pd299-Nov21-mag-web_neat

2022 BOOK NOW!

BATTERY




MINERALS









6 - 7 April, Pan Pacific Perth


graphite cobalt
tin

nickel lithium

copper
manganese vanadium


rare earths




Paydirt’s Battery Minerals Conference is the premier forum for miners and explorers developing the essential
ingredients driving the Industrial Revolution 4.0. Global demand for critical minerals needed for clean technology
applications are forecast to grow exponentially over the coming decades. The lithium value chain alone will be a $1.3
trillion sector by 2025, while demand for nickel, graphite, cobalt, copper, manganese, tin, vanadium and
rare earths is expected to more than double by 2030 as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy.

At the government level, Australian federal and state governments are rolling out new policies designed to entice local and
international investors to build mines and a new downstream processing industry. On the international front, governments
and major car manufacturers are building their own supply chain strategies with Australian companies within their sights.

Paydirt’s Battery Minerals Conference not only affords investors the opportunity to build their understanding
of this dynamic sector, but also brings together critical minerals stakeholders – representing industry, academia, regulators
and government – from across the globe. It serves as a melting pot for in-depth discussions on market outlooks, project
development and the future of the global battery industry.

Join us in Perth on 6-7 April 2022 for Australia’s only event dedicated to the development of the critical minerals industry.



Who should attend?



Upstream – Exploration l Mining: Executives, Consultants, Investors,
Financiers, Bankers, Brokers, Analysts, Fund Managers
Government l Mining Services and Suppliers l Engineering/Chemicals
Downstream – EV, Batteries, Electronics, Energy Storage, Metal Refiners
Research and Development l Industry Associations l Service Providers
Regulation/Inspection l Media/Press


www.batterymineralsconference.com



To present, exhibit or attend as a delegate please contact Namukale Nakazwe

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

BAtteRY MIneRALs FocUs




Advancing Australian




battery technology




s the Australian mining industry begins shareholders who were part of the IPO, Le-
Ato find its feet in downstream process- vison said the listing provided extra advan-
ing of advanced materials, counterparts in tages to Li-S Energy.
the technology space are starting to make “Not only did it allow for the capital raising,
inroads on the application end of the bat- but puts the right disciplines around the com-
tery chain. pany and provides an added level of publicity
Brisbane-based PPK Group Ltd is rapidly and legitimacy,” he said.
becoming a leading player on the Australian While still in the development phase, the
battery technology scene. Originally a pro- lithium-sulphate technology is attracting out- Robin Levison
vider of solutions to the Eastern Australian side interest.
coal sector, PPK has morphed into an ad- “We are certainly seeing partnerships and Having cut his R&D teeth in the under-
vanced materials company thanks to several offtake inquiries from international groups ground coal mining sector, Levison is acutely
partnerships with Deakin University. who want nickel, lithium, etc,” Levison said. aware of Australia’s abilities to find new solu-
In September, PPK spin-off Li-S Energy “We have seen some interesting inbound tions in the extractives space. However, he
Ltd listed on the ASX. Li-S is focused on inquiries about Li-S Energy’s technology sees signs of a maturing advanced materials
developing a battery technology based on although nothing advanced enough to an- sector – driven by the global EV rollout – as
more advanced lithium-sulphur chemistry, nounce. well.
incorporating the boron nitrate nanotube “It has only been in the last few months “We’ve proven ourselves to be a world
(BNNT) material PPK had previously devel- that have we even allocated time to show leader in digging it out of the ground and the
oped with Deakin. how far advanced we are on the test cells. second part – bringing the raw materials to
By combining the two technologies, Li-S We have still got a way to go to generate the some product – we are also pretty good at,”
Energy believes it can improve battery en- level of international interest we expect. It will he said. “But where we are probably not do-
ergy capacity and cycle stability when com- come as we announce test results and get ing enough is in producing the high-value
pared to current lithium-ion batteries and household names interested in the technol- products.
lithium-sulphur batteries, respectively. ogy.” “We are definitely seeing a change
“We had already worked with one re- With Li-S Energy now listed, PPK is aim- though. Both state and federal governments
search group at Deakin on the BNNT and ing to tread the same path with another are increasingly attracted to battery tech-
when we met the team working on the lithi- advanced materials business, White Gra- nology and we are seeing a wide range of
um-sulphate battery, we brought the three of phene Ltd. participants from across the food chain in
us together,” PPK chairman Robin Levison In October, PPK announced it had en- Queensland coming together through the
told Paydirt. “Lithium-sulphate batteries are tered a collaboration agreement with Sun Council for Advanced Materials and Bat-
more energy dense and quicker charging Metals Corporation Pty Ltd, an Australian teries. Trade & Industry Queensland has
than lithium-ion batteries and after that we subsidiary of Korea Zinc Co Ltd which owns brought the council together, bringing in eve-
introduced BNNT as a nano-insulator. That a zinc refinery near Townsville. ryone from miners, to PPK, to the compa-
was the secret sauce to making them last as The agreement will see the two groups nies developing fast chargers.”
long as lithium-ion batteries.” investigate the use of BNNT as a protec-
The JV raised $20 million in April and a tive coating to be applied to sulphuric acid Li-S energy’s lithium-sulphate battery
further $34 million through an IPO prior to its pumps at the refinery. cells undergo cycle testing
listing. The task now is to define a pathway Levison said the collaboration was evi-
to commercial production. dence of the possibilities on offer for BNNT,
“The IPO has allowed Li-S to continue if PPK and its partners can produce enough
building the team and we’re super excited material.
about the opportunity,” Levison said. “Last year, we were only producing a few
Li-S Energy’s plan is to further optimise grams of BNNT each week but now we are
the lithium-sulphur technology before pro- producing 50kg a year,” he said.
ducing battery cells in formats suitable to “Just as with graphene, people want to
manufacturers. From there, the company have access to BNNT but there has been
will build a pilot-scale battery cell production such a supply shortage that it is hard to
facility and investigate ways of how existing get access. We think we have the technol-
lithium-ion battery factories can be adapted ogy advanced enough that we can produce
to produce lithium-sulphate batteries. quantities at low enough costs that industry
The Li-S Energy plan immediately caught could use it where previously costs were too
investor attention. Having run the IPO pro- high.
cess at 85c, the company closed its first “Korea Zinc believes it can help with its
day on the ASX at $2.33 and was valued at sulphuric acid problem and the hydrogen in-
around $1.4 billion at the time of print. dustry also has corrosion issues. So, it could
As well as creating value for the PPK really improve paint, coatings, etc.”


Page 52 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

oPInIon



Another month of wild rides



on tin rollercoaster





ondon Metal Exchange (LME) three- tin hit record highs. The unwind of some of Chinese stocks now look as depleted as
Lmonth tin hit an all-time high of that speculative length undoubtedly exacer- those in the West.
$US36,830/t on September 24, slumped bated the whipsaw action. Given such a stuttering supply response,
by 12% to $US31,305 by October 1 and In China, meanwhile, the ShFE hiked its there is a consensus among analysts that
had whipsawed back to a new record of intraday trading fees on the November tin tin is heading for another year of supply defi-
$US37,800 by October 13. contract effective October 8, a sure sign that cit. The only question is how big it will be.
It is still up by more than 60% on the start the exchange is concerned about specula- All of this is hard-wired into the record
of the year, outpacing all the other LME base tive activity. high price and accentuated level of price
metals. But there is no doubt that supply shortfall volatility.
This has inevitably attracted the interest of is the core driver of the current wildness. Some alleviation of global supply-chain
funds and speculators, on both the London And while that remains the case, it’s hard stresses is set to come in the unlikely form
and Shanghai exchanges, which has exac- to see the rollercoaster ride ending any time of China’s power crunch.
erbated volatility in what is a small global soon. While power rationing earlier this year
market. Demand for tin has been booming thanks impacted tin producers, the current round
But tin is also displaying all the features to a resurgent electronics sector. of cuts is focused on provinces such as
of scarcity pricing with exchange stocks sit- Semiconductor sales, a useful proxy for Guangdong and Jiangsu, major centres of
ting at record lows and time-spreads super- tin usage in soldering, surged by 29% year- tin demand.
stressed. on-year in the second quarter of 2021, ac- Soldering, tin-plating and tin chemical
Some producers are still struggling to cording to the Semiconductor Industry As- plants have been required to reduce operat-
shake off the lingering effects of the pan- sociation. ing rates, drastically in the case of Jiangsu,
demic, restricting supply just when the mar- Quite evidently, the world’s major pro- according to the International Tin Association.
ket needs it most. ducers have struggled to respond with the “With the focus of the measures more on
Short-term relief is more likely to come global supply chain suffering long-COVID tin demand than supply, the tightness in the
from the demand side in the form of China’s symptoms. Chinese market could ease considerably,” it
power crunch, which is now rolling through Malaysia’s MSC is currently operating its said.
the country’s manufacturing sector. main smelter at 80% staffing levels due to Frankly, the tin market could do with a
What is decidedly bad news for other a third wave of the pandemic, as reported breather, not just for those currently trying
metals may save the future day for tiny tin. by Fastmarkets. The company’s force ma- to ride the rollercoaster but also in terms of
The tin market has been wild since the jeure, down to both COVID-19 and furnace future demand.
start of the year. In London the benchmark problems, remains in place. The combination of record high prices
cash-to-three-months spread and price volatility is any metal
exploded to a backwardation of user’s worst nightmare. Tin buy-
$US6,500/t in February. Demand for tin has been booming ers have faced both and record
The cash premium has re- “ thanks to a resurgent electronics physical delivery premiums for
mained volatile ever since, flex- most of this year and it’s not
ing out to $US2,500 at one stage sector. Semiconductor sales, a useful going to persuade them to use
on October 1. proxy for tin usage in soldering, surged more of the stuff.
Time-spreads are driven by The threat is spelt out by
stocks’ availability and right now by 29% year-on-year in the second analysts at Macquarie Bank,
there are only 1,235t in the LME quarter of 2021, according to the who forecast persistent supply
warehouse system, or an even Semiconductor Industry Association. deficits through 2026 with off-
more depleted 600t excluding exchange inventory “also likely
metal earmarked for physical to reach critical levels over the
load-out. coming years”.
Stocks registered with the Shanghai Fu- Indonesia’s PT Timah is trying to catch up Sustainable supply-demand equilibrium
tures Exchange (ShFE), where the forward from the first half of the year, when produc- in the tin market will only be achieved “by
curve is also in steep backwardation, total tion slumped by 57% due to lockdowns. Its delivering progressive demand destruction
just 1,272t. They were close to 9,000t as re- guidance for full-year output is unchanged or unearthing currently unaccounted for
cently as March. at 30,000t. sources of supply growth,” the bank said in
Between them the two exchanges hold Indonesian exports hit a year-to-date high September.
the equivalent of around two days’ worth of of 7,500t in August but the cumulative Jan- A bit of short-term mandatory demand
global consumption, an extreme degree of uary-August tally of 46,550t was still up by destruction in the form of power cuts in Chi-
scarcity both by historical standards and by only 5% on the same period of last year and na may actually be in tin’s long-term interest.
comparison with any other metal. by just 2% on pre-pandemic 2019. And, given no circuit-board currently oper-
Speculative flows have accentuated China has lifted its exports to help fill the ates without tin, they may be in everyone’s
some of the wildness. Money managers gap to the tune of 11,500t in January-August interest.
lifted their collective LME net long position but outbound flows noticeably dropped to a – Andy Home, Reuters
by 746 lots, equivalent to around 4,500t, as six-month low of 788t in August itself and


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 53

BAtteRY MIneRALs FocUs




The new captain in North America



s the newly appointed managing director subsidiary of Zhenshi Holding Group Co Ltd in the bank, extensional drilling followed by
Aof upcoming float Winsome Resources – second largest shareholder of $15 billion some infill work is first on the agenda for
Ltd, Chris Evans was already excited about fibreglass manufacturer China Jushi Co – is Cancet, with the Winsome team keen to
getting on the ground to check out the lithium investing $2.7 million. establish a maiden resource within 12-18
projects his company would soon be taking Winsome is a spin-out of ASX-listed Met- months. An exploration target of 15-25mt @
to market. alsTech Ltd which also floated on the same 1-2% lithium oxide has previously been de-
A seasoned lithium campaigner recog- projects – Cancet, Adina and Sirmac-Clapi- clared for the project.
nised for his previous work with Altura Min- er – back in early 2017. However, with the “If you look at where the drilling has been
ing Ltd and Mali Lithium (now Firefinch Ltd), lithium market subsequently tailing off, the done, with a bit more infill drilling there’s
Evans had seen pictures of the “impressive” parent company diversified into Slovakian probably a few million tonnes in terms of a
pegmatite crystals sticking out of the ground gold and parked the Canadian assets, until resource,” Evans said.
at his new company’s Cancet project in Que- now. “At Cancet, we have 39 claims in total,
bec, Canada. With lithium prices picking up through the all contiguous with one another, and we’ve
However, upon walking the ground for the first half of this year, MetalsTech jumped at drilled only three or four at the moment, so
first time in September, Evans was taken the chance to revive the projects via an IPO. there’s a huge area to find the rest of the
aback by the actual size of the opportunity Evans, who had worked with MetalsTech di- pegmatite.”
standing in front of him. rector and revered lithium wheeler-and-deal- MetalsTech previously completed metal-
“The crystals are huge, the biggest I’ve er Qingtao Zeng during his Altura days, was lurgical testing on Cancet which suggested
ever seen,” Evans told Paydirt after a two- then brought into the fold to run the process. the spodumene crystals were amenable to
week stint in quarantine upon returning to “We pegged the value of the assets at $9 heavy liquid separation which is typically a
Perth. million about six months ago…now it seems very good indicator for a low capex DMS. A
“I’ve been on half a dozen hard rock mines if we were valuing them today, we should be 6% spodumene concentrate was also pro-
around the world and what I saw was just so putting it much higher than $9 million given duced from this work with relative ease.
impressive. I was already excited before I the heat in the market,” Evans said. About 1,700m of diamond drilling has
went over there, but just spending time on “We think [the IPO] will be on the maxi- been completed over Adina, mostly on vis-
the ground, seeing these crystals and where mum side, given the unprecedented de- ible outcrops and intersecting grades in
the drilling has occurred, it’s obvious there’s mand we’re seeing.” the realm of 2.6% lithium oxide. Evans said
huge potential.” Cancet is the most advanced of the three further survey work was required to identify
Winsome lodged its prospectus last projects, all of which are located within the new targets before the proposed next round
month and is now seeking to raise $12-18 James Bay region of Quebec. It has seen of drilling.
million for an IPO which Evans was expect- some 5,500m of diamond drilling, with Sirmac-Clapier is the least advanced op-
ing to be oversubscribed given the current grades of up to 3.7% lithium oxide returned portunity in the portfolio but has the luxury
heat in the lithium market. All going to plan, from surface, although of sitting adjacent to an es-
the company is set to debut on the ASX later most of the coverage has tablished resource held by
this month. been limited to where the Nemaska Lithium Inc.
Dedicated battery materials royalties and outcropping pegmatite oc- For Evans, early-stage
streaming company Lithium Royalty Corp curs. exploration in Canada
will subscribe $3 million to the float, while a Once the IPO money is marks a significant change
from his previous roles
winsome managing director Chris evans which saw him oversee
(pictured right) inspects the outcropping the build of a new mine in
pegmatite at the company’s Cancet Western Australia before
lithium project in Quebec taking another project in
Mali to the brink of a DFS.
And while his first goal
is listing Winsome on the
Australian bourse, Evans
did not rule out the possibility of the compa-
ny joining the Canadian exchange at some
point in the future.
“Given the way that the ASX and Aus-
tralian investors value lithium stocks at the
moment, it makes sense for us to list on the
ASX, but I think it’s a target for when our
next lick of money is needed, say within 24
months, to list on the TSX,” he said.
“It would make sense, particularly with
Canadian investors becoming more enthusi-
astic…for lithium and battery materials. So, if
that comes about, a listing on the TSX in two
years will make complete sense to us.”
– Michael Washbourne

