November 2021 VOLUME 1. ISSUE 299 $11.95
Tonnes to Tweet:onnes to Tweet:onnes to Tweet:
T T
Australia’s Paydirt November 2021
Investor relations in the digital eranvestor relations in the digital eranvestor relations in the digital era
I I
Australian Nickel Conference Reviewustralian Nickel Conference Reviewustralian Nickel Conference Review
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Battery Minerals Focusattery Minerals Focusattery Minerals Focus
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Northern Territory Spotlightorthern Territory Spotlightorthern Territory Spotlight
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ODYSSEUS
A new nickel mine on the horizon to feed the
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contents
PAYDIRT (ISSN 1445-3436) NEWS
Published by 10
Paydirt Media Pty Ltd. M&A has come flooding back to the gold space
A.C.N. 063 985 133 with several takeover offers – both friendly
and hostile – emerging in October. Michael
Head Office: Washbourne looks at the deals, including
Suite 9, 1297 Hay St, West Perth Westgold Resources’ bid for Gascoyne
Western Australia 6005 Resources, St Barbara’s offer for Kin Mining
P.O. Box 1589, West Perth and Ramelius Resources’ move for Apollo
Western Australia 6872 Consolidated
Phone: (+61 8) 9321 0355
Facsimile: (+61 8) 9321 0426
[email protected] 20 COVER
www.paydirt.com.au
Online trading and social media platforms are
changing the way investors and companies
interact. From Twitter to Facebook, WhatsApp
Editorial: to Reddit, investors are using social media
Editor: Dominic Piper forums to promote, provide share tips, analysis
Journalists: Michael Washbourne, and criticism of junior miners. Companies 10
Fraser Palamara cannot ignore the trend but as with all social
Art director: Nick Brown media, it is fraught with pitfalls and hurdles as
Contributors: Brendan Ryan well as opportunities. Paydirt talks to several
(Johannesburg) mining executives about their approach and
with communication experts about how to
Advertising:
Advertising manager: Richa Fuller navigate the social media minefields
Subscriptions: Vidy Suastika
Phone: (+61 8) 9321 0355 26 NICKEL REVIEW
Facsimile: (+61 8) 9321 0426
A strong spot price and even stronger demand
Pre-press and printing: outlook for the metal led to the largest turnout
Vanguard Press, 26 John St, in the 27-year history of the Australian Nickel
Northbridge WA 6003 Conference in October. Paydirt delivers
Member of: comprehensive coverage of the forum which
included presentations from established
producers, re-emerging miners and ambitious
explorers
47 BATTERY MINERALS
Paydirt Media 20
Executive chairman: Bill Repard Nickel is just one of the in-demand metals
Finance manager: Giovanny Jefferson of an increasingly diverse range of battery
Accounts/administration: materials. Our dedicated feature tracks project
developments and changing market dynamics
Anjali Mediratta across lithium and rare earths as well as the
Conferences: Namukale Nakazwe, intriguing downstream processing plans of
Christine Oelschlaeger, companies and governments alike
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Our cover story this month covers the vexed topic of
social media, something which has been bubbling
away in the junior resources sector for a few years
now. There are currently tens of thousands of traders
discussing ASX stocks on social media platforms
such as Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, representing
an entirely new investor class for junior miners.
owever, it comes with complications as well as opportunities “pump-and-dump” tactics in an attempt to manufacture certain
Hand the vast majority of the industry is still coming to terms outcomes.
with how to deal with this online community. So, where the conventional investor can rely on experienced,
Can companies ignore the online space and carry on with sober analysis by a broker’s in-house experts, the online trader
business as usual or should they embrace the new opportunity inevitably heads to Twitter and other platforms where they follow
and tailor their investor marketing to the dynamics of social me- threads and identify with traders who they see as successful
dia? (the classic social media “influencer”).
It is a dilemma every industry and public organisation has had The problem is, there is no regulation in the space; online trad-
to tackle to some degree in the last decade. For some organisa- ers with followings of several thousand are free to post what they
tions and institutions, the influence of social media came much wish. Most are doing nothing illegal or nefarious but there are
earlier but it feels like 2021 is the year in which social media has plenty who are.
truly impacted the resources sector, at least the trading part of it. ASIC and the ASX have belatedly entered the fray, but you
There are two elements to the trend – online trading and social only have to look at other industries to see how difficult it is to
media. The first is part of a wider digital revolution, one where even monitor, never mind quash, illegal or dubious online activ-
the middleman, agent or broker is eliminated in favour of direct ity.
contact between customer and service provider. This process All of this is not to say that the phenomenon is a wholly unde-
has already occurred in other service areas – think Uber, Airbnb sirable thing. There are plenty of companies who’ve found new
or I Know the Pilot – so it was only a matter of time before it investors and new audiences by embracing the trend. The chal-
transferred to share trading. lenge comes in managing this disparate group.
It could be described as a democratisation of trading. Where Most are traders who will move with market sentiment and as
the traditional investor is higher income, plus-40 years old with ever, the relationship between junior company and day traders
either a strong understanding of market dynamics or a stockbro- has always been a double-edged sword. Companies welcome
ker who does, anecdotal evidence has the new online trader as the volume day trading delivers but it makes it very difficult to mi-
an under-40 individual (usually male), working from home due grate towards more long-term investors when your share price is
to the pandemic who is comfortable undertaking transactions fluctuating on an hourly basis.
online and has a strong appetite for risk. The online space only amplifies this juxtaposition.
The problem is, while they may be digital savvy, their knowl- Perhaps when the lockdown ends, we will see a return to
edge of financial markets is weak. Most wouldn’t have even more traditional forms of marketing and investor relations. While
thought about trading pre-COVID. However, trapped at home everyone has become adept on giving online presentations and
with surprisingly high levels of disposable income and no foot- conducting meetings over Zoom, Teams or Webex, there is little
ball, basketball or even racing to bet on, they found the only doubt video communication still has something missing.
outlet available – the market. The evidence was certainly at the Australian Nickel Confer-
And, like the betting apps which proliferate now, trading plat- ence on October 5. The near 500-strong crowd was the largest
forms make things easy. They eliminate the need to go through in the event’s 27-year history, proving that when available, in-
an intermediary, your investment can be instantaneous. person contact is still preferable.
Removing the broker from the transaction however means no Any number of people may be logged into an online presenta-
expert advice, leaving traders desperate for any bit of knowl- tion, but it can still be very difficult to judge engagement. In a
edge they can find. physical conference setting, an executive can see the retiree in
As the story points out, there has been a massive proliferation the fifth row is falling asleep, bump into an old colleague who
of threads, chatrooms, forums and discussion boards covering has a new venture or meet the new investor who can change
junior miners and explorers on all social media platforms in re- the company.
cent years to fill this knowledge void. For all their influence, Twitter, Zoom and the digital world will
However, as with all forms of social media discussion, the fi- never be able to replace those chance conversations.
nancial platforms can be a place of vitriol, conspiracy theories,
narcissism and misinformation as well as knowledge. Some us-
ers post personal threats to management, while others employ [email protected] @DominicPiper
Page 4 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
neWs
Big numbers might put
target on De Grey
he market reaction to it was positive, public companies,” Argonaut Securities The Mallina exploration camp will be in
Tthe question now is whether the scop- director of research John Macdonald place for many years yet given the wealth of
ing study released by De Grey Mining Ltd said in a recent note to clients. “Mal- regional work still in front of De Grey
last month has put the company and its lina is the only proposed or producing
Mallina gold project in play as an M&A plus-400,000 ozpa project in Australia
target. or North America not owned by one of with ongoing resource extension and
De Grey has been subject of much Barrick [Gold Corp], Newcrest [Mining definition drilling and exploration suc-
speculation since it made the Hemi dis- Ltd], Newmont [Corp], Kirkland/Agnico, cess,” he said.
covery at Mallina – in the Pilbara, West- Northern Star [Resources Ltd] or Anglo- As evidence, Jardine pointed to recent
ern Australia – in January 2020. The pro- Gold Ashanti [Ltd]. exploration success at the Duicon and
ject’s immediate potential was confirmed “Argonaut thinks De Grey and Mallina Eagle zones which had seen results of
in June when a maiden resource of 66mt 84m @ 2.8 g/t gold from 126m, 70.8m @
@ 1.3 g/t for 2.8 moz (indicated) and 1 g/t from 318.2m and 26.6m @ 0.8 g/t
127mt @ 1 g/t for 4 moz (inferred) was Tier-1 from Day 1: from 429.8m (Eagle) and 17m @ 7.5 g/t
announced. The Mallina scoping study. from 175m, 19m @ 4.1 g/t from 115m and
Three months on, the scoping study 21m @ 3.2 g/t from 196m (Duicon).
contains the first concrete evidence of Capex: $835 million None of the recent drilling was includ-
what the company has been saying for Throughput: 10 mtpa ed in the scoping study.
18 months; Mallina and, Hemi in particu- De Grey floated a capex figure of $835
lar, already looks like a world-class gold Production: 427,000 ozpa million in the study, with sustaining capex
asset. Life-of-mine: 10 years of $9.3 million a year.
Gold M&A has been gathering pace Canaccord Genuity (Australia) analyst
in the last six weeks with St Barbara Ltd AISC: $1,224/oz Tim McCormack was impressed by the
and Westgold Resources Ltd launching NPV: $2.764 million (pre-tax) capital numbers and even expects those
unsolicited takeover offers for WA juniors IRR: 60% (pre-tax) to soften as Hemi is taken through the
Kin Mining NL and Gascoyne Resources development cycle.
Ltd, respectively. In North America, Kirk- “We expect the project’s favourable
land Lake Gold Inc and Agnico Eagle will be targeted by larger, established location [70km from Port Hedland] to
Mines Inc announced a merger which gold producers, and that the price will present ongoing capital and operational
would create a new $US24 billion, 49 be less of an obstacle than assurance of savings as De Grey moves the project
moz reserve gold powerhouse. outcome. De Grey management believes forward through to PFS and beyond,”
A life-of-mine production profile of it can add further value, so an agreed McCormack said.
427,000 ozpa gold over 10 years at AISC deal is unlikely for now. However, the Macdonald held a similar view, point-
of $1,224/oz would see Hemi immedi- time will come.” ing to the conservative estimates con-
ately elevated to the Top 5 of Australian Macdonald’s last line will likely be cru- tained within the study.
gold operations. And, with a project NPV cial. De Grey managing director Glenn “It looks like a sensible starting point
of $2.8 billion dwarfing De Grey’s current Jardine and technical director Andy for Mallina’s development studies,” Mac-
$1.57 billion market cap, any potential Beckwith have long maintained the dis- donald said. “The strip ratio/grade profile
suitors would be well placed to extract covery is still in its infancy and will con- suggests De Grey has allowed for a bet-
immediate value. tinue to grow in coming months. ter than average margin by not driving
The dearth of opportunities in Tier-1 On announcing the results, Jardine the pits too deep.”
jurisdictions provides Hemi added allure. said the scoping study provided only an
“Of 35 gold projects worldwide ca- “initial evaluation” of the project’s physi- – Dominic Piper
pable of producing more than 400,000 cal and financial metrics.
ozpa, three [including Mallina] are major- “The company sees further improve-
ity owned and operated by single project ments and optimisation of the project
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 5
Trusted independent financial
advisor to the mining sector
2021: Advisor to
2021: Advisor to
2020: Advisor to
Diversified Minerals
Diversified Minerals
Cassini Resources
Geopacific Resources
Joint defence advisor in
Advised on the A$20m sale
Advised on the US$100m
financing (Loan and Stream)
of the Henty gold mine in
of the Dargues gold mine in
relation to the A$76m
for the greenfield Woodlark
Tasmania to Catalyst Metals.
NSW to Aurelia.
takeover by OZ Minerals.
gold project.
2018: Advisor to
2018: Advisor to
2016: Advisor to
2017: Advisor to
Explaurum Limited
Stanmore Coal
PanAust
OZ Minerals
Defence advisor in relation to
Advised on the US$90m
Advised on the financing
the unsolicited A$89m
refinancing of the Ban
acquisition of the Wotonga
strategy for the greenfield
takeover by Ramelius
South Project from
Houayxai and Phu Kam
development of the
Resources.
copper-gold mines in Laos.
Carrapateena copper-gold
Peabody Energy.
mine in SA.
neWs Advised on the A$30m 2020: Joint Advisor to Advised on the A$200m sale
A great result
for Havieron T +61 2 9133 9000 | www.icapartners.com.au
reatland Gold plc is destined to be- no drilling completed after February this recently identified Eastern Breccia. This
Gcome the second lowest-cost gold year incorporated into the study findings. growth drilling creates the opportunity
producer in the world after confirming a “The study covers just a small fraction to potentially apply bulk mining methods
compelling set of preliminary econom- of the resource and the broader mineral- to the balance of the Havieron breccia
ics for its Havieron discovery in Western ised breccia system, but is a tremendous system to complement the mining of the
Australia’s Paterson province. first step towards creating a mine and un- South East Crescent.”
In conjunction with JV partner and Tel- locking our understanding and the value Development of Havieron is already
fer operator Newcrest Mining Ltd, Great- of Havieron,” Day said. well under way, with construction of the
land released a PFS last month which “The investment proposition of Great- box cut beginning in February, followed
forecast production of 1.43 moz gold and land is compelling, with Havieron con- by the start of the underground decline
62,000t copper over a nine-year mine life firmed as a world-class orebody, being in May.
at Havieron for a remarkably low AISC of developed with a Tier-1 partner in New- Greatland and Newcrest are planning
just $990/oz ($US643/oz) with the high crest and all within a Tier-1 mining juris- to complete a full feasibility inside the
likelihood of further reductions to the es- diction of WA. next 12 months. First ore remains on
timated cost base. “The Stage 1 study indicates a very track for Q3 2023 with the maiden gold-
The maiden study on Havieron – ear- modest capex hurdle for Greatland and copper parcel to be delivered before the
marked as the saviour for the nearby Tel- thereafter the generation of cash flow. end of that year.
fer mine some 45km to the west – also This provides the opportunity for Great- The first production milestone will trig-
indicated Greatland’s share of the pro- land to reinvest this cash flow into Havi- ger Newcrest’s entitlement to a cumula-
posed $US529 million capex would be eron such that the company can self- tive 70% interest in the project.
just $US73 million, based on its current fund the full potential of Havieron. This Newcrest chief executive Sandeep
JV terms with Newcrest. capital profile is ideal for Greatland as a Biswas also expressed his delight with
An initial reserve of 14mt @ 3.72 g/t mid-cap miner. the results contained in the Havieron
gold and 0.54% copper (4.58 g/t gold “The quality of Havieron is observable PFS.
equivalent) for 1.6 moz gold and 73,000t in the AISC of just $US643/oz. This out- “It is an incredible achievement that,
copper was also revealed alongside the come will propel Greatland to the second within two years of starting the Havieron
PFS, which is only focused on the devel- lowest cost producer globally, with this drilling programme, we have been able to
opment of the South East Crescent ore- low-cost structure driving a high-margin, deliver this significant project milestone
body at Havieron. An inferred resource high IRR and fast payback development. and demonstrate financial returns that
of 37mt was not included in the study. “Notwithstanding the tremendous comfortably exceed our hurdle rate, even
Some 17% of the estimated revenues outcome of this Stage 1 study, the op- in this first stage,” Biswas said.
will be generated from the copper pro- portunity at Havieron remains ahead of “We believe that this is just the first
duction. us. A further 90,000m of growth drilling stage of a bright and profitable future for
Greatland chief executive Shaun Day is planned to June 2022, to better un- Havieron. Notably, the study assumes
said the results of PFS marked a “point derstand the extent of the South East that Havieron is the sole ore feed for the
in time” for Havieron’s development, with Crescent, the Northern Breccia and the Telfer plant and does not assume any
Trusted independent financial
advisor to the mining sector
Page 6 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
2021: Advisor to 2021: Advisor to 2020: Joint Advisor to 2020: Advisor to 2019: Advisor to
Geopacific Resources Diversified Minerals Cassini Resources Diversified Minerals Diversified Minerals
Advised on the US$100m Advised on the A$20m sale Joint defence advisor in Advised on the A$200m sale Advised on the A$100m
financing (Loan and Stream) of the Henty gold mine in relation to the A$76m of the Dargues gold mine in financing (Loan and
for the greenfield Woodlark Tasmania to Catalyst Metals. takeover by OZ Minerals. NSW to Aurelia. Royalty) for the greenfield
gold project. development of the Dargues
gold mine in NSW.
2018: Advisor to 2018: Advisor to 2017: Advisor to 2016: Advisor to 2014: Advisor to
Explaurum Limited Stanmore Coal OZ Minerals PanAust Discovery Metals
Defence advisor in relation to Advised on the A$30m Advised on the financing Advised on the US$90m Advised in relation to the
the unsolicited A$89m acquisition of the Wotonga strategy for the greenfield refinancing of the Ban recapitalisation options and
takeover by Ramelius South Project from development of the Houayxai and Phu Kam sale to Cupric Canyon.
Resources. Peabody Energy. Carrapateena copper-gold copper-gold mines in Laos.
mine in SA.
T +61 2 9133 9000 | www.icapartners.com.au
Trusted independent financial
advisor to the mining sector
2020: Advisor to
2021: Advisor to
2021: Advisor to
2019: Advisor to
Geopacific Resources
Diversified Minerals
Diversified Minerals
Cassini Resources
Diversified Minerals
Joint defence advisor in
Advised on the A$20m sale
Advised on the US$100m
Advised on the A$100m
financing (Loan and
relation to the A$76m
of the Dargues gold mine in
financing (Loan and Stream)
of the Henty gold mine in
Royalty) for the greenfield
takeover by OZ Minerals.
for the greenfield Woodlark
NSW to Aurelia.
gold project.
gold mine in NSW.
2018: Advisor to
2018: Advisor to
2014: Advisor to
2017: Advisor to
2016: Advisor to
Explaurum Limited
Stanmore Coal
PanAust
OZ Minerals
Discovery Metals
Defence advisor in relation to
Advised on the financing
Advised in relation to the
Advised on the US$90m
Advised on the A$30m
refinancing of the Ban
acquisition of the Wotonga
recapitalisation options and
strategy for the greenfield
the unsolicited A$89m
takeover by Ramelius
Houayxai and Phu Kam
South Project from
sale to Cupric Canyon.
development of the
Resources. Tasmania to Catalyst Metals. 2020: Joint Advisor to Advised on the A$200m sale development of the Dargues
copper-gold mines in Laos.
Carrapateena copper-gold
Peabody Energy.
mine in SA.
Corporate and project finance advisory specialists T +61 2 9133 9000 | www.icapartners.com.au
Greatland will be required to fund just $US73 million of the total
capex for Havieron, which is being developed in JV with Newcrest
Trusted independent financial
advisor to the mining sector
Shaun Day
Havieron PFS – October 2021 (100% terms) potential upside from the extension of Telfer’s mine life beyond
FY2024. We continue to assess the potential for further open pit
and underground opportunities at Telfer to extend its life and sup-
Milling rate: 2.1 mtpa
Trusted independent financial plement production from Havieron in FY2024 and beyond.”
Last month, Newcrest also published the results of a PFS sup-
9 years
Life of mine:
advisor to the mining sector porting production growth to more than 1 mozpa from FY2024 at 2020: Joint Advisor to 2020: Advisor to 2019: Advisor to
2021: Advisor to
2021: Advisor to
Trusted independent financial
3.72 g/t gold, 0.54% copper
Average LOM grade: advisor to the mining sector Geopacific Resources Diversified Minerals Cassini Resources Diversified Minerals Diversified Minerals
Lihir in Papua New Guinea, as well as another study which con-
Advised on the A$20m sale
Advised on the US$100m
LOM production: 1.43moz gold, 62,000t tained strong economics for the development of a block cave at Joint defence advisor in Advised on the A$200m sale Advised on the A$100m
relation to the A$76m
of the Henty gold mine in
financing (Loan and
copper Red Chris in Canada. financing (Loan and Stream) Tasmania to Catalyst Metals. takeover by OZ Minerals. of the Dargues gold mine in Royalty) for the greenfield
for the greenfield Woodlark
NSW to Aurelia.
gold project.
Annual production: 160,000 ozpa gold, 6,900 tpa The triple header of study results followed the announcement development of the Dargues
copper that long-serving Newcrest chairman Peter Hay would be retiring gold mine in NSW.
at this month’s AGM, with non-executive Peter Tomsett to step into
Project capital: $529 million the role.
