosts the bank bal- total nickel demand.”
ance just at a time when we are looking at Spot prices are variable but one improve-
capital growth,” he said. ment Western Areas and Independence
The timing is perfect for Western Areas will be pursuing is higher payabilities – the
as it approaches the heavy lifting period percentage customers pay compared to the
at its Odysseus nickel development at the actual nickel content of concentrates. Cur-
Cosmos complex in WA. The company be- rently, industry average payability is around
gan early works at Odysseus last year and Independence Group managing 70% but both companies believe non-tradi-
has secured and began refurbishing head director Peter Bradford will be among tional clients will pay more than 80%.
gear and winder to be installed as part of a the speakers at the Australian Nickel “We are in offtake discussions now, look-
shaft hoisting system. Conference on October 15 ing at better payability as part of the move
Acquired from a platinum operation in from stainless to sulphate,” Lougher said. “It
South Africa, the head gear and winder will is not yet as much as some people expect
be dismantled and refurbished before being glomerates who have expressed interest but it is happening and by 2022 when Odys-
shipped to Australia early next year. in equity involvement and there are also seus comes on that trend will have acceler-
The hoisting gear is the biggest ticket item offtake mechanisms we could use. But, we ated.”
in Odysseus’ $299 million price tag. Produc- are nowhere near the point where we need Whenever nickel has spiked in the past, it
tion is scheduled to start in 2022 but the resolution on that.” has fuelled a flood of new production from
increased cash flow of recent months has Outside Odysseus, Western Areas is be- new sources but Lougher believes the situ-
Western Areas keen to increase upfront coming increasingly bullish on other organic ation will be different this time around.
spending. growth opportunities. At its Forrestania op- “The supply response doesn’t worry us
“We are accelerating the capital profile,” erations it has a slew of earlier stage ore- because the total forecast out of WA, even
Lougher said. “In FY20 guidance has been bodies it has never developed. The current if all the nickel sulphide mines open or reo-
increased at Odysseus to $80 million from market is providing incentive to change that pen, won’t satisfy demand,” he said. “And,
around $50 million, the driver being the situation. the bottom line is that laterites and nickel pig
head gear and winder. That arrived in Jo- “We have a number of organic opportuni- iron don’t fit into the EV story. There is talk
hannesburg sooner than expected and is ties such as New Morning, Diggers South of a HPAL revolution but we haven’t seen
now being refurbished and will be in Aus- and the low-grade stockpiles at Flying Fox. anything yet and if it did it would go straight
tralia by March. The price increase has led to a definite to the Chinese sulphate market and would
“That meant we needed to do the civil en- broadening of the options but we have to be a higher cost sector than NPI.
gineering at site now which means spend- make sure we don’t overcapitalise.” “Class 1 nickel will be the major benefi-
ing more money earlier. It is actually de- The company’s last major project was ciary of the rise in the EV market.”
risking the project by ensuring there are no the mill recovery enhancement project
delays when the equipment arrives. (MREP) at the Cosmic Boy concentrator. – Dominic Piper



aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 83

15 October 2019 REGISTER NOW

Perth, Western Australia





THE BEST NICKEL STORIES


ALL IN ONE DAY















































All enquiries please contact Christine Oelschlaeger

on (+61) 8 9321 0355 or email [email protected]




australiannickelconference.com

REGISTER NOW







Programme Tuesday 15 October 2019

08:00 Arrival tea, coffee and registration
Session One
08:30 Welcome: Bill Repard, Executive Chairman, Paydirt Media Pty Ltd (5)
08:35 Peter Bradford, Managing Director & CEO, Independence Group NL (20)
08:55 Dan Lougher, Managing Director & CEO, Western Areas Ltd (20)
09:15 Peter Harold, Managing Director, Panoramic Resources Ltd (20)
09:35 David Southam, Managing Director, Mincor Resources NL (20)
09:55 Mike Milikan, Analyst, Hartleys (20)
10:15 Questions (5)
10:20 Morning Tea sponsored by St George Mining Ltd (25)

Session Two
10:45 Tim Maclean, Chief Operating Officer, Australian Mines Ltd (20)
11:05 John Prineas, Executive Chairman, St George Mining Ltd (20)
11:25 Scott Williamson, Managing Director, Blackstone Minerals Ltd (20)
11:45 Andrew Penkethman, Chief Executive Officer, Ardea Resources Ltd (20)
12:05 Karl Stokes, Head of Integrated Operations, BHP Nickel West (20)
12:25 Questions (5)
12:30 Q&A with Hon Bill Johnston MLA, Minister for Mines and Petroleum,
Government of Western Australia, with convenor Dominic Piper, Editor, Paydirt Media (20)
12:50 Lunch (40)
Session Three
13:30 David Riekie, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Poseidon Nickel Ltd (20)
13:50 Richard Bevan, Managing Director, Cassini Resources Ltd (20)
14:10 Mark Wilson, Managing Director, Legend Mining Ltd (20)
14:30 Aidan Platel, Managing Director, Auroch Minerals Ltd (20)
14:50 Chris Reed, Managing Director, Neometals (20)
15:10 Questions (5)
15:15 Afternoon Tea sponsored by PCF Capital Group (30)