Page 54 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Sayona and Piedmont hope to restart the
NAL operations in Quebec next year and
produce spodumene concentrate from 2023



the demand for lithium stocks.
It comes less than four months after
Sayona raked in some $65 million from an
earlier oversubscribed placement and SPP
to fund the NAL acquisition.
“It’s been really a great vote of confidence
for Sayona in terms of how our investors,
both new and existing, have supported us,”
Lynch said.
“I only have to think back to when I first
started at Sayona [in mid-2019] and we had
around 4,000 shareholders. Today we have
over 20,000.
“To do [this latest raise] so quickly and
off the back of the relatively recent raises
Sayona charged for we did to complete NAL, it’s given us great
confidence our shareholder base supports
our strategy to continue to make good deci-
sions and get good quality assets to build
growth ambitions our production base for the future, especial-
ly with the North American lithium market
growing exponentially.”
Sayona and Piedmont recently com-
fter almost three years of frustrating de- acquire a 60% stake in the Moblan lithium pleted a review of the NAL operations
Alays and stalled progress, Sayona Min- project for $US86.5 million. which indicated potential to increase the
ing Ltd managing director Brett Lynch and Located in the Eeyou-Istchee James resource base. Diamond drilling from 2019
his team are barely finding time to catch Bay region which also includes Nemaska is being audited for the potential to fast-
their breath. Lithium Inc’s Whabouchi mine, Moblan track a new resource estimate (39.3mt @
Since Sayona was confirmed as the boasts a 12.03mt @ 1.4% lithium resource 1.04% lithium) with a view towards restart-
preferred bidder for the mothballed North and is widely considered to be a Tier-1 de- ing operations next year and producing first
American Lithium (NAL) operations in Que- posit due to its reported low strip ratio of just spodumene concentrate in 2023. An initial
bec, Canada in late May – more than 2.5 2.9:1. scoping study is expected before the end
years after first submitting the proposal for Lynch revealed Moblan was actually one of this year.
its new flagship asset – the company has of the first projects Sayona looked at when “It’s all about integrating and creating the
put in an offer for another in-demand lithium the company “planted its flag” in Quebec largest single resource base of spodumene
project and undertaken two significant capi- five years ago. in North America,” Lynch said. “We’ve just
tal raisings. “It’s always been there for us. A window done some drilling at Authier, and I hope to
“Our philosophy from day one has been opened around mid-year, just as we were be able to publish those results shortly, and
to take little steps, and quickly,” Lynch told completing NAL, and as these things hap- we’ll soon begin another drilling programme
Paydirt. “We’re probably starting to take pen in life, windows open, windows close, at Tansmin. We expect that will be followed
those little steps even more quickly now, and we took the opportunity,” he said. by a further programme at NAL sometime
but I think that’s really in step with how the “It’s a world-class resource in its own right in the new year.”
market is moving as well, and we need to in terms of its 1.4% grade, enviable low strip Lynch also expects doors will continue to
keep pace. ratio of less than three-to-one, low iron con- open for Sayona in the burgeoning North
“It has been quite a growing experi- tent and lots of potential to expand to meet American market, given the rapidly evolv-
ence for Sayona, but we’ll continue to step the growing demand in North America. ing EV and decarbonisation thematics and
quickly, we’ll keep going up, and we haven’t “It ticks all the boxes and that’s why we the unprecedented demand for Tier-1 lithi-
slipped. It’s been a great time for us, for our moved pretty quickly to acquire it, albeit um supply.
shareholders, given this big change we’re straight off the back of completing NAL. “They say a year is a long time in show
seeing in the industry with respect to cli- Again, it was one of those little, but quick, business, and it’s certainly been a long 12
mate change. There’s no time to lose. We, steps.” months in lithium,” Lynch said. “We’ve seen
like the rest of industry, need to move fast.” Moblan is being viewed as a likely stan- the move now between supply and demand
Having only recently finalised the long- dalone operation for Sayona given it lies and there is certainly a lot of interest from
awaited acquisition of NAL, in conjunction more than 600km from the proposed Abitibi customers and offtakers on where they can
with fellow ASX-listed North American lith- lithium hub incorporating both NAL and the secure quality and reliable product within
ium hopeful Piedmont Lithium Inc, Sayona company’s undeveloped Authier and Tan- North America.
has wasted no time expanding its presence sim projects. “It’s very comforting for an incoming pro-
both at the mine site but also into other Support for Sayona’s latest acquisition ducer to have such a queue of customers
parts of Quebec. has been overwhelming with the company who are clearly very interested in getting
That ambition to become the dominant quickly pulling together a $100 million place- secure supply for their market.”
lithium player in Quebec hit new heights on ment and $25.5 million via an accompany-
September 30 when Sayona entered into ing rights issue in the days which followed – Michael Washbourne
an agreement with Lithium Royalty Corp to the Moblan announcement, such has been


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 55

BAtteRY MIneRALs FocUs

Q A Aussies urged to
&




accelerate





Paydirt: Australia is really beginning attracting this kind of investment.
to embrace the idea of creating a ESG compliance and the reduction of
battery industry hub located here. Your carbon footprint by transporting high-
report looked at three existing centres; grade battery chemicals rather than
are we too late to catch up? mineral concentrates also strongly
support the idea of local production
Dr Kirsten Martinus: Massive hubs. According to the FBI-CRC’s Future
increases in demand are predicted for Charge report – demand is predicted to
renewable technologies as nations try increase 9-10-fold over the next decade,
and hit emissionS targets and seek to meaning there is both opportunity and
stimulate economic recovery. Battery urgency for Australia to act.
industries as energy storage systems are
relatively new technologies and there is Paydirt: What inherent values does
currently a rush worldwide to dominate Australia, and Western Australia in
different parts of the battery manufacturing particular, have over others who are
value chain but there is definitely space for striving to establish similar hubs?
Australia to step in and fulfill future global
demands. It has a strong value proposition KM: WA has a large percentage of
and is on the cusp of adding value to the global deposits of battery minerals,
An Australian battery industries its battery minerals with an emerging a workforce with particular expertise in
hub could compete on the technical grade battery chemicals industry mineral extraction and production, as well
international stage but must in Kwinana and Kemerton, WA. as a strong METS sector.
There is also access to an abundance of
make the most of its advantages The locations chosen in the report renewable energy sources to decrease
of mineral endowment and sit at different places in the battery its industrial carbon footprint, and a
manufacturing value chain. Each case
infrastructure while overcoming study site is quite advanced given they highly innovative and technology savvy
the tyranny of distance and the are all built on existing industry strengths. workforce which is used to problem-
policies and incentives in place For example, in Germany there is a long solving issues related to its “remoteness”.
WA and Australia have a strong ESG
across the Northern Hemisphere. history of chemical production and quality compliance record and is globally well
manufacturing; and Japan is based
That was the conclusion drawn from a on strengths in battery production and ranked as an investment location. In a
new report commissioned by the Future advanced manufacturing developed over global industry where many countries
Battery Industries Cooperative Research decades. and companies are looking to secure
Centre (FBI-CRC) which examined Australia, on the other hand, dominates sustainable sources of supply, we have a
existing battery industry hubs in the the mining and mineral processing strong value proposition around abundant
US, Germany and Japan. parts of the value chain. It is already mineral resources, a world-class mining
“The competition to attract key industry seeing investment in several segments industry, technical expertise, a strong and
ethical regulatory framework and existing
players in the batteries manufacturing downstream. hub infrastructure in industrial precincts
industry is global, with locations in Collaboration and colocation can help such as Kwinana, Gladstone, etc.
Europe, USA and Japan offering better facilitate Australia’s competitiveness in
infrastructure, more streamlined
processes, more tax breaks and
incentives than Australia does,” report
authors Dr Kirsten Martinus and Adriana
Nunez-Picado of The University of
WA said in the executive summary.
“If Australia wishes to move further
into downstream production within
this highly competitive, fast-emerging
industry, it needs a coordinated and
strategic approach to accelerate hub
development and streamline industrial
and governance processes for greater
efficiency.”
Paydirt asked Dr Martinus about the
findings of the report.



Page 56 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Paydirt: What are the major approach – which is why creating a hub
challenges facing its establishment? is so difficult. It requires a comprehensive
understanding of regional assets, industry
KM: The major challenges in establishing gaps and challenges, and global trends.
a downstream battery material refining
and manufacturing hub is the competition Where the hub is located will have a
with countries in the northern hemisphere large bearing on how hub
who also want to locate as large a portion development needs to occur.
as possible of the supply chain in their A hub in Kalgoorlie-Boulder
respective regions so that a larger portion would be very different
of the economic benefit aggregate in the model to a hub in Kwinana.
country where the production takes place.
Contemporary battery value chains Paydirt: WA has the
are neither secure nor sustainable. unique assets of mineral
Battery mineral and material production reserves and mining skills
is monopolised by a small number of in a domestic setting. How
suppliers, which subject international advantageous will this be in
markets to both political and economic establishing a battery hub?
risks to security of supply.
Poor institutional frameworks in KM: It is extremely important, but
several supplier countries lead to on its own it is not a sufficient
many adverse basis. A similar argument
social and regarding mineral endowment
environmental can for instance be made
outcomes, for Africa. It is important to
undermining the have some manufacturing
sustainability credentials of basis, supporting infrastructure
an ostensibly “green” industry. and access to skills, training
Existing value chains are and research facilities.
not fit-for-purpose for 21st Australia produces nine of
century battery needs. the 10 mineral elements
Australia’s strong required to produce lithium-
commitment to ESG ion battery anodes and
compliance and risk cathodes and has reserves
mitigation is also a of the 10th – graphite.
two-edged sword in that we There is an opportunity
could “miss the boat” due for WA to add value to
to bureaucratic processes our mineral reserves
and low risk appetite. by moving further down the
value chain, capturing and
Paydirt: How do each retaining more of the value of
of the international hubs deal our minerals rather than simply
with different stakeholders exporting the raw materials.
(government, research organisations, This is particularly true
industry)? Is there a uniform for smaller volume, higher
approach? value raw materials, such as
lithium, cobalt, nickel and vanadium,
KM: They are all examples of how hubs where refining to chemicals makes
can be set up and successfully operate much sense, as well as manufacture of
using very different models. For example, advanced engineered materials such as
the US case study examines the Tesla cathode materials and anode materials
Gigafactory model in a remotely located and their respective precursors.
industrial park. The key stakeholders here The Future Charge report identified
(local government, industry) are different establishing battery hubs as one of its
to the Japanese case where the hub key recommendations to achieving a
examined is dispersed throughout Osaka, diversified battery industry in Australia
with research and development in Kyoto. worth $7.4 billion in value annually and
In this case, the key stakeholders are the support over 34,000 jobs by 2030.
local governments, prefectural government
(regional), industry and universities. Both the Accelerating Battery Industry
The German case is again different, Hub Development in Australia report and
where two different models of industrial the Future Charging report are available
“parks” were examined. One was a park on the Future Battery Industries CRC
with different companies working together website fbicrc.com.au
in an industry eco-system, the other was
one company comprised of separate
business units but working as an eco-
system. There is no uniform or ideal


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 57

noRtHeRn teRRItoRY sPotLIGHt




Territory snaps back into




exploration action

























NT Minister for Mining & industry Nicole
Manison (right) with Core Lithium
managing director Stephen Biggins







A
g
growing belief that the Northern Territory will become rowing belief that the Northern Territory will become
A Australia’s next major copper jurisdiction is attracting Australia’s next major copper jurisdiction is attracting
both established and emerging explorers to previously oth established and emerging explorers to previously
b
u
underexplored districts in the territory.nderexplored districts in the territory.