AISC:
2021: Advisor to 2021: Advisor to 2020: Joint Advisor to 2020: Advisor to 2019: Advisor to
$990/oz
“It has been an honour to serve as Newcrest’s chairman for the
past eight years,” Hay said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as
Geopacific Resources Diversified Minerals Cassini Resources Diversified Minerals Diversified Minerals 2019: Advisor to
2021: Advisor to
2021: Advisor to
2020: Advisor to
2020: Joint Advisor to
$304 million
NPV:
Advised on the US$100m Advised on the A$20m sale Joint defence advisor in Advised on the A$200m sale Advised on the A$100m
both a non-executive director an
Cassini Resourcesd chairman of Newcrest and leave
Diversified Minerals
Geopacific Resources
Diversified Minerals
financing (Loan and Stream) of the Henty gold mine in relation to the A$76m of the Dargues gold mine in financing (Loan and Diversified Minerals
IRR:
16%
the company in the capable hands of a strong and committed board
Advised on the A$100m
Advised on the A$20m sale
Advised on the A$200m sale
Advised on the US$100m
NSW to Aurelia.
for the greenfield Woodlark Tasmania to Catalyst Metals. takeover by OZ Minerals. Joint defence advisor in 2018: Advisor to 2018: Advisor to 2017: Advisor to 2016: Advisor to 2014: Advisor to
Royalty) for the greenfield
of the Dargues gold mine in
and ex
relation to the A$76m
Payback:
Four years
gold project. financing (Loan and Stream) of the Henty gold mine in ecutive management team.” development of the Dargues financing (Loan and
Explaurum Limited
for the greenfield Woodlark Tasmania to Catalyst Metals. takeover by OZ Minerals. NSW to Aurelia. Stanmore Coal OZ Minerals PanAust Discovery Metals
Royalty) for the greenfield
gold mine in NSW.
Defence advisor in relation to
Advised on the A$30m
gold project.
Advised on the financing
LOM free cash flow: $531 million To read more about Greatland’s exploration success at Havieron, development of the Dargues Advised on the US$90m Advised in relation to the
the unsolicited A$89m
acquisition of the Wotonga
see cover story in the October-December issue of Paydirt’s sister gold mine in NSW. strategy for the greenfield refinancing of the Ban recapitalisation options and
publication Gold Mining Journal takeover by Ramelius South Project from development of the Houayxai and Phu Kam sale to Cupric Canyon.
Resources. Peabody Energy. Carrapateena copper-gold copper-gold mines in Laos.
mine in SA.
2018: Advisor to 2018: Advisor to 2017: Advisor to 2016: Advisor to 2014: Advisor to
Explaurum Limited Stanmore Coal 2018: Advisor to 2017: Advisor to Discovery Metals 2014: Advisor to
OZ Minerals
PanAust
2018: Advisor to
2016: Advisor to
Defence advisor in relation to Advised on the A$30m Advised on the financing Advised on the US$90m Advised in relation to the T +61 2 9133 9000 | www.icapartners.com.au
Explaurum Limited
OZ Minerals
Stanmore Coal
PanAust
the unsolicited A$89m acquisition of the Wotonga strategy for the greenfield refinancing of the Ban recapitalisation options and Discovery Metals
Advised on the financing
Advised on the US$90m
Advised on the A$30m
takeover by Ramelius Defence advisor in relation to development of the Houayxai and Phu Kam sale to Cupric Canyon. Advised in relation to the
South Project from
strategy for the greenfield
refinancing of the Ban
acquisition of the Wotonga
Resources. the unsolicited A$89m Carrapateena copper-gold copper-gold mines in Laos. Houayxai and Phu Kam recapitalisation options and
Peabody Energy.
takeover by Ramelius
development of the
sale to Cupric Canyon.
South Project from
mine in SA.
Trusted independent financial Resources. Peabody Energy. Carrapateena copper-gold copper-gold mines in Laos.
mine in SA.
advisor to the mining sector
T +61 2 9133 9000 | www.icapartners.com.au
T +61 2 9133 9000 | www.icapartners.com.au
ABN: 55 158 181 241 AFSL: 470003
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 7
2021: Advisor to 2021: Advisor to 2020: Joint Advisor to 2020: Advisor to 2019: Advisor to
Geopacific Resources Diversified Minerals Cassini Resources Diversified Minerals Diversified Minerals
Advised on the US$100m Advised on the A$20m sale Joint defence advisor in Advised on the A$200m sale Advised on the A$100m
financing (Loan and Stream) of the Henty gold mine in relation to the A$76m of the Dargues gold mine in financing (Loan and
for the greenfield Woodlark Tasmania to Catalyst Metals. takeover by OZ Minerals. NSW to Aurelia. Royalty) for the greenfield
gold project. development of the Dargues
gold mine in NSW.
2018: Advisor to 2018: Advisor to 2017: Advisor to 2016: Advisor to 2014: Advisor to
Explaurum Limited Stanmore Coal OZ Minerals PanAust Discovery Metals
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neWs
ESG tops risk rankings
or all the current talk about COP26, has been,” Rundus
F2050 net zero and decarbonisation, told Paydirt. “Compa-
it is the wider suite of ESG issues which nies need to increase
mining sees as the biggest business risk transparency and be
for 2022, according to a new report by EY. consistent across the
ESG ranked as the No.1 risk concern reporting spectrum.”
in the survey of more than 200 global As the report title
mining executives, with decarbonisation suggests, many miners
and licence-to-operate following in sec- are seeing opportunity
ond and third. as well as risk in issues
Discussing the Top 10 Business Risks such as ESG, decar-
and Opportunities for mining and met- bonisation and licence-
als in 2022 report, EY global mining and to-operate.
metals leader Paul Mitchell said the pan- “Companies which
demic had only accelerated progress on demonstrate the best
sustainability. performance on ESG
“Environment and social issues have and other issues will
emerged as a surprise top risk, which have an advantage,”
means miners need to think more broad- Rundus said. “Decar-
ly about which factors they consider; so- bonisation strategies, for instance. De- increased employee awareness about
cial impact, water management and bio- carbonisation is coming at us at pace, the top three risks,” Rundus said. “Min-
diversity came through as strong areas and I think miners who treat it as a strat- ing companies will have an opportunity
of focus for 2022,” Mitchell said. egy rather than simply an issue of com- to engage the workforce and improve
“As stakeholders continue to hold min- pliance will have advantages. the employee value proposition to show
ers accountable for environmental and “Most miners have made commitments good work and good intent in their prac-
social practices; purpose, long-term tices.
value and sustainability are no longer “We are already seeing examples of
add-ons to business as usual – they are employees really buying into the clean
themselves business as usual. In such energy initiatives of their companies and
an uncertain and shifting environment, this will become important in attracting
we are likely to see greater use of data and retaining talent in the future.”
science, scenario planning and data Geopolitical concerns also weighs
modelling to guide more intelligent deci- heavily on miners (No.4) with 77% of re-
sions and create differentiation.” spondents saying geopolitical challeng-
EY Oceania mining leader Mike Run- es were forcing them to alter strategic
dus admitted surprise that it was the investment. Among the factors fuelling
broader issue of ESG which came out these concerns were changing govern-
at No.1, ahead of decarbonisation which ments and social upheaval (including in-
has dominated so many corporate and creased royalties and taxes), trade policy
government conversations in the last Paul Mitchell shifts (particularly the US-China trade
year. He said it was perhaps the den- relationship) and regional investment in
sity of the entire ESG suite which saw it around net zero by 2050, but how many critical minerals.
emerge as the top risk over the specific- have an actual strategy to get there? Cur- Risks around access to capital and
ity of emissions reduction. rently, there is a critical reliance on de- uncertainty of demand came in fifth and
“There is no doubt the whole ESG carbonising their energy requirements, sixth, both of which link back to ESG,
agenda is far more complex than it ever but many haven’t really looked at Scope licence-to-operate and geopolitical is-
3 emissions yet.” sues.
Those companies who find positive Rundus said other risks would likely
decarbonisation strategies will likely find to emerge in 2022 but miners who ap-
benefits beyond avoiding legislative re- proached them strategically and proac-
strictions. tively would succeed.
“There is no doubt we are seeing ESG “We think the next 12 months will see
and decarbonisation affecting invest- issues around water management and
ment decisions by the majors and mid- biodiversity gaining momentum,” he
tiers,” Rundus said. “Capital is being said. “We are seeing mine closure and
deployed on projects which meet ESG rehabilitation, making sure they’re doing
requirements.” the right thing and not just the minimal
It could also ensure miners can attract required.”
and retain the best and brightest young
talent to the sector. – Dominic Piper
Mike Rundas “In the last 12 months, we’ve noticed
Page 8 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
No jab, no play
he lifespan of Western Australia’s hard the mining industry
Tborder going into 2022 had its ambiguity – success which
slightly dispelled after the State Government has so far given
mandated COVID-19 vaccines for workers in little incentive for
the resources and mining sector in October. the border to come
Both fly-in, fly-out and local workers are down, but impa-
required to have at least their first dose by tience is brewing.
December 1, and both doses by the start of “We share the
2022. Premier’s desire to
The move from WA Premier Mark ensure that in the
McGowan provided a semblance of confi- event of a COV-
dence for those itching for relaxed interstate ID-19 outbreak in
travel, but the State Government continues WA, that the mining
to hold its future plans close to its chest while industry is able to continue operating to sup- “Our efforts to crush the virus quickly and
the likes of New South Wales reopen from port the State’s economy,” Everingham said. keep our economy and mining industry open
long periods of lockdown. “But, say if we reach 90% vaccination has not only benefited West Australians but
When the border does come down, WA rate by February, we’d like to see a defined the nation more broadly, with WA continu-
Health Minister Roger Cook pointed to mask commitment that the border is coming down ing to provide the largest per capita financial
wearing requirements, as West Australians and we can access a larger worker pool that contribution to the Federation.
have done before, as well as venue capacity month.” “To all the impacted workers who have
limits and restricted freedoms for the unvac- A combination of high commodity prices done their share throughout the pandemic,
cinated. and the freedom to operate throughout the stay the course and heed the health advice.
“Push will come to shove,” Cook said. pandemic paved the way for a seven-year I’m urging you to take this next step and get
The State Government is targeting for 80- high in WA-based exploration spending of the COVID vaccine now.”
90% of West Aussies to be vaccinated by $666 million, an increase of 34%, in the June However, the mandate doesn’t have fans
December with 49.8% achieved as of early quarter. in every corner. When BHP Ltd said it would
October. At least 79.6% of the eligible popu- This spend went hand-in-hand with the enforce the rule, CFMEU Mining & Energy
lation had signed up for their first dose at the resources sector delivering $210 billion in Queensland district president Stephen
time of print. sales through the past financial year follow- Smyth criticised the choice.
The State Government estimates 141,000 ing growth of $38 billion. Job numbers are “We have strongly advocated to govern-
workers are affected by the mining vaccine also at their highest levels, increasing to ment and industry that COVID-19 vaccina-
mandate, and Chamber of Minerals and En- 149,400 from 135,000 last year. tions should be voluntary for mineworkers,”
ergy WA chief executive Paul Everingham WA’s overall economy has also outper- he said. “With the high rates [of COVID-19],
said that figure could be as high as 250,000 formed its peers since the onset of COV- we need to protect safety better achieved
when accounting for contracted employees. ID-19 at 5.7%. Iron ore sales achieved a through education, access and incentives.
Everingham also said reception to the ini- record $155 billion last year, while gold “BHP must engage in genuine consulta-
tiative was overwhelmingly positive and that reached $16.6 billion and the State’s share tion with the workforce. Some of our immedi-
education would be key to stemming hesi- of national expenditure increased to 65%. ate concerns include fair treatment of casu-
tancy. A five-year high of investment into the als and contractors on BHP sites – keeping
“ To all the impacted workers who ees.”
in mind that a minority of workers on BHP’s
Queensland mine sites are direct employ-
However, the State Government and CME
have done their share throughout the
have also both said the mandate benefits not
just employees but also the potentially vul-
pandemic, stay the course and heed the
health advice. I’m urging you to take this next
ers frequently travel to.
“If a resources worker became infected
step and get the COVID vaccine now. nerable indigenous communities that work-
with COVID-19 and the virus was then trans-
mitted to one of our remote Aboriginal com-
“I think by and large, our members support State’s mining and petroleum sector saw munities where people are very vulnerable
this,” he said. “The reality of WA avoiding fur- $21 billion in cash splashed with $127 bil- to the illness, the consequences would be
ther COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns lion worth of projects still in the development disastrous,” Cook said.
this year appears slim, and we need to be pipeline. “We want to avoid that dreadful scenario
preparing ourselves and our communities McGowan continues to champion such and ensure all Western Australians are pro-
for these circumstances. statistics, upheld by the safety of the hard tected.”
“Some people in our industry may still be border, as he now looks towards mandatory As of October, there still remains no in-
unsure about vaccination. However, these vaccinations for the time. formation released on lowering WA’s hard
workers will have time to consult a medical “As a result of the resources sector being border or eased interstate movement for re-
professional, get the correct information, and able to continue their operations safely, this sources workers.
make an informed choice.” has created dividends for the entire nation,” – Fraser Palamara
The mandate has been continually linked he said. “WA is continuing to do the heavy
to not just the good of health, but for also en- lifting for the Australian economy, as we
suring the continued financial success from have throughout the pandemic.
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 9
neWs
Gold targets Csources industry with hostile and friendly takeover bids in the gold
orporate activity is spreading throughout the West Australian re-
sector and a substantial M&A deal emerging in the burgeoning mining
stand firm services space.
Gascoyne Resources Ltd and Kin Mining NL knocked back respec-
tive proposals from Westgold Resources Ltd and St Barbara Ltd, with
both targets indicating the offers presented were not superior to the
perceived value of their individual business strategies. Meanwhile,
Apollo Consolidated NL was more welcoming of Ramelius Resourc-
es Ltd, with its board accepting a friendly takeover off on October 18.
In the case of resurrected miner Gascoyne, Westgold’s offer re-
quired the proposed merger between the target and Firefly Resourc-
es Ltd to be abandoned, with the bidder declaring the previously
announced combination to be “highly dilutive” to Gascoyne share-
holders.
Following a five-day standoff after Westgold accused the Gas-
coyne board of failing to engage in a “constructive” manner, Gas-
coyne told shareholders to formally reject the offer.
Gascoyne managing director Richard Hay said Westgold was “only
acting in the interests of its own shareholders”.
“While we still await the bidder’s statement from Westgold to sup-
port its intention to make a takeover offer for Gascoyne, the board is
of the view that the offer does not represent a superior alternative to
the proposed merger with Firefly,” Hay said in an ASX statement on
October 13.
“The board firmly believes that Gascoyne combined with Firefly
provides greater value to shareholders than the individual parts. Also,
our major 22% shareholder Deutsche Balaton AG has stated that it
does not intend to accept the Westgold offer in the absence of a su-
perior proposal.”
Gascoyne managing director Richard Hay
Firefly shareholders were due to vote on the proposed merger with
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Gascoyne at the time of print. price is significantly undervalued,” Kin man- to demerge its Orexplore mineral analysis
Westgold’s takeover attempt comes aging director Andrew Munckton said in an business, with seed funding of $12 million,
almost 12 months after Gascoyne suc- ASX statement. by the end of the year. Swick shareholders
cessfully emerged from a lengthy period Upon confirming it had rejected the St will also receive Orexplore shares in addi-
in voluntary administration following a re- Barbara offer, Kin announced a rights issue tion to DDH1 shares, assuming completion
markable operational turnaround at its Dal- for $13 million to fast-track exploration at its of the demerger and receipt of all the nec-
garanga mine and processing plant in the recent Mt Flora and Iron King discoveries essary approvals.
Murchison region. at its Cardinia gold project, near Leonora. Swick indicated its board would unani-
Argonaut Securities director of research “The additional funding will allow us to mously recommend the merger proposal
John Macdonald welcomed the bidding continue to assess the recent discoveries in the absence of a superior offer and sub-
war. at Cardinia Hill and follow up on new pros- ject to an independent expert report which
“Good to see some corporate adventur- pects like Mt Flora, Eagle and Crow – in states the transaction is in the best interest
ism return to the gold market, with efficient short to maintain the very strong explora- of shareholders.
asset utilisation in mind,” Macdonald said. tion momentum we have built up over the “We have grown Swick to become the
On October 7, Kin confirmed it had re- past two years,” Munckton said. largest underground drilling contractor in
ceived a confidential non-binding indicative M&A activity was not restricted to the Australia with a market-leading position,
proposal from St Barbara for the purchase gold sector last month with drilling outfits defined by solid margins and established
of all the shares in the gold explorer it did DDH1 Ltd and Swick Mining Services Ltd top-tier clients throughout the years, both
not already own. agreeing to a $115 million business com- in Australia and internationally,” Swick man-
Unlike Gascoyne and Westgold, Kin in- bination which is expected to generate aging director Kent Swick said.
dicated it had engaged with St Barbara, FY2021 pro-forma revenue of about $445 “There is a strong commercial logic in
while canvassing the views of its major and million and EBITDA of $103 million. combining the DDH1 and Swick business-
substantial shareholders, but ultimately de- Under the terms of the proposed transac- es and being able to offer our customers
termined only the bidder would benefit from tion, Swick shareholders will receive shares a complete range of high-quality and in-
such a transaction. in DDH1 and create a “global-scale mineral novative mineral drilling services from the
St Barbara, which currently holds 19% of drilling business” with a balance of surface discovery phase, through to mining and
Kin, subsequently withdrew the offer. (about 60%) and underground (about 40%) completion. I am very proud that the team
“The Kin board welcomed the continued from a combined fleet of more than 170 at Swick have built a business that has
interest from St Barbara, noting that the rigs. been recognised and valued by another
proposed non-binding indicative proposal The proposed transaction does not im- high-quality peer.”
price suggests that the current Kin share pact Swick’s previously announced plans
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oPInIon
I don’t think it’s overstating things to say that Western
Australia’s economic results since the start of 2020
have been quite out of the ordinary.
hile many economies around the sically non-existent, many have worked tions contribute to communities around
Wworld – and, indeed, right here in longer swings and spent more time away WA. That total contribution from 65 CME
Australia – are still strongly feeling the from family than they would normally do. member companies was $52 billion in
impacts of COVID-19, WA was recently Thousands of workers who commuted WA, including wages, government pay-
able to declare a State Budget surplus of regularly from interstate pre-COVID ments, business purchases and support
more than $5 billion. have now moved to WA, if not perma- for community organisations.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy nently then for the duration of the pan- But as a sector, we very much realise
of WA (CME) and its member companies demic. that it’s a two-way street. Without the
are extremely proud of the contribution The sector continues to place the workers we pay those wages to, the lo-
that the mining and resources sector highest priority on the health and safety cal governments we collaborate with, the
was able to make to that result. of its workforce and this resolve has only local businesses who supply goods and
To contribute more than $12.7 bil- hardened in the face of the pandemic services to operations and the groups
lion in royalties, North West who do so much within commu-
Shelf grants and lease rentals nities, our sector could not pos-
to State Government revenue sibly function and succeed the
underscores the importance of way it has.
our sector to the WA economy. Back in July, we noted that
That was about $3.5 billion there was unlikely to be a single
more than our previous record community in WA that isn’t some-
contribution of 2019-20 and how impacted or influenced by
made mining and resources the mining and resources sector.
the single biggest contributor But the reverse is true as well.
to revenue, ahead of taxes and There is no mining and resourc-
Commonwealth grants. es operation in the State that isn’t
Meanwhile, the latest data somehow shaped by the commu-
from the Department of Mines, nity around it (and beyond).