Session Four
15:45 Martin Kavanagh, Non-Executive Director, Chase Mining Corporation Ltd (20)
16:05 Richard Matheson, Director, Market Development, Nickel Institute (20)
16:25 Questions (5)
16:30 Closing Panel Discussion (convened by Dominic Piper, Paydirt Media) (45)
17:15 Closing Drinks sponsored by GR Engineering Services Ltd

* This programme is subject to change without prior notice

australiannickelconference.com australiannickelconference.com

NICKel CoNFeReNCe PReVIeW





Blackstone revs up




t is rare for a junior company to be able think the price would move as soon as it have never been explored before through
Ito consider downstream processing op- has. We welcome that, but we don’t want modern geophysics, including EM and
portunities immediately after setting foot the price to get too far ahead of itself ei- IP. IP helps us to look for disseminated
on a project but Blackstone Minerals Ltd ther, like the problem we had with cobalt; sulphide and then the EM helps us with
finds itself in such a position at the Ta it did get ahead of itself, and then it all the massive sulphide and then between
Khoa nickel sulphide project in Vietnam. ended in tears,” Williamson said. the two of them we should be able to
The company landed the project in “We prefer not to go through that situ- unlock new zones that have never been
May and has since hosted three site vis- ation again, but it seems this nickel price tested before,” Williamson said.
its, showcasing to eight different broking run is more sustainable because it is Last month, maiden PGE assays from
firms what previous owners had left be- demand and supply driven and the sup- the first three holes drilled by the com-
hind. ply can’t kick in as quick as what we saw pany at Ta Khoa returned platinum/pal-
A $4.5 million placement to institu- with cobalt.” ladium and gold assays from within the
tional, sophisticated and professional in- Blackstone appears to have the timing disseminated nickel sulphide mineralisa-
vestors, plus a $500,000 SPP to eligible right at Ta Khoa and the recent capital tion.
shareholders, announced last month Ban Phuc, the main orebody at Ta
indicates the level of support Black- Khoa, delivered peak assays of 3.4%
stone has managed to conjure. nickel and 2 g/t PGE.
“It is an impressive bit of infrastruc- Ta Khoa was last in operation from
ture that we have got, we have the 2013-2016, with 975,000t @ 2.4%
concentrator in place, there is a signif- nickel and 1% copper mined for pro-
icant amount of nickel left behind and duction of 20,700t nickel and 10,100t
now we can look at the downstream copper.
process to produce the nickel sul- Williamson said the company would
phate,” Blackstone managing director continue to drill out the Ban Phuc
Scott Williamson told Paydirt. disseminated material plus test new
“It is a unique situation where a jun- targets within a 5km radius of the
ior can look to go downstream and it processing plant, while an extensive
is because of all that sunk capital of geophysical programme was also in
$130 million that the previous owner the pipeline.
spent. That allows us to look at the Meanwhile, he added that Black-
next circa $100 million that’s required stone was on board with Vietnam’s
to produce a nickel sulphate.” playbook of insisting that no unpro-
Being located in Vietnam also cessed ore or intermediate product be
means Blackstone is on the doorstep shipped from the country.
of Asia’s expanding lithium-ion battery “They are forcing us to produce a
industry, namely China, Japan and downstream product, but they are do-
South Korea, with groups in those ju- ing it through a 20% tariff on concen-
risdictions identified for potential part- trate, so they are already in-line with
nerships. what Indonesia and Philippines are
“We’re keen to work with those battery Scott Williamson looking at. There are no surprises with
end-users to look at JV arrangements that and it is one of the reasons we
where we share some of that [$100 are looking at downstream processing
million] funding costs over the coming injection allows the company an unob- because it allows us to remove the tariff
years. The idea is that we bring in a bat- structed pathway to better understand- and also access the battery market,” Wil-
tery end-user at some stage to help us ing the geology, mining and metallurgy liamson said.
with our funding and we will continue to over the next 6-12 months. “They are definitely keen for mining,
have full exposure at the mine level, but At the time of print more drill rigs were but also for miners to do the downstream
share the downstream processing facil- on the way to Ta Khoa, with Blackstone processing and we are on board with
ity; that is our current thinking,” William- working towards a maiden resource/re- that as we are keen to develop the tech-
son said. serve and scoping study to give the mar- nology and develop a nickel sulphate.
Through cobalt in Canada and nickel in ket a better understanding on timelines That then allows us to increase payabili-
Western Australia, Blackstone has been and valuations. ties, reduce or remove the tariff and im-
suitably exposed to the battery minerals Despite the demand to switch nickel prove the economics so there are many
sector and while the demand thematic of projects back on in light of situations reasons why we want to do it, regardless
such minerals has been known, William- emanating from Indonesia and the Phil- of the fact that the Government is push-
son said the nature of the nickel price run ippines, Williamson said the company ing us that way.”
was not foreseen. wouldn’t be rushed and that exploration
“We could see that the nickel demand was also an important part of the strat- – Mark Andrews
was coming. The supply situation obvi- egy.
ously came out of nowhere and we didn’t “We’ll continue to test new zones that