he likes of BHP Ltd, Oz Minerals Ltd, Minister for Mining and Industry Nicole pre-competitive data and co-funded drilling
TTeck Resources Ltd and Fortescue Manison said the NT Labor Government’s programmes over the last few years had
Metals Group Ltd have all pegged ground backing of the sector was beginning to pay delivered the confidence and information
in the Barkly Tablelands east of Tennant dividends. explorers needed to enter unchartered
Creek. Meanwhile, IGO Ltd has committed “The Territory Labor Government is ground.
$9 million to exploration on its Raptor and working very hard to make the NT the best “We’re really excited with the uptake on
Lake McKay projects. place for exploration investment in Austral- exploration tenure. We haven’t had this
There is even room for tiddlers among ia,” Manison told Paydirt. level of activity in the last few years, par-
the giants. One such junior is Eastern Met- “We are serious about getting on with the ticularly in the large greenfields areas that
als Ltd, which listed on the ASX last month job of growing our economy to $40 billion were unexplored in the past,” Scrimgeour
after a $5.3 million oversubscribed IPO. by 2030, with 20 mining projects currently told Paydirt. “We are getting excited by the
At the other end of the project pipeline, working towards FID in the Territory with a major interest in sedimentary-hosted cop-
Core Lithium Ltd announced in October combined value of $6.2 billion and the po- per deposits. BHP, Oz Minerals and FMG
that it would proceed with construction on tential to create 5,700 construction jobs and have all picked up large areas south of Alice
its Finniss lithium project near Darwin while 3,600 ongoing jobs. Springs and in the Barkly Tablelands east
companies such as Arafura Resources Ltd, “We know our resources sector is play- of Tennant Creek.
Primary Gold Pty Ltd and TNG Ltd stand ing a huge role in our economic comeback, “The Barkly wasn’t being explored be-
poised to follow Core into development. which is why we announced record annual cause the data was poor and there was
The new levels represent a dramatic shift funding of $9.5 million for more mineral thick cover. It took the government-acquired
for the NT, which had become an explora- exploration – to drive more mining and cre- data to highlight that area and show it had
tion backwater in the 2010s as explorers ate more jobs across the Territory, with the the right ingredients for copper-gold miner-
and established miners chose more mature funding to be ongoing.” alisation and sedimentary-hosted copper.
jurisdictions such as Western Australia, NT Geological Survey executive direc- “Now that industry has the data, it is pro-
Queensland and New South Wales. tor Ian Scrimgeour said the investment in viding the confidence needed to start ex-


Page 58 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

ploring and there are 6-7 cent months, Scrimgeour is well aware of
companies active.” the need to increase the NT’s critical miner-
Manison said the inter- als prospectivity.
est from larger compa- “Within the new initiatives, we are having
nies had encouraged the a closer look at promoting the NT’s poten-
Government to pursue tial for critical minerals,” he said.
further pre-competitive Manison welcomed Core’s decision, say-
programmes and ensure ing it could be the first step in a new critical
explorers can get on the minerals industry in the Territory.
ground quickly. “[Finniss] will be the first lithium mine in
“We see this unprec- Australia outside of Western Australia. With
edented level of interest lithium exploration still at a relatively early
from the majors in early- stage in the Territory, we are confident that
stage exploration as a further lithium resources can be discovered
vote of confidence in the and developed,” she said.
Territory’s potential for “As part of the expanded Resourcing the
new large-scale mineral Territory programme, we will have dedicat-
discoveries,” she said. ed programmes to identify the Territory’s
“The Territory Govern- potential for critical minerals and promote
ment has also been work- these opportunities to explorers and inves-
ing with the exploration tors.”
and broader mining sector WA and Queensland governments have
to streamline approvals. already moved to establish downstream
This enables companies processing industries in their states and
to get projects under way the Federal Government has established a
sooner when they begin Critical Minerals Facilitation Office to inves-
work in the Territory. Re- tigate ways Australia can participate in the
quirements for mine man- battery and critical minerals supply chain
agement plans have been beyond extraction only.
streamlined which reduc- Manison said the NT Government had
es the time for companies similar ambitions.
to prepare and for govern- “In the longer term, we hope to see the
ment to assess.” establishment of downstream processing
Early-stage explora- of lithium hydroxide to position the Territory
tion is encouraging but as a significant player in the battery miner-
ultimately the success of als supply chain,” she said.
government policies will “There are already plans for significant
be judged by success- downstream processing of critical minerals
ful project development. to advanced chemicals in the Northern Ter-
Manison said the Govern- ritory, with Arafura Resources planning to
The Territory’s critical minerals ment streamlining work would extend to produce rare earth oxide products at its No-
potential is beginning to be development regulations. lans site, and TNG also planning process-
uncovered with Core, Arafura “The Territory Government has been ing at its Mount Peake vanadium-titanium
Resources and TNG leading working to establish a high-level Mineral project. The Territory Government is com-
“ The Territory identifying, assessing and recommending ommendations of the Territory Economic
the way for a new generation of
mitted to seeking further downstream min-
Development Taskforce to accelerate min-
ing development in the Territory,” she said.
eral processing in the Territory.
project developers
“The Taskforce will play a leading role in
“As part of the implementation of the rec-
Reconstruction Commission, a process is
policy, strategy and regulatory options to
Government
underway to assess the feasibility of min-
accelerate significant private investment in
eral processing opportunities in the NT and
mineral projects to facilitate growth of the
has also been working
with the exploration
“The Mineral Development Taskforce
play in devising innovative approaches and
will also be responsible for considering the
options to accelerate private investment
and broader mining mining sector. It will have a critical role to take them to market.
which historically has been a significant Territory’s competitiveness and investment
sector to streamline challenge and barrier to realisation of the environment for downstream value-adding
approvals. This mineral opportunities. to minerals and looking for opportunities
“The Territory Government has also ex- to accelerate private investment. Down-
enables companies to panded the Resourcing the Territory initia- stream processing of minerals is a central
get projects underway tive to allow government to co-fund drilling activity for proposed development of the
near known deposits to assist the industry Middle Arm Sustainable Development Pre-
sooner when they to bring forward the identification of addi- cinct.”
tional resources to support near-term min-
begin work in the – Dominic Piper
ing development.”
Territory. While copper has been the focus in re-
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Lithium lighting up the Territory































ore Lithium Ltd has taken major Construction is due to start before the “Compare that to working in the middle
Cstrides this year to ready itself for an end of this year and Biggins said sealing of the desert in the Pilbara or the Eastern
ambitious production start from its Finn- the FID was only a matter of time after ma- Goldfields and that’s a really attractive job.”
iss project in the Northern Territory by the jor offtake deals were awarded to Ganfeng Core’s timing to soon achieve produc-
end of next year. Lithium Co Ltd and Yahua Industrial Group tion couldn’t be more impeccable given the
With a share price that has rocketed over Co Ltd for the 15mt @ 1.3% lithium oxide major growing hunger for lithium’s role in
100% in the last six months to 57c/share, resource. EV uptake, but also as global power needs
Core managing director Stephen Biggins “We’ve now got two binding offtakes with beckon for renewable energies.
speaks plainly on what is at stake for the some of the best quality customers in the Ganfeng told its own customers in Octo-
company if this momentum continues to lithium battery supply chain,” he said. “Ya- ber that it would raise prices for lithium met-
stay the course. hua links us to Tesla and then there’s Gan- al products by $US15,500/t due to power
“It’s Core’s position as Australia’s next feng who are one of, if not the largest, lithi- supply shortages in China creating higher
lithium producer,” Biggins told Paydirt. um producers in the world. Locking those in production costs.
“With all of those long-lead hurdles knocked was a very important step. Biggins said such power shortages over-
down, the company is about to start build- “Inside that was completing a $150 mil- seas don’t affect how Core will approach
ing the project and tangibly be in production lion capital raising led by Bank of America business, but he acknowledged the poten-
in 12-months’ time from now. There’s no and Canaccord Genuity, with a significant tial supply deficit in lithium worldwide.
one else on the ASX that can get their prod- contribution from Ganfeng, which means “[Our momentum is] definitely about the
uct to market as a new producer as quickly that we’ve got a very strong international, market realising there is likely to be a poten-
as we can in Australia.” institutional following.” tial deficit in supply of lithium as EV sales
The Core board approved the final in- Both Ganfeng and Yahua are locked in to continue to grow and the world is going to
vestment decision for Finniss at the end buy 75,000 tpa of lithium over four years of be reliant on suppliers like Core to deliver in
of September, following an EPC contract production. the sector,” he said. “The upward pressure
awarded to Primero for the DMS plant and Construction of Finniss is set to cre- on lithium pricing will continue and there-
Lucas TCS being issued with the mining ate 250 jobs and although the country as fore the valuation of the company will too
services contract. a whole is feeling the burden of a bottle- through the life of the project. The market
Lucas will be responsible for open pit necked labour market, Biggins remains has an expectation that the pressures on
mining duties over a three-year period. The confident that the project’s positioning upward pricing are going to continue for a
Grants open pit will be the first mine de- close to Darwin will be plenty attractive for long period of time.”
veloped at the project and Lucas will carry new hires. As Biggins spoke from his home base in
out clearing and grubbing, topsoil manage- “There will be 250 jobs created through Adelaide, pieces were falling into place for
ment, installation of pads and roads, water construction, and then operationally and a potential new neighbour to move in next
control, drilling and blasting, and loading longer term, it’s in the order of 250 full time door to Finniss.
and hauling. jobs as well,” he said. “Even though, nation- Castillo Copper Ltd managing director
Meanwhile, the Primero contract is a con- ally the labour market is tight, the ability Simon Paull gets a slew of deals across his
tinuation of a relationship since the Finniss for the project to attract good people has desk every day that he has to fend off, but
DFS in 2019. The contractor will be respon- an advantage. We have the opportunity the opportunity for two lithium projects was
sible for project management, engineering to provide jobs for an active mine, living in one he couldn’t refuse.
and detailed design, equipment and mate- a capital city, adjacent to the coast...to be Synergy Prospectivity Pty Ltd ap-
rials procurement, quality assurance, and able to drive from your house in the suburbs proached Castillo to sell the Litchfield and
commissioning on the first receipt of ore. to your job each morning. Picasso projects in the NT and Western



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Australasian joins the fray




ustralian Gold Ltd is yet another company entering the
ANorthern Territory lithium space, already receiving backing
from the CSIRO for exploration at its Mt Peake project, 200km
north of Alice Springs.
CSIRO is funding half of the exploration fees as part of the
“Kick-Start” programme, giving access of its technology to Aus-
tralasian. This includes optical, thermal and geophysical remote
sensing data analysis as the company seeks occurrences of
lithium pegmatites.
“We are delighted to be able to team up with CSIRO to accel-
erate our lithium exploration program,” Australasian managing
director Qingtao Zeng said.
“CSIRO are true innovators with cutting-edge equipment and
knowledge learned from previous lithium exploration research.
“We are very excited to put these techniques to the test at our
Mount Peake lithium pegmatite project, and in return, we will be
assisting with the ongoing refinement of CSIRO’s spectral sens-
ing techniques used for future lithium exploration.” Qingtao Zeng


Australia, respectively. a good chunk of data to look at. I said, the line.”
“There is certainly a cluster of deals every ‘just give me some time to see if it makes When assay results are delivered, Cas-
week that make no sense to me,” Paull told sense’.” tillo is awarded an extension on the due
Paydirt. “No, I don’t want to go into coal. Since September 29, Castillo has been in diligence period. The company shelled out
No, I don’t want to go into uranium. But then a 90-day period to perform its due diligence $50,000 in cash to enter the 90-day option.
this lithium deal came across my desk. I on the two projects. Lithium occurrences Should the company pounce on the
thought the ground looked very interesting. have been confirmed at Picasso and sig- projects, they will pay $1 million worth of
We then bartered on the price structuring nificant pegmatite outcroppings have been shares as a first milestone payment. Anoth-
and what that would look like. spotted at Litchfield. er two milestones exist for a total $2 million
“At first I wasn’t confident this would get The projects both carry a swagger of in shares; one, if two holes between 100m
across the line. Right now, we’re using an nearology as Litchfield sits next door to and 200m apart produce at least 10m @
external geological consultant and there’s Core’s Finniss while Picasso sits north of 1.3%; another, if the total inferred resource
Liontown Resources is at least 7mt @ 1.3% as modelled by SRK
Ltd’s Buldania project Consulting.
in WA. Paull is also equally excited for entering
Such nearology the lithium market as he is for being in the
piqued Paull’s inter- NT.
est but he remains “For some reason, I like the NT,” he said.
cautious while Cas- “I’ve read some reports on that part of the
tillo awaits more than world and its geology, and it just seemed to
600 samples from an ring a bell with me.
assay lab. “The lithium space just seems to make
“The nearology sense, whether it’s Litchfield, Picasso, or a
certainly got our at- sum of the three; I don’t mind. And for the
tention,” he said. sake of $50,000 to put our feet on these
“Nearology can be leases, and to get the time to investigate
misleading, that’s them properly, it just seemed to make
part of the reason sense – and if we proceed with it, it doesn’t
why we didn’t sign a hurt the bank balance.”
deal straight away for Biggins acknowledged that Core’s rapid
the company, but it is success in the NT is likely to better sell the
certainly titillating. opportunities abound.
“I am a pragmatist. “With Core’s success, there is growing
We have more than interest in the NT from a number of ASX
650 samples cur- listed companies in lithium,” he said. “It’s
rently in the lab in Ad- good to see and we encourage others com-
elaide. The proof will ing into the area looking at growing the NT’s
be in pudding if we do contribution to the future lithium sector.”
exercise the option – Fraser Palamara
and it is my expecta-
tion that we do. The
nearology is good,
but that alone won’t
Lithium pegmatite outcropping at the Litchfield project in the get our deal across
Northern Territory, next to Finniss

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TNG: Location, location, location




























TNG has confirmed the proposed
downstream TiVAN processing facility will
be located at Mount Peake (pictured)
rather than the Middle Arm site in Darwin