Industry Regulation and Safety By way of example while the
shows minerals and petroleum all-industry average for engage-
sales of $210 billion in 2020-21, ment of indigenous employees
along with exploration spending in the workforce was 1.9% in
of $2.1 billion and support for a 2019, in the resource sector it
record 149,400 jobs in the sec- was 4.7%, reflecting the popu-
tor. lation characteristics in many of
In part this reflects WA’s the regions where our operations
strong reserves of resources are located. These numbers
that are in high global demand, are growing and this is a trend
amid some very healthy com- the sector is looking to build on
modity prices. through commitments to train-
It also reflects the sector’s eeship and apprenticeship pro-
ability to operate safely and effectively and more recently the Delta strain. We grammes, and by continuing to promote
throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It welcome the WA Government’s recent opportunities for residential employment
has taken a great deal of collaboration announcement of mandatory vaccina- wherever possible.
between our sector, government, health tions for mining and resources sector That’s why the $12.7 billion contribu-
authorities, police, aviation and port workers. tion to WA Government revenue in 2020-
partners but ultimately, we’ve been able Our member companies are active 21 reflects so much more than the sum
to continue operating relatively seam- participants in the drive to “roll up for total of production at operations around
lessly at a time when the world very WA” and national efforts to promote the State.
much wants what WA is producing. vaccine uptake and assist with logistics
Most of all though, it reflects the efforts - making it accessible to our employees Adrienne LaBombard is CME’s
of the sector’s workforce and the support and in the regional communities where Manager – Industry Competitiveness
of the communities in which we operate. we operate. Newly established vaccina-
Mining and resources workers in WA tion centres being run by CME member
have made some significant sacrifices companies are a key part of this.
over the past 18 months. When CME released its annual eco-
With interstate travel severely restrict- nomic fact sheet data in July, it highlight-
ed at times and international travel ba- ed the way mining and resources opera-
Page 12 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
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NEWGENGOLD 2021 CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
Conference Programme
Monday 8 November Wednesday 10 November
3.00pm Registration open 08:00am Arrival Tea, Coffee and Registration
5.00pm Welcome reception SESSION FIVE SPONSORS AND SUPPORTeRS TO DATe:
Exhibition Area, Pan Pacific, Perth
08.30am Australia Keynote Address: New constraints on the
Tuesday 9 November evolution of the Paterson Orogen and basement
to the Canning Basin
08.00am Arrival Tea, Coffee and Registration Dr Simon Johnson*
Director of Regional Geoscience, Geological
09.00am Welcome and opening Survey of Western Australia
Keith Yates AM and Bill Repard
09.15am Australia The Winu-Ngapakarra copper-gold deposit;
SESSION ONE
discovery, geology and resource definition
2
2
1
09.15am Australia Keynote Address: Victoria – Laying the Hilke Dalstra* , Adam Black , Edward Chembeya ,
2
1
groundwork for an integrated systems Inna Mudrovska , James Pocoe , Damien
2
2
approach to tectonics and mineralisation Ewington , Murray Rayner and Jennifer Maguire 1
Ross Cayley* and Cameron Cairns 1 Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd
Senior Geologist, Geological Survey of Victoria 2 Rio Tinto Copper Pty Ltd
Rio Tinto Limited
10.00am Australia The Discovery of the Cayley Lode Copper-Gold-
Silver Lode-Style Mineralisation in Western 10.00am Morning Tea sponsored by First Quantum
Victoria, Australia Minerals Ltd
Chris Cairns*, Jennifer Murphy, Hamish Forgan,
Stephen Johnson, Michael Agnew, Hana Lee, Sarah SESSION SIX
Heard and Greg Corbett (Corbett Geological Services) 10.30am Australia Havieron Gold-Copper Deposit: Next
Stavely Minerals Limited
Generation of Undercover Discoveries
1
10.45am Morning Tea sponsored by First Quantum Benjamin Ackerman* , David Finn , Callum Baxter ,
2
1
1
1
1
Minerals Ltd Anthony Harris, Cameron Switzer , Fraser MacCorquodale,
3
Alan Wilson , Nick Lisowiec , Jamie Williams
1
1
SESSION TWO 1 Newcrest Mining Limited
2 Greatland Gold eXHiBiTORS:
11.15am Australia Discovery of the Hemi gold deposit – Redefining 3
gold exploration in the Pilbara, Western Australia GeoAqua Consultants Limited
Philip Tornatora*, Allan Kneeshaw and Rohan Deshpande Newcrest Mining Limited/Greatland Gold plc
De Grey Mining Ltd 11.15am Canada The Tower Gold project: Defining a new gold
camp in Canada’s largest gold producing belt
12.00pm Côte Séguéla, Côte d’Ivoire: A developing high- Gary O’Connor*, Kevin Montgomery, Nick Marton,
d’Ivoire grade gold camp Randall Salo and Dan Johannsson
Franck Gboko and Paul Weedon* Moneta Gold Inc.
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (Roxgold Inc.)
12.00pm Lunch sponsored by Northern Star
12:45pm Lunch sponsored by Northern Star Resources Limited Resources Limited
SESSION THREE SESSION SEVEN
1.45pm Côte The Koné Gold Project, Côte d’Ivoire: 1.00pm Australia Lake Rebecca Gold Project – An intriguing
d’Ivoire Persistence pays off >1moz discovery in an Eastern Goldfields
Hugh Stuart*, Liam McDonnell and Nicolas Yapo gneiss belt
Montage Gold Corp. Nick Castleden* and Heath Dalla-Costa
Apollo Consolidated Limited
2.30pm New Wharekirauponga: A low-sulphidation epithermal
Zealand gold-silver discovery in New Zealand 1.45pm USA Black Pine, Idaho, USA: A Multimillion Ounce,
Lorrance Torckler*, Thomas Gardner and Craig Feebrey Carlin-Type Gold Oxide Deposit Hiding in Plain Sight
OceanaGold Corporation Dr Moira Smith*
Liberty Gold Corp.
3.15pm Afternoon Tea
2.30pm Afternoon Tea
SESSION FOUR SESSION EIGHT
3.45pm Chile Emerging Discovery 3.00pm Guinea Bankan: A new gold discovery in the Siguiri
The El Zorro Gold Project – An Intrusion Basin, NE Guinea
related Gold Deposit in Chile’s Coastal Cordillera Paul Roberts*, F. C. (Barry) Murphy, Aimé Nganare
Zeff Reeves*, Dr Nicholas H.S. Oliver (HCOV Global Predictive Discovery Limited
Consultants)
Tesoro Resources Limited 3.45pm Côte Emerging Discovery
d’Ivoire The Napié Project: An Emerging Discovery in
4.15pm Chile The Fenix Gold Project: An Epithermal Low Sulfidation Côte d’Ivoire
Gold Deposit in the Maricunga Belt, Chile Ann Ledwidge*
Enrique Garay* Mako Gold Ltd
Rio2 Limited
4.15pm Forum
5.30pm Pre-dinner Drinks sponsored by ABC Refinery
5.30pm Closing Drinks sponsored by The Perth Mint
7.00pm Dinner sponsored by Newcrest Mining Limited The Perth Mint (Heritage Site), 310 Hay St, East Perth
Grand River Ballroom, Pan Pacific Hotel
*Presenting speaker *This programme is subject to change without prior notice
NewGeNGOLD 9 - 10 NOVeMBeR PAN PACiFiC HOTeL, PeRTH
|
NEWGENGOLD 2021 CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
Conference Programme
Monday 8 November Wednesday 10 November
3.00pm Registration open 08:00am Arrival Tea, Coffee and Registration
5.00pm Welcome reception SESSION FIVE SPONSORS AND SUPPORTeRS TO DATe:
Exhibition Area, Pan Pacific, Perth
08.30am Australia Keynote Address: New constraints on the
Tuesday 9 November evolution of the Paterson Orogen and basement
to the Canning Basin Jointly organised by:
08.00am Arrival Tea, Coffee and Registration Dr Simon Johnson*
Director of Regional Geoscience, Geological
09.00am Welcome and opening Survey of Western Australia
Keith Yates AM and Bill Repard
09.15am Australia The Winu-Ngapakarra copper-gold deposit; Keith Yates & Associates Pty Ltd
SESSION ONE
discovery, geology and resource definition
2
2
1
09.15am Australia Keynote Address: Victoria – Laying the Hilke Dalstra* , Adam Black , Edward Chembeya , Proceedings Dinner Closing Drinks Lunch Café Gold Nugget
2
1
groundwork for an integrated systems Inna Mudrovska , James Pocoe , Damien Sponsor: Sponsor: Sponsor: Sponsor: Sponsor: Sponsor:
2
2
approach to tectonics and mineralisation Ewington , Murray Rayner and Jennifer Maguire 1
Ross Cayley* and Cameron Cairns 1 Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd
Senior Geologist, Geological Survey of Victoria 2 Rio Tinto Copper Pty Ltd
Rio Tinto Limited
10.00am Australia The Discovery of the Cayley Lode Copper-Gold-
Silver Lode-Style Mineralisation in Western 10.00am Morning Tea sponsored by First Quantum
Victoria, Australia Minerals Ltd Morning Tea Presenter Gift Lanyard Pre-Dinner Drinks Bottled water Destination
Chris Cairns*, Jennifer Murphy, Hamish Forgan, Sponsor: Sponsor: Sponsor: Sponsor: Sponsor: Sponsor:
Stephen Johnson, Michael Agnew, Hana Lee, Sarah SESSION SIX
Heard and Greg Corbett (Corbett Geological Services) 10.30am Australia Havieron Gold-Copper Deposit: Next
Stavely Minerals Limited
Generation of Undercover Discoveries
1
10.45am Morning Tea sponsored by First Quantum Benjamin Ackerman* , David Finn , Callum Baxter ,
2
1
1
1
1
Minerals Ltd Anthony Harris, Cameron Switzer , Fraser MacCorquodale,
3
Alan Wilson , Nick Lisowiec , Jamie Williams
1
1
SESSION TWO 1 Newcrest Mining Limited
2 Greatland Gold eXHiBiTORS:
11.15am Australia Discovery of the Hemi gold deposit – Redefining 3
gold exploration in the Pilbara, Western Australia GeoAqua Consultants Limited
Philip Tornatora*, Allan Kneeshaw and Rohan Deshpande Newcrest Mining Limited/Greatland Gold plc
De Grey Mining Ltd 11.15am Canada The Tower Gold project: Defining a new gold
camp in Canada’s largest gold producing belt
12.00pm Côte Séguéla, Côte d’Ivoire: A developing high- Gary O’Connor*, Kevin Montgomery, Nick Marton,
d’Ivoire grade gold camp Randall Salo and Dan Johannsson
Franck Gboko and Paul Weedon* Moneta Gold Inc.
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (Roxgold Inc.)
12.00pm Lunch sponsored by Northern Star
12:45pm Lunch sponsored by Northern Star Resources Limited Resources Limited
SESSION THREE SESSION SEVEN
1.45pm Côte The Koné Gold Project, Côte d’Ivoire: 1.00pm Australia Lake Rebecca Gold Project – An intriguing
d’Ivoire Persistence pays off >1moz discovery in an Eastern Goldfields
Hugh Stuart*, Liam McDonnell and Nicolas Yapo gneiss belt
Montage Gold Corp. Nick Castleden* and Heath Dalla-Costa
Apollo Consolidated Limited
2.30pm New Wharekirauponga: A low-sulphidation epithermal
Zealand gold-silver discovery in New Zealand 1.45pm USA Black Pine, Idaho, USA: A Multimillion Ounce,
Lorrance Torckler*, Thomas Gardner and Craig Feebrey Carlin-Type Gold Oxide Deposit Hiding in Plain Sight
OceanaGold Corporation Dr Moira Smith*
Liberty Gold Corp.
3.15pm Afternoon Tea
2.30pm Afternoon Tea
SESSION FOUR SESSION EIGHT
3.45pm Chile Emerging Discovery 3.00pm Guinea Bankan: A new gold discovery in the Siguiri
The El Zorro Gold Project – An Intrusion Basin, NE Guinea
related Gold Deposit in Chile’s Coastal Cordillera Paul Roberts*, F. C. (Barry) Murphy, Aimé Nganare
Zeff Reeves*, Dr Nicholas H.S. Oliver (HCOV Global Predictive Discovery Limited
Consultants)
Tesoro Resources Limited 3.45pm Côte Emerging Discovery
d’Ivoire The Napié Project: An Emerging Discovery in
4.15pm Chile The Fenix Gold Project: An Epithermal Low Sulfidation Côte d’Ivoire
Gold Deposit in the Maricunga Belt, Chile Ann Ledwidge*
Enrique Garay* Mako Gold Ltd Please contact Mitchelle Matambo on (+61) 8 9321 0355
Rio2 Limited or email [email protected]
4.15pm Forum
5.30pm Pre-dinner Drinks sponsored by ABC Refinery
5.30pm Closing Drinks sponsored by The Perth Mint
7.00pm Dinner sponsored by Newcrest Mining Limited The Perth Mint (Heritage Site), 310 Hay St, East Perth www.newgengold.com
Grand River Ballroom, Pan Pacific Hotel
*Presenting speaker *This programme is subject to change without prior notice
neWs
Industry must wake up
on harassment
he title of the WA Mining Club Septem- really need to call it out and start to prioritise walk” on setting the correct standards, in-
Tber luncheon may have been called it because our workforce is becoming a lot stead of soapboxing.
‘Explorers on the Move’, but the panel dis- more diverse up on site and that is foster- Widgie Nickel Ltd managing director
cussion was all about reflection as a number ing better thinking and better outcomes… Steve Norregaard echoed the sentiment of
of industry figures said the line on female but we’re still not calling it out enough on the his peers on stage, saying standards in the
discrimination needed to be drawn immedi- spot.” “C suite” trickled down and influenced the
ately. Graham said he had witnessed such dis- greater workforce.
Session chair, Deloitte head of financial crimination firsthand in social settings, espe- “The standard you set as a leader, is the
advisory and WA mining leader Nicki Ivory, cially when women weren’t in the room. standard you set for the organisation,” Nor-
prodded tough questions to the panel. She “I see it a lot. Like at the dinner table, some regaard said. “Looking past any kind of
boldly stated that ESG plays an important of the conversations people have are inap- workplace rules and regulations, it’s clearly
role in how many companies operate today, propriate. They feel it’s OK because they’re about how you behave in the organisation.”
but the ‘S’ in the motto could well represent away from home, on site,” he said. Ivory also highlighted the lack of female
sexual harassment given the negative main- “We have to train our leaders to say it’s representation in “C suite” positions. Norre-
stream press attributed to the industry over not acceptable. It’s the culture in an organi- gaard was again quick to reply, saying that
the past year. sation. With Strandline, we’ve got a great barrier was steadily being broken down – al-
In August, BHP Ltd put its foot down on opportunity because we’re not inheriting a beit slowly.
sexual harassment within its FIFO camps by legacy of bad behaviour. We can really work “[Widgie non-executive director] Felicity
sacking 48 employees across its mine sites. to build our leadership...it starts with educa- Repacholi-Muir is an integral part of the or-
Ongoing coverage of further sexual harass- tion.” ganisation and we’re lucky to have her,” he
ment and mistreatment of women continues Graham was joined on stage by Liontown said. “I think it’s a barrier that is being broken
to negatively impact the sector’s public im- Resources Ltd managing director Tony Otta- down. If we continue to break those barriers
age. viano, who agreed that standards in respect and engage the women in our workforce,
This has only worsened the younger Aus- are cemented in culture and that the new then we’ll see that change going into the fu-
tralian demographic’s regard towards the generation of workers definitely won’t settle ture.”
industry that it has generally deemed as for less. But the industry’s treatment for the new,
‘dirty’ – a young demographic that is sorely “Like Luke said, it is about setting the right younger, emerging workforce has never
needed to fill the future workforce. culture from the start so that people feel like been under greater pressure due to the re-
Strandline Resources Ltd managing direc- they can speak up and call it out,” he said. “I stricted labour market. The brunt of such
tor Luke Graham said the only way to stamp think it is important, as an industry-wide is- restriction feels even heavier in Western
out the discrimination was to shine a light on sue, to address it. Because if you don’t, we Australia thanks to a hard border that is
it, and that leaving the negative culture to fes- won’t attract the best talent into our industry. stemming interstate travel (see page 9).
ter would only further alienate those young We will wither.” WA Premier Mark McGowan has been
workers. Ivory rebutted the offered solutions by coy on the eventual easing of interstate trav-
“You just have to call it out,” he said. “We asking how companies intend to “walk the el but did say in mid-October that an 80%
vaccination rate of citizens was not enough
to move forward. The hard border appears
likely to stay in place until at least next year.
WAMC panel members expressed their
bubbling impatience over the “ambiguity” of
the border that is turning the heat up on fulfill-
ing labour roles.
“I think that as Liontown gets ready for
construction, hopefully we’ll all be vaccinat-
ed to the point where our borders will open,”
Ottaviano said. “We can then build our team
with the natural passage of time.”
Graham was quick to support Ottaviano’s
eagerness for a relaxed border.
“Hopefully the borders will relax for the in-
terstate travel for our industry and take some
of the pressure off for us, it’s no doubt a very
tight market,” he said. “Good projects take
The September wA Mining Club event was chaired by Deloitte head of financial advisory and good people, and, in this market, we need
wA mining leader Nicki ivory (from left), with panellists Liontown managing director Tony to educate the workers on the opportunities.”
Ottaviano, Strandline managing director Luke Graham and widgie Nickel managing director – Fraser Palamara
Steve Norregaard
Page 16 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
Revolver takes aim Revolver is aiming for a maiden resource
from the Dianne project by Q3 2022
with IPO cash
ment,” he said. “It’s a bit fluid, we’ll drill
enough to give us the maximum resource
for what’s known at Dianne. Then, what’s
not resource drilling will be exploration
drilling. We’re talking many thousands of
metres and it’s diamond core wherever
we can.”
Osprey is less advanced than Dianne,
but Williams is equally as excited as it sits
above Mt Isa in encouragingly prospec-
tive ground. When asked to compare his
children, Williams quickly defended the
younger sibling but admitted it was “at a
evolver Resources NL has filled a and we’ll be drilling at Dianne and have different stage”.
R“war chest” with $12.72 million of IPO some good results to report certainly by “The Mt Isa region is world-class ele-
money to splash across two Queensland the end of this year.” phant country, there’s no doubt about it,”
copper plays which have gone unloved Dianne sits north-west of Cairns and he said. “When we pegged Osprey, there
since the 1980s. is comprised of six mining leases and an was no one around us and we were con-
The previously private Revolver has exploration permit covering 116sq km. sidered to be ambitious. It’s undercover
held Dianne and Osprey since 2016 and To Williams, Dianne’s historic explo- and the targets are deep.
has vowed to use the September pro- ration represents a window to the past “That area is now populated wall-to-
ceeds to apply modern and systematic that can now benefit from the industry’s wall with explorers but it’s harder to find
exploration to give both projects the jus- growth over nearly 40 years of innovation targets at depth, that’s why they haven’t
tice they deserve. and the EV super-cycle. been found. Some of our neighbours are
Underground mining at Dianne be- “It has had no modern geophysics, no reaching 300m undercover and still look-
tween 1979 and 1983 produced 63,758t EM, no IP, and no ground-based grav- ing for targets. There’s no doubt they’re
@ 22.7% copper, but Revolver managing ity mag,” he said. “By today’s standards, going to be out there.
director Pat Williams said previous ex- there was very little geological knowl- “We’ve got good mineralisation in the
plorers simply took the “low hanging fruit” edge at Dianne…it was pre-JORC; core that has come up and we feel that
through easy outcrops and left a long list JORC wasn’t even invented. we’re getting close.”
of work to be done. “We’re bringing large-scale discovery As the rainy season rolls through
The first time Dianne saw a modern and exploration thinking to a region that Queensland, the Revolver team has a
drill rig was in January last year when has a lot of hallmark indicators.” bevy of historical data making up their
Revolver tunnelled four RC holes around Dianne’s brief mining life came to a homework reading. The flood of new
a known orebody. Grades in excess of screeching halt when copper prices fell listings to the ASX over the past year
4% copper were recorded across the below ideal economics, which now hover pushed Revolver’s own debut back a
120m-deep holes. around $US4/lb. month, but Williams is in no rush to drill
Revolver is now aiming for a maiden “It was get in, get out, exploit what’s through the rain to make up for lost time.
resource at Dianne by Q3 2022 through there and [previous explorers] hadn’t “We won’t take a drill rig into the wet
diamond and RC drilling that will reach really exhausted the orebody but cop- season, that’s not sensible,” he said.
untested depths of 165m. A drill rig has per was below $US0.50/lb at the time, it “We have already drilled [at Osprey],
already been secured. was simply uneconomic,” Williams said. we have more overlapping EM and IP
Williams said going public was the logi- “They just stopped and walked away. It targets that are drill ready, but you run a
cal choice to fund the new lives planned was a 1970s smash-and-grab. There corporate risk drilling out of season. We’ll
for Dianne and Osprey. was no systematic exploration, there was do some field mapping on the southern
“We realised that from a project de- no thesis of discovery.” parts of the tenement; we’ve got outcrop-
velopment sense, we were at a junction The war chest over the next two years ping there. We’ve got 5,000m of drill core
where we needed to step it up a gear,” will be split 70/30 between Dianne and already.
he told Paydirt. “We’ve got outstanding Osprey. Some $7 million will be spent to “There is a lot of relogging on that core
assets and it’s now time to bring them to explore Dianne and another $1.7 million with some new eyes that we’ve recently
the market and hit another speed. at Osprey. brought into the business. That will give
“It’s the right stage, it really struck us Williams said there was no specific the ability to learn more from what we’ve
as the logical thing to do and to give our number of holes or metres planned for already drilled. We’ll get busy on the
assets the best next lap around the track. the programme at Dianne. core.”