Page 86 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Mincor up with nickel sprint




he nickel price was fit at the time of print
Tand David Southam was running as fast
as he could to keep up with it.
News that Indonesia was fast-forwarding
its export ban to January 2020 and the de-
cision by the Government of Bangsamoro
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM) to suspend mining operations in
the high-grade nickel-producing region of
southern Philippines saw prices in excess
of $US17,370/t in late September.
Last year, Philippines was second in the
world only to Indonesia for nickel produc-
tion, of which China was the major buyer.
There is little in the way of immediate
supply to fill the void being left by producers
in Indonesia and Philippines, further em-
phasising the importance of companies like
Mincor Resources NL. David Southam
Mincor has ticked a number of boxes
in its comeback trail this year, including a some underground development at Long eas Ltd and Poseidon Nickel Ltd have been
binding ore tolling and concentrate agree- and at Durkin. So, we’ll need a contractor some of the other nickel players to have
ment to process up to 600,000 tpa of nickel who is able to do that. The DFS is due at the seen appreciation in their stock during the
sulphide ore at the BHP Nickel West con- end of December, but generally there is not same period.
centrator in Kambalda. a lot of people around. So, we are working “The rise in the nickel price has been very
Such success has somewhat raised ex- on the timing of that.” quick and very drastic,” Southam said. “I
pectations and now the market is keen to Cassini is being primed to be the first cab think from an industry perspective it would
know how quickly can Mincor press the but- off the production rank for Mincor. be good to see some consolidation around
ton on production. Following a 33% increase in resources these levels because it shows it is a sustain-
The change in nickel market fundamen- at Cassini reported in August (985,000t @ able price at these levels.
tals has been sudden, but has not altered 3.8% nickel for 37,800t, with 91% indicated), “You’ve got some factors around major
Mincor’s course back to Kambalda nickel Mincor struck 6.3m @ 7.1% nickel, including suppliers looking to curb exports and if you
sulphide producer. 4.5m @ 9% in drilling at the deposit. have a look around the globe there are very
“If you rush into things, errors will be Furthermore, the appearance of millerite few nickel sulphide discoveries or develop-
made,” Mincor managing director Southam (highest grade nickel sulphide species) was ments in the pipeline. That is a sweet spot
told Paydirt. detected for the first time at Cassini through for us, you’ve got a structural element there
“We are running as fast as we can, as we an intercept of 0.4m @ 16.1% nickel. and then the sizzle is the EV space.”
sit here today we have got tenders out, we While conducting resource drilling, Min- Southam’s exposure to the EV space in
are still working on our resource definition cor doesn’t plan on providing constant a non-executive capacity on the board of
drilling, we have mine plans and we have updates, however, the information from Wesfarmers takeover target Kidman Re-
shapes around those orebodies.” Cassini in early September was material sources Ltd and as former Western Areas
Seven parties have tendered for con- enough to reveal and came amid a rising finance director, has allowed him good in-
tracts relating to Mincor’s Kambalda opera- nickel market. sights into what OEMs and car manufactur-
tions, with an early start to work in the 2020 Following Diggers & Dealers, Mincor ers are thinking.
calendar year the aim. reached a high of 70c/share last month and “They are concerned about where to
“That will be the box cut at Cassini, a lot at the time of print was trading at 60c/share. get nickel sulphate. The easiest way to get
of the surface infrastructure at Cassini and Independence Group NL, Western Ar- sulphate is from a sulphide, which is what
we are in. There are strategic procurement
Mincor has ticked a number of boxes in its comeback trail this year heads of these vehicle companies who are
ex-nickel executives and I don’t think they
are there for any other reason than to se-
cure nickel ultimately,” Southam said.
“All the battery mixes head towards high
nickel content so we have got a number of
factors playing to our advantage. If you look
at a 30-year nickel price graph we are prob-
ably in the middle, with the Australian dollar
weak against the US making the Australian
dollar nickel price quiet high. There are a
number of elements there that give confi-
dence that this price can be sustained, give
or take $2,000/t either way.”
– Mark Andrews


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 87

NICKel CoNFeReNCe PReVIeW





Poseidon prepares for Swan,



Lake restart




ts name may conjure images of a nickel “We believe we have a nine-month lead capacity of 2.2 mtpa but Poseidon plans to
Iboom from half a century ago but Poseidon time to production at Black Swan,” Riekie run it at 1 mtpa over a 3.1 year mine life,
Nickel Ltd is positioning itself very much as told Paydirt. “We have done a lot of de- processing 16,000t @ 9.5% nickel from the
a 21st century company. risking in the last year or so and worked Silver Swan underground and 179,000t @
Poseidon is synonymous with the origi- hard to bring down the operating costs of 0.6% nickel from the Black Swan open pit
nal West Australian nickel boom of the this project.” and stockpiles.
late 1960s and early 1970s and while the The company has been inspired to lift In early September, the Poseidon board
present incarnation has never quite hit the the pace at Black Swan given the current approved an accelerated programme of
heights of its predecessor it has displayed supportive nickel price environment. It is works which will see rehabilitation of mine
more longevity. Now, with a long winter estimated $13 million would be needed to escape ladder-ways at Silver Swan and
having given way to a warm nickel spring, get the Silver Swan underground mine re- the dewatering of the Black Swan open pit
newly installed interim chief executive Da- started with a further $19 million to get the as well as rehabilitation of the Black Swan
vid Riekie is intent on taking the company Black Swan processing plant operational plant.
quickly up the development curve. again. The concentrator has a nameplate The decision follows a recent round
of drilling on both orebodies.
Drilling at Silver Swan allowed
Poseidon to double indicated
resource tonnes to 10,130t @
9.4% nickel which the indicat-
ed-inferred resource increased
30% to 16,030t @ 9.5% nickel.
At Black Swan, Poseiden
has been pioneering an under-
ground RC drilling programme
below the open pit. Using a
Cubex 5200, track-mounted
long-hole rig, it is the first under-
ground RC drilling to be used
in WA. The company said it al-
lowed for the recovery of large
samples for statistical and met-
allurgical purposes while also
having flexibility in drilling direc-
tions.
Riekie said the resource ex-
Innovative underground RC drilling has allowed Poseidon to cheaply and efficiently define additional tension programme had been a
resources at Black Swan success and hoped further posi-


