NG Ltd managing director Paul Burton to be reworked and optimised, which will
Tremains optimistic his company can hopefully result in further capital savings
still arrive at a final investment decision on and [reduced] operational costs as well.”
its Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron The strategic review highlighted a num-
project by the middle of next year despite ber of benefits in having both the mining
recently confirming a major tweak to the and processing occurring in such close
proposed multi-faceted operation. proximity, including consolidation of non-
Originally planned for the Middle Arm process infrastructure, a reduction in con-
site in Darwin, TNG’s downstream TIVAN struction requirements and solid waste
processing facility will now be located and tailings disposal handling costs, the
within its existing mining leases at Mount ability to simplify commissioning to a sin-
Peake, about 23km north-west of Alice gle location, and an expected lower risk
Springs, following a strategic review which final permitting process.
found the previous development hurdles Burton was also confident the location
for a fully integrated operation no longer switch would have little impact on TNG’s
existed. current line of sight on a FID for Mount
TNG confirmed the location change just Peake.
two months after announcing the FEED “If we proceeded with Darwin, we know
study for the Darwin-based refinery had that was going to take at least 12 months, Paul Burton
been completed. However, Burton insisted with no certainty at the end of that with our
the vast majority of the detailed engineer- permitting, so a FID was going to be no preferred location for the TIVAN refinery
ing work can be carried across to the new sooner than the end of next year,” he said. due to concerns there was not going to be
site. “I do think we will be in a position – and enough gas and water available at Mount
“It doesn’t matter where the plant is I’ve always been very optimistic on this – Peake for both the mine and the complex
actually going to be built because all the by the middle of next year, to have had processing facility. TNG made the deci-
diagrams, the engineering, all those equip- enough information supplied for the board sion to base the refinery in the Territory
ment lists, etc, they don’t change,” Burton to make the FID. By that stage, we expect capital after the Government at the time
told Paydirt. [debt advisor] KfW to have completed awarded the crown lease at Middle Arm to
“All we have now is a more slimmed most of their due diligence and any other the company.
down operation which I think is the best engineering work will also have been com- It was during the recently completed
outcome. Completing the FEED is a ma- pleted. We’ve got some very experienced FEED study when it became apparent
jor milestone and the unfortunate thing is engineers working with us, so I think that there would be both enough gas and water
this [relocation] announcement has sort would be quite a reasonable expectation for a fully integrated operation at the mine
of overshadowed the excellent work that’s for next year.” site. Concerns raised through the ongoing
been done. Only some things will need Darwin was previously chosen as the permitting of the Darwin lease ultimately


Page 62 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

triggered the strategic Federal and Northern Territory govern- as well because the land we had up in Dar-
review and the decision ments and the TIVAN processing pathway win…one of the things that arose during our
to relocate the refinery has become globally recognised such that environmental work was that the Middle
closer to the heart of the TNG has secured binding offtake agree- Arm precinct, the NT Government wanted
proposed operation. ments for all of its proposed output. it to be a gas hub, and we didn’t really fit
“When we looked at Burton said the decision to relocate the into that…but the green hydrogen certainly
all the figures for the TIVAN facility had the support of its key does,” he said.
Mount Peake operation, backers, including project financiers and “We’re hoping that land we did have re-
although it’s not without advisors. served for us will remain for us, we should
its challenges, it certainly “This decision wasn’t taken lightly, we did know about that in the very near future. And
gave us very strong eco- canvass everybody that was potentially im- certainly, the green hydrogen is a good as-
nomics because we can pacted or involved with this,” he said. pect for Mount Peake as well because all
have an integrated plant,” “COVID has a lot to play in this as well. companies and all boards need to make
Burton said. “We don’t There’s always a silver lining in lots of these careful decisions on the operations they
have to double up build- things and I think [SMS] recognised that want to put in, certainly long-term ones like
ings in two different loca- they needed to have some ability to stretch ours, taking into account the net zero tar-
tions and we don’t have a their arm into Australia, but they couldn’t gets of some countries. We’re fully behind
great big logistical issue with the restrictions, etc…so having Clough that, and that’s what we’re looking to put in
between the mine site on board works well because there’s al- place here initially.”
and the processing plant ready a lot of trust between the two. TNG previously spun out a package of
anymore. “KfW are very aligned, it doesn’t change non-core assets into Todd River Resourc-
“There was really no their focus on the funding…so I think it’s es Ltd (see page 68) in 2016 and Burton
better option and now is actually a much better outcome overall be- said the company has already discussed
the right time to do this, cause it allows a bit more control from our doing the same with TNG Energy at the ap-
as opposed to trying to perspective to decide on how this layout propriate time.
cover everything else in will be and how the operation will eventu- “It’s too early days, but we’ll see how it de-
Darwin, which could po- ally swing into production.” velops,” he said. “Often with these things, if
tentially have dragged TNG continues to push ahead with other you do keep them in the parent company,
on to the detriment of the aspects of its business, including the devel- sometimes you don’t realise the full value
project. This certainly opment of a dedicated vanadium electro- for shareholders and so a spin-out would
gives us a clearer path- lyte facility. Perth-based METS Engineer- be one way that we could. I certainly think
ing was recently appointed to it could be big enough – the green hydro-
undertake a process and de- gen aspect and indeed the vanadium elec-
sign study for the company’s trolyte battery business – to stand on their
emerging vanadium redox flow own two feet, as opposed to a mining and
battery (VRFB) strategy. processing operation, which will be huge in
Burton said while the VRFB its own right.”
business unit was separate Having been with TNG since the discov-
to the main Mount Peake op- ery of Mount Peake, Burton sometimes
eration, there was still a lot of wonders what life would be like if the com-
crossover and further investi- pany had attempted to fast-track a vana-
gation required into how best dium production option in the early years.
Binding offtake agreements have been secured for to take advantage of this grow- However, with hindsight firmly in view, he
TNG’s suite of vanadium, titanium and iron products ing market opportunity. still believes there is so much more to roll
“What we wanted was an in- out.
way and timeframe to get into production.” dependent engineering group to come up “The project has grown dramatically
TNG has appointed Clough Projects with the full feasibility study on batteries, since we first made the discovery and start-
Australia Pty Ltd to develop and prepare types of batteries, what the capital costs ed to see what was feasible, and the other
a consolidated plant layout for the fully in- and the operating costs would be, based aspects of electrolyte batteries and those
tegrated operation at Mount Peake. The on the premise that we’ll be producing our things that weren’t really considered at that
experienced engineering firm is expected own vanadium electrolyte,” he said. time, they’ve come more to the fore with all
to work closely with German-based SMS “That information is with METS now and of the alternative energy discussions that
Group which completed the recent FEED they will provide us with the full breakdown have started, which I think has been a very
study. in detail for us to then go and either get positive thing for the project,” Burton said.
Clough previously contributed to the some available government funding to put “I think one of the things that I can say
DFS for the project and Burton indicated this into place, or we expand on what we for sure is I had never ever considered that
the revived relationship could even extend currently have in place with a Singaporean it would take this long to get this particular
beyond this contract. group called V-Flow Tech.” project into operation. However, despite all
“We don’t rule out the possibility that Earlier this year the company estab- the work that’s been done, had we gone
Clough will be further engaged as we move lished a new green-focused subsidiary, into operation a lot earlier, I think we would
into development,” he said. “They certainly TNG Energy Pty Ltd, to house the VRFB be missing out on what’s now happening in
have the capacity to build big projects and business unit and potential opportunities in the industry where you must start cutting
it’s great for us to be realigned with them.” the emerging hydrogen scene. down on your carbon footprint and various
SMS has been the major contributor Burton said the proposed hydrogen strat- other things. It’s definitely all going to be
to Mount Peake’s emergence as a future egy had somewhat naturally come to the beneficial for the operation in the long run.”
long-term supplier of an eclectic suite of fore alongside the development plans for – Michael Washbourne
vanadium, titanium and iron products. Ma- Mount Peake.
jor Project Status was bestowed by both “It has come to the fore at the right time

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Funds start trickling into Arafura




or the first time since joining the rare million with a 15-year term. set to be the only one of its kind in Australia
Fearths hopeful, Arafura Resources Ltd Formal support from the Australian Gov- where ore will be mined and processed into
managing director Gavin Lockyer feels he ernment’s export credit agency came after a rare earths oxide at the same site.
is on the verge of executing what he was a number of equivalent overseas govern- Lockyer said the company was commit-
employed to do some 15 years ago. ment organisations also expressed interest ted to retaining as much of the manufactur-
While there have been several reasons in providing debt funding for Nolans, about ing “value-add” within the country as pos-
why Arafura has been unable to fund the 135km north of Alice Springs. sible.
development of its Nolans project, including The Northern Australia Infrastructure Fa- “The end product is much more valuable
a severely depressed rare earths market for cility (NAIF) has also previously indicated it than a mineral concentrate, or in this case
most of the last decade, Lockyer and others could provide up to $100 million in funding a mixed rare earth concentrate, being pro-
who have remained with the company for support for a project which is forecast to cessed off-site,” he said.
the duration of that challenging period can produce 4,440 tpa NdPr oxide at a low op- “It provides some optionality to our cus-
finally see the light at a very long tunnel. erating cost of $US24.76/kg over a 38-year tomers if they don’t necessarily want the
According to the extensive list of tasks mine life, according to a feasibility study up- rare earth oxide. We are in discussions
required to have Nolans in a “shovel-ready” date published in May. with a couple of groups around the poten-
position, Arafura has just two boxes left to Lockyer said both EFA and NAIF had tial of tolling that product into a metal which
tick – offtake and project funding – both of encouraged the company to start pulling is potentially more marketable for some of
which have gathered pace over the past together a more standardised contracting the European customers. We can do that
year. strategy for the development of Nolans, because we are doing that auto oxide here
“I really feel like I’m on the cusp of doing beginning with the FEED process and then in Australia.
what I was actually employed to do 15 years naturally rolling into the award of a fixed- “Where Arafura offers great benefit here
ago and that’s getting this thing financed price EPC contract. to potential customers is the fact that we’re
and into production,” Lockyer told Paydirt. Arafura subsequently appointed respect- doing everything at one site, the residues
“There’s a number of reasons why it’s ed engineering firm Hatch to design the No- are basically being managed and rehabili-
taken so long, but I’m feeling very confident lans hydrometallurgical plant as part of the tated at the site from which they came, and
that we’re in a really good spot in terms of initial FEED phase. therefore we can provide that degree of
project development, the team we’ve got to- “Hatch have really hit the ground run- provenance over not just where the NdPr
gether and just general market conditions.” ning,” Lockyer said. material was sourced, but where the waste
is being managed as well.”
Lockyer was optimistic the company
could secure key first binding offtake pack-
ages within the next 3-6 months, with
Arafura having a slightly longer term goal
of turning dirt for early works at Nolans in
2022.
“We’re targeting a final investment deci-
sion around August/September next year,
which obviously implies that we’ve got a
constructor ready to go, we’ve got our fund-
ing in place and we’ve raised the equity we
need for the project finance,” he said. “It’s
all systems go.”
Arafura has also committed to employing
as many locals as possible to build and op-
erate the future mine and processing facility
at Nolans in what would be a huge boon for
Central Australia.
Arafura is moving its Nolans rare earths project into a shovel-ready position “A local workforce is always preferable
to people flying in and flying out,” Lockyer
said.
Funding has started to roll in for Arafura “The FEED process will now run into the “We see this as a great opportunity for
with the company raising $40 million via a first part of next year with the view that we Alice Springs and the wider Central Aus-
placement in June and subsequently top- roll that over into a construction contract tralian community. We’ve got Laramba just
ping up its cash balance with a further $5.5 with an applicable constructor. The project down the road, we’ve got Ti Tree just up the
million from an oversubscribed SPP. itself is really going gangbusters and we’ve road, so I’d certainly hope that we can pro-
The capital raisings, largely going to- actually expanded our organisation and our vide opportunities for people living in this
wards funding the start of key FEED work internal capabilities quite significantly to en- area.
on Nolans, were undertaken about a month able that to happen.” “Obviously people need to be appropri-
after Arafura received a non-binding let- Arafura is attempting to position Nolans ately qualified and trained, but we’d love to
ter of intent from Export Finance Australia as the “non-Chinese supplier of choice” for see a 100% workforce from the region.”
(EFA) for a senior debt facility of up to $200 NdPr oxide. Once operational, the project is
– Michael Washbourne

Page 64 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Emmerson hits the accelerator




mmerson Resources Ltd managing di-
Erector Rob Bills believes the proverbial
handbrake has finally been released after
several stalled attempts to monetise the
company’s suite of stranded gold assets in
Tennant Creek.
It appears Bills’ long-held wish for a cen-
tral processing facility in the region is set
to become reality around this time next
year after Emmerson’s JV partner Ten-
nant Consolidated Mining Group (TCMG)
secured a second-hand 700,000 tpa CIL
plant which includes a recently overhauled
crushing and grinding circuit plus a Nelson
gravity concentrator.
Subject to permitting now under way,
the plant will be dismantled, transported
and reassembled at the historic Nobles
Nob site during the first half of next year.
Emmerson’s Chariot and Mauretania
deposits loom as the likely first cabs off
the rank for processing via the new cen- emmerson is using newly available drone
tralised facility. As part of its small mines JORC, so we haven’t been able to talk technology to identify new targets in the
agreement with TCMG, the company will about them, which is understandably very Tennant Creek mineral field
receive a free-carried 6% gold royalty from frustrating for Emmerson shareholders,”
production on its extensive ground pack- Bills said. g/t gold from 57m and 45m @ 0.39% cop-
age in Tennant Creek. “In terms of valuation, it means a lot, and per from 84m.
“It’ll be fantastic for the region because to Emmerson shareholders it especially Bills also hailed the effectiveness of a
these stranded assets and [the lack of a means a lot because, at long last, you can newly available ultra-high resolution drone
centralised milling facility] has been a bit start placing a valuation on some of those magnetic survey in helping the company
of a handbrake for not only Emmerson, projects. We’re really looking forward to identify new targets in the Tennant Creek
but lots of other explorers in the Ten- releasing our first resource, probably in mineral field.
nant Creek area given the nearest mill is a month’s time once we’ve finalised the “Basically, the gold in Tennant Creek
3,000km away,” Bills told Paydirt. JORC process with Optiro. is associated with iron, so it’s either mag-
“Sure, you can make discoveries – and “With our recent discovery at Maure- netite or hematite, but typically it’s some-
we’ve made three discoveries there – but tania, even though we’ve had some crack- where in the middle,” he said. “It can have
there’s no way to process them at present. er drill announcements, I don’t think the quite a subtle mag anomaly if it’s mainly
The mill is locked in now which is a big public domain has quite realised the po- hematite, or it can be all magnetite and be
step forward for us and so many others.” tential and the grade of that yet. We think very, very strong.
Under a strategic alliance which was fur- that is going to be a high-grade open pit “Previous explorers have focused on
ther consolidated during the June quarter, and quite a significant one, too.” those strong anomalies and drilled those
Emmerson will manage the five-year ex- The geologist in Bills shines through to death, so we’re focused on the subtle
ploration plan, valued at a minimum $10.5 evidently when he starts talking about a ones. But to find the subtle ones, you need
million, focused on early-stage opportuni- potential underground opportunity at Mau- a tool like a drone mag because the reso-
ties. When assets are advanced to a cer- retania. Drilling recently intersected 3.95m lution is just so much better. If you flew old
tain level, TCMG assumes the responsibil- @ 57 g/t gold, 0.22% bismuth, 20.6 g/t sil- fixed-wing technology, you won’t even see
ity for their potential mining and processing ver and 0.23% copper from 207m (includ- it.
at the incoming centralised facility. ing 1m @ 102 g/t gold and 0.8m @ 135.5 “We’re spending a lot of money at the
Chariot, Mauretania, Malbec West and g/t gold) from the only deep hole into the front end on the drone, it’s probably a
Black Snake are the four Emmerson pro- primary mineralisation. $400,000 exercise for us, and it’s probably
jects currently in the mining JV. TCMG is “When you’re in the supergene, you also taken six months to really fly what we
now undertaking flora and fauna studies normally get an upgrade, so to get that in want to fly, but I think it’s going to gener-
and open pit optimisation work with a view the primary zone, hopefully it’s an indica- ate some really exciting new targets. It’s all
towards having some or all of those de- tion that the primary mineralisation is also about populating that part of the pipeline.”
posits in a shovel-ready position for when very high grade, which would be fantastic Exploration is currently on hiatus on Em-
the mill is switched on. if it’s 100m below the open pit floor,” Bills merson’s New South Wales projects due
JORC-compliant resource estimates explained. to the COVID-19 outbreak, but Bills said
for the likes of Chariot and Mauretania Other recent assays outside the high- the company would look to resume work
could also be published before the end of grade mineralisation within the future open there once it is safe to do so.
the year in a move which Bills expects to pit at Mauretania include 25m @ 2.57 g/t
be very openly welcomed by Emmerson gold and 0.24% copper from 93m (includ- – Michael Washbourne
shareholders. ing 3m @ 6% gold and 3m @ 5.2 g/t gold)
“Most of our existing resources are non-
as well as 30m @ 0.44% copper and 0.3