We want to grow both projects at once “That’s a little bit variable at the mo- – Fraser Palamara
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 17
neWs
Is your mining
machinery at risk
of a cyberattack?
ining companies have been warned not home at night’. It played on the psyche of that
Mto become complacent with their cyber individual that you need to go home at night
security protocols, especially with many op- because of your family.
erations transitioning towards automation “Now you can’t get onto a mine site with-
and remote working systems. out all the right safety gear, even if you’re vis-
Sapien Cyber chief executive Glenn Mur- iting, and you’ve got to be in accordance with
ray said the likelihood of a cyberattack on a OHS rules. Yet, I can walk on there with a
mine site was previously considered to be USB stick, and I can cause a lot more prob-
almost non-existent, but the advent of many lems with that USB stick than an OHS issue.
technology-based systems across the in- “We’ve got to bring cybersecurity into the
dustry meant operations were now at much age where OHS is today because at the end
greater risk of being infiltrated – and most of the day it’s a risk.”
companies have been slow in rolling out the In some cases, hackers will even bypass
necessary preventative measures. the company and target the insurance pro-
“If you look at any mine site around the viders, many of whom no longer cover “ran-
world, the biggest overhead to a company is somware” attacks.
really maintenance and manpower, and with Murray said the time for companies to act
shareholders putting so much pressure on was now and even urged more public dis-
these companies for better returns, there’s cussion on the prevention of cyberattacks.
a big push for automation,” Murray told Pay- Glenn Murray “We kind of treat soft security as being
dirt. secret,” he said. “There’s no sharing of in-
“That push was compounded when we propriate security systems are not in place formation, however, the good news is it is
had the COVID-19 outbreak last year and or effective. changing.
it forced a lot of companies to move into re- “If you can get in there and start control- “There is no silver bullet for cyber security,
mote working conditions. So, you’ve got this ling some of this equipment that the miners it’s a matter of having the defence in depth
push for automation, a push for working from are relying on, you could have a catastrophic layers concept; prepare your network, un-
home, the COVID-19 pandemic, ageing sys- event,” he said. derstand where those vulnerabilities are…
tems which have never ever been patched… “If you have a cyber-attack in the IT space, which a simple patch could fix. Then you
it’s all starting to add up to something going what’s the worst that could happen? Maybe have got to be able to defend.
wrong. damage to your brand reputation, losing Murray likened a cyberattack to a typical
“Think about the PC that you work on data, there might be a financial loss, there sporting contest whereby a criminal is play-
every day; if you never had one security may be some loss of inventory data. In my ing offence and the company under threat is
patch on that PC, how vulnerable would it mind, they’re pretty much all recoverable. always on the defence.
be to anything? There’s a lot of complacency But when you have cybersecurity attacks in “Defence is everything. If there’s a human
out there and it’s time to start changing that the operational technology, the worst-case in the loop who’s causing the attack, you
psyche.” scenario is it could be a fatality on site.” also need a human in the loop who is going
Murray cited the attack on the Florida Wa- Murray urged mining companies to start to defend the attack because the industry is
ter Utilities treatment plant earlier this year as treating cybersecurity in the same way the definitely not at a position where we can fully
an example of cybercriminals exploiting re- industry has adopted what is now widely automate a response to a cyberattack.”
mote working situations to gain access and considered to be world-leading health and Murray also warned a cyberattack can
impact an operation which put human lives safety practices. come from anywhere in the world, so be pre-
at risk. “Companies are kind of going down this pared to have all bases covered.
Hackers are understood to have com- path and saying, ‘well, I haven’t had a cy- “You don’t have to be on site, you don’t
mandeered the controls to the facility via berattack, why do I need these systems in have to be in a country, you don’t have to be
the TeamViewer troubleshoot system, then place?’ It’s seen as an overhead,” he said. in the same hemisphere,” he said. “You can
increasing levels of sodium hydroxide from “If you go back 20-30 years, this is exactly suffer an attack from anywhere in the world.
100 ppm to a dangerously high 11,100 ppm. where OHS was. Now you’re seeing min- So, the time to act is now, we can’t wait any
Murray said it was not unreasonable to ing companies lead the way in OHS. I can longer. The worst thing you can do is noth-
think a cybercriminal could infiltrate an au- still remember the campaign posters that ing.”
tonomous machine on a mine site, with had the old US recruiting-type look, pointing – Michael Washbourne
potentially deadly consequences if the ap- out of the poster saying, ‘we want you to go
Page 18 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
BCI lines up final
condiments for Mardie
salt development
CI Minerals Ltd is on the verge of hitting spent first, followed by the NAIF facility drawn
Bthe start button for construction of its $1.2 to 50% and then the commercial bank facility,
billion Mardie salt-potash project on the Pil- the EFA facility and the remaining balance of
bara coast. the NAIF facility, all on a pro-rata basis. Alwyn Vorster
As this edition went to print, BCI confirmed All facilities remain conditional on formal
it had received approvals for $740 million of documentation, securing required tenure Mardie in a calculated move which Vorster
project finance debt, including an enhanced and approvals, equity funding, offtake ar- said would ensure the company only needed
$490 million loan facility with 15-year tenor rangements, and other customary conditions to finalise the equity component of its overall
from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fa- precedent are associated with the loans. project financing package post the final in-
cility (NAIF), subject to conditions. BCI managing director Alwyn Vorster said vestment decision from the BCI board.
The debt finance package also includes a the $740 million debt finance package rep- “Some companies make FID and then
10-year $110 million loan facility with Export resented a key milestone for the project and take two years before they actually move to
Credit Australia (EFA) and credit approval would underpin the “pending consideration” project development, so in our case, we hope
from two leading commercial banks for $140 by the company’s board to progress to a final to position the FID as such that it is really the
million to put towards construction, along with investment decision on Mardie. final mandate for the board and manage-
$170 million in facilities for cost overrun and “The participation of government funders ment to raise the equity needed to build the
guarantee requirements. such as NAIF and EFA, together with the project,” he said.
BCI now only needs to finalise the $460 confidence demonstrated by the lead com- “It may be that we have another 4-6 weeks
million balance, which is expected to come mercial banks in the technical, economic and after that to get clarity on a number of points,
from a combination of existing cash, ongo- green credentials of the project is a strong but we hope that management is in a posi-
ing royalty earnings from the Iron Valley op- validation of Mardie’s potential,” Vorster said. tion to take the first FID proposal to the board
erations, potential corporate debt and new “BCI is now well positioned to achieve FID, by late June. In order for us to do that, we
equity sources, for the company’s board to raise the required new equity and subject to have a checklist of 15 items, including ap-
approve a final investment decision on to final approvals, commence main construc- provals, tenure, construction contracts, and
construct the proposed 5.35 mtpa salt and tion.” the strengthening of the team which we are
140,000 tpa sulphate-of-potash operation at Mardie is poised to become Australia’s first working our way through now.”
Mardie, about 100km south-west of Dampier. new major salt operation in more than two Using an inexhaustible seawater resource
The NAIF facility has been upsized from decades and Vorster told Paydirt earlier this and a production process driven mainly by
the $450 million approved last December in year the project was likely to be just the start- natural solar and wind energy, Mardie is set
recognition of the larger project as per BCI’s ing point for the industrial minerals-focused to become a key supplier of both industrial
optimised feasibility study which envisages company. salt and sulphate-of-potash to growth mar-
an operational life at Mardie of at least 60 “We are now more positive than ever be- kets in Asia over many decades.
years and more than $8 billion in corporate fore BCI wants to become a globally signifi- Aiding BCI’s bid to finalise the funding
taxes, $800 million in state royalties and cant player in the industrial minerals space,” package for Mardie is ongoing royalty pay-
$200 million in Native Title payments. he said back in June. “Mardie is only the start. ments from the Mineral Resources Ltd-
BCI expects total funds to be committed We see many other opportunities to actually operated Iron Valley mine, which delivered
over an estimated five-year period to com- become a global industrial minerals player.” EBITDA of $69.5 million to the company in
plete construction, start operation and pro- At the time, primary construction works FY2021. Financial results from the Septem-
gressively ramp up production and sales. such as the first evaporation pond and the ber quarter were due at the time of print.
The company’s equity contributions will be main seawater pump station had begun at
BCi is approaching a final
investment decision on its Mardie
salt-potash project, about 100km
south-west of Dampier
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 19
coVeR
S
Sharing the shares,haring the shares,
F
Following the funds:ollowing the funds:
Miners adjust to ers adjust to
Min
the online worldhe online world
t
Page 20 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
n January this year, a group of retail investors – social media-savvy, working from home due
Ito the pandemic and using online trading platforms – congregated around the “wallstreetbets”
group on social media platform Reddit.
heir online conversations began to cir- The stock eventually reached $347.51/ under the Twitter hashtag #silversqueeze
Tcle around Gamestop, a traditional high share on January 27, having started the – pushed the silver price up from less than
street video game retailer. year at $17.37. By February 19, however, it $23/oz in early January to more than $29/
Like most other bricks-and-mortar retail- was back down to $40 but rallied in March oz by mid-February. A second rally in May
ers, Gamestop was struggling to compete when wallstreetbets members jumped back – “Silver Squeeze 2.0” – saw the price hit
against online retailers where customers in. $28/oz.
could download new PlayStation, Xbox or The combination of technology and coor- The move in the spot price had con-
PC games without having to deviate their dinated retail investors had Wall Street and sequences for the few ASX-listed silver
eyes from the screen. US financial regulators panicked and plans companies with Investigator Resources
Wall Street short-sellers had targeted are already in place to curb the influence of Ltd moving from 6.7c/share to 11.5c in the
Gamestop stock, driving down the price. these online communities. space of two trading days in January-Feb-
However, among the now 3 million mem- In Australian resources circles, the ruary with Silver Mines Ltd doing much the
bers of the wallstreetbets subreddit, a plan Gamestop furore caused little more than a same (21.5c to 36.5c).
began to emerge to get one over on the ripple but when the online retail army turned The next commodity to come to the at-
short-sellers. its attention to silver, the phenomena began tention of online investors was uranium. In
By acting in union, the retail investors kept to gain prominence. conjunction with the launch of the Sprott
buying Gamestop and call options, forcing a A combination of online investors look- Uranium Physical Trust, online uranium
“short squeeze” on shares. Several hedge ing for the next Gamestop and conspiracy bulls have built momentum in both the spot
funds were forced to cover their positions in theorists adamant the silver price has been price and uranium equities with Twitter us-
Gamestop, costing them billions of dollars. artificially supressed for decade – running ers such as Uranium Insider gaining more
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 21
coVeR
tion for attention and investors will in- on social media platforms.
vest in companies who they see and “But, the thing to remember is you have
understand.” still got reporting obligations. You can’t make
PR specialist David Tasker’s career statements which haven’t been disclosed to
has spanned the move towards social the market. Companies should always lead
media engagement. He sees such with the announcement and the social me-
platforms as essential to companies dia content should mirror that.
who are wishing to raise their profile “That is the biggest risk, that a company
with investors as conferences and in- will inadvertently release something or not
vestor briefings. disclose it.”
“We’ve seen a significant increase Even if you have the right hashtag or fo-
in the use of social media both from rum, random tweets still may not be enough.
stakeholders learning about compa- Instead, companies are developing often
nies but also for companies to pro- target “Finfluencers”, the market equivalent
mote themselves, whether Facebook, of the social media influencer.
Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, WhatsApp or Several ASX-focused “Finfluencers”
others,” Tasker said. “At the start of the have more than 20,000 followers on Twit-
pandemic, most of these groups had ter, meaning any stock they comment or
than 30,000 followers across the globe. 2,000-3,000 members, now they have retweet on can expect to receive a rush of
Are companies capable of managing this 20-30,000. This is a
digital bull ride or are they in danger of be- genuine audience,
ing thrown off as quickly as they jumped on, whether specialist in
regardless of fundamentals? resources, medical
There is no question that social media cannabis, or all-en-
and the rise of the online investment com- compassing.”
munity has opened up new doors to junior However, the
companies in particular. message must be
Where once a presentation in front of 100 tailored to fit the plat-
retail investors could be considered a suc- form.
cessful outing, now companies can project “The way these
the message – theoretically at least – to the audiences consume
entire social media universe. content is vastly dif-
Some executives are still reluctant to en- ferent to traditional
gage with a medium where they don’t have investors,” Tasker
full control over content but it is increasingly said. “They are not
expected that companies have a social me- going to read ASX
dia presence. announcements or
“The motivation is simple, if you’re not on watch long presenta-
social media when your peers are you are tions. So, you have
missing out,” one executive told Paydirt. to create content that
“The profile helps because it is a competi- is easier to consume Both investors and companies are using Twitter to communicate
to the market
Stonks Stocks Stonks Stocks
Tendies: Chicken tenders. Gains Diamond Hands: Being a resilient shareholder
made on securities you hold. and not being frightened
E.g. - I made a tonne of into panic selling during
tendies on this share dips. Holding long term.
E.g. - I’m not selling on iron
ore; I’ve got diamond hands
To the moon: When your security is
making large gains. FOMO: Fear of Panic buying into a share or
E.g. - Lithium stocks are missing out market when large gains are
going to the moon being made. Usually, they
dip after, and you’ve been a
fool.
E.g. - I FOMO’d into uranium
Paper Hands: Having little resilience as a because I thought this would
shareholder. Panic selling be the bull run
when you see a dip.
E.g. - Don’t be a paper handed
coward, hold long for the squeeze
Page 22 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
‘You’re
the W listed miners and
hile almost all ASX-
explorers have a social
LinkedIn media presence, some are
more willing than others to
embrace the medium.
guy’ Scott Williamson definitely
falls into the former
category.
The Blackstone Minerals Ltd managing director is a prolific There is definitely a bit of anger…
social media poster, appearing in videos, interviews and Especially when there is weakness in the share price. If they are
online forums across LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other getting too aggressive, I’ll approach it on a personal level, DM
platforms. [direct message] them and offer to meet in person, get them away
Williamson and Blackstone corporate affairs advisor Tessa from the keyboard and talk to them in person. It works, usually
Kutscher discuss the success of the company’s social media because they close the account.
strategy and the pitfalls they try to avoid.
We are starting to split the message…
I set up the social media myself… Between investors and our stakeholders in Vietnam. We have set
I actually had to get my little brother to show me how to tweet. I up a Facebook page for our Vietnamese subsidiary where we can
knew it was important to be involved and active on social media focus on different stories. They are not different messages but just
because I’d seen guys like Tolga [Kumova] and others be so different parts of the story for different audiences.
successful and it was essentially free IR, which is crucial when
you are a young company. It does affect the way we make
announcements…
Posting my first tweet… Conventionally, if you have a big announcement
I was excited and nervous but then…. nothing, out, you will market it to the local stockbrokers and
I had no followers! We then engaged NWR they rev the price up. That’s all gone now. Instead,
Communications to help us and it went from there. we ask how we can package that message for our
We learnt together, brought Tessa onboard and Twitter army because they are more likely to move
continued learning and growing. the share price. The trading is on Commsec, you
don’t have that intermediary of the broker between
We have created… you and the investor so you have to alter the
Something of a monster [Blackstone has more message to suit.
than 2,600 Twitter and 2,800 LinkedIn followers, It also involves a lot of planning…
Williamson has 380 and 1,000 respectively]. It’s
too big for one or two people to manage alone, TK: For instance, we have been preparing for
Stocks we need a team to manage it. release of our sustainability report for six months,
TK: I don’t think it’s a monster. I think the difference Tessa Kutscher building up to it with content on social media.
between Scott and other executives is that line about ‘I knew it
was important’. Many executives still don’t see it that way. Finding If anything, we announce more than if we didn’t have
content can be a challenge and I think Blackstone is fortunate a Twitter army...
in that regard. Because we are in nickel there is a lot of content Those investors are short-term focused, they are not looking at 2-3
around EVs, and the energy revolution. That is much more year horizons, so you need to release more regularly to give them
interesting than some of the traditional mining stories and we try to the sugar hit. Once we become more institutionally-driven, we will
use that to educate investors. probably drop away
from that.
We don’t really get criticism…
About our social media presence, although I do get teased about
appearing on everyone’s LinkedIn feed every day, but that means
they probably need more connections. When we first started doing
it people would come up to me and say: ‘You’re the LinkedIn guy’.
It made me realise that for 30 minutes a day – which isn’t a lot of
time to commit – I was developing a profile and reputation for the
company which I couldn’t otherwise achieve.
TK: We are now getting a lot of approaches from companies
asking about how we do it, so people obviously pay attention and
like what we do.
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 23
coVeR
“ASIC has been working closely with mar- way forward for the company and the asset
ket operators to identify and disrupt pump- and people trust us to do that. A strategy like
and-dump campaigns, and we will continue that doesn’t always fit with the goals of a day
to target actions that threaten the integrity trader or retail investor.”
of markets and to take enforcement action If social media is now an essential tool for
where appropriate,” ASIC Commissioner companies to tell the positive angle on their
Cathie Armour said. “We expect anyone in- stories to new audiences, how do they tack-
volved in these campaigns to recognise the le negative reactions around falling share
potential impact on market integrity and to prices?
be aware ASIC monitors all trading on the Traditionally, it may have meant taking
ASX equity market on a real time basis.” phone calls, letters or emails from disgrun-
Reports in The Sydney Morning Herald in tled shareholders but as with elsewhere in
October suggest ASIC is even joining chat the digital world, in trading forums this frus-
rooms and forums to warn “finfluencers” tration can turn nasty.
they may be breaking the law. “I have had personal threats and accu-
Even here, companies could be liable for sations of unprofessional behaviour, but it
the regulator’s ire. is very hard to reason with them,” another
“That is why our advice to clients is al- chief executive told Paydirt. “The major
ways that they should at the very least negative is that you have no idea who you’re
monitor social media,” Tasker said. “Monitor dealing with. They can say what they like
what is said because ASIC guidelines state and while you may be able to control your
it is the responsibility of the company to fix narrative, you can’t control theirs. If you do
Michael Anderson any misleading statements which emerge.” let comments get to you, you end up under-
Aylin Amey is a foreign exchange special- mining the confidence in your message.”
new retail investors. ist by profession but has spent the last few Tasker advises not to take individuals on,
Keith Goode has been a mining research years building up a portfolio of resources no matter how tempting to executive teams
analyst for more than three decades, build- stocks. She joined Twitter specifically to who stand accused of misdeeds.
ing up a sizeable following through more gain information about the companies on “We always advise against any individual
traditional means. However, since embrac- her watchlist and others she had missed. contact when there is a negative message
ing Twitter a few years ago, he has seen his Her strategy was to follow successful in- because that can lead to circles of prob-
scope widen. vestors and while this has served her well, lems,” he said. “If we see commonality of
“I have around 3,100 followers but if I tweet she is still very wary of many of the “finflu- misinformation, we would rather clients do
something and it’s retweeted by some- encers” she comes across on different plat- a webinar or Zoom call to tell everyone what
one with a larger following it spreads fast,” forms. is wrong with a certain viewpoint being pro-
Goode told Paydirt. “I probably average “I found it very useful to follow individuals, moted in online forums.”
300,000 views of my tweets each month as long as they are genuine investors and Like many other corners of social me-
but when I recently tweeted something on a not pumpers, although on Twitter the major- dia, the FinTwit platform is fertile ground for
particular company with a big Twitter follow- ity of people are genuine investors,” Amey, conspiracy theories and activism fuelled
ing it was retweeted and had 30,000 views who has more than 1,600 followers of her by people who have little knowledge of the
within 24 hours.” own, told Paydirt. “It allows you to keep up specialist areas they comment on.
And, just as in the consumer world, busi- to date but also follow where and why senti- “They [online trading platforms] have re-
nesses can pay influencers to promote their ment is heading. moved the decision-making and trading
stock. “It is on Facebook and others where I’ve process of old and replaced it with spon-
“There are a number of ‘finfluencers’ seen some questionable things; forums taneous decisions with no controls around
who understand and play within the rules where there are lots of day traders and market placing orders and advice on wheth-
and so using them to promote is no differ- pumpers. You have to take everything you er a trade meets an investor’s risk profile or
ent to any other channel,” Tasker said. “So, see with a grain of salt.” financial goals,” one active Twitter user and
if they reach an audience you are targeting Pump-and-dump is only part of the prob- respected investor told Paydirt.
then you should have no problem. Of con- lem. Three of the mining executives Paydirt The managing director of another junior
cern are the groups or individuals who are spoke to identified down-ramping – the act company agreed.
perhaps new to the market but don’t un- of talking negatively about one stock in or- “It is clear that you are dealing with a num-
derstand the obligations of companies. If a der to promote a peer company – as a fre- ber of non-sophisticated investors. If they
company is paying an influencer, it had an quent problem in forums such as Hot Cop- are trading through their online platforms,
obligation to ensure they play by the rules.” per and Facebook. it means they are not getting professional
The Australian Securities & Investments Even if online activity isn’t nefarious, it can advice and perhaps don’t understand fully
Commission (ASIC) has begun paying still be very difficult to match company strat- what can and can’t be done within regula-
more attention to the market segment. egy with investor expectation, particularly tions,” they told Paydirt.