Emerging leader in battery metals

For more information visit








Page 88 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

ject but showing signs of being an interest-
ing orebody and features in our thinking.”
The company also has the original
Windarra nickel project in its portfolio with
current studies into the Cerberus deposit –
4.55mt @ 1.51% nickel – focusing on waste
sorting options to reduce processing costs.
“We are looking at many things, including
waste sorting options for Windarra, so we
can truck ore to Black Swan,” Riekie said.
Poseidon’s mix of defined resources
and existing infrastructure make it a unique
proposition in WA nickel circles. Its port-
folio has already attracted the attention of
Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Resources
The Abi Rose discovery has offered Poseidon further incentive to explore the well- Ltd (18% shareholder) and Black Moun-
trodden ground around Lake Johnston tain Metals Ltd (20%). Riekie believes the
company’s optionality makes it an attractive
tive results would follow. At Lake Johnston, the discovery of the proposition in a tight nickel market.
“All down-hole EM plates at the un- Abi Rose orebody has handed Poseidon “You need to remember, It would cost
derground Silver Swan deposit have the exploration impetus. Unlike the existing $150 million to build a new plant but Po-
features we’ve been chasing. There is a Emily Ann and Maggie Hays deposits, Abi seidon has two with Black Swan and Lake
200,000t resource of super high-grade Rose is an intrusive nickel-copper style ore- Johnston,” he said, “We have a short lead
nickel in the existing decline but there is body, leaving Poseidon plenty to ponder. time to production, only nine months, with
also potential below the pit for disseminated “All six holes at Abi Rose hit mineralisa- plenty of options about where we go from
sulphides of about 1% nickel. And, we be- tion,” Riekie said. “We have reinterpreted there.”
lieve there remains potential for high-grade the geology from there but it needs more
pods underneath.” drilling at some point. It is a long-term pro- – Dominic Piper





























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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 89

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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT DeCeMBeR 2018 - JaNUaRY 2019 Page 90

Miners welcome

SAVE THE DATE
Indonesian



export ore ban




arge mining companies have welcomed a recent decision by
Lthe Indonesian Government to move forward a ban on ex-
porting nickel ore, as the firms aim to increase smelting output.
Top nickel ore supplier Indonesia said in August it would stop
ore export from January 1, 2020, pushing forward a ban by two
years and raising concerns of supply shortage as well as caus- Nickel
ing financing issues for smaller players.
But major industry players gathering at the Asian Nickel con-
ference in September said the ban would further support the Sulphate
development of the nickel processing industry in the country.
“For Vale, we see Indonesia as a great opportunity to expand
our production,” Steven Brown, a general manager at PT Vale Outlook to 2028
Indonesia, told the conference in Jakarta.
Indonesia said it expedited the ban to reserve ore for its fast- 2nd Edition
expanding smelting industries of nickel pig iron (NPI), stainless
steel and EV battery nickel. The country first placed the nickel
ore export ban in 2014, causing a price surge at the time, then Order now
relaxed it in 2017 under a quota system. Nickel prices have
surged as much as 76% this year.
“If we step back and look at whether this has been a success-
ful industrial policy for Indonesia, I think the answer to that is a
resounding yes,” Mark Selby, principal of Selby & Co, said.
“Tens of billions of dollars for investments coming into Indo- Find out where new supplies of nickel sulphate
nesia, probably more in mining investment than any other de- will come from and how demand for EVs will
veloping country in the world, as a result the ore ban. Mining
resources are not infinite,” Selby told the conference. affect the nickel industry.
Smelters in Indonesia in the past few years have ramped up
production of NPI and ferronickel; products made from nickel
ore that are used in making stainless steel.
From nearly zero in 2014, Indonesia’s NPI output climbed to
261,000 tpa in 2018 and could climb to as much as 530,000 tpa Nickel
in 2020, according to analysts’ estimates.
“The good thing is, domestically, more and more smelters Outlook to 2028
apart from those owned by Antam are coming up and running,”
Dimas Wikan Pramuditho, chief finance officer of Indonesian
state miner Aneka Tambang (Antam), said. 15th Edition
Antam aimed to expand its ferronickel output to 40,500 tpa
nickel metal by next year, from 27,000 tpa currently and planned
to add at least another 93,500 tpa of nickel-in-NPI and ferronick- Order now
el by 2024, Antam’s commerce director Aprilandi Hidayat Setia
told the conference.
Tsingshan, the biggest NPI producer in Indonesia, could
add another 100,000t of nickel-in-NPI next year, from around
220,000t currently, a source with direct knowledge said, while
PT Vale Indonesia plans to add a new ferronickel smelter and
expand its existing nickel matte plant. Nickel firms are also plan-
ning several battery nickel projects in Indonesia on the positive
outlook for the EV battery sector, despite facing challenges of
disposing waste financially and cleanly as well as obtaining a
permit to run the projects.
Tsingshan and its partners have two battery nickel projects
with combined capacity of 110,000t in nickel content and aimed
to start production from end 2020, pending permits from the au-
thority and financing, the direct source said.
PT Vale Indonesia and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd are
conducting a feasibility study of a 40,000 tpa battery nickel pro-
ject, while Indonesia’s Harita Group and China’s Ningbo Lygend
are planning another battery nickel plant. find out more at
– Mai Nguyen and Wilda Asmarini, Reuters
roskill.com