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 65

noRtHeRn teRRItoRY sPotLIGHt



DevEx returns to uranium roots





evEx Resources Ltd must have been
Dfeeling nostalgic for its past life as
Uranium Equities when it revealed a
12-month plan to revive the Northern
Territory’s historic Nabarlek mine in Sep-
tember.
The $1.5 million exploration pro-
gramme has already begun at Nabarlek,
including follow-up mapping and surface
sampling for uranium, copper and gold
occurrences in and around the mine,
located within the Alligator Rivers prov-
ince. Drilling is slated for the April dry
season.
Discovered in the 1960s, Nabarlek
produced 24 mlb @ 1.84% uranium over
20 years. DevEx purchased the land in
2008 and managing director Brendan
Bradley fronted investors with the pro-
posal, backdropped by a bullish uranium
market with spot prices hovering around
$US40/lb. Devex geologists logging core from the historic Nabarlek project in the Northern Territory
“We’re looking forward to getting on
with the job,” he said. “It’s all about high hosts a tightly contained occurrence of and we’re already doing it at the mo-
grade. That’s why Nabarlek has been uranium mineralisation, controlled by a ment.”
in our portfolio for a very long time and series of structures including the “north Public sentiment towards uranium has
we’re very excited about it. fault”. Bradley believes the best miner- adjusted positively in the past year, with
“The uranium price has previously alisation is running adjacent to that fault. the American Democratic party endors-
been down, and we’ve been moving the “That becomes an exploration target ing nuclear energy for the first time after
project along gently. We have commis- for what we’re doing,” he said. “Using 48 years of opposing its use. Australia’s
sioned a six-month review and we’re historical data, we’re identifying a num- nuclear-powered submarine deal with
looking at the historical exploration.” ber of undrilled anomalies with structural the UK and US also put yellowcake dis-
Historical data has gifted a “treasure similarities to the Nabarlek deposit. cussions back on the front page.
trove” of information for DevEx to flick “This is a province that is very well en- On the positive yellowcake sentiment,
through while the company waits for the dowed in uranium with over 500 mlb de- Bradley tried hard to hold his tongue, but
rainy season to let up. fined in resources and mining history… the excitement was visible for sharehold-
Surrounding tenements include the this area has major history. er value.
likes of the U40 prospect with hits of 6m “We already have great support from “The outlook is glowing,” he laughed.
@ 7.6% uranium, 2% copper, and 0.7 g/t the Traditional Owners, they’re con- “Vimy [Resources Ltd] and Alligator [En-
gold, 12.3m @ 0.7% uranium, 2% cop- stantly visiting us and regularly looking ergy Ltd] are doing fantastically well in
per, and 1.8 g/t gold including 4.8m @ at what’s going on. They were living regard to their share price…it’s a very
1.9% uranium, 3.2% copper and 4.5 g/t and working at Nabarlek in the 1980s. limited pool of hard rock, high-grade ura-
gold. They’re keen for us to make more dis- nium explorers out there in Australia.
Nabarlek South has recorded hits of coveries because they’re keen to get out “I’m an exploration geologist, I can talk
25m @ 0.32% uranium, including 2m @ there themselves.” about the uranium price as much as any
1% and 3m @ 1%. Although outside of The company’s eagerness to con- other punter…but there’s an avenue to
DevEx’ mining lease, Coopers has re- tinue Nabarlek’s exploration is because see growth in the uranium price.”
corded 20m @ 0.2% uranium and 0.45 its high-grade, at-surface discoveries Shareholders who have hitched their
g/t gold, including 7m @ 0.3% uranium meant past explorers left much to be wagon to the DevEx train due to its non-
and 1.2 g/t gold. desired. Grades of up to 75% were re- uranium plays in the Julimar complex
While there is still more work to be corded when it was first discovered, ac- of Western Australia, as well as North
done, Bradley feels the DevEx team al- cording to Bradley, who also sees oppor- Cobar and Basin Creek in New South
ready has a strong geological grasp on tunity for PGEs that were never assayed. Wales, don’t have to worry over dis-
the project. “The Nabarlek deposit itself was never traction, with Bradley insisting the com-
“As a geologist, I see a number of assayed for gold, let alone PGEs,” he pany’s focus across the entire portfolio
uranium-bearing corridors, fault related, said. “It was only in the recent years would not be lost.
that are hosting a lot of the mineralisa- that we’ve started to assay for gold and “Our focus is on exploration,” he said.
tion in the area,” he said. “For the next 12 PGEs. “My purpose is to make discoveries and
months, we are focused on that immedi- “We see that as a key focus in the wet grow shareholder wealth.”
ate area surrounding the mine.” seasons, getting out there and mapping
Workings show the Nabarlek deposit the rocks. We’ve got a large area to do – Fraser Palamara



Page 66 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Alligator bites




at yellowcake heels




lligator Energy Ltd is riding the coat- “It is starting to change. In late 2019, “We were hoping to do some initial IP
Atails of the long-awaited return in sen- there was a Federal White Paper put out surveys over that area this year, but we’ve
timent towards uranium. The Northern on power and the future of power sources been struggling to get a crew, we think we
Territory-focused company’s share price for the country,” he explained. “For the will be able to change that next year.
has surged 510% over the past year and first time, there was a clear statement “There were some intersections found
managing director Greg Hall attributed made in that report that the Australian by Cameco just off our tenements at
the comeback to both the clean energy Government should allow consideration around 6m @ 7%, which is a massive
push as well as the significant strides for future use of Generation 3 large nu- grade in Australia. The structures they
made in safety through new technologies. clear reactors or small modular reactors. found that in run straight into our property
Hall cited the current generation of nu- That was significant. and they’re about 200m off our boundary.
clear reactors, Generation 3 onwards, “As small reactors in particular get We’re going to do IP surveys over them to
which trump Fukushima’s now outdated some traction, I think that is where it will take them up into our property.”
facilities that triggered the well-docu- take off in Australia. We’re ideally situated Alligator raised $11 million through
mented meltdown after power loss. for more decentralised power. There is institutional investors in early October
“What essentially occurred in the ura- a lot of pressure on the Federal Govern- which will accelerate work in the prov-
nium market in Fukushima in 2011 was ment to modify the EPBC Act. You need ince, as well as at the Samphire project
a black swan event,” he told Paydirt. “It to be able to at least consider all sources in South Australia, with $22 million now
highlighted the issues around the world of power generation in this country. I think in the bank.
with some of these old nuclear plants and that is starting.” “We’re ready to do our work and to
a lot of companies and countries put their As the uranium sentiment positively drill,” Hall said. “We’re funded now to do
plans on hold to recheck safety. grows, at least abroad, Hall and his team that and, in fact, our most recent raising
“The modern generation of reactors are looking to capitalise on the new su- means we can expand our programmes
don’t need power to rundown. If you have per-cycle with the company’s opportuni- for next year.
a power outage, they just gradually shut ties in the Alligator Rivers province. “We’re certainly going to be doing a lot
down…unlike Fukushima’s generation of The company holds a number of tene- of work there on the ground. We’re trying
reactors which needed backup power to ments comprising three projects, Nabar- to get there late in the season, before the
cooldown. These modern designs and lek North, Tin Camp Creek and Beatrice. wet season hits this year, and we’ll see
the need for clean energy is what has The Caramal resource in Tin Camp how we go.”
changed the scope of uranium.” Creek holds 6.5 mlb @ 0.31% uranium, Hall’s gumption is also backed by an
Hall’s bullishness towards uranium is however, it is Nabarlek North where Hall exclusive strategic partnership inked in
reflected by the US, with bipartisan sup- seems to be most excited as the compa- May with global commodities trader Trax-
port from both Democrats and Republi- ny plans groundwork for next year. ys North America LLC. Traxys will sup-
cans, as well as ongoing support from the “We completed arrangements with the port Alligator through offtake contracting
EU via the continued shuttering of its coal Land Council and Traditional Owners for and project development financing via its
plants. work at Nabarlek North,” he said. “We’ve marketing services.
However, standing out is Australia, got a lot a smoke, a lot of intersections “Traxys has a significant uranium and
which continues to splash cash into oil with some uranium in them but we haven’t energy minerals trading group,” Hall
and gas, and with no plans to embrace pulled together the big one yet. said. “They trade 15 mlb of uranium a
nuclear power for low car- year. They are always on
bon energy solutions. the lookout for new op-
Use of nuclear power in portunities to expand their
Australia has been prohib- business.
ited since 1998 under the “When we believe it’s the
Environment Protection and right time to start talking to
Biodiversity Conservation nuclear utilities about new
(EPBC) Act. Bodies such as long-term contracts, and
the Minerals Council of Aus- we’ll probably start those
tralia have described the early discussions late next
ban as being flamed by an year, Traxys will be our
“anti-nuclear movement” at agent to put those into
a time when energy sourc- place.”
es were cheaper and more
abundant. – Fraser Palamara
Hall said this sentiment
could all change, thanks to Get to the chopper: air support joins field sampling at the Alligator Rivers
the safety afforded by the uranium province in the Northern Territory, where Alligator energy holds
new reactors. multiple tenements over three projects



aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 67

noRtHeRn teRRItoRY sPotLIGHt



Mt Hardy, we’re coming for you






he uncertain future of Western Austral- copper with grades
Tia’s hard border has made it difficult for up to 3.9% to be fol-
Todd River Resources Ltd’s projects in the lowed up.
Northern Territory to flourish, but the com- When Todd River
pany says next year will be different. does return, it plans
Of the company’s options up yonder, the to conduct further
Mt Hardy zinc-copper project northwest of RC and diamond
Alice Springs is “absolutely” the most pro- drilling, a ground-
gressed of the bunch, according to manag- based moving-loop
ing director Will Dix – but getting up there EM on the western
has been hard. corridor and fur-
“One of the real challenges we’ve had ther structural and
from being in WA is access to anywhere EM target ground
else,” Dix told Paydirt. “It is true that the testing that would
NT is open to WA at the moment, but these guide future drilling.
things change so quickly that there is an el- “The Hendrix re-
ement of reluctance to mobilise equipment source is small, but
and drill rigs, while there is still some level of the grade is pretty
uncertainty from our side about how easy it good,” Dix said. “It’s
is to get in and out of the state.” open at depth and
Dix also acknowledged the high risk of to the north. We’ve
potentially bringing COVID-19 and its Delta also got a number
variant to remote Aboriginal communities of other prospects
that have been deemed as more suscep- within Mt Hardy
tible and less equipped to handle an out- where we’ve done
break – a significant factor in the recent some RC drilling
State Government vaccine mandate for and received inter-
resource workers. sections such as
“We are quite close to the Aboriginal 7m @ 7% zinc An outcrop spotted at Todd River’s Mt Hardy project in the
community at Mt Hardy so we are well which needs fur- Northern Territory
aware of making sure we’re as safe as we ther work.
possibly can be,” he said. “From a practical “The northern half of the Mt Hardy pro- when I started my career, so I know what
point of view, it’s probably unlikely we’ll be ject does go undercover, and we’ve got goes into that. It is quite a specialist niche
in the NT this year and Mt Hardy will end up more work to do there in terms of some that requires specialist geologists.”
as a 2022 project for us. There is no doubt more shallow drilling and then hopefully With the company pining for the NT over
that we’ll be up there next year.” some deeper drilling around some other the past year or so, it would be wrong to
Todd River’s long-distance relationship prospects.” think they have sat on their hands the whole
with Mt Hardy is evident by the drought in Mt Hardy is joined in the NT portfolio by time. Todd River has completed significant
announcements about the project in the Todd River’s other opportunities such as work at the Berkshire Valley nickel-copper-
past year. The last time the explorer was the McArthur zinc-lead-copper and Peter- PGE project, northeast of Perth.
there, they drilled seven of a total 17 EM tar- manns gold-copper projects. Significant anomalous areas were ex-
gets, realising significant thick intersections Mt Hardy ostensibly sits as the focus panded in August following geochemical
of the copper and zinc available. among the siblings, with McArthur a “lower sampling across 7km of prospective strike.
The project, which was first discovered in priority” and traces of uranium at Peter- “Berkshire is analogous to what Chalice
the 1930s and sporadically mined up until manns also not of interest. Dix said the [Mining Ltd] have done down near Toodyay
the 1970s, is particularly vulnerable to new- company has been negotiating for the suc- at their Julimar project,” Dix said. “We’ve
er and more advanced techniques. cess of a land application for several years got mafic and ultramafic intrusions and we
Copper grades as high as 1% over five at Petermanns. know there’s exciting geochemistry associ-
prospects have been previously returned “No one has done any meaningful ex- ated with those.
from drilling by TNG Ltd in 2013 and Todd in ploration at Petermanns for over 40 years,” “We’re about to embark on a pretty de-
2017. Hendrix really heated up in 2018 with he said. “There are opportunities that were tailed drilling and geophysics programme in
hits of 9.15m @ 4.5% copper, 8.8% zinc, identified back in the late 1960s and early early November. We’re in a position where
7.6% lead and 182 g/t silver, and 13.45m @ 1970s that need work, but we are excited to we’ve got really good people involved and
15.9% zinc, 0.9% copper, 5.75% lead and be able to get on the ground there hopefully the ability to work through these prospects
83 g/t silver. in 2022. quickly and understand what’s there.
Because the company has been hesitant “As for the uranium, if we stumble across “There’s nothing quite like the truth ma-
to return up north with a hard border still at something that is irrefutably exciting, we chine of a drill rig to tell you if you’re on the
home, a number of untested EM anomalies would stick to the strategy of the traditional right track or not.”
remain along strike from Hendrix. As well, metals…but we would bring in a partner for – Fraser Palamara
the nearby Browns prospect is just as en- that – we wouldn’t do it alone.
couraging with hits such as 7m @ 1.8% “I spent five years in the uranium space