In June, ASIC chairman Joe Longo said given the proportion of day traders posting “We have been accused of looking after
the role “finfluencers” were playing was an comments compared to long-term holders. ‘our mates’ for undertaking placements
“area of big concern”. “Understanding their motivation is dif- with brokers but that’s not how
ASIC has continued to step up its moni- ficult,” one executive said. “While they the market works.
toring of online platforms. In September, it can move the price on any given “Individuals using on-
issued a statement declaring it was watch- day, we are building a 5-10 line platforms wouldn’t
ing online forums for activity of “pump-and- year business plan, mak- typically be offered
dump” strategies. ing decisions on the best what brokers’ clients
Page 24 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
other stakeholders. Now, it is globalised and
whether you are talking to investors, gov-
ernment or community, everyone can ac-
cess it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
This current trend in mining is part of a
are offered – IPOs, placements, etc – that wider process of digital democratisation
is the nature of the financial sector. Also, it playing out across the entire world. From
is very much DYOR [do your own research] Facebook to Twitter, Uber to YouTube, the
whereas brokers have professional ana- online space has removed barriers to entry
lysts providing information.” across many forms of communication and
Transparency is an increasing concern industry sectors.
for mining companies as investors of all The rise of online investment platforms
types put pressure on them to provided cer- and communities and miners’ ability to com-
tainty around ESG, licence-to-operate and municate with them and other stakeholders
geopolitics. is part of that trend.
“Social media was a big positive for us im- “Is it really any different to more traditional
mediately after the coup [in Mali] earlier this forms?” renowned mining broker, inves-
year,” Firefinch Ltd managing director Mi- tor and now “Finfluencer” Tolga Kumova
chael Anderson explained. “Our share price asked. “The only difference is online trad-
dropped 35% on the day after the coup but ing has removed the broker. Platforms don’t
as we were able to post images and videos make people buy and sell shares and the
and people could see the management decision is now in the hands.”
team onsite, the project continuing and that How companies and their advisers han-
it was business as usual, we were able to dle this shift could define their fortunes as
claw back much of that value.” much as a strong conference presentation
Transparency also extends to the kind once did. Those who can complement digi-
of message companies are delivering. tal with traditional investor relations may see
Previous generations of companies could the greatest results.
present different messages to different “Some companies have adapted to the
audiences but given how accessible and shift towards digital better than others,”
shareable information is, companies must NWR Communications digital communica-
ensure anything they say in any forum, fits tions director Stefi Trenberth said. “As time
with a uniform message. goes on, we’ll see more executives becom-
“We see it with offshore projects,” Tasker ing more proactive in communicating key
said. “Traditionally you could say something company messages via these platforms.”
with a clear message to investors at a con-
ference and then change the message for – Dominic Piper
Some investors have built up a large online following. Tolga Kumova is well known in traditional markets but is also now seen as an
investment doyen in online communities
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 25
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
Are we at the beginning
of a nickel decade?
strongly performing spot price and solid share price performance have placed the Australian
A nickel industry in its strongest position for more than a decade. The enthusiasm for the metal
was reinforced on October 5 when more than 450 delegates arrived at the Pan Pacific Perth for the
Australian Nickel Conference, making it the largest edition of the 27-year-old forum. Paydirt delivers
comprehensive coverage of the event, including the keynote presentations from Wood Mackenzie
principal nickel analyst Angela Durrant and West Australian Minister for Mines Bill Johnston
ickel prices are set for sharp rise in $US19,440/t by 2026, followed by even Durrant said.
Nthe second half of the decade as de- higher prices of $US21,000/t to 2029. Despite Tsingshan’s move, Wood Mac-
mand growth and supply constraints con- “Primary supply will struggle to aver- kenzie is forecasting sulphide miners will
verge to create a gulf in available metal, age annual growth of 2% a year and by remain the primary source of supply for
according to Wood Mackenzie principal 2026 the market will need to find new nickel sulphate producers, accounting
nickel analyst Angela Durrant. nickel. By 2031, the requirement for new for 40% of demand against 37% from lat-
Speaking to a packed opening session nickel will be 570,000 tpa, with 976,000 erite deposits.
of the Australian Nickel Conference, Dur- tpa needed by 2040. While Tsingshan’s move has broken
rant said the recent surge in nickel prices “However, even at current prices nickel sulphide producers’ total domi-
– which has seen spot prices rise from [$US18-19,000/t] we have not seen nance of nickel sulphate supply, Durrant
$US11,000/t in March 2020 to more than banks putting their hands in their pockets expects growing demand from the EV
$US18,500/t in September – may abate to finance new projects, which signals battery market to place continued pres-
over the next two years as the market there is still much caution.” sure on the nickel price.
heads into slight oversupply. However, The forecast will be welcomed by ASX- “It is increasingly clear that nickel pric-
with increasing demand from the EV sec- listed nickel miners whose price climbs es are being buoyed by the energy tran-
tor, she identified 2025 as a tipping point were interrupted in March when Chinese sition,” she said.
for nickel sulphate demand and therefore nickel major Tsingshan announced it Durrant said total nickel demand
spot nickel prices. would convert nickel pig iron (NPI) ca- would double between 2020 and 2040,
“This year, we expect nickel sulphate pacity in Indonesia to nickel matte pro- by which time EVs and batteries will ac-
production will actually exceed demand duction, making a product more appeal- count for 30% of demand, up from 7% in
and we expect this will continue until ing to battery makers. 2020. While stainless steel will remain
2025; this is the point when new nickel “The increase in supply this year is the largest first use market, its share of
sulphate capacity is needed,” Durrant largely to do with Tsingshan’s commit- nickel demand will fall from 70% to 55%
explained. ment from its converted NPI lines in over the same period.
“Our current outlook for nickel demand Indonesia, and the commencement of Not only does Wood Mackenzie expect
is one of tightness. Following the stag- production from HPAL plants in Indo- the global EV rollout to gather pace – it is
nation in demand of 2020, we estimate nesia,” Durrant said. “While we expect, forecasting 49 million EV sales by 2040,
17.3% growth in 2021, firmly bringing the once these shipments commence, sul- up from 3 million this year – but that bat-
market back into balance after last year’s phate prices to decline, for nickel the tery chemistry will also favour nickel pro-
surplus. We estimate an annual average fundamentals remain very positive and ducers, with the shift away from NCM532
price of $US18,575/t. The strength in prices will remain around current levels (five parts nickel to three parts cobalt, to
prices will continue in 2022 before falling throughout 2022.” two parts manganese) and NCM622 to-
as small surpluses emerge in 2023 and “The announcement by Tsingshan… wards NCM811.
2024. From 2025, the market will experi- sent the market into a spin, breaking the Durrant said it was expected that
ence a six-year period of price-support- previous view that the market would be NCM811 and LFP batteries would pro-
ing deficits averaging around 60,000 tpa oversupplied with NPI, and we had no vide the majority of required gigawatt
through to 2030. idea where nickel sulphate supply would hours for EV batteries from 2030 on-
“We expect the deficits through to come from for batteries, Tsingshan had wards.
2030 to support annual average prices of effectively come up with the answer,” “The progressive dominance of 811 will
Page 26 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
Paydirt chairman Bill Repard opens the packed Australian
Nickel Conference
boost nickel consumption although this 240,000 tpa since 2016.
will be countered by lower use as battery In predicting how supply would meet
pack size gets smaller due to increased widening deficits, Durrant said recycling
energy density,” she said. would play a major role by 2040, perhaps
While other non-nickel technologies contributing as much as 20% of new
are being pursued, Durrant said it was nickel units.
expected that nickel-reliant chemistry “Future nickel supply could see invest-
would continue to play a major role in the ment funding redirected towards recy-
EV sector. cling with its inherent qualities around
“There are different battery types but lower environmental footprints,” she said.
a lot of automakers are committed to “We are seeing high rates of investment
the types we currently see. So, over the in new recycling plants across Europe Angela Durrant
next little while substitution won’t play a and the US, as well as Asia.”
big part, but it could do in 10 years from Recycling’s advantages are height- phide or laterite – sit well below global
now,” she said. ened by growing consumer demand for weighted averages.
The EV sector will be of growing impor- clean supply chains. Durrant said sourc- “These positions will become increas-
tance to Australian sulphide miners given ing “clean, green nickel” was increasingly ingly important as global consumers and
Chinese stainless steel’s growing prefer- important for both investors and end-us- investors look to source of the nickel sup-
ence for NPI imported from Indonesia. ers. While Indonesian NPI producers are ply the EV batteries and energy storage
The world’s largest nickel consumer has high up on the carbon emission intensity solutions,” Durrant said.
reduced the import of Class 1 nickel by curve, Australian miners – whether sul-
Nickel West: From zero to hero
HP Nickel West returned to the Aus- meet this demand by being one of the cations in the Goldfields to service our
Btralian Nickel Conference stage a most sustainable producers in the world,” northern operations,” Stone said. “Early
fully-fledged producer of battery ingredi- Stone said. investigations suggest that a 40-50MW
ents. It is doing so by undertaking a major wind farm would reduce emissions by
The company officially opened the decarbonisation exercise. another 30%.”
nickel sulphate facility at Kwinana on Oc- “We have made huge inroads into the The company is also working to reduce
tober 1, just days after announcing it had sustainable production of nickel with diesel usage on its mining operations.
struck a new offtake agreement with a some quite significant power purchase “We’ve also embarked on the EV
Panasonic-Toyota JV. agreements and plans in place to de- journey for our underground operations
The new facility has the potential to carbonise,” Stone said. “In our northern working with Toyota on an EV 4WD and
produce more than 100,000 tpa of nickel operations where our mines and two of purchased an EV Normet charge wagon.
sulphate at 99.99% purity, enough to our concentrators are located, we are These are important steps to reduce die-
make 700,000 batteries for EVs. working with Transalta to build solar sel emissions underground for the safety
The plant represents the largest step farms at Mt Keith [a 27.4MW solar farm] of our people as well as the environment.”
yet in Western Australia’s move towards and Leinster [10.7MW solar farm and The company’s willingness to fund
a downstream battery minerals sector 10.1MW battery]. This is the first large- new large-scale renewables projects re-
– the Tianqi-IGO Ltd lithium hydroxide scale onsite solar farm and battery stor- inforces its outlook of long-life operations
plant at Kwinana is still in commissioning age facility BHP has ever commissioned in WA.
– and points to Nickel West’s own com- at any of its global operations.” The company is looking to expand
mitment to servicing the battery market. In its southern network, the company its Mt Keith concentrator by installing a
More than 85% of Nickel West’s mine has extended and expanded its power 16MW SAG mil and modernising the flo-
production is now sold into the battery purchase agreement with the 100MW tation circuit which was commissioned in
mineral supply chain, transforming the Merredin solar farm, lifting offtake from 1992. On the mining front, the Yakabindie
BHP Ltd offshoot from unwanted burden 20MW to 50MW. Stone said the project pits are now in full production and a cut-
to poster child of the major’s role in the would reduce carbon emissions at the back has been started on the original Mt
energy revolution. Kalgoorlie nickel smelter by 30%. Keith pit, resulting in a 50% increase in
Speaking at the conference, Nickel As well as the existing renewable pow- mining activity.
West general manager northern opera- er agreements, Nickel West is pursuing At Leinster, the company has been
tions, NPI and exploration, Chris Stone new opportunities in both the South- debottlenecking the concentrator circuit,
said the company’s rise to preferred sup- West and Goldfields regions. increasing production to record rates.
plier status with the likes of Tesla, Toyota “Nickel West is actively looking at wind To meet the new capacity, the com-
and Panasonic had as much to do with opportunities in the South-West which pany is focused on extending the Cliffs
performance as product quality. will satisfy remaining electricity require- underground and has hit full production
“Our customers are increasing their ments at our Kalgoorlie nickel smelter (720,000 tpa @ 1.2% nickel) in the Ve-
demand for clean nickel and a clean and Kwinana nickel refinery, and we nus underground.
supply chain and Nickel West is able to have also identified several attractive lo-
– Dominic Piper
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 27
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
All quiet on the IGO-Western front
he elephant in the room may have been
Tallowed to doze quietly in the corner, nei-
ther Western Areas Ltd nor IGO Ltd left Aus-
tralian Nickel Conference delegates in any
doubt about their respective commitment to
growing their nickel base.
The two nickel miners have often shared
the conference stage through the years but
the sight of Dan Lougher and Peter Brad-
ford together this year took on added sig-
nificance given they had only just confirmed
discussions were under way regarding a
possible merger.
The merger is being driven by an indus-
try-wide push to find the longer-life nickel
reserves required to fill robust demand fore-
casts.
“It’s all about growth and that’s where you
want to be today,” Lougher said during his
address.
For Western Areas, the path forward is
clearly defined with the company on the
verge of ore extraction at its massive new
Odysseus underground development in the
Cosmos complex near Leinster, Western iGO managing director Peter Bradford (second left) was keeping close to western Areas
Australia. counterpart Dan Lougher (far left) during the opening session of the Australian Nickel
In October, the company announced it Conference. The two companies are currently in merger discussions. Chris Stone (BHP
had hit first ore in the Odysseus South un- Nickel west) and Oliver Kiddie (Legend Mining) also appeared in the opening session
derground mine and had broken through to
surface following 630m of back reaming on
Stage 1 of the haulage shaft. move because there is a shortage of product Further opportunity exists at the long-ne-
“After 10 months of back reaming we worldwide.” glected Mt Goode orebody which Lougher
broke back through to surface,” Lougher Nickel sulphide concentrate offtake has said had the potential to extend mine life be-
said. “We did a laser survey and having giv- long been sold through short-term contracts yond 20 years.
en them a 200mm tolerance over the 630m, with smelters – whether BHP Nickel West, “There is over 300,000t and while it is at
we believe they are within 100mm so a job Chinese groups Jinchuan and Tsingshan or 0.6% with the right open pit mining methods
very well done by everyone associated. Europeans such as Glencore and Trafigura and right, probably, hydrometallurgical pro-
“The shaft now will start Stage 2 and start – but Western Areas’ recent marketing cam- cessing route this is actually going to come
pilot drilling the bottom 300m.” paigns have suggested fragmentation in the up and we are pushing this quite hard,” he
The company expects the haulage shaft market. said.
to be in full commissioning by April 2023. “The new trend will be moving away from The company was set to launch a drilling
The Cosmos concentrator is expected to traditional smelter short-term [typically three- programme at Mt Goode last month, de-
be up and running before that with Lough- year] contracts to life-of-mine contracts,” signed to provide material for metallurgical
er saying ore currently being trucked from Lougher said, adding the company expect- testwork.
underground to be either stockpiled or toll- ed the trend to create improved commercial “We need more core for mineralogy,
treated. terms and potential downstream benefits. testing, flotation and beneficiation studies,”
“First ore was announced to the market That move will make Odysseus even Lougher said.
this morning,” he said. “We will stockpile that more attractive to customers, especially if Although low grade compared to other
ore and talk to our friends up the road [Nickel the maiden marketing term is only two years. deposits in the company’s stable, Mt Goode
West] about whether they want to toll-treat The project already has a 10-year mine has the kind of tonnages Lougher believes
it, otherwise we will stockpile it ahead of the life but with a feasibility study imminent for are needed to appeal to the next generation
concentrator being recommissioned in No- the adjacent AM6 orebody (2.1mt @ 2.2% of nickel users.
vember next year.” for 47,000t nickel), Lougher is confident of “I know people regard Western Areas as a
The timing of first ore was welcomed, giv- adding life and volume to the operation. high-grade miner, but we have to remember
en that it coincides with the start of offtake Elsewhere, Western Areas is set to restart that we are in a world here where the aver-
discussions surrounding Odysseus output. underground drilling in the main Odysseus age is sub-1% so we mustn’t get too bogged
“We’ve been blown off our feet by the re- orebody where historical holes returned hits down evaluating grades we used to have,”
sponse so far,” Lougher said of the inbound of 5.3m @ 15% nickel and 3.4m @ 22% he said.
inquiries. “Things are looking very good in nickel. “The future of nickel demand will be: ‘can
Asia and Europe and North America coming “We are in there now and will increase the you get nickel units? Can you get nickel
into the market. Everyone now is starting to resource,” Lougher said. sulphide concentrates?’ Not, ‘what is the
Page 28 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
grade?’. The world will require all nickel prod-
ucts, if you’ve got them.”
Having access to longer life nickel tonnes
is driving IGO’s bid to marry up with Western
Areas.
While the company is in “harvest mode”
on its Nova nickel-copper-cobalt mine in
WA, Bradford said the company’s desire to
make the leap to nickel sulphate production
required deeper reserves than the current western Areas is on the verge of ore extraction from its new Odysseus South
four years Nova boasts. underground mine
“We are already a downstream proces-
sor through the Tianqi JV [where it is mining We developed the IGO process, it delivers However, the recent acquisition of the Sil-
spodumene at Greenbushes and produc- high metal extractions, has lower cost, lower ver Knight nickel deposit from Creasy Group
ing a lithium hydroxide product at Kwinana] emissions and lower waste,” Bradford said. and the opening of discussions with Western
and we have an aspiration to take our nickel “We continue our journey to identify more Areas points to the company’s growing need
downstream,” he said. longer-date nickel tonnes to realise our am- for more tonnes.
IGO has already developed a unique bition of going downstream and becoming “The year ahead is about… maintaining
processing pathway to produce a nickel sul- vertically integrated in the nickel space.” our commitment to exploration and discov-
phate product but given the capital intensity To date, IGO has relied on exploration to ery to unlock value while also continuing a
of such projects, it requires the production fulfill its ambitions. It has a $65 million explo- parallel workstream to identify disciplined,
profile to reach critical mass. ration budget for FY2022, of which $33 mil- accretive M&A opportunities,” Bradford said.
“We started this journey by looking at lion is committed to Nova and the regional – Dominic Piper
that emerging demand for nickel sulphate. Fraser Range ground.
Metal Hawk swoops
on Commodore
merging explorer Metal Hawk Ltd has the company reported intersecting “signifi- been explored, ever, really,” Belbin said.
Ebolstered its bank balance to $5.5 mil- cant” massive sulphide mineralisation from “The interpreted ultramafic runs up
lion after confirming Australia’s latest nickel maiden drilling at Commodore, about 20km through our ground for about 10km…
sulphide discovery. east of Kalgoorlie and only 5km north of the there’s no drilling that has effectively tested
Metal Hawk raised $2.4 million via a historic Blair nickel mine. this unit, so it effectively gives us a fertile
strongly supported placement last month Subsequent assay results for the lower chunk of ultramafic to explore.
to accelerate exploration efforts at its Bere- section of the discovery hole returned 1m “It’s high tenor nickel sulphide, what more
haven nickel project where grades of up to @ 5.89% nickel from 144m. A second drill could you ask for?”
5.89% nickel were recently recorded at the hole of 22m @ 0.27% nickel, 170 ppm cop- Established nickel producer– and JV
Commodore prospect. per, 10 ppb platinum and 20 ppb palladium partner on three other Metal Hawk pro-
Shares in Metal Hawk soared more than from 92m also intersected a zone of ex- jects – Western Areas Ltd participated
400% to 96.5c in early September after tremely weathered and gossanous ultra- in last month’s placement to maintain its
mafic rock. 6.6% holding in the company. Berehaven is
Diamond drilling is now 100% owned by Metal Hawk.
under way, with deeper drill- Belbin said his team had been pleasant-
ing to follow. Staged RC ly surprised by the market reaction to the
drilling will also begin shortly discovery at Commodore, especially with
to test the zone of massive Metal Hawk only making its ASX debut last
sulphides immediately along November.
strike from the discovery “We believe we’re on to a very good thing
hole. here,” he said. “There’s a lot of nickel com-
Speaking to Paydirt on panies out there, some with much less ex-
the sidelines of the Austral- citing projects than what we have, but we’re
ian Nickel Conference, Metal off to a pretty good start.
Hawk managing director Will “We don’t have a big team to spread our
Belbin said his company wings too far at this point in time, but while
could not have asked for a we’ve got all this excitement happening at
better start to drilling at Be- Commodore we’re really going to knuckle
rehaven. down over these next few months.”
“We hit some high-grade, Metal Hawk is currently awaiting results
massive nickel sulphide, un- from recent drilling programmes at its Emu
Metal Hawk managing director will Belbin talks shop with der cover, 5km north of the Lake and Kanowna East gold-nickel pro-
western Areas boss Dan Lougher at the company’s booth Blair nickel mine, on a piece jects.
during the Australian Nickel Conference. western Areas is of stratigraphy that hasn’t
a major shareholder in the emerging nickel-gold explorer – Michael Washbourne
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 29
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
Thank you to all our
sponsors, presenters
and delegates.
We look forward to seeing
you again in 2022.