NICKel CoNFeReNCe PReVIeW





Philippine nickel ore output



may rise




Philippine nickel miners are likely to ramp up ore output by next year, but their

production capacity is limited by a number of factors, including government-imposed
mining curbs, the head of the local industry lobby group said in September.


The South East Asian nation’s nickel it would stop nickel ore Each mining company
exports from January 1,
ore output may rise in the 2020 mining nesian authorities had “
season, but the volume is unlikely to 2020 (see page 91). has its own mining
return to the 2014 record-high level of Speculation about the
about 50mt, Dante Bravo, president of ban and the eventual plans and, of course, they
the Philippine Nickel Industry Associa- confirmation by Indo-
tion, said. would want at this time to
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau fuelled a rally in nickel
(MGB), the industry watchdog under the prices in recent weeks. optimise the use of their
Department of Environment and Natural “When you have high-
Resources (DENR), limits the land that er prices, even lower resources, so they have to
miners can develop at any one time un- grades can be saleable do it carefully.
der new rules introduced in September already unlike before,”
last year to protect the environment. Bravo said.
“I don’t think we will return to that lev- “But I won’t say it’s
el because the DENR has already im- minimal. We’ll see,” he said about the tions as the top two suppliers to biggest
buyer China.
posed this area limit that you can mine,
prospective increase in Philippine ore
“ When you have higher pany has its own mining rely mainly on the Philippines for sup-
By next year, when Indonesia bans
and there is no new mine that’s being
output.
nickel ore exports, China is expected to
“Each mining com-
ply of the material for stainless steel and
plans and, of course,
electronic vehicle battery.
they would want at this
prices, even lower
The suspension was based on a
time to optimise the use
memorandum order dated August 5
of their resources, so
grades can be saleable
issued by the regional government,
they have to do it care-
fully,” he said.
already unlike before.
ters’ queries about the status of mining
Following
Bravo’s
in the region’s Tawi-Tawi province.
comments on potential Macacua said in an email reply to Reu-
for more nickel produc- Latest available industry data showed
opened,” Bravo told reporters on the tion from Philippines, a nickel mining that 2.34 million wmt of high-grade ore,
sidelines of a Philippine mining confer- hub in the country’s south, which pro- or nearly 90% of 2.66 million wmt of the
ence. duces mostly high-grade material, had high-grade material the Philippines ex-
“We are limited also by the weather,” extraction operations suspended in- ported to China in the first half of 2018
he said. Bravo is also president of the definitely as the regional government came from Tawi-Tawi.
Philippines’ second-biggest nickel ore conducts an industry audit, a top gov- Tawi-Tawi accounted for 27% of over-
exporter Global Ferronickel Holdings ernment official told Reuters in mid- all nickel ore exports, totaling 15.8 mil-
Inc. September. lion wmt, to China during the six-month
The mining season in the Philippines The Government of Bangsamoro Au- period.
usually starts in April and ends in Octo- tonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao “The suspension order was due to
ber. Mining and shipping operations are (BARMM) has suspended operations of the ongoing review of mining policy in
halted towards the end of the year until all four mining companies in its jurisdic- BARMM,” Macacua said.
the first quarter of the following year be- tion, Environment, Natural Resources – Enrico dela Cruz, Reuters
cause of strong rains and winds in the and Energy Minister Ab-
mining region. dulraof Abdul Macacua,
In 2020, when last year’s top producer said. The suspension
Indonesia is due to ban its ore exports, The Philippines was the “
China is expected to rely mainly on nick- world’s second-largest order was due to the
el ore from the Philippines, according to nickel ore producer in
analysts. 2018 after Indonesia, with ongoing review of mining
Indonesia said earlier in September both South East Asian na- policy in BARMM.
Page 92 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

ST GEORGE MINING



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Harold ready to set sail



with nickel winds



eter Harold has had to make some Harold, who founded Panoramic (then charge the batteries and come back and
Ptough decisions during 18.5 years at known as Sally Malay Mining) in 2001, said see what else I can do.”
the helm of Panoramic Resources Ltd. it was “time for a change” for both himself Harold, who has no plans to stay on in
Handing in his resignation may well and the company. a non-executive capacity, believes he will
have been the toughest. “Eighteen years is a long time, so I think be leaving the company in good shape,
One of the longest-serving managing it’s time to have a bit of a break and do particularly with the first development ore
directors of an ASX-listed resources com- something different,” Harold told Paydirt from Savannah North set to arrive next
pany, Harold surprised many on August 20 last month. month.
when he announced he would step away “I’ll go and do something else, not sure Panoramic has endured a challenging
from Panoramic within 12 months, pend- what yet, but I’ve got a couple of irons restart to operations at its Savannah nick-
Project2_Layout 1 27/08/19 12:01 PM Page 1
ing the appointment of his replacement. in the fire. I’ll have a bit of break first, re- el-copper-cobalt project in Western Aus-