Page 68 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Development path opens for PNX






PNX has unveiled a staged development
t has taken a bit of time and considerable duction as a gold miner, and then have the plan for its Fountain Head and Hayes
Ieffort to get to this point, but PNX Metals flexibility such that, at the appropriate time, Creeks projects in the Pine Creek region
Ltd managing director James Fox is de- we can bring the base metals online. Obvi-
lighted to be in a position where he can fi- ously when you have a modest mine life in
nally talk about the robust economics of the terms of the base metals, you’ve got to time it time and on budget, or very close to.”
company’s Fountain Head and Hayes Creek appropriately to make the best out of it.” Fox acknowledged the company also po-
projects. Around the same time as the PFS was tentially needed to get creative on the project
Earlier this year, PNX published a long- published in June, PNX submitted its EIS financing side of things given its current mar-
awaited PFS on the sequential development for Fountain Head to the NT Environmental ket cap sits at just over $25 million.
of Fountain Head (gold) and Hayes Creek Protection Authority. At the time of print, the “It’s our intent to fund the project in a man-
(gold-silver-zinc), both about 170km south company was working on some supplemen- ner that limits, as much as we can, any dilu-
of Darwin in the Northern Territory’s Pine tary information to support that work but was tion to existing investors,” he said.
Creek region. confident the required regulatory approval “Whilst there’s plenty of cash in the market
The study confirmed the technical and remained on scheduled for early next year. at the moment, although there’s been a few
economic viability of the staged develop- PNX is also working to improve the geo- speed bumps recently, raising cash at low
ment approach, beginning with construction logical confidence around some of its sat- market valuation is horrendous for existing
of a CIL plant capable of treating 750,000- ellite deposits, including Glencoe, just 3km shareholders and so our intent, our goal and
900,000 tpa of near-surface oxide and free north of Fountain Head. Drilling and explo- our strategy is to obviously try and finance
milling gold and silver ore from three open ration efforts in the region will continue as as much of this through a non-shareholder
pits at Fountain Head, Mt Bonnie and Glen- much as possible into the coming wet sea- equity basis to try and limit that dilution.
coe over an initial five-year period. son until access is ultimately curtailed. “We’re talking to a number of parties, in
It is proposed the plant will then be up- Como Engineers have also been conjunction with our existing shareholders,
graded to incorporate a sulphate flotation brought in to help fast-track the develop- as you would expect, to come up with a
circuit which can process the Hayes Creek ment of Fountain Head. The experienced package that allows us to continue to rapidly
ore into separate zinc and precious metals and well-regarded engineering group has advance the project.”
concentrates. been contracted under an early contractor Fox hoped the market would get behind
Capex is estimated at just $46 million, involvement agreement to deliver a design- what he believes is a simple gold story with
with a life-of-mine AISC of $1,119/oz gold and-construct proposal for the CIL plant for “achievable and reasonable” goals.
equivalent (net of zinc by-product credits). a fixed-duration, lump-sum price. “I know that modest-scale gold miners,
Other key financial outcomes included a Fox said the company viewed the appoint- such as what we’re planning to be, in that
pre-tax NPV of $171 million, IRR of 63% and ment of Como as a partnership rather than sort of 30,000-40,000 ozpa range, there’s a
undiscounted revenues of $972 million (net specifically as an engineering client for the little bit of a love-hate relationship there, but
of treatment, refining and transport charges) development of a project. our goal is all about baby steps and starting
over the 10-year mine life. Payback occurs “We’re trying to be slightly creative and ob- with something relatively simple in the grand
within 18 months. viously find ways to mitigate the significant scheme of things,” he said.
“It’s the first time that we’ve been in a po- impediments we’re seeing in the market at “The scale we’re talking about is very man-
sition to pool all of our NT assets together the moment regarding labour, cost of materi- ageable, I believe, particularly for a company
and demonstrate to our stakeholders how als, lead times on equipment, and so on,” he of our size. We’re not turning around saying
we propose to essentially monetise them, said. we’re going to be a 100,000 ozpa producer
for want of a better word,” Fox told Paydirt. “In our view, it’s very important to have in the next couple of years. We are trying to
“It’s taken a reasonable amount of time to a close relationship with your engineering do something we believe is achievable and
get to this point, but I think we’ve now dem- group, and we consider it more of a partner- reasonable and can provide a significant re-
onstrated there is a viable pathway to mon- ship to ensure that we can develop some- turn to our stakeholders.”
etise the gold and essentially get into pro- thing that we’re able to deliver ultimately on – Michael Washbourne




aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 69

ReGIonAL RoUnD-UP




Abujar ripe for debt finance




ietto Minerals Ltd managing director Canaccord Genuity lifting its price target for cluding 1m @ 98.03 g/t), 7m @ 12.48 g/t
TCaigen Wang is confident his company the company from 60c to 80c. Euroz Hart- from 66m (including 4m @ 21.45 g/t) and
can lock away debt funding for what is likely leys also increased its valuation from 78c 19m @ 2.33 g/t gold from 66m (including
to be West Africa’s next gold mine before to 89c. 1m @ 23.17 g/t).
the end of the year. Wang praised executive director Mark “In terms of scale, what we’ve got to look
A robust DFS published by Tietto last Strizek and chief operating officer Matt Wil- forward to is so much exploration upside,”
month confirmed the company’s Abujar cox, who joined Tietto just before the PFS Strizek said.
project in Cote d’Ivoire will comfortably sit was completed earlier this year, for cham- “The last five years [of the mine plan]
among the top 20 largest gold mines in pioning the improved economics at Tietto there’s just so much room to be able to
West Africa when in operation, with a re- through an enhanced resource model and improve coming from drilling around the
markable 260,000oz set to be produced in procurement of key equipment. project and underneath [the open pit floor].
the first year alone and an average 200,000 Wilcox, whose previous job was oversee- The pit actually took out some of the areas
ozpa across the first six years. ing the successful build of West African Re- in the PFS we had for an underground, but
The DFS revealed a number of improve- sources Ltd’s Sanbrado gold mine over the that’s now been swallowed up. There’s still
ments from the PFS released in April, in- border in Burkina Faso, secured an unused a lot of good numbers down there we need
cluding 30% more gold in the first year of mill which allowed Tietto to increase the tar- to follow up.
production and 20% over the life-of-mine, geted throughput for Abujar to 4 mtpa. “And then you’ve got simple things like
based on a 68% increase in reserves and “We really appreciate the effort that between AG and APG where there’s this
78% uplift to the indicated resource at Abu- Mark and Matt have made over the past mineralised strike which hasn’t really been
jar. six months,” Wang said. “Because of their drilled yet, only a few holes in it. We know
Pre-production capex of $US200 million work, the results in the DFS didn’t really there’s gold there and it’s a really great op-
(including contingency) was down 13% on surprise us, but the eco-
nomic improve- Abujar DFS – October 2021
ments still turned
out better than Mine and processing life: 11 years
what we could
have expected. Ore processing rate: 4 mtpa fresh ore
These results b l e n d
are fantastic and Average production (years 1-6): 200,000oz
robust, whether
from production Average production (LOM): 155,000oz
profile or from fi- Revenue: $US2.87 billion
nancial numbers,
at all ranges of AISC (years 1-6): $US804/oz
gold price it is still AISC (LOM): $US832/oz
very robust.”
Tietto has forecast gold production of 260,000oz Free cash flow (pre-tax): $US1.28 billion
from Abujar in the first year alone, according to a The PFS previ- Average free cash flow (LOM): $US118 million
DFS released last month ously outlined a
base-case open EBIDTA: $US1.52 billion
pit mining scenar-
the previously reported estimate. io at Abujar over 6.5 years Payback: 0.9 years
Speaking to Paydirt following the re- with the option to expand to NPV (pre-tax): $US959 million
lease of the DFS, Wang said the improved nine years via the addition of IRR (pre-tax): 115%
economics had come as no surprise to the an underground and other
company and many of its key backers, with satellite feed sources. For Pre-production capital: $US176 million
the focus now shifting to securing the cru- the DFS, Tietto simplified Contingency: $US24 million
cial funding package required to begin con- its approach and focused
struction at Abujar. purely on a larger open pit. *Based on a $US1,700/oz gold price
“We’ve been talking to over a dozen quite Potential underground
serious financial providers – some are tra- and heap leach options will now be con- portunity to continue to add.”
ditional, some are non-traditional – but they sidered in upcoming scoping studies which Tietto has earmarked further improve-
have been waiting for the DFS results to run parallel to the open-pit development. ments to the DFS through a 30,000m infill
come out before progressing,” Wang said. Strizek believes the market is still yet to drilling programme designed to increase
“We will give them time to read it and di- grasp the full-scale of the opportunity in resource confidence and 5,000m of deep
gest it, and we expect them to issue the up- front of Tietto at Abujar, especially with the drilling to investigate Abujar’s underground
dated term sheet this month. We also hope drill bit continuing to turn up high-grade re- potential. The company will also test up to
that we can sign a debt document before sults not included in the current mine plan 20 regional prospects within 10km of the
the end of this year so that we can still work which is based on reserves of 34.4mt @ 1.3 proposed plant.
on our schedule.” g/t gold for 1.45 moz. – Michael Washbourne
Tietto’s DFS received glowing reviews Best hits from recent drilling at AG Core
from the investment community, with included 3m @ 35.5 g/t gold from 85m (in-


Page 70 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

AFRIcA

Bright aura for


resurrected



uranium developer





















A
Aura energy has designed the Tiris uranium project in ura energy has designed the Tiris uranium project in
Mauritania to allow an expanded 3 mlbpa production rateauritania to allow an expanded 3 mlbpa production rate
M
ura Energy Ltd managing director whatever financing situation we could to Reeve believes it may be any mo-
APeter Reeve believes the company’s get the study complete. ment now that utilities will move to lock
advanced approvals and competitive “We’re fairly rare within the peer in long-term pricing contracts which
cost estimates for its “zero-emission” Ti- group for having a completed DFS and should move the spot prince along
ris uranium project in Mauritania will push for having the environmental and de- once again, hopefully breaking its cur-
it across the production line ahead of its velopment permits granted. We’ve got rent barrier of roughly $US39/lb.
peers. all the key ingredients needed to push “Clearly, there has been a reliance
“It’s a small project with small capital it off. from long-term utilities contracts on
that we can get into production quicker “We’ve just got to get some financing the spot price, and they have felt quite
than pretty well all of the peer group,” into place and start our detailed engi- comfortable to just rely on that,” he
Reeve told Paydirt. “That’s the thing that neering. We could then be in produc- said. “They thought the price wasn’t
sets the edge on others for Aura.” tion 18 months after that.” going to have a run.
Aura crept back onto the scene in Sep- Development plans for Tiris have ac- “The Sprott Trust has now given a little
tember after recommencing trading fol- celerated after Aura completed a $US10 bit more transparency to the price, it has
lowing a period of suspension, re-joining million offtake financing deal with Curzon put the price up on a scoreboard that the
the race with an updated DFS, neces- Uranium Trading Ltd, with options to ex- utilities can see on a daily basis. It has
sary permits granted, a 10% increase to tend to $US20 million. The seven-year made them say, ‘I can’t rely on the old
its resource for 56 mlb of uranium and a contract will be activated once produc- opaque market’.
production start scheduled for 2024. tion starts. “At one stage, all of these utilities will
Tiris is estimated to produce 1 mlbpa Curzon will become a 15% buyer of have to move and start to sign up for
after a $US74.8 million capex with AISC the proposed production for 800,000lb longer term contracts. The move to lock-
of $US29.81/lb. Such a price-per-pound at fixed prices, or 750,000lb at market- ing in those contracts will keep the price
is significantly cheaper than peers such linked pricing. Aura will use the funds for high and I would expect to see it higher
as Bannerman Energy Ltd ($US40.3/lb) working capital costs. this time next year.”
and Paladin Energy Ltd ($US30.9/lb). “The Curzon money is quite significant Despite all of Aura’s edges in the ura-
One drawback is Tiris’ lower annual because it’s a maximum $US20 million nium race, its share price remains in the
production rate compared to Bannerman when we’ve only got a capital cost of same realm as its peers at 28c/share.
(3.5 mlbpa), Boss Energy Ltd (2 mlbpa) just under $US74 million,” Reeve said. “Because we’ve been off the radar
and Paladin (5.9 mlbpa). However, Tiris’ “We’ve had a very good relationship with for a little while, perhaps people have
design allows for an expanded produc- Curzon for a number of years now. When lost track of where we are,” Reeve said.
tion rate of 3 mlbpa should the company the uranium price started to move earlier “When you are a uranium investor, the
elect to head down that path. this year, this deal was a natural progres- question you might have is, ‘who can get
Nevertheless, there is plenty for Reeve sion between the two of us. into production the earliest in the urani-
to smile about with low operating costs “Obviously, it’s in their interest to see um cycle?’.
due to shallow free-digging minerali- us in production and to help get us into “Uranium cycles don’t last forever,
sation that affords no drilling, blasting, production. That’s what we’re using it for, which is why you don’t want large capital
crushing or grinding. as one of those building blocks to pro- costs. You want a small capital cost that
“It was hard to get the DFS finished duction and they wanted to be a part of it. you can finance quickly, start construc-
when the uranium price was low and Our steps now are we want to see a ura- tion quickly and get into production.”
funds were hard to come by for a junior nium price that is sustained at a higher
miner,” he said. “But we really pressed in level and stabilised.” – Fraser Palamara