Page 30 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
Jaguar poised for growth
hile seven diamond rigs are aggres- and 6.7m @ 2.09% from 255.4m) in July. the resource category up so that when
Wsively turning at Jaguar ahead of an More recently, the company struck 21m we deliver the DFS [in Q4 2022] that
imminent resource update, Centaurus @ 1.25% nickel from 367m (including 3m we’ve got all of this mineralisation com-
Metals Ltd is salivating over results from @ 5.56% from 369m) from the deepest ing across into reserves,” he said.
recent step-out drilling on its extensive step-out drilling completed to date at the “We’re also now stepping out and do-
nickel footprint in Brazil, including a new Jaguar South deposit. ing some of the deeper drilling which we
discovery only 4km from the proposed Speaking at the Australian Nickel Con- didn’t do in the first year of picking up the
ROM pad. ference, Centaurus managing director project. There was so much mineralisa-
Maiden regional drilling intersected Darren Gordon marvelled but was equal- tion close to the surface that we wanted
significant zones of nickel sulphide min- ly not surprised at what the drill rigs had to go and test. We’ve done that now and
eralisation at Tigre, the first of 11 promis- been able to deliver in recent months. got that into the resource. Now it’s about
ing greenfields prospects which Centau- “The diamond rigs are doing a lot of stepping out and showing that the miner-
rus plans to test over the coming months. the infill work to ensure that we can get alisation here has got legs.”
A diamond rig was subsequently mobi- Centaurus is looking to build on a “val-
lised to Tigre to validate RC visuals, with ue-added” scoping study which forecast
a 5.8m zone of stringer and net-textured NPV of $1.1 billion and IRR of 52% from
nickel sulphides (millerite and pentland- the production of 20,000 tpa recovered
ite) intersected in the very first hole. nickel-in-sulphate and 9,600 tpa mixed
Centaurus suggested the success at sulphide precipitate, based on a con-
Tigre had increased the prospectivity servative nickel price of $US7.50/lb plus
of the dacite-basement genesis contact a sulphate premium of $US0.50/lb.
which extends 700m to the east towards Annual free operating cash flow is
the next greenfields target at Dente de estimated at $US189 million following a
Sabre. capex of $US288 million for the 2.7 mtpa
It also provides the company with fur- nickel sulphate plant.
ther confidence it can extend the current “Fundamentally, we have a 13-year
13-year mine life for Jaguar. The exist- project right now, but we expect that the
ing 58.9mt @ 0.96% nickel for 562,600t mine life will grow as we drill further,”
resource which supports that production Gordon said.
profile is set to be upgraded before the “If we’re producing [circa] $US190 mil-
end of the year. lion free cash flow a year and we’re do-
Centaurus has continued to churn ing that over 15-20 years, I think we’re in
out one impressive drilling result after pretty good shape.”
another since returning a project-best
hit of 56.1m @ 2.05% nickel from 206m – Michael Washbourne
(including 17.6m @ 4.86% from 208m Darren Gordon
St George delivers at depth where a more significant amount of minerali-
sation will be discovered.”
Diamond drilling of the conductors at West
easoned nickel explorer St George Min- belt. However, it was the extent of that strike End and Investigators began last month fol-
Sing Ltd had a simple goal for 2021 and that convinced the company the system must lowing the completion of a seismic survey,
executive chairman John Prineas was only be deeper than what the drill bit was turning with results still pending at the time of print.
too happy to report to the Australian Nickel up. St George also continues to push ahead
Conference that his team had more than MAD199 intersected more than 11m of with plans for a scoping study on some of its
ticked the box. nickel-copper sulphide from 333.5m down- shallow but more advanced prospects, spe-
“The challenge was to find more miner- hole. It was the deepest and western-most cifically Stricklands and Cathedrals, with re-
alisation at depth, bigger accumulations, occurrence of massive sulphides discovered source drilling completed on the former and
and we’ve successfully delivered that result to date and confirmed that the large intrusive currently under way on the latter.
in 2021,” Prineas said via video link from his unit was fertile for nickel-copper sulphides at Canada-based Glencore subsidiary XPS
Sydney base. depth. has been engaged to assess the metallurgy
“We have a new discovery at depth, an St George also tasted success with its first and develop a processing flowsheet.
intrusive-style deposit. Typically, you will find step-out hole, intersecting massive nickel- Prineas said it was important for the com-
more mineralisation at depth. We’ve been copper sulphides at 125m down-plunge of pany to look at development options for the
drilling deeper holes and doing downhole EM MAD199. project while still accumulating the mineralisa-
surveys and we [had] a major discovery with “What we think we’re seeing is very signifi- tion within the belt.
MAD199.” cant potential for mineralisation in this loca- “These are small shallow deposits, high-
Owner of the Mt Alexander project about tion,” Prineas said. grade, which we think are amenable to
100km west of Leonora, St George has previ- “The presence of so many conductors tells some sort of profitable, high-margin opera-
ously made four shallow, high-grade discov- us this is going to be a very active part of the tion,” he said.
eries over a 5.5km strike of the Cathedrals mineral system at Cathedrals and potentially – Michael Washbourne
Page 32 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
WA prepares for ports last year, the ment believes the WA resources sector is
heading.
highest since 2014
and the Government “Nickel West shows we are a genuine
downstream flood welcomed the $74 player [in battery materials production] and
that Australian technology can solve the
million of royalties but
most importantly there problem of producing product to spec for
were 7,500 jobs in the global demand,” he said. “I’m sure there are
ike many West Australians, Minister for sector,” Johnston said. “I always make the going to be other investors, and of course,
LMines & Petroleum Bill Johnston has a point that while WA will continue to be an the Government is talking to some of those
fondness for nickel – and the reasons for the iron ore-dominated economy, it is actually investors in that nickel processing space.”
soft spot are continuing to expand in line with in the other metals that you see even more Making the leap from nickel miner to bat-
the metal’s global standing. jobs. For every dollar invested into nickel we tery chemicals producer will be a large one.
Johnston has been a regular guest at the see a greater return of jobs [than iron ore]. The WA Government has launched a $13.2
Australian Nickel Conference since taking That is one of the reasons why I personally million incentive scheme for any investor
on the portfolio in 2017. Opening the 2021 pay such close attention to the nickel sector willing to build a precursor material manu-
edition of the forum, he revealed one of the and that is why the Government wants to facturing facility in WA which is designed to
reasons why he had such affection for the continue to support the growth of the nickel place the State at the forefront of the rapidly
sector. sector in this State.” expanding EV revolution.
“The State saw $3.3 billion of nickel ex- Those nickel-related jobs could become China currently dominates the battery ma-
more varied across terials supply chain but Johnston said there
the rest of the dec- was room for more than one player.
ade if the State Gov- “Global demand is going to grow so fast
ernment’s push to there is going to be room for many alterna-
expand downstream tive suppliers and having a strong Tier-1 ju-
processing capability risdiction where you can have a clear under-
is realised. standing of ESG achievements [will be vital].
Johnson refer- That means we’ll have a strong role to play in
enced the recent a future industry,” he said.
opening of BHP Ltd “We’re not saying we should replace
Nickel West’s Kwi- China but that with additional demand we
nana nickel sulphate should be able to grow alongside China…
plant as a demon- COVID-19 has demonstrated you don’t want
stration of where the all your logistics to go through one location.”
Bill Johnston McGowan Govern- – Dominic Piper
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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 33
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
Panoramic readies for processing
nly something completely unexpected been contracted to oversee the processing
Owill prevent Panoramic Resources Ltd at Savannah North, which is adjacent to the
from processing first ore from Savannah original Savannah orebody mined by Pano-
North this month. ramic from 2004 to 2016 and again briefly in
Speaking at the Australian Nickel Confer- 2019 before production was halted in March
ence early last month, Panoramic managing 2020 due to low nickel prices and the onset
director Victor Rajasooriar confirmed the of the COVID-19 pandemic.
company’s mining contractor Barminco had According to the feasibility study published
reached the 100,000t ore stockpile target re- in April, Panoramic is set to produce 9,027
quired for processing to begin at the start of tpa nickel, 4,863 tpa copper and 676 tpa co-
November. balt over an initial 12-year mine life. Assum-
With everything continuing to run accord- ing a base case nickel price of $US7.28/lb,
ing to schedule, it almost certainly means production from Savannah North is set to
the company will be waving goodbye to its generate pre-tax cash flow of $610 million
first concentrate shipment in December, and NPV of $353 million, after an all-in cost Victor Rajasooriar
as outlined when the Panoramic board ap- of $6.76/lb payable nickel, net any by-prod-
proved the restart of operations at the East uct credits and royalty payments. the upside in the economics, including a ris-
Kimberley mine in April. Rajasooriar said the company’s mine plan ing nickel price environment.
“We anticipate that processing will start in remained conservative with the processing “We are unhedged and we are definitely
the first week of November, that’s been our plant to be ramped up from 40,000 tpm to exposed to the commodity cycle,” he said.
plan all along,” Rajasooriar said. 80,000 tpm over a nine-month period and “Even today with the metal prices slightly
“We’ve built an ore stockpile on the sur- the assumed nickel recoveries being 83% softer, the exchange rates have dropped
face of 103,000t. The reason for that was so compared to the historic 86% from 12 years down a bit, it still gives us over $1 billion in
that when we start the processing plant, it’s of production at the original Savannah mine. cash flow that this little Savannah mine is go-
going to run steady, we don’t have to shut it Life-of-mine nickel grade of 1.23% also ing to be producing over the next 12 years…
down frequently, and there’s a steady supply includes a 22% dilution factor, compared to this small junior company is going to gener-
of concentrate coming out.” the historic 12%. ate over $1 billion over the next 12 years.”
NRW Holdings Ltd subsidiary Primero has Rajasooriar said it was hard to overlook – Michael Washbourne
Page 34 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
Mincor in the right camp
incor Resources NL managing di- face,” he said. “This drill programme will Mining activities continue to progress
Mrector David Southam says the fact go out for the entire financial year. on schedule at the new Cassini under-
his exploration team keeps finding high- “I’d also like to point out because some ground mine, with Southam indicating
grade nickel next to existing infrastruc- people think that the Durkin North ore- the company was very close to the top
ture is validation the company has “only body has previously been mined, it’s of the orebody and first ore was “coming
just scratched the surface” as it prepares never been touched. Mincor actually soon”.
to restart operations in the Kambalda dis- stopped drilling it many years ago as they Mincor recently completed a $66 mil-
trict. were getting close to the border [with for- lion placement and SPP with some of the
Southam’s comments at last month’s mer Long owner IGO Ltd] and they would proceeds raised to be used on the con-
Australian Nickel Conference followed be adding value to that side…we think struction of a new camp for the Cassini
a string of impressive drill hits in the we’re a pretty good chance of extending workforce.
1.1km zone between the Long and Dur- the mine life at Durkin North.” “When we did the feasibility study, we
kin North mines, including 8.1m @ 4.2% were using a third-party standalone facil-
nickel (including 3.7m @ 6% and 1.7m @ ity in Kambalda, but what we didn’t real-
4.5%) and 2.6m @ 3.7% nickel (including ise was that COVID would go on for so
0.3m @ 8.2%). long and there would be a combination of
Those results preceded further high- a resources boom in the Goldfields and
grade nickel sulphide intersections at the camp facilities would start to run pretty
newly named Hartleys prospect, 17km tight,” Southam explained.
north-west of the developing Cassini “We’ve gone out for expressions of in-
mine. Best hits included 1.2m @ 3.5% terest [for the camp build] and we should
nickel, 1.4m @ 3% nickel and 4.5m @ get those back very shortly. We will be
3.3% nickel (including 0.6m @ 6.9%). building on already approved ground. It’s
Southam said the recent drilling suc- a really important investment for not only
cess at “Golden Mile” – the name be- our people but for our investors out there.
stowed on the largely untested trend be- We wouldn’t be putting in a camp if we
tween Long and Durkin North – had the didn’t think that we would have a mine life
added benefit of being just 100m away beyond the first five years.”
from processing facilities. – Michael Washbourne
“We’ve only just scratched the sur-
David Southam
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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 35
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
Chalice toasts resource milestone
ll eyes will be on Chalice Mining Ltd months after the company shot to promi- “We also have Baudin and Jansz, some
Athis month with the market darling nence on the back of the rare nickel-cop- 10km and 18km away from the Gonneville
poised to release a maiden resource es- per-PGE find. deposit, which are a little bit more subtle in
timate for its prized discovery at Julimar, While the market continues to specu- terms of EM response, but still very inter-
70km north of Perth. late about the potential size and grade of esting on the soil geochemistry. I guess we
Chalice managing director Alex Dorsch the Gonneville discovery, Dorsch said his are inferring that the same geology exists
told last month’s Australian Nickel Con- company was pushing ahead with regional there, so we could have many more dis-
ference a resource for the Gonneville de- exploration work, including scaling out the coveries than just the two here at Julimar.”
posit was due “in about the middle part same targeting techniques over Chalice’s Dorsch also highlighted the positive
of this quarter” and a little more than 18 8,000sq km footprint in the Julimar State progress the company had made on the
Forest. metallurgical front with confirmation two
“What we’ve actually found in reality separate concentrate parcels could be
is a greater than 26km-long package of produced from Julimar.
mafic-ultramafic geology and we just hap- “Obviously it’s not worth finding anything
pened to be basically drilling the first hole if you can’t actually get the metal out of the
at the very southern end of that geology rock,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of test
where we made the Gonneville discovery,” work now, really focused on that higher
Dorsch said. grade sulphide mineralisation and we’ve
Coinciding with the release of the maid- proven that we’ve got high metal recover-
en resource for Gonneville, Chalice will ies into two separate concentrates…with
soon have first access over its current low levels of deleterious elements.”
boundary into the Julimar State Forest and Chalice is expected to incorporate those
start drilling the Hartog target to the north results into a scoping study on Julimar
where the company is planning to punch which the company has slated for comple-
about 70 holes over a 10km strike length. tion during the first half of next year.
“All the indications are there that we
Chalice managing director Alex Dorsch have a continuation of the mineralising – Michael Washbourne
with general manager exploration system to the north,” Dorsch said.
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The sun rises on Andover
ometimes a picture truly is worth a massive, disseminated nickel-copper at the project has made drill targeting a
Sthousand words and Azure Minerals sulphides. relatively straightforward exercise.
Ltd managing director Tony Rovira said Rovira said the company is targeting a “The EM survey to date has been a
all that needed saying when he opened resource from VC-07 East in Q1 2022. 1:1 correlation,” he said. “You drill into a
his time on stage at the Australian Nickel “The VC-07 East deposit was the one conductor and you will hit nickel-copper
Conference with the image of a rising sun. we focused straight onto at Andover,” he sulphide mineralisation.
“That is the rising sun over our Ando- said. “We’ve been drilling on it for about “It’s all fresh rock, unlike other places
ver complex,” Rovira said. “It is one of the 9-10 months now and we’re getting very in Western Australia such as the Fraser
most exciting projects I have ever been close to completing a resource drill out. Ranger…no false anomalies.”
involved with.” That drilling should be finished within the Following work at VC-07 East, Azure
The last time Paydirt reported on Az- next 3-4 weeks, and it would take nearly will move the drill rigs to VC-07 West and
ure followed a site visit to the project, east two months to get all of our assays back VC-23. EM surveying has also found a
of Karratha and outside the town of Roe- after that.” number of priority targets for the company
bourne, in August. At the time, Rovira was Rovira explained the lack of soil cover to follow up, including VC-18, VC-30, VC-
eagerly awaiting results from the VC-07 31, VC-32 and VC-41. These are awaiting
East nickel-copper deposit. “imminent” heritage approvals.
Just days after Rovira addressed the “Those are the five we’ll be carrying
conference, high-grade drill hits were initial exploration on, but there’s probably
released, vindicating his previous con- at least another dozen or more that are
fidence with nickel grades as high as on the property that are yet to be drilled,”
3.99%. Rovira said.
Hits include 4.8m @ 2.63% nickel, Just as he started his time on stage,
0.43% copper and 0.12% cobalt from Rovira ended it much the same with a pic-
356.7m downhole and 7.6m @ 2.38% ture of Main St in Roebourne, 1909, fea-
nickel, 0.29% copper and 0.10% cobalt turing a man with a horse and carriage.
from 329.7m downhole, among many “It’s full steam ahead at Andover,” he
more encouraging results. said.
A further 24 drill holes were awaiting
assay results at time of print, which visu- – Fraser Palamara
ally showed significant massive, semi- Tony Rovira
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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 37
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
Poseidon fills the mill
oseidon Nickel Ltd managing director because obviously it’s pretty hot in the the basis of Poseidon’s restart plans for
PPeter Harold expects the final cost for sector at the moment, but it’s not going Black Swan. The company is also look-
refurbishing the Black Swan processing to double,” he said. “Even if it went up 20- ing to process tailings from Silver Swan,
plant to be slightly higher than current es- 30%, which is probably some sort of indi- stockpiled ore at the mine site and poten-
timates, but still significantly cheaper than cation where it might be, we’re still talking tially incorporate feed from its Windarra
what the company would have to fork out less than $30 million to do a refurb. project, about 300km to the north, as
to build a new facility from scratch. “I would think for replacement of a well as other third-party material.
A scoping study completed in July by plant like that today, you wouldn’t get Harold said the company had com-
GR Engineering Services Ltd indicated much change out of $150-200 million, mitted to restarting the larger 1.1 mtpa
$22.1 million was needed to revive the circuit (a 150,000 tpa option focused on
mothballed 1.1 mtpa circuit so it can take processing only high-grade ore was also
feed from the new Golden Swan orebody assessed) based purely on the long-term
as well as the historic Black Swan open outlook for nickel.
pit and Silver Swan underground. “If we thought nickel was going back
Operating costs are estimated at to $US6/lb again, then it wouldn’t make
$29.40/t and first ore can be fed into the any sense to turn the big mill on, and so
mill about six months after a decision to you just focus on the high-grade, low-
mine. volume, high-margin business,” he said.
GR Engineering is now working on “Because the nickel price outlook is so
a BFS due for completion in April/May. good, based on those supply-demand
Poseidon has tentatively pencilled in figures, it makes so much more sense to
December 2022 for the commissioning Peter Harold go for the jugular, turn the big one on, fill
on the refurbished plant at Black Swan, it up and make a lot of money out of doing
about 50km north-east of Kalgoorlie. and it would take you a long time in this that, especially with nickel at potentially
Speaking at the Australian Nickel Con- climate to build and operate and get it more than $US9/lb.”
ference, Harold conceded the estimates commissioned.”
from the scoping study were likely to in- A maiden resource for Golden Swan – Michael Washbourne
crease due to a number of factors. was due at the time of print. The new dis-
“I’m sure that price will go up a little bit covery made some 18 months ago forms
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Page 38 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
JRD015_Novacell Qtr Pg Ad Paydirt FA.indd 1 21/9/21 4:48 pm
Ravensthorpe nests on clean
nickel sentiment
hile nickel’s main use continues First Quantum sold the share in the
Wto be for the steelmaking industry, mine for $US240 million in May, retaining
an all-too-common theme of this year’s 70% and continuing as the operator. It’s
Australian Nickel Conference was the a substantial win for the Canadian com-
commodity’s continued growth into EV pany which had previously purchased
demands. the operation from BHP Ltd for $US340
Wood Mackenzie principal nickel ana- million in 2010.
lyst Angela Durrant’s keynote address POSCO will receive 7,500 tpa of mixed
set the tone for the day’s proceedings, nickel-cobalt hydroxide precipitate from
suggesting the EV industry would make Ravensthorpe starting in 2024.
up 30% of nickel’s use by 2040. This First Quantum is also engaging in
growth for a clean, green future has po- conversations with POSCO on how to
sitioned explorers and producers to con- Mike Christie produce specialised nickel for cathode
sider their carbon footprints, from pro- production.
duction to downstream processing. generate all of our power on site using “Through water and power, Raven-
Speaking later in the day, First Quan- an acid plant and the steam that’s gen- sthorpe ticks all the boxes of the nickel
tum Ltd exploration director Mike Christie erated from that plant drives a series of supply for the future,” Christie said.
gleefully championed the Ravensthorpe turbines, both for powering the plant and “I think that’s one of the reasons why
nickel mine’s green box-ticking in West- for heating various vessels in the recov- POSCO was so keen to get involved.
ern Australia. ery process.” “They are a company that is very heav-
“Ravensthorpe is actually an incred- Ravensthorpe is not even on the WA ily invested into the cathode side of bat-
ibly clean source of nickel supply which power grid, as it sources its water from tery materials, and we’ll be talking to
is becoming increasingly important for seawater. The nickel-producing mine’s them in the future about how we design
us these days,” Christie said. “It has one green governance was validated earlier the Ravensthorpe mine to potentially
of the smallest carbon footprints of any this year when South Korean steelmaker produce a nickel sulphate product.”
nickel operation globally. POSCO subscribed to offtake and ac-
“The reasons for that is we basically quired 30% of the operation. – Fraser Palamara
• Andover – defining a major nickel-copper
sulphide deposit
• Barton, Turner River – two exciting projects in
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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 39
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
Ardea has a clean idea
rdea managing director Andrew Pen- cused projects such as KNP are recog-
Akethman perhaps said it best at the nised as being important to satisfy the
Australian Nickel Conference when he requests of loan lenders and institutional
acknowledged the increasing number of investors that are frequently putting ESG
heads in the room – in part thanks to the requirements at the top of their bill.