The advanced Goongarrie Nickel Cobalt Project (GNCP) is Ardea’s flagship
asset and is of a scale and quality suitable for battery producers and end
users wanting to secure long term supplies of nickel and cobalt.
Complementing GNCP is Ardea’s exciting Perrinvale exploration prospect in
the east-west Cathedrals Belt, Australia’s newest nickel province. Ardea
also control a number of other nickel prospects in Western Australia that are
being systemically explored and provide additional discovery potential.
See us at the Australian Nickel Conference Oct. 15, Pan Pacific Hotel, Perth.






Page 94 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

tralia’s Kimberley region with production derwritten pro-rata rights issue last month
from the remnant orebody below budget in to provide contingency for any further
July and August. unexpected production delays, to supple-
Reduced availability of some high-grade ment revenue shortfall from the recent
stopes due to a localised seismic event in lower than anticipated output and to help
July and additional rehabilitation of access with the repayment of its $20 million debt
drives were two of the reasons cited for the facility with Macquarie Bank Ltd.
monthly production being about 14,000t Major shareholder Zeta Resources Ltd
under guidance. exercises all of its pro-rata entitlements as
Due to the lower than planned output to well as underwriting a further $2.8 million
start FY2020, Panoramic revised guidance worth of shares.
to 9,500-10,000t nickel, 5,800-6,000t cop- While the Panoramic board continues to
per and 600-650t cobalt. search for a new managing director, Harold
“It’s still being a little bit challenging, but will focus on ensuring the day-to-day activi-
we’re getting on top of most things,” Harold ties at Savannah continue to tick over.
said. “We’ve got two rigs underground at the
“We haven’t quite hit budget, but we’re moment drilling the top 400m of the ore-
not far off and we’ve now locked on to what body for detailed mine design,” he said.
we need to do to achieve those changes. “We’re also testing a little bit to see if we Peter Harold
I’m really confident we’re only a couple of might have some more ore outside the cur-
months away from getting into Savannah rent resource and reserves. So, there’s a lot
North which is a fundamentally different of other jobs going on. We’ll have a busy fin- obviously come back and had quite an im-
project. The grades are better, the tonnes ish to the year.” pact on the price,” Harold said.
are higher; it’s a completely different story With nickel enjoying its best run in years “It was going to be put in place in two
over there. on the back of the looming Indonesian ore years time, but they’ve brought that for-
“We’ve just got to persist with Savan- export ban, Harold hopes the end of his ward now, so that’s clearly been the main
nah until we get into Savannah North and time at Panoramic is capped by continued driver.
there’s not long to go now. We’ll be in there high commodity prices. “We’ve seen before that when they’ve
before Christmas time.” At the time of print, the nickel price was put those bans in place the price responds
No major issues have been reported up almost 65% since the start of 2019. pretty aggressively, so I hope they keep
with processing or concentrate shipments. “People probably hadn’t really been fo- the ban on for a long time.”
Panoramic raised $28 million via an un- cusing on that ban too much, but that’s – Michael Washbourne







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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 95

NICKel CoNFeReNCe PReVIeW




Centaurus pounces on Jaguar





















nvestor eyes have returned to Centaurus commercial production from Jaguar. told Paydirt.
IMetals Ltd following the Brazil-focused Centaurus raised $10 million last month “We’ve brought in some institutional in-
company’s strategic swap of assets with via an equity placement which was sup- vestors, that comes with the good and the
Vale SA. ported by a number of small-cap institu- bad, but it is a sign that we’re at least able to
Pending a final approval from the Brazil- tional investors from Australia and over- grow again and there is a different audience
ian National Bank for Economic and Social seas, including clients and affiliates of is now willing to take a look at the business
Development, Centaurus is set to take on Sprott Group. of Centaurus and what it is doing in Brazil.
Vale’s Jaguar nickel sulphide project in the Since the deal was unveiled during Dig- “I think that comes back to not just the
country’s prolific Carajãs mineral province. gers & Dealers in early August, shares project, but our 10 years in country and our
In exchange, Vale will receive a $250,000 in Centaurus have surged 228% to 1.6c, understanding of the system which shows
cash payment and the Salobo West explo- prompting managing director Darren Gor- that we can deal with the majors. It’s been
ration licences and licence applications don to suggest that investors were back- a long apprenticeship, but I feel like we’ve
from Centaurus. The deal also includes a ing the company’s second coming. earnt the right now to be able to look at real-
number of deferred considerations, includ- “The support we saw in that equity ly good quality projects with the majors, and
ing a $US55 million payment upon first raise was really, really strong,” Gordon I think investors can see now that as well.”