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 71

ReGIonAL RoUnD-UP noRtH AMeRIcA














Uranium find powers 92 Energy






















Siobhan Lancaster
ess than six months after becoming the first Follow-up drilling to determine the extent of
L uranium company to debut on the ASX in the mineralisation at GMZ will be the main goal
more than a decade, 92 Energy Ltd is on the for 92 Energy in its next major exploration pro- sources prior to its $2.2 billion takeover by China
cusp of confirming a major discovery in Cana- gramme, which will kick off during the upcoming General Nuclear Power Group – believes the
da’s Athabasca Basin. Canadian winter. beleaguered yellowcake industry has finally
From just the fourth hole drilled into its Gemini Gemini is just 27km south-east of the pro- turned the corner.
project, 92 Energy struck 5.5m @ 0.12% ura- lific McArthur River uranium mine, while the Without doubt, the catalyst for the recent price
nium (1,200 ppm), including 1m @ 0.28% ura- Athabasca itself supplies about 20% of the uptick has been the arrival of the Sprott Physical
nium (2,800 ppm) and 0.5m @ 0.36% uranium world’s yellowcake. Uranium Trust (SPUT) which holds more than
(3,600 ppm). While she was not expecting a discovery $1 billion in assets and 24 mlb in reserve.
The company reported the discovery of so soon after 92 Energy’s arrival on the ASX, “SPUT has been buying on-market, which
basement-hosted uranium mineralisation start- Lancaster said the company appeared to have has really tightened the supply even more so
ed about 190m vertically below surface and timed its listing perfectly with strong sentiment than possibly where it was, and obviously it’s
was associated with a broad and strong zone returning to the uranium sector after a decade- had a really huge impact on the spot price of
of bleaching, clay and hematite alteration con- long slumber since the Fukushima incident. uranium,” Lancaster said.
trolled by fault breccias and other structures. “We really believe in the market and we really “Of course, this all flows into the long-term
This zone will be known as the Gemini Miner- believe in the fundamentals of the market,” she pricing for uranium, so it’s been rather fascinat-
alised Zone (GMZ) until its full extent is deter- said. “Obviously, the decarbonisation story, with ing to watch. We know from the last cycle that
mined. nuclear being a form of carbon-free energy, is when the uranium price starts to move, it moves
Shares in 92 Energy soared upon the an- great for the sector but you can’t ignore there’s very fast and basically this is potentially what is
nouncement of the breakthrough to a new high also a supply side issue which needs to be ad- happening again now.
of $1.15, up more than 280% since the start of dressed. “It will be very interesting to see how this all
September and 475% since listing in April, with “There’s been a 10-year lack of any sort of plays out over the next two years, hopefully it’s
the company quickly electing to bolster its bank exploration and development in the market, so a long cycle this time around. The dynamics for
balance via a $7.15 million placement. this all bodes very well for the fundamentals for the demand side of the market, potentially points
Speaking to Paydirt before departing Perth the uranium market and for the uranium price to that being the case but only time will tell.”
to join her team in Canada for an extended going forward. Lancaster also predicted activity in the
period, 92 Energy managing director Siobhan “We are the first uranium exploration com- Athabasca would continue to increase where
Lancaster described the discovery as an “ex- pany to list in the last 10 years and we’re going 92 Energy also has two other projects, Tower
traordinary result” for a greenfields exploration out there and we are really looking for that new and Clover, acquired from TSX-listed IsoEnergy
project. discovery…the fact that we are operating in the Ltd for the company’s $7 million IPO earlier this
“In any commodity it’s a tremendous thing to Tier-1 jurisdiction for uranium has also really as- year.
have a discovery hole, let alone with your fourth sisted us, and that we’re also a new story. This is “We’ve certainly seen it’s getting busier in the
hole ever,” Lancaster said. not an old project, it’s all brand new and it’s all ex- Athabasca,” she said. “Definitely a lot of ground
“This really is testament to our technically- ploration, and we’re looking for that upside you has been pegged in the last few months and
driven strategy and the prospectivity model that get from exploration success that you’ve seen we’re starting to see a bit of deal flow going
we did to determine where we were going to in other companies around the world.” through there as well.”
peg initially. Our team has just put in a tremen- The uranium price broke through $US50/lb
dous amount of work since we listed, including for the first time in late September and while it – Michael Washbourne
carrying out those VTEMs on site and putting has pulled back slightly since, Lancaster – who
together our initial drill targets.” cut her teeth in the sector with Extract Re-


Page 72 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Wherever we are...





































































trend with us








#paydirtmedia #magazines #conferences









Paydirt journalist Fraser Palamara at the Widgiemooltha gold project with Auric Mining Ltd
managing director Mark English and technical director John Utley

ReGIonAL RoUnD-UP




Sandfire enters Spanish



copper bullring





pain will provide Sandfire Resources
SNL a bridge between Western Australia
and Botswana after the ASX-listed copper
miner announced the $US1.86 billion ac-
quisition of the Minas De Aguas Teñidas
(MATSA) copper complex in Huelva prov-
ince.
Sandfire has been busy reorganising its
portfolio in recent years as it faced the end
of reserves at its prolific DeGrussa copper
mine in Western Australia. It had already
acquired the Black Butte copper project in
Montana, US and is currently building the
T3 copper project in Botswana.
However, with DeGrussa operations set
to end next year and T3 still 18 months
away from production, Sandfire was facing
a sizeable gap in its production forecasts.
The acquisition of MATSA from Trafigura
and Mubadala Investment Company is de-
signed to instantaneously fill that gap but
given the size of both the asset and transac-
tion, it could be seen as a company-maker.
The mine has been operating since 2009,
consistently producing more than 100,000
tpa copper equivalent through a 4.7 mtpa The MATSA copper complex near Seville, Spain will become Sandfire’s cornerstone asset
central processing facility. Reserves stand on completion of the transaction
at 36.1mt @ 3.1% copper equivalent for six Sandfire was in a position to act when the ing a very good price. It suits the sellers and
years of mine life with resources at 122mt current owners did place MATSA on the it suits the buyer.”
@ 3.3% copper equivalent potentially push- market. Having been held privately for so long,
ing life out to 12 years. “It was a competitive process, but impor- MATSA is perhaps not well known in public
The addition of MATSA’s 100-120,000t tantly we were agile, proactive and could markets, according to Simich.
copper equivalent at C1 cash costs guided meet an extraordinarily short timetable,” “The market is not that aware of the as-
for FY2022 will immediately vault Sandfire Simich said. set but the mining industry is well aware,”
into the upper echelons of Australian cop- “I believe there was a very strong first he said. “The focus will be different and the
per producers. round of bidding from multiple people. The asset will probably be valued slightly differ-
“Base metal assets which offer this com- vendors were quick to move to the second ently. By just aligning specialist mining peo-
bination of scale, grade, mine life and ex- stage and we accommodated that. We did ple, you are giving it an opportunity to open
ploration upside are extremely rare global- a lot of work in a short period of time. it up on so many fronts.”
ly,” Sandfire managing director Karl Simich Given international trading house Trafig- After an extensive due diligence pro-
said. “The MATSA acquisition transforms ura is more focused on the end-product cess, Sandfire chief operating officer Jason
Sandfire into a first quartile copper produc- than the operation, the Sandfire team is al- Grace sounded excited to get the MATSA
er of global scale and allows us to leverage ready eyeing opportunities to improve per- keys in his hand.
our skill set to deliver on our growth ambi- formance at a mine where C1 cash costs “We’ve been very impressed with the
tions to create one of the highest quality are guided at US40-50c for FY2022. quality of the asset, it is a well-capitalised
and most compelling copper exposures on “Trafigura’s objective every day was to site, but we see a number of opportunities,”
the ASX.” get as much concentrate as they could but Grace said. “With a concerted and very
Sandfire has made no secret of its de- they didn’t need to expand the resource/re- proactive exploration push into the region,
sire to deploy its growing balance sheet serves out any further than satisfying those we believe there is significant upside in fu-
strength on new acquisitions and Simich requirements for concentrate,” Simich said. ture discoveries, using the latest technolo-
said the deal with Trafigura/Mubadala had “With $US7-8 billion profit in the last 12 gies.
delivered a prize target. months with only a third from mining and “There is opportunity to convert resourc-
“We’ve been trying to buy half of this metals. I’m sure Trafigura looked at the es to reserves and bring them into the mine
asset one way or another for about four commodity market and thought it was an in- plan which will likely increase value and
years,” he admitted. teresting opportunity to receive that invest- overall metal production.
Debt-free and with the high-grade De- ment up front. “And, we want to utilise the strong invest-
Grussa mine delivering wide margins, “From a market perspective we are pay- ment the previous owners made by bring-


Page 74 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

eURoPe







mtpa in recent years but Grace against MATSA and a $200 million debt fa-
said the company was ready to im- cility secured against DeGrussa. A further
plement plans to rectify that. $US297 million will be funded through the
“We’ve assumed 4.5 mtpa in company’s $681 million cash reserves.
FY22,” he said. “The first priority Such a commitment necessarily makes
is to get to a consistent 4.7 mtpa MATSA Sandfire’s flagship asset but
in FY23 and sustaining that for the Simich was eager to reinforce the com-
Karl Simich LOM. Then there is some debot- pany’s commitment to the development of
tlenecking to get it to 5 mtpa for T3, the conversion of the DeGrussa plant to
ing more of an operator’s mindset and really very small capital.” treat ore from the Old Highway gold deposit
start to focus on lifting the performance and To fund the $2.57 billion deal, Sandfire and the longer-term.
getting more out of everything.” launched a $1.25 billion fully underwritten “It doesn’t detract from our focus, it gives
Sandfire expects sustaining capital re- capital raising, including a $120 million stra- us more capacity to do things,” Simich said.
quirements to be consistent over the current tegic placement to AustralianSuper, a $165 “We continue looking for things to move the
life-of-mine plan but it has already targeted million institutional placement and $963 mil- dial and that changes as we grow.”
the plant for improvement. Operations have lion entitlement offer. In addition, it has put
struggled to hit nameplate capacity of 4.7 together a $897 million debt facility secured


Adriatic raises construction funds



driatic Metals plc is poised to begin “The announcement of the proposed pro- would be used to start construction at Vares,
Aconstruction at its Vares silver project ject finance package is a significant mile- although it is unclear exactly when that will
in Bosnia and Herzegovina after unveiling a stone, demonstrating the extent of support occur.
proposed $US244.5 million finance packag- globally for the new investments in the Bal- The financing package comes less than
ing to break ground in the Balkans. kans, and Bosnia and Herzegovina in par- two months after the company reported a
The financing package is comprised of a ticular. At Adriatic, we have strived to move robust DFS on Vares which estimated an ini-
term sheet for $US142.5 million in debt fi- through the project development phases, at tial capex of $US168 million to deliver 7.3mt
nance from Orion Resource Partners (UK) pace and professionally, in order to deliver from the Rupice underground deposit over
LLP and an accompanying equity raise of value for shareholders and align the project a decade, producing an average 14.975
$US102 million. It also coincided with Sand- delivery with our local community in Vares. mozpa silver at an AISC of $US7.30/oz, gen-
fire Resources Ltd disposing of its 16% hold- “This outcome is a positive reflection of erating post-tax NPV of $US1.96 billion and
ing in Adriatic for $97 million. the team we have built at Adriatic in its short IRR of 134%.
Orion’s contribution of $US120 million in history, who over the past 12 months have The mine plan outlined in the DFS does
senior secured debt and a $US22.5 million delivered several critical outcomes that have not include the Veovaca open pit, about
copper stream remains sub- 11km from Rupice.
ject to ongoing due diligence Meanwhile, Sandfire man-
and definitive legally bind- aging director Karl Simich
ing documentation which is said the company’s now for-
expected to be completed mer shareholding in Adriatic
sometime this quarter. has been an “excellent invest-
Adriatic had no issues ment”.
raising $US52 million via a “Given that our focus is
conditional placing through firmly now on the MATSA
an accelerated bookbuild operation in Spain, which we
process which launched see as the backbone of our
immediately after Adriatic company moving forward, to-
announced the proposed fi- gether with our exciting devel-
nance package for the start opment and growth assets in
of construction at Vares on the Kalahari copper belt, our
October 13. The $US50 mil- holding in Adriatic is no longer
lion balance of the equity a strategic asset for the com-
raising was placed to Orion. pany,” Simich said.
“We are delighted to wel- Adriatic has pulled together a substantial funding package to begin “Adriatic is now firmly on
come Orion as a new part- construction at its Vares silver project, Bosnia and Herzegovina track to become the first pub-
ner in the Vares silver project licly-listed mining company in
and we thank Sandfire for their support of culminated in the success we have today. Bosnia and Herzegovina with permitting,
the company since its IPO in 2018,” Adriatic We look forward to continued success in offtake and project financing all well ad-
managing director Paul Cronin, who also the future as we transform from developer to vanced. We would like to take this opportu-
sold 3 million existing CHESS depositary in- producer.” nity to wish Paul and the Adriatic team all the
terests representing 12.8% of his fully diluted Adriatic indicated the net proceeds from best for the future.”
holding in the company, said. the equity raise of about $US97.8 million
– Michael Washbourne