ESG-focused clean energy drive. “If people are genuine about ensuring
“Over the last three years we’ve seen ethical and sustainable mineral supply,
a steady rise in attendance and that has you can’t get it from Indonesia and the
corresponded with the sentiment for Philippines,” he said. “You have to come
nickel and the appreciation in its price,” to jurisdictions like Western Australia
he said. “I think we can all agree that where we’ve got an ethical and sustain-
nickel demand is growing and will contin- able brand of supply. With KNP, we’re
ue to grow with traditional uses such as optimally positioned for that.”
stainless steel, but more importantly with In the meantime, Ardea is yet to make
energy storage for lithium-ion batteries in any offtake commitments in a market that
the EV revolution.” has plenty looking for supply.
Penkethman believes Ardea’s Kalgoor- “We have deliberately not signed any
lie nickel project (KNP), currently the Andrew Penkethman offtake agreements, even though there’s
subject of a feasibility study, can help plenty of demand and interest in our
satiate this hunger with an advanced, 1960s.” offtake,” Penkethman said. “We’re not
green-focused flowsheet that teaches Ardea plans to target KNP’s high- going to enter into a soft agreement and
new tricks to an old dog. grade ore (78mt @ 1% nickel) with a get a short-term sugar spike kick to our
“Over the last 12 months there has high-pressure acid leach autoclave. share price. It’s all about developing long
been a lot of work undertaken in revising “Nickel laterites have to be part of the term strategic relationships.
the flowsheet and that’s all about maxim- production source moving forward,” Pen- “We already know that we have in-
ising resource utilisation which plays into kethman said. “There is no EV revolution dustry leading low CO2 emissions, but
the ESG thematic of minimising carbon without the development of globally sig- there’s room for improvement there.”
emissions,” he said. “We’ve actually had nificant nickel projects like KNP.”
this type of flowsheet in use since the He added that environmentally fo- – Fraser Palamara
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cannonres.com.au
ASX: CNR
www.chalicemining.com
Page 40 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
Auroch on the attack
ust a day before Auroch Minerals Ltd ing some further drilling shortly.” tially be something we’re seeing at Ne-
Jexploration manager Matt McCarthy Both McCarthy and Auroch managing pean,” McCarthy explained. “It’s a very
addressed the Australian Nickel Confer- director Aidan Platel have likened the attractive hypothesis which we have just
ence, the first hole from the company’s opportunity at Nepean Deeps to West- started to test.”
maiden diamond drilling programme at ern Areas Ltd’s Flying Fox mine due to Following the completion of the first
Nepean Deeps below the historic mine a pegmatite vein constraining the deep drill hole prior to the conference, Platel
workings was deemed fruitful. exploration. called it a “pivotal moment” for the pro-
“The hole was a success,” McCarthy Nepean is only up to 500m deep and ject and company.
said. “It was actually the first hole to drill previously produced more than 32,000t “Due to the lack of any deep explora-
through the thick pegmatite below the nickel. Meanwhile, Flying Fox is more tion historically, we had no idea what to
mine.” than 1.2km deep and has so far pro- expect from this once we go to depths
Hole NPDD008 travelled to a depth of duced 100,000t nickel. below the historic mine workings,” Platel
1,291m and intersected a total 46m of “Western Areas eventually drilled said. “To have intersected thick zones of
prospective komatiitic ultramafics over through and got to the first of several ultramafics below the pegmatite…is an
three intervals. Geophysical surveys are mineralised terraces and that can poten- exceptional result and proves our theory
now being conducted downhole and will that the mine stratigraphy does indeed
guide further drilling to take place a mat- continue beneath the pegmatite intru-
ter of weeks from now. sion.”
Despite there being historic drilling Results from the downhole geophysi-
from the old mine workings, this was cal surveys were expected at time of
the first time any kind of exploration has print.
gone so deep at the Nepean nickel pro- “We’re committed to delivering a
ject. 100,000t contained nickel resource from
“We’ve picked up pegmatites and the company,” McCarthy said. “We be-
greenstones pretty well,” McCarthy said. lieve there’s significant exploration po-
“We’re also taking a sonic tool to site to tential in the short term with multiple pro-
measure the seismic velocity of the hole grammes planned.”
which will be fed into the interpretation of
the algorithms used to update our pro- – Fraser Palamara
cessing going forward. We’ll then be do- Matt McCarthy
Excellence in
Exploration
Large tenement holdings in the emerging
Ni-Cu-PGM province of south west WA also
with Li and REE potential.
Major ground position for Ni-Cu-PGM in
Broken Hill, NSW. Breakthrough drill
results at 3 prospects.
Drilling to commence in Q4 2021 for gold at
the Doonia project east of the Burns
discovery near Kambalda WA.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Peter Unsworth Non-Executive Chairman
Michael Jones Managing Director
Paul Ingram Non-Executive Director
Markus Elsasser Non-Executive Director
(08) 6454 6666
impactminerals.com.au
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 41
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
New players leave their mark
here have been times down the years when “The assay results show that the mineralisa-
T the Australian Nickel Conference has suf- tion continues down-plunge at better than the
fered from a lack of variety but the 2021 edition average grade of the existing resource,” Lynn
had plenty to offer, with two of the newest sector said in an ASX announcement. “The system
entrants, Cannon Resources Ltd and Nickel- is totally unconstrained at depth and laterally
Search Ltd, appearing late in the day. within the northern mineralisation trend.”
Cannon chief executive Steve Lynn followed Diamond drilling is continuing at Musket as
NickelSearch counterpart Craig Moulton on well as the other defined deposits at Fisher
the stage but in reality, Cannon is a few steps East – Camelwood and Sabre – after Cannon
ahead, having listed in August. NickelSearch chose to expand the programme from 4,000m
was expected to hit the bourse before the end to 6,300m. Craig Moulton
of October. NickelSearch will be hoping for similar early
Following its $15 million IPO, Cannon quickly exploration success. Moulton said the company would revisit a
launched into a diamond drilling programme at The company’s sole focus is the Carlingup scoping study completed by predecessor Alpha
its Fisher East nickel project. project near First Quantum Minerals Ltd’s Ra- Fine Chemicals Ltd on a bioleach processing
Widespread delays in assay labs meant Lynn vensthorpe nickel operation but with nickel option for the project.
was unable to bring maiden results with him to sulphide, nickel laterite and even VMS copper “In 2016, Alpha Fine Chemicals completed
the conference but when they did land a week potential, Moulton believes the company has a scoping study for a bioleach process using
later, the market paid immediate attention. “optionality providing a number of pathways for bugs generated from the local area,” he said. “It
The first three diamond holes of the campaign growth” within the 108sq km tenement pack- showed for a $25 million capex, it could produce
returned hits of 14.94m @ 1.9% nickel from age. 2,200 tpa of MHP [mixed hydroxide product].
366.15m, 4.94m @ 1.79% nickel from 559.77m Completion of the listing process will see While it needs updating, the study proves the
and 5.81m @ 2.29% nickel from 584.35m from NickelSearch take ownership of the histori- material is amenable to leach processing and
the Musket prospect. The first hole MFED083 cal Rav-8 nickel laterite mine which produced we will begin updating the study next year.”
(14.94m @ 1.9% nickel) was drilled on the 16,000t contained nickel @ 3.5% in the late- Away from the historical mine, NickelSearch
northern margin of the main channel and ex- 1990s. The resource was recently confirmed – has several prospects including Rav-5 for which
tended mineralisation 100m below and down- to JORC 2012 standard – as 13.2mt @ 0.6% for it has an exploration target of around 50,000t of
plunge of the existing Musket resource. 75,100t contained nickel. contained nickel.
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Page 42 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
Tide turning for Caspin
aspin Resources Ltd chief execu- “This [gravity survey] has really been a at the time of print.
Ctive Greg Miles has suggested his turning point for us because it’s provided “This survey has actually generated a
company’s search space at Yarawindah us a window into what the subsurface whole range of targets and not only have
Brook is comparable in scale to neigh- looks like,” Miles said. we been able to think about the simple
bour and major shareholder Chalice Min- “We were previously just using mag- things like where’s the edge of our intru-
ing Ltd’s Julimar project. netics to guide us on where the bound- sion…we can now start to see the inter-
Speaking at last month’s Australian aries of the intrusion were, but…what nal stratigraphy of this intrusion as well,”
Nickel Conference, Miles detailed how we’ve been able to find is that this Yara- he said.
the results of a recent gravity survey had brook Hill intrusion is probably 2-3 times “It’s quite complex, we can see that it’s
led the company to conclude that the in- larger than we originally thought. It’s just been overturned in parts, but important-
trusion at its flagship Yarabrook Hill pros- increased our search space significantly. ly…the drilling in the past is a mere post-
pect was “probably 2-3 times larger than “If you want to get a sense of scale, it’s age stamp on the entire volume of rock
what we originally thought”. actually roughly on a similar sort of scale that’s potentially prospective. And within
to Chalice’s Julimar project.” that volume of rock, probably the basal
Only a small fraction of the intrusion contact where you would likely expect to
has been drilled by Caspin or previous see accumulation of sulphides hasn’t re-
owners of the project, about 40km north ally been tested at all.”
of Julimar. Most of the historical drilling Only about 35% of Yarawindah Brook
was focused on areas where mineralisa- has been subject to soil geochem, while
tion came to surface, with a large portion just 50% of the project area has airborne
of the prospective basal sequence either EM coverage. Despite this, Miles said
obscured by overlying sequences or un- the work completed by the company to
recognised, and yet to be tested. date had generated multiple PGE, nickel
Two soil geochemical anomalies are and copper anomalies demanding fur-
now recognised to occur within the foot- ther testing.
print on the intrusion. Neither were able Assay results from the 11 holes recent-
to be tested during the last round of drill- ly drilled into Yarabrook Hill also remain
ing due to wet ground conditions, but pending.
Greg Miles Miles said the company planned to pri- – Michael Washbourne
oritise both when the campaign resumed
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 43
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
Fresh-faced Widgie hits the stage
t was impeccable timing for Neometals Ltd to a higher level of geological confidence, un- “A significant aspect to the company was
Ispinout Widgie Nickel Ltd to debut at the derstand the parameters of those resources the realisation of the PGMs in our resource
Australian Nickel Conference just days after and push them through to development stud- base,” Norregaard said. “This previously
listing, and managing director Steve Norre- ies.” wasn’t recognised. There’s about 140,000
gaard had another thing on timing to say dur- The company sings a common tune in the assays in our drill core database and less
ing his time on stage. nickel space of exposure to the growth of the than 10% of them were assayed for cobalt or
“I have to mention timing,” Norregaard said. EV industry. However, surprise copper, cobalt PGMs. There’s a big upside for us that will be
“Having gone through the last nickel boom, and PGMs at Mt Edwards yet to be followed revealed during the drilling.”
mining nickel at $US50,000/t, timing is very up add an extra threat to the Widgie arsenal. Assays from the Munda deposit on the
important.” As palladium prices hit a five-year high ear- northern end of the Dome returned 24m @
The experienced engineer seeks to con- lier this year, the significance of such PGMs 3.22% nickel, 0.20% copper, 0.53 g/t palla-
tinue that good sense of timing by speedily cannot be understated as the company inves- dium and 0.26 g/t platinum from 52m, includ-
achieving production by 2024 in this bullish tigates the metals with current infill drilling. ing 16m @ 4.58% nickel, 0.29% copper, 0.76
environment. The company’s golden goose is g/t palladium and 0.38 g/t platinum from 59m.
the expansive 240sq km Mt Edwards project, As drilling takes place across 40 high-prior-
a consolidation of tenements 80km south of ity targets over the next two years, economic
Kalgoorlie, including the highly prospective studies will also be carried out to define a
Widgiemooltha Dome. multi-mine plan for the company.
Armed with a resource base of already “We’re a simple story, we want to get the
162,560t nickel across eleven separate loca- project into production,” Norregaard said.
tions, Widgie is firmly focused on achieving “We have an excellent portfolio of exploration
its ambitious production start while building ground that has the potential to have further
on the existing resource war chest. high-grade nickel discoveries that we intend
“The strategy for the company is pretty to unlock. Our ongoing drilling for the next two
straight forward,” Norregaard said. “We’ve al- years will provide an excellent flow of informa-
ready got a substantial resource base, so the tion.”
focus for us is to bring that nickel resource up Steve Norregaard – Fraser Palamara
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Page 44 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
Blackstone eyes ‘Big Bertha’
lackstone Minerals Ltd will collaborate before the end of the year, with maiden re- years. Key financial estimates included
Bwith the Vietnamese Government to source estimates for the Ban Chang and a post-tax NPV of $US2.01 billion, IRR of
identify new nickel opportunities outside of King Snake deposits also expected this 67%, life-of-mine revenue of $US14 billion
the company’s current Ta Khoa district ten- quarter. and average annual operating cash flow of
ement holdings in the north of the country. It comes after the company published $US451 million.
During last month’s Australian Nickel a positive PFS for a downstream refinery “Really, it’s this downstream business
Conference, Blackstone announced its at Ta Khoa, taking feed from its own Ban that sets us apart from all of our peers,” Wil-
90%-owned subsidiary Ban Phuc Nickel Phuc, Ban Chang and King Snake depos- liamson said.
Mines was joining forces with Vietnam’s its, as well as third-party nickel concentrate “We’re going to bring nickel from Aus-
General Department of Geology & Miner- from multinational trading house Trafigura tralia, Canada, Africa, all around the world,
als. Initially, both parties will undertake a and other potential upstream producers. into this globally significant refining busi-
new geophysics programme to advance Assuming a base-case refining capacity ness, and we’re going to do it with the low-
the Chim Van target, only 10km from the est power costs in the industry and some of
large Ban Phuc open pit deposit. the most competitive labour costs as well.”
According to the company, Chim Van Williamson said his company was also
features a large magnetic anomaly which keen to take advantage of the $US20 billion
“may reflect the presence of an ultramafic- already invested in the district around Ta
mafic intrusion an order of magnitude larger Khoa by the likes of Samsung, LG and local
than the Ban Phuc ultramafic intrusion”. EV company Vinfast which is imminently
For that reason, Blackstone managing di- set to list on the NASDAQ via a $US60 bil-
rector Scott Williamson has already coined lion IPO.
a new nickname for Chim Van. “I can tell you that we’re a long way from
“I’m going to nickname it ‘The Big Bertha’ building electric vehicles down at Kwinana,”
because Ban Phuc is 280,000t of nickel, he said. “This is happening today, right on
and Chim Van is 15 times the size,” William- our doorstep. This is unprecedented what
son said. Scott williamson we’re seeing here, there’s a good reason
“It’s early days…but it’s 15 times the size why [it has] a lot of interest.”
of our main flagship asset so keep a close Blackstone is aiming to complete a DFS
eye on that one because that could be the of 400,000 tpa, the downstream PFS indi- on the downstream refinery next year
future of the company right there.” cated Blackstone could produce an aver- ahead of its targeted first production of the
Blackstone remains on track to complete age 43,500 tpa refined nickel and 85,600 NCM-811 precursor material in 2024.
a PFS for its upstream mining business tpa NCM-811 precursor material over 10
– Michael Washbourne
The silver nickel lining coveries coming out of this area over the
next few years,” Jones said.
“We’re on the ground right now with
follow-up soil programmes but have some
ometimes blessings really do come in extensive landowner negotiations to get
Sdisguises and that much is true for Im- through. Although, I’m 100% confident
pact Minerals Ltd after COVID-19 sent the we’re going to have multiple drill targets
company packing its bags in New South here in 2022.”
Wales and coming back home to Western Results at Arkun also surprisingly yielded
Australia to explore south-east of the Juli- some lithium-caesium-tantalum pegma-
mar discovery. tites, which Jones said the company would
Impact had planned an extensive drill also follow up.
programme at its Broken Hill nickel-cop- In the meantime, Impact plans to resume
per-PGE project, but has since pulled up drilling at Broken Hill next year, especially
encouraging soil geochemical anomalies after NSW has begun reopening following
from the Arkun nickel-copper-PGM project a highly publicised outbreak of the Delta
between York and Perth. Michael Jones strain.
“On the back of the Julimar discovery, The company hopes to drill 5,000m of
we’re fairly late to the piece, but this pro- using and we’ve kind of gone berserk and diamond and RC holes, targeting the Plati-
ject was brought to us,” Impact managing pegged a whole lot more ground through- num Springs, Red Hill and Little Broken Hill
director Michael Jones told the Australian out WA and there will be more of that to Gabbro targets.
Nickel Conference. “There were some re- come shortly.” Jones’ excitement over the WA work
gional soil geochemical anomalies from the Impact increased its land holding at ahead was evident.
CSIRO database and some private work Arkun to 1,900sq km after Anglo Ameri- “We’re in the middle of a pivot, back to
that had been done. We then pegged that can Plc staked a whopping 10,130sq km of WA, rationalising our eastern states hold-
ground and have recognised 17 targets for ground, wrapping around the smaller ex- ings,” he said. “We’ve been around for a
nickel-copper sulphides. plorer’s position. while. Whatever you do, keep going and
“We’ve had six of them come in with “There are hundreds of magnetic anoma- never give up before you get to the end –
very significant numbers for nickel-cop- lies through this southwest range that have provided you’re in the right area.”
per-platinum-palladium and gold. We’re never been touched…we will see more dis-
pretty pleased with the technology we’re – Fraser Palamara
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 45
nIcKeL conFeRence ReVIeW
Mawson quest gathers pace
egend Mining Ltd has become a staple of from 400m to 1.4-1.6km.
Lthe Australian Nickel Conference agenda “We have also identified three new zones
but this year’s presentation had a fresh feel, of massive sulphide,” Kiddie said. “They
in more ways than one. weren’t targeted, just found via systematic
As managing director Mark Wilson was exploration. It speaks volumes about the
convalescing after recent medical treatment, size of the system driving Mawson. Wher-
the face on the stage was different with ex- ever the intrusion thins, where it focuses, it
ecutive director Oliver Kiddie taking to the drops out massive sulphide mineralisation, Oliver Kiddie
podium. And, given the progress the com- all of the step-out holes hit that intrusion.
pany has made in the last 12 months, the That is a good sign for a fertile, well-en- diamond drilling to evaluate them at depth,”
Legend story has also transformed. dowed system.” he said.
The ASX-listed explorer has carved a Such is Legend’s confidence in the poten- Aircore drilling has shown Magnus to
niche for itself among investors as the most tial for Mawson, it has already begun met- contain the same troctolite host rocks as
progressive junior explorer on the notori- allurgical work. A recent Phase 1 “sighter” Voisey’s Bay in Canada, adding to Legend’s
ously prospective, but difficult, Fraser Range programme showing separate nickel and enthusiasm for diamond drilling.
belt. While IGO Ltd’s Nova mine remains the copper concentrates could be produced to “I logged the first diamond core last month
only economic discovery in the province, high recoveries (91.7% and 93.1% respec- myself and I was really encouraged by the
Legend has consistently had the technical tively). intense nature of the changes in the rocks,”
success which suggests the next find is im- While Mawson will continue to be the main Kiddie said.
minent. focus, the company has also applied some Octagonal was originally tested by the
The company’s discovery of the Mawson of its $15 million annual exploration budget Creasy Group Pty Ltd with drilling hitting
intrusive complex on its Rockford project in to regional work. nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation across
2019 sparked plenty of interest in the stock The company has more than 30 regional 3km of strike.
and while Legend is yet to define a maiden targets with drilling already started at the four “We believe that Octagonal intrusion is up
resource, the prospect continues to expand. most advanced – Octagonal, Magnus, Hur- to 1,000m thick. All the drilling to date has re-
Legend has had two rigs on site at Maw- ley and Crean. turned mineralisation which begs the ques-
son since the start of the year, performing Kiddie said after some initial aircore suc- tion: ‘What’s at the base?’,” Kiddie said. “We
what Kiddie described as “systematic explo- cess, the company had deployed a diamond are filling this pipeline with the belief that we
ration”. rig to the Magnus and Octagonal prospects. are sitting on 3,000sq km of the largest un-
The result has been an extension to the “These are two fertile intrusions which sit derexplored nickel belt in the world.”
strike of the mineralised chonolith host rock on the same belt as Nova and we are now
Cooee, come mine with me are near that hit,” he said. “Essentially we’ve
got 700m of open trough with only two lines
of drilling from WMC days. We believe that
erhaps there was no better spokesper- Conference, the company started carving its one of those only just clipped the trough.