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Page 96 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Centaurus now has two nickel projects in Brazil’s Carajãs mineral province



Centaurus first ap- “For us it’s a much better fit because Sa- ing hopefully by the end of October, that
proached Vale about lobo West was going to cost significant dol- programme will pretty much run through for
doing a deal over Jag- lars to explore in a pretty tough environment, six months. I think we’ve got 16,000m of dia-
uar in September last whereas where we’re located now is in pas- mond drilling planned and another 25,000m
year, having moved into ture land, it’s already a mining lease applica- of RC drilling, which won’t start until after the
the Carajãs only a few tion and it’s got a wealth of data which gives wet season next year.
months prior via its ac- us a big head start on being able to go and “All the work we’re doing is targeted at
quisition of the Itapitan- look at it from a different angle. starting a PFS by Q4 next year, so we’ll be
ga nickel laterite project. “We would have liked to have kept both, pretty active on all work fronts.”
Vale had previously but in order to make the Jaguar deal happen, Work at Itapitanga is likely be scaled back
not revealed much about we needed to include Salobo West because now that Jaguar has emerged as the com-
Jaguar despite defining it gives Vale a complete backyard as far as pany’s flagship asset, although its JV part-
a resource of 40.4mt @ a tenement package in and around their Sa- ner, laterite experts Simulus Group, will con-
0.78% nickel containing lobo mine.” tinue to progress a scoping study.
315,000t from more than At the time of print, Centaurus was set- Gordon and his team will also look to ne-
55,000m of diamond ting up a base in the town of Tucumã, about gotiate offtake arrangements for the Jam-
drilling. 40km south of Jaguar, ahead of an upcom- breiro iron ore project in Brazil’s south-east,
Centaurus exploration manager Roger ing infill ground mag survey to identify the something he believes could be an unex-
Fitzhardinge was instrumental in first iden- project’s structural controls and get a handle pected side benefit of recently dealing with
tifying the opportunity and then getting the on the sulphides. Vale.
deal over the line. Centaurus is also reprocessing all of Vale’s “I’m hopeful that the fact we’ve been able
Gordon said while the company was ini- historical EM data, having been buoyed by to do something with Vale on the nickel will
tially reluctant to give up its highly prospec- initial results which confirmed large surface put us in a position where we can have a
tive Salobo West ground, the end result was and downhole EM conductors, including a sensible conversation with them around the
unquestionably the best arrangement for 600m plate, were coincident with a historical iron ore, whether that’s for access or whether
both Centaurus and Vale. intercept of 7.9m @ 5.9% nickel. that’s offtake, to try to open up that project,”
“We’ve really leveraged our Salobo West “We see EM being a highly effective tool to Gordon said.
greenfields copper-gold project into some- identify more massive sulphides in that pro- – Michael Washbourne
thing that is a lot more advanced in the nickel ject area,” Gordon said.
sulphide space,” he said. “We will then commence diamond drill-




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NICKel CoNFeReNCe PReVIeW





Auroch’s inevitable quest




hen Aidan Platel joined Auroch Min- ed in the nickel. I think the opportunity is Downhole EM surveys will be completed
Werals Ltd last year, it seemed inevi- there.” on all drill holes in a bid to generate further
table the company would soon be chas- A 3,000m diamond drilling programme near-resource targets for the next phase of
ing nickel. kicked off at Saints, 65km north-west of drilling. High-priority targets have already
Platel – one of the geologists credited Kalgoorlie, last month with a view towards been identified at the St Patricks and St
with the discovery of Santa Rita for Mirab- confirming historical data and high-grade Andrews prospects.
ela Nickel some 15 years ago – was pro- intersections which formed the basis for “There are some downhole EM plates
moted to the managing director’s chair at the existing resource of 1.05mt @ 2% con- hanging off the current resource…so
Auroch last month, having just completed taining 21,400t nickel. some fairly obvious extensions, dare I say
the acquisition of the Saints and Leinster it,” Platel said.
nickel projects from Minotaur Exploration “Because it is komatiite nickel, it is chal-
Ltd. lenging to drill but certainly there are some
“We see nickel as the commodity to be areas where you could drill and grow the
in for the next 3-5 years, at least,” Platel resource organically and relatively easily,
told Paydirt. and that’s what we’re going to attack with
“It still fits our Australian base metals our upcoming drilling.
strategy, but clearly nickel is the one stand- “I think with each drilling programme
ing out at the moment. And these things we’ll try to organically grow the current re-
usually have a fair bit of copper and cobalt source as well as do the step-by-step – or
in them as well, so that’s the kind of the the slog – on the exploration and have a
strategy we went for and hopefully there’s crack at finding the ‘golden nugget’ down
a couple more acquisitions to come along. below.”
“We’re looking for those forgotten assets Leinster is less advanced than Saints, al-
that are cheap deals, especially in those though the project does host a non-JORC
greenstone belts where a lot of companies compliant resource of 600,000t @ 1.39%
are gold-focused and not really interest- nickel and 0.3% copper containing 8,400t
Aidan Platel