Pson for the essence of the nickel story own name amid the more established nickel “East Cooee is emerging as a new
than Lunnon Metals Ltd managing director players with some high-grade results over its system; it’s going to be a strong focus.
Ed Ainscough, an ex-WMC geologist who prospective Kambalda landholdings. It’s relatively shallow…we’ve got multiple
is passionate about Kambalda opportunities Drilling at the East Cooee hanging-wall sources of nickel that are able to be drilled
missed in the last boom. prospect, proximal to the historic Jan Shaft out very quickly.”
and Foster mines, achieved 9m @ 1.66% Just like Ainscough’s own experiences
nickel from 113m, including 1m @ 7.44% in Kambalda proving valuable, Lunnon
from 113m, and 8m @ 1.31% from 130m, continues to benefit from historical drilling
including 2m @ 3.46% from 136m. that guides their next steps. The company
Ainscough said that WMC’s previous drill- is now focused on completing DHTEM
ing came within a hair’s length of the nickel surveys from Foster drill intersections.
sulphides and he hopes to further prove that “All of the work we do is fundamentally
prospectivity under the Lunnon banner. based, in some cases, on 20-30 years
“We started drilling at the end of July with of geological records,” Ainscough said.
RC and added a diamond rig in August “There’s 350km of diamond core from
focused on East Cooee,” he said. “We al- WMC days that sits in the Kambalda court-
ways knew it was prospective, WMC did a yard.
ed Ainscough fair amount of drilling there, but really only “There’s three pathways to success
clipped the edges of what we think are multi- at Foster. There’s the drilling, the historic
Lunnon is looking to follow in the footsteps ple sources of nickel.” drill core programme, and then all of that
of Mincor Resources NL, IGO Ltd, and Pan- Drilling at the East Trough target, just be- generates targets for when we eventually
oramic Resources Ltd – those which Ains- low East Cooee, turned up results of 2m @ dewater the mine and move underground.”
cough names as influences on the ambitions 5.07% nickel.
of the new company which listed in June. “We need to do downhole EM to assess – Fraser Palamara
Ahead of its debut at the Australian Nickel approximate sources of nickel sulphides that
Page 46 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
BAtteRY MIneRALs FocUs
Lithium sector
finds a voice
s the lithium industry has entered the most important
A decade of what is touted the Lithium Century, miners finally
have come together. The International Lithium Association (ILiA)
was launched in October, tasked with providing the industry
with a “central, global voice for the lithium producers and their
stakeholders, and to promote a sustainable and a responsible
future for the lithium value chain”. Ken Brinsden
ounding members SQM, Ganfeng Lithium the end-users,” Sheth said. some of the issues other metals are tainted
FCo., Ltd, AMG Brazil S.A., Orocobre Ltd Pilbara Minerals managing director Ken by. In Africa, the major developers – the likes
and Pilbara Minerals Ltd collectively account Brinsden said the time was right for a global of Leo Lithium [Ltd] and AVZ Minerals [Ltd]
for more than half of global lithium. lithium group. – are ASX-listed companies so don’t need
The ILiA will be led by experienced industry “As a founding member of the Interna- additional guidelines because investors and
association manager Roland Chavasse as tional Lithium Association, Pilbara Minerals stakeholders understand the level of ESG
chief executive and acclaimed international welcomes the development of a global trade performance inherent in Australian compa-
expert Anand Sheth of Titan International Pty body focussed on lithium raw materials, its nies.”
Ltd as chairman. applications and working to promote a better Meeting ESG guidelines is within the con-
Speaking with Paydirt last month, Sheth understanding of the lithium industry’s proac- trol of ILiA and its members but growing geo-
said the recent flourishing of lithium demand tive engagement addressing sustainability political tensions around supply of lithium and
and developments had meant an industry and the important part lithium will play in de- other critical minerals isn’t.
body was essential to support existing and carbonisation of the global economy,” he said. Sheth said the ILiA would work hard to ex-
new entrants. Attention is already being drawn to lithium plain to regulators, policymakers and other
“The idea for an association has been in miners as offtakers, customers, end-users stakeholders that tight demand would be
our minds for many years,” Sheth explained. and consumers increase their demands for solved by a proliferation of supply.
“Then, during COVID we did a lot of thinking supply chain transparency on a wide range “Lithium is only a critical mineral because
and communicated with existing producers. of issues including carbon emissions, human there has never been big investment in the
They all said they saw the need for an asso- rights, water usage and licence-to-operate. past,” he said. “For 30 years there were just
ciation and would support it.” “We will need to focus on every one of three players and it has only been in the last
Chavasse already runs industry bodies 12-13 years, that others have come onstream.
for tantalum and minor metals and agreed to Soon, we will have lithium players around the
manage ILiA from the UK, a deliberate deci- world because the growth of demand will gen-
sion given the global spread of current lithium erate it.”
production. Diversity of concentrate supply is beginning
“The UK was chosen because of its central to emerge but ensuring several sources of the
time zone between the two big producing re- those areas,” Sheth said. “We will create a list lithium chemicals needed for EV batteries is
gions; Western Australia and South America,” of priorities with the executive committee, as still some way off.
Sheth said. “Also, in the UK and Europe there we build up funding and recruit people. Sheth praised the WA State Government’s
is a lot of policy development going on around “We have already started with affiliations push to establish a downstream processing
lithium. These groups have welcomed us and with the likes of ICMM [International Council industry.
asked us to support them on their understand- of Metals & Mining] and RMI [Responsible “We look forward to WA supporting the lithi-
ing of lithium, as we see from other associa- Mining Initiative].” um industry and I think it needs to have its own
tions on nickel, cobalt, copper, etc.” Sheth worked at the Greenbushes mine in value-add downstream processing industry,”
The ILiA will have a similar agenda to Western Australia for more than 20 years and he said. “I’m encouraged by the government
many of those more established metals as- is confident WA lithium’s international reputa- – both state and federal – support for further
sociations, promoting the ESG credentials of tion for responsible and sustainable mining development of precursor capacity. We will
its members and lithium’s role in the energy practices will be retained. However, as new support that and encourage international
revolution. operations sprout up across the world, the companies to come to WA and develop that
“Lithium is key to the current global energy ILiA will work to ensure ESG principals are industry. There are a number of big organisa-
revolution as the world transitions towards ‘net maintained and promoted. tions doing an evaluation on that, it is just a
zero carbon’ which will bring unprecedented “While WA’s reputation is strong, half of matter of time.”
growth to the market but also intense atten- global lithium production comes from South
tion from media, government regulators, civil America, and there is some misinformation – Dominic Piper
society, end-user groups and other external around that industry that we are clarifying,” he
stakeholders. The ILiA will include members said.
from the entire supply chain: from resource to “In lithium, you don’t have to worry about
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 47
BAtteRY MIneRALs FocUs
Clear waters for Rhyolite Ridge
We are excited to
build a long-term
relationship with ioneer,
“ share our vision
who
of facilitating security
of lithium supply to the
North American markets.
- Neale Froneman (below)
nly one final permitting hurdle appears Service proposed to list Tiehm’s buckwheat
Oto be standing in the way of US-focused as an endangered species in a move which
lithium developer ioneer Ltd beginning con- ioneer said was not unexpected.
struction at Rhyolite Ridge next year after In a statement to the ASX, ioneer man-
signing a $US490 million investment agree- aging director Bernard Rowe reiterated the
ment with precious metals powerhouse company’s longstanding commitment to
Sibanye-Stillwater Ltd. safeguarding the plant.
In a deal which surprised many but has “From the beginning, the Rhyolite Ridge
since been widely applauded, Sibanye- operation has been designed and planned to
Stillwater is taking a 50% strategic interest incorporate the conservation and protection
in ioneer’s flagship lithium-boron project in of Tiehm’s buckwheat,” he said.
Esmeralda County, Nevada. The Johannes- “We have always firmly understood the
burg-based company is also directly invest- need to protect this species, irrespective of its
ing $US70 million for a 7.1% stake in the ASX- listing status, given its small population and
listed junior. limited geographic spread along the edges of
Sibanye-Stillwater and ioneer will now the area we operate in.
work together to secure the debt financing “ioneer has invested considerable funds
component for the project which carries a into undertaking the most comprehensive
$US785 million price tag, according to last studies and efforts into Tiehm’s buckwheat
year’s DFS. management strategies to date to ensure the
Under the agreement, ioneer will remain species is not only protected, but that its pop- Neale Froneman
the operator of Rhyolite Ridge and is commit- ulations are expanded in the years to come.”
ted to breaking ground for the proposed 2.5 Speaking on an earlier conference call to hm’s buckwheat plant,” Froneman said.
mtpa mining and processing operation in the announce ioneer’s partnership with Sibanye- “I think we’ve come to some very good
second half of next year when the company Stillwater, US-based ioneer chairman James understandings through our scientific work
expects to be issued with its final permit. Fol- Calaway attempted to ease any concerns and our collaboration, and we have high con-
lowing a two-year build, first production of around the award of the final permit. fidence that we will be able to have an excel-
lithium and boron chemicals is slated for the “We’ve already received the two state per- lent result for the plants as well as for our op-
latter part of 2024. mits that are very important and very difficult erations. The idea that they cannot co-exist is
Continued preservation of an endangered to get, and we are working very effectively simply you would have to defy science… so
species of plant looms as the key to ioneer with the Fish and Wildlife Service and with we’re very, very confident about this.”
overcoming that last remaining regulatory the BLM [US Bureau of Land Management] Rowe added that a significant chunk of the
hurdle. Last month, the US Fish and Wildlife on addressing the concerns about the Tie- plus-$100 million which ioneer has invested
Page 48 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
into the project over the past five years had posed that the 3,500 tpd plant will convert remains another key item on the company’s
gone into ensuring there was minimal or no sulphur into commercial-grade sulphuric agenda for the year ahead. Goldman Sachs
risk to the environment. acid used to leach lithium and boron from the is continuing to advise on the various debt
“The environmental baseline studies were crushed rock. options, while the company has signed just
completed a long time ago – a year and a half The heat released from this process will be one lithium offtake agreement to date – with
ago now – so we’re very aware of any sensi- recovered to produce zero-carbon steam for EcoPro Innovation Co Ltd for up to 7,000 tpa
tive matters on the project,” he said. electricity sufficient to power the entire Rhyo- of lithium carbonate over a three-year term –
“Obviously the Tiehm’s buckwheat is the lite Ridge operation, as well as the evapora- representing 34% of the total lithium produc-
main one, but we’ve had a very good strat- tion and crystallisation processes required to tion across the first three years of operation.
egy around how to manage that, how the two produce lithium carbonate and boric acid. While ioneer was quickly able to find
can co-exist, minimising impact and mitigat- Veolia was awarded the major supply and homes for its boron, Calaway said the deci-
ing for any impact that we do have [is] a lot of engineering contract, which represents the sion to hold fire on the lithium, especially with
scientific research that supports what we’re single largest supplier package for the con- prices significantly depressed this time last
proposing there.” tract to date. The group has already started year, had proved to be correct.
As part of the $US490 million investment work on final detailed engineering design of “We had a lot of ongoing, long conversa-
agreement, only the South Basin aspect of the equipment package, with the supply con- tions but we weren’t prepared to negotiate
Rhyolite Ridge has been included in the JV. ditional on a final investment decision. significant offtake agreements in a bad en-
Sibanye-Stillwater has an option over 50% DuPont’s contract is also conditional on vironment, and I think that paid off well,” he
of the North Basin (which was not included FID. Rowe said this had been a deliberate said.
in the DFS) for an additional $US50 million, move by the company to ensure the project “Our issue at this point, quite frankly, is not
subject to certain terms and conditions. was in a shovel-ready position when the final can we put all our material away in an offtake,
The ioneer deal was Sibanye-Stillwater’s permit was awarded. the real issue is we’re wanting to make sure
second lithium transaction this year – it had the people we’re putting it to are outstand-
already reached agreement for a 27% stake ing offtake partners and whether they are
in Finnish company Keliber Oy – and its third focused on the development of capacity in
in the wider battery minerals space. the US. Right now, the US doesn’t have sig-
Sibanye-Stillwater chief executive Neale nificant cathode or battery material-making
Froneman said such transactions were es- facilities, but what we’re focusing on is do-
sential to the company’s transition towards ing deals with companies that have these
“cleaner green metals” despite still being the strong-intent plans to do that so that we can
world’s largest platinum and palladium pro- transition our materials into the US more.
ducer. “There’s a real sense of a potential short-
“We are excited to build a long-term re- age looming and one of the things that’s so
lationship with ioneer, who share our vision important about our project and the potential
of facilitating security of lithium supply to the economics of it is we have a chance at being
North American markets,” he said. “Rhyolite one of the early, new, big pieces of produc-
Ridge is a world-class lithium project and we tion that come on – and certainly will be the
recognise its strategic value, with the poten- first one to come on in the US. That’s an envi-
tial to become the largest lithium mine in the able position and I think people are beginning
US. We look forward to working collabora- to wake up and realise that’s the case.”
tively with the ioneer team and leveraging our Bernard Rowe Rowe believes the company will also be
complementary skills and capabilities to en- pushing the button on Rhyolite Ridge at the
sure this strategically important, world-class ideal time, not just in line with forecasts for
project is delivered and materially contributes “If you waited until FID and then went and lithium demand but with the world starting to
to reducing climate change.” said to them, ‘OK, we’ve made FID, now return to a form of post-pandemic normality.
Bringing Sibanye-Stillwater into the fold we’re going to sign a contract’, they will come “I think we’re fortunate that we aren’t going
marked the end of an 18-month global back and say, ‘well, we’ve got 3-6 months of out and actually commencing construction
search for a strategic partner for Rhyolite detailed engineering to do before we actually right now. It’s going to be a much better time
Ridge following completion of a robust DFS go on to the site and start building anything’. to do so in the second half of next year be-
which forecast production of 20,600 tpa Here, we’re going to have all of that done in cause by then everything will be completely
lithium carbonate and 22,000 tpa battery- advance,” Rowe told Paydirt. opened up again, including international trav-
grade lithium hydroxide (from the fourth year “Very fortunately, we’re well funded so el,” Rowe said.
of operation) for an estimated lowest-quartile we’re in a position to be able to do that. We “We’ve done a lot of work over the last few
AISC of $US2,510/t. are spending money – serious money – do- years on where we’re going to get labour
Having raised $80 million via a heavily ing this detailed engineering. It’s in the order from, how we are going to attract them to the
oversubscribed placement earlier this year, of somewhere between $20 and $40 million area, where are they going to live, all of these
ioneer has already started a number of pre- of work over the next 12 months before that things. I often say to people to have a look at
paratory works to ensure Rhyolite Ridge FID decision is made.” our engineering model and all the test work,
maintains its status as the most advanced Danish firm FLSmidth has also been con- our feasibility [study] and you’ll see an incred-
lithium project in the US. These include the tracted to supply the majority of crushing and ible amount of detail in the work that’s been
award of major contracts to the likes of Du- material handling equipment, plus the rotary done.
Pont Clean Technologies and Veolia Water lithium carbonate and boric acid dryers, while “I remind people that we approach all the
Technologies Inc. ioneer signed a partnership last year with other aspects of this project with the same
DuPont was awarded the contract for the Caterpillar as the exclusive heavy equipment level of rigour, which includes execution of
licence, engineering and supply of propri- partner for Rhyolite Ridge. the project.”
etary equipment for the sulphuric acid plant Finalising the debt component of the pro-
and will now work with existing engineering ject financing package, as well as the remain- – Michael Washbourne
partner SNC-Lavelin on the design. It is pro- ing offtake contracts for the lithium products,
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 49
BAtteRY MIneRALs FocUs
“We’re quite confident that they can do
All credit goes to Lake it, Lilac is quite confident they can do it,
but the market still has some concerns
around whether those very high purity
ake Resources NL managing director as lithium sector risk, and support a pro- guidelines and measures can actually be
LSteve Promnitz hopes backing from ject which has quite genuine ESG cre- delivered. Offtakers also want to make
two government export credit agencies dentials which are orders of magnitude certain that the product meets all of their
and a strategic investment from its tech- better than others.” specifications, notwithstanding the quali-
nology partner will cast aside any linger- Lilac’s proprietary direct extraction fication process can be quite lengthy –
ing doubt over the company’s ability to technology has long been touted as the up to 12 months in the case of some bat-
land debt financing for its Kachi lithium key to unlocking the processing chal- tery makers – so you want to be doing
brine project in Argentina. lenges at Kachi. More than three years that now, not in your first 12 months of
Canadian export credit agency EDC of test work has indicated the process is production.
recently joined UK Export Finance low cost and capable of achieving higher “By having Lilac working with us, to-
(UKEF) in pledging funding support for lithium recovery rates (80-90%) than oth- gether with the offtakers, we believe we
the development of Kachi, just days after er technologies to produce battery-grade can meet those guidelines that the bat-
Lake confirmed Lilac Solutions Inc could lithium carbonate of 99.97% purity. It has tery makers want, and we can be sell-
earn up to 25% of the project under a also been widely praised for being an ing a high-quality product at an elevated
staged agreement to continue providing environmentally-friendly process. price from day one of production – and
its technology, engineering teams and an Backed by the likes of Bill Gates, Jeff that is of real value to shareholders.”
on-site demonstration plant. Bezos and Jack Ma, Lilac will earn its Lake expects to deliver both the DFS
Lake plans to have both agencies 25% stake in Kachi over three stages. and ESIA in Q2 next year, with a final in-
working together under a common terms The first 10% will be awarded upon com- vestment decision to follow shortly there-
agreement which covers about 70% of mitting to funding the remaining testing after. First production has been slated for
the total project funding requirements of its technology, with the next 10% com- 2024.
for Kachi, with EDC potentially provid- ing after satisfying all agreed criteria us- An updated PFS published earlier
ing direct lending to the project of up to ing the upcoming on-site demonstration this year envisaged 25,500 tpa lithium
$US100 million. OECD fixed commercial plant. The final 5% is achieved when a carbonate equivalent over 25 years at
interest rates for this type of loan are cur- refined lithium product meets the agreed Kachi, with annual EBITDA of $US260
rently priced at 1.77% with a repayment qualification standards with potential million, post-tax NPV of $US1.58 billion,
period of 8.5 years. offtake partners. based on a capex of $US544 million and
The commitments from EDC and After completing its earn-in, Lilac will operating costs of $US4,170/t.
UKEF are currently non-binding and re- then be expected to contribute circa Drilling is currently ongoing at the pro-
main subject to a series of standard pro- $US50 million, equivalent to its pro-rate ject to support an expanded production
ject financing terms and due diligence, share of future development costs. rate of 51,000 tpa.
including completion of a DFS, finalising Promnitz said with his company now “Most of the offtakers we speak to
offtake and preparing the environmental holding advanced talks with a range of want to buy everything we can produce,
and social impact assessment (ESIA). debt providers, Lake’s agreement with but from a risk management perspec-
Promnitz said having sovereign sup- Lilac needed to be more “fulsome” and tive, we think it’s best to have at least two
port at this stage of project development “one that could stand the test of time with offtakers, and that’s what is driving an
was a significant de-risking event for project financing”. expansion case,” Promnitz said.
Kachi. “It’s interesting that the concern in the “We’ve already had indications from
“It’s pretty remarkable for a start-up market, particularly the equities mar- export credit agencies that they would
company that’s moving into first produc- ket, was still around the technology and be keen to fund the expansion. That’s
tion, and it’s pretty remarkable even if would the technology work, would it work why we’ve got the rigs on site now drilling
you were in production,” Promnitz told at scale, if it works at scale can it con- more holes and we’ll release that data
Paydirt. tinue to deliver the quality of product, and in an appropriate time. It doesn’t really
“What I think this demonstrates is the so we decided with Lilac that it might be move the dial from a market perspec-
eagerness of export credit agencies to best if they earn into the project progres- tive, but it’s following a path whereby we
be involved in this space that they’re pre- sively by actually delivering those mile- can create a reserve for the DFS, we can
pared to take on Argentina risk, as well stones,” Promnitz explained. grow the resource for the expansion, and
we can also demonstrate how the pro-
duction wells are going to be operating.
Lake is on track to complete a DFS and eSiA “When we released our first resource
for its Kachi lithium project in Argentina back in late 2018, we also released an
during the first half of 2022 exploration target which showed that this
could easily be 4-7 times larger because
it’s open laterally and it’s open at depth.
So, we’ve got no real concerns about ex-
panding the resource, because only 20%
of it is used in 25 years of production.
What we want to do here is upgrade the
resource and show it can be expanded
as necessary.”
– Michael Washbourne
Page 50 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
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