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Page 98 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

nickel and 1,800t copper at the Horn de-
posit, which Auroch is seeking to upgrade
at the earliest available opportunity.
Auroch is particularly keen to drill the
Valdez regional target, north-east of Horn.
Historical drilling is shallow, but the com-
pany is encouraged by one hole over the
top of the southern edge of the anomaly
which intersected up to 0.5% nickel.
Since unveiling Auroch’s nickel strategy,
Platel has made it abundantly clear the
company is only interested in chasing Tier-
1 nickel sulphide opportunities.
“We are targeting nickel sulphide, we’re Drilling is under way at Auroch’s Saints nickel project, 65km north-west of Kalgoorlie
not interested in laterite, we’re after that
Tier 1 nickel,” Platel said. quarie and Wood Mackenzie. in the same vein Mirabela and Sirius Re-
“You’ve basically got two addresses “If you’re just looking ahead 3-5 years, sources did in years past.
in WA – and maybe even in Australia – the short-to-mid-term forecasts [for nickel] With its focus now mostly on nickel, Au-
where you want to be for nickel sulphides. are very good, but certainly longer than roch has pulled back on its South Austral-
You’re either in Kambalda where the IGOs that just the general markets with the EVs ian exploration strategy, although Platel
and Mincors and the bigger players are, or I think is going to be the big factor, espe- believes the company still retains a com-
you’re in the Norseman-Wiluna belt which cially for that Tier 1 nickel,” he said. pelling zinc target at Arden which requires
is pretty well endowed and very, very un- “There’s already a deficit in the market further investigation.
derexplored, in our opinion. Then you’ve and all forecasts are just for that to widen. “It’s a big anomaly and it’s also a very in-
got Nickel West at Leinster, you’ve got the It won’t surprise me if ferronickel and Tier- tense anomaly, so I think it’s worth sticking
Sinclair plant, you’ve got Poseidon’s plant, 1 nickel are going to separate as commod- a couple of holes there and prove the ex-
so the infrastructure is all there.” ities, a bit like the iron ore has, and that’s ploration concept,” he said. “It’s 2km long
Platel, who followed Santa Rita from dis- certainly why we’re chasing high-grade and open to the north, so it could be quite
covery hole through to mine development, nickel sulphide mineralisation rather than a significant high-grade zinc deposit. I im-
believes the market is craving more pure- anything else.” agine that’s probably the next thing we’ll
play nickel exploration stories, particularly Platel predicted Auroch would enjoy do over there.
on the back on recent price rises and en- an impressive share price run should the
couraging forecasts from the likes of Mac- company make a breakthrough discovery – Michael Washbourne






Primed for the nickel revival




































poseidon-nickel.com.au




aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2019 Page 99

NICKel CoNFeReNCe PReVIeW





Legend has it the Fraser is ripe



for more nickel




ince the 2012 discovery of Nova, the Fraser Zone also makes it a significant ground concerning the Rockford project.
SFraser Range has been a graveyard player, alongside IGO and the Creasy A series of JV agreements in the Fraser
for juniors looking to charge from penny Group. Range were struck between Legend and
dreadful to billion dollar outfit on the back The value of Legend’s ground was Creasy, Legend and IGO and then by all
of a nickel-copper find. formally recognised when both IGO and three parties under the Rockford JVA.
Mark Bennett’s hit at Nova reinvigorat- Creasy entered JVs in July related to IGO consummated its commitment by
ed exploration in the Fraser Range, with subscribing to a $9.8 million placement
the district’s tenements quickly resem- Mark Wilson in Legend at an issue price of 3.6c/share,
bling a patch work quilt as juniors scram- representing a 20% premium to Legend’s
bled for ground, as described by Legend average 2019 trading price to July.
Mining Ltd managing director Mark Wil- IGO upped its stake in Legend to
son to Paydirt. 14.2%, while shareholder approval for
The quilt has now frayed as the dif- tranche two of the Ponton JV will see
ficulties and expense of exploring in Creasy’s interest increase to 26.8% of
the Fraser Range has overwhelmed a the company.
swathe of juniors. However, the pieces “I am very happy with the way we have
left behind have been put back together positioned Legend. We have added what
by the likes of current Nova-Bollinger I believe are two very valuable prospects
owner Independence Group NL (IGO). [Octagonal and Magnus at the Ponton JV
IGO has aggressively increased its with Creasy] to our portfolio, with share-
position in the Fraser Range and is now holder approval to come in September
the dominant landholder in the region for that. All the early indications are that
but Legend’s 3,088sq km package in the it will occur,” Wilson said.









All the right elements
ASX : NMT
neometals.com.au
Neometals innovatively develops opportunities in minerals and advanced
materials essential for a sustainable future. The strategy focuses on de-risking
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OUR PROJECTS
MT EDWARDS NICKEL AND LITHIUM PROJECT
Brownfields Ni and Li exploration project with significant historic Ni production -
Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 7.39MT @ 1.7% Ni for ~123,000t
contained Ni*. Currently drilling to identify high-grade Ni subsets within existing
resource inventory.
LITHIUM-ION BATTERY RECYCLING
A proprietary process for recovering cobalt and other valuable materials from
spent lithium batteries. Pilot plant testing currently underway with commercial
development decision to follow.
LITHIUM REFINERY PROJECT
Progressing plans for a lithium refinery development to supply LiOH to the battery
cathode industry, underpinned by binding life-of-mine annual offtake option from
Mt Marion.
BARRAMBIE TITANIUM AND VANADIUM PROJECT
One of the world's highest-grade hard-rock titanium-vanadium deposits, working
towards a development decision by end 2020.
*Please refer to ASX announcement 19 April 2018 “Mt Edwards Nickel - Mineral Resource Estimate”


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