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 75

SIGNED, SEALED & DELIVERED





Rio iron ore takes Studies have begun on the plant which
is expected to produce 2,000 tpa at a
ESG flight 99.99% purity.
The DFS will cover process and non-
Rio Tinto Ltd’s Pilbara iron ore portfolio process infrastructure engineering design,
gained a massive boost in ESG creden- execution planning, and risk management.
tials after inking a ground disturbance so- Como is set to finish up work in early
lutions deal with K2Fly Ltd. May.
The five-year, $3.44 million contract
means Rio now uses five out of nine total
solutions offered by K2Fly. The two com- Red 5 dives
panies are already partnered on services underground
for resource inventory and reconciliation,
dam and tailings, community and heritage, Red 5 Ltd has begun underground mine
and mine geology data management. development at its Darlot gold mine via the
For K2Fly, this new contract will deliver services of Redpath Australia Pty Ltd.
an annual recurring revenue of $620,000. Redpath is undertaking 3km of rapid un-
“We are delighted to continue to expand derground development which will provide
our relationship with Rio Tinto into ground access to new mine areas in Burswood,
disturbance,” K2Fly chief executive Nic Pederson, Middle Waters South, and
Pollock said. “Effective ground distur- Thompson.
bance systems are the glue for opera- This work is part of a larger programme
tions that want to ensure technical assur- that will carry into June 2023.
ance around land management, maintain Let them eat cake: Austin engineering chief Expansions will see Darlot transition
licence to operate and ensure high ESG executive David Singleton (left) toasts the $7 into a satellite mine for the King of the Hills
standards.” million deal for 16 ULTiMA truck bodies with processing hub, with the new processing
NRw managing director Jules Pemberton
plant expected to produce first gold in the
Cake by the truck load which combined to increase the compa- June 2022 quarter.
Redpath has been contracted for 12
There was cake on the menu as Austin ny’s revenue in the Asia Pacific region by years, for a total contract value of $13
Engineering Ltd and NRW Civil & Mining 19% in FY21. million. Red 5 is funding the contract via
celebrated a $7 million deal for Perth- Austin is now investing $6.5 million to Darlot’s cash flow with options to extend at
made truck bodies. implement advanced manufacturing pro- six-month intervals.
Austin will manufacture 16 ULTIMA cesses and capabilities at its locations, in-
high performance truck bodies from its cluding increased automation and the use
Kewdale base, delivered to NRW. of custom jigs, fixtures, workstations and Strandline turns the
A steel plate cutting ceremony was a standardised manufacturing approach to sands of time
also held as the first truck body travelled building products. The Kewdale facility will
through the production line. Celebration receive the first manufacturing upgrade, Mine Site Construction Services
attendees included NRW chief executive benefiting customers such as NRW. (MSCS) has been contracted by Strand-
Jules Pemberton, and Chamber of Min- line Resources Ltd for a variety of jobs at
erals and Energy Western Australia chief King River knights its Coburn mineral sands project in West-
executive Paul Everingham. ern Australia.
NRW also ordered two 6060 face shov- DFS deal MSCS will provide and operate the
el buckets from Austin. King River Resources Ltd has selected mining fleet associated with ore mining,
The Kewdale facility is co-located within Como Engineers to carry out the DFS for overburden removal, pit backfill and land
Austin’s new corporate headquarters, ac- its high purity aluminium Type 1 precursor recontouring. Open pit dry mining will be
companied by an Indonesian location, carried out at a rate of 23.4 mtpa.
processing plant in Kwinana, Perth. The award covers the first seven years



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Page 76 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

of production. As of early October, MCSC V2X-Locate provides accurate and en- perience at Halls Peak in 2016, as well as
was ready to mobilise and begin mine es- hanced signal processing and positioning, its strengths in underground, RC and dia-
tablishment and pre-strip activities. helping manoeuvre large vehicles operat- mond drilling.
Strandline is on track to achieve first ing alongside each other in tight spaces. The contractor is located in regional
production of heavy mineral concentrate The technology was originally designed Dubbo, helping to navigate COVID-19
in the December 2022 quarter. for urban environments where infrastruc- travel restrictions.
Consideration of the contract award to ture such as carparks, tunnels, and large Drilling will be conducted simultane-
MSCS included experience in bulk mate- buildings block signals. Surprisingly to ously at the Gibsons open cut target and
rials handling and mining, including large Cohda, the design for urban cities trans- the Sunnyside prospects 2km apart. Gib-
dozer push operations in mining sands ap- lated to the mining setting. son will see 14 holes for a rough total of
plications. More than 200 vehicles at Oyu Tolgoi 2,500m, guided by the reinterpretation of
The contract is based on standard fixed- are being fitted with onboard units to use geophysical data which yielded new tar-
unit rates and is in line with estimates V2X-Locate. Mining vehicles on site are gets.
made in the June 2020 DFS. also being fitted with a human-machine Sunnyside will see three drill holes for
interface that will notify operators of poten- a rough total of 1,700m. The targets are
Clever mine! tial collisions in real time. placed in 100m intervals, demonstrating a
potential continuity of mineralisation along
Vehicles at Rio Tinto Ltd’s Oyu Tol- DRC Drilling stakes strike, as well as at depth.
goi mine in Mongolia just got a whole lot
smarter with a major technological up- a spot on the peak Highfield does
grade to improve safety.
The Codha Wireless technology, V2X- Upcoming drilling at Critical Resources a Spanish dance
Locate, refines vehicle positioning and Ltd’s Halls Peak base metals project in
avoids crashes through the use of GPS- New South Wales will be undertaken by Equipment procurement for Highfield
like signals, which Cohda said could be a DRC Drilling. Resources Ltd’s Muga potash mine in
future industry standard. DRC was selected for its previous ex- Spain is now 85% complete following a
deal with Weir Minerals.
Weir will provide primary and secondary
concentrate screens, used for granulomet-
ric separation in the initial phase of crush-
ing, grinding and desliming processes.
Further down the track, mining equipment
will be acquired prior to start of operations.
Highfield used cash from an $18.1 mil-
lion capital raising to sign the contract for
screens and cyclones.
The purchase of the remaining equip-
ment, including crossflow separators, dy-
ers, thickeners and flotation columns, will
be made in coming weeks.







Cohda wireless chief executive Paul Gray
holding the XBU onboard unit that will be fitted
on more than 200 vehicles at Oyu Tolgoi




















+ 27 (0)11 028 1181 [email protected] www.nucleusml.co.za



aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 77

DRILL BITS bostech.com.au
DRILL BITS
ReGIonAL RoUnDUPExploring together for success


Turaco teases new @ 23.9 g/t from 73m). month, Predictive will target a substantial
increase in its resource base from both
The company also identified potential
gold find depth extensions at SK1 South outside of step-out and deeper drilling of the NE Ban-
the existing resource pit shell in multiple lo- kan and Bankan Creek deposits and from
Turaco Gold Ltd has teased a potential cations, highlighted by hits of 28m @ 1.46 regional opportunities.
new large-scale gold discovery from shal- g/t from 93m, 6m @ 1.96 g/t from 133m Predictive managing director Paul Rob-
low power auger drilling at its 100%-owned and 2m @ 2.9 g/t from 167m. erts said the maiden resource estimate
Satama permit within the Eburnea project was “just the beginning of the Bankan gold
in Cote d’Ivoire. discovery story”.
Auger results included 9m @ 4.49 g/t Predictive on target with “Our gold discovery success in such a
gold from 1m, 5m @ 2.14 g/t from 6m, 8m maiden resource small time period invites comparisons with
@ 1.79 g/t from 2m, 1m @ 9.91 g/t from the best gold deposit discovered in West
9m and 5m @ 1.04 g/t from 5m. Drilling Predictive Discovery has delivered a Africa in the last decade – Fekola in Mali,”
was completed on 250m spaced traverses maiden resource of 72.8mt @ 1.56 g/t gold he said.
along a 5km soil anomaly. for 3.65 moz for its Bankan project in Guin- “Also announced 17 months after first
“These initial auger results are highly sig- ea, only 17 months after the discovery hole discovery, the Fekola maiden resource esti-
nificant and exciting in terms of both their was drilled. mate contained 3.9 moz averaging 1.7 g/t at
strike and tenor of gold anomalism,” Turaco The company reported high retention of a 0.5 g/t cut-off grade and 3.1 moz averag-
managing director Justin Tremain said. contained gold ounces as the cut-off grade ing 2.4 g/t at a 1 g/t cut-off grade.
“Extending over 4.5km of strike, the results lifted. Using a 1 g/t cut-off grade, total ounc- “Today, Fekola’s 2021 production is pro-
confirm a significant new gold discovery for es within the same resource models is 2.8 jected to be 530,000-560,000oz at an AISC
Turaco.” moz @ 2.29 g/t gold. of $US745-785/oz, with current quoted re-
Follow-up aircore and RC drilling at Sa- Resource discovery cost was estimated sources [excluding mine depletion since
tama is planned for this month, with Turaco at $4/oz ($US2.90/oz) which is considered 2017] at Fekola itself and nearby deposits
also planning a high-resolution airborne very low by industry standards. totalling 7.6 moz.”
magnetic survey over Satama, along with With $24 million cash in the bank last
the Dielle permit and some of the compa-
ny’s ground in the north.
Turaco’s discovery was announced on
the same day as fellow West African gold
explorers Mako Gold Ltd and Oklo Re-
sources reported encouraging drilling re-
sults from their respective projects in Cote
d’Ivoire and Mali.
Mako reported the widest drill intercept
returned to date from the Gogbala pros-
pect; 35m @ 1.72 g/t gold at the southern-
most drilled zone of the Napie fault.
Further RC hits at Gogbala included 35m
@ 1.72 g/t gold from 43m, 20m @ 1.92 g/t
from 33m and 3m @ 9.41 g/t from 117m (in-
cluding 2m @ 13.03 g/t from 118m).
Oklo’s results from drilling completed at
the Seko prospect, within its Dandoko pro-
ject, prior to the wet season included 19m
@ 2.42 g/t gold from 12m (including 3m @
4.88 g/t from 17m), 23m @ 1.27 g/t from
23m (including 2m @ 6.08 g/t from 25m)
and 4m @ 6.41 g/t from 72m (including 1m Predictive’s maiden gold resource shows Bankan hosts 2.65 moz gold

















Exploring together for success







Page 78 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Exploring together for success bostech.com.au



Sala on song for Alicanto

Assays of up to 663 g/t silver and 41%
zinc will form part of Alicanto Minerals Ltd’s
upcoming maiden resource estimate for its
Sala project in Sweden.
Results included 3.9m @ 313 g/t silver,
3.2% lead and 9.6% zinc (including 1m @
663g/t silver, 5.8% zinc and 6.7% lead) and
14.0m @ 30 g/t silver and 7.6% zinc (includ-
ing 4.7m @ 47g/t silver and 13.6% zinc in-
cluding 1.1m @ 41% zinc and 17 g/t silver).
Alicanto said the zinc intersections were
important because they complemented the
potential of the silver and lead and could take
advantage of the mining infrastructure which
would be required to mine the silver. The encounter has expanded its partnership with BHP in the Northern Territory
high zinc grades are also analogous with
world-class silver-lead-zinc systems, includ-
ing Boliden’s nearby Garpenberg mine. BHP’s 75% interest target has been up- into the measured category, while another
Drilling is ongoing, with two diamond rigs scaled from $22 million to $25 million. 28.5mt from the previous inferred resource
operating as part of the fully funded 14,000m An exploration programme, including has been converted to indicated.
programme which will underpin the maiden seismic surveys and diamond drilling, to ad- Cinovec’s total measured and indicated
resource. This will be followed by step-out vance the understanding of the basin archi- resource jumped 372.4mt to 413.4t @
drilling targeting resource growth and further tecture and to define prospective deposition 0.47% lithium oxide and 0.05% tin.
discoveries. sites for sediment-hosted copper mineralisa- EMH also reported the final 10 diamond
“These exceptional massive sulphide zinc tion was expected to get under way shortly. core holes in the recent geomet drilling
intersections strongly complement the silver “Encounter identified the Greater McAr- programme. Best results were 101.7m @
and lead at Sala – this is a key characteristic thur Superbasin in the NT as having sig- 0.59% lithium (including 11.35m @ 0.85%),
of some of the leading polymetallic silver- nificant untested potential for the discovery 61m @ 0.66% lithium and 0.17% tin (includ-
lead-zinc mines around the world,” Alicanto of large sediment-hosted copper deposits ing 30.5m @ 0.3% tin), 13.3m @ 0.54%
managing director Peter George said. under shallow cover and we now control lithium (including 14.7m @ 0.60% lithium)
“The Sala mine produced over 200 moz of extensive portfolio in the region,” managing and 111.4m @ 0.54% lithium and 0.13%
silver from 5mt of ore down to the relatively director Will Robinson said. tin (including 21.15m @ 0.71% lithium and
shallow depth of 290m – there is a lot of po- The company holds a further 19,000sq 0.57% tin).
tential left in this amazing asset.” km of ground in the Territory understood to “The primary stated aim of this drilling
be prospective for copper. programme was to convert a larger portion
of the resource to the measured category
Encountering copper Cinovec sparkles with to provide greater certainty of the financial
with BHP uplift in lithium tonnes model and security to financiers,” EMH ex-
ecutive chairman Keith Coughlan said.
Seismic surveys and diamond drilling will “The results clearly indicate that the
be rapidly rolled out at Encounter Resources European Metals Holdings Ltd (EMH) programme has been successful with
Ltd’s Elliot copper project in the Northern has upgraded the resource at its Cinovec the robustness and consistency of the Ci-
Territory after unveiling an expanded formal lithium-tin project in the Czech Republic by novec resource further demonstrated. As
farm-in and JV agreement with BHP Ltd. 12.3mt to 708.2mt @ 0.43% lithium oxide we move closer to ultimate financing and
The size of the Elliot farm-in area has and 0.05% tin. offtake discussions, this higher degree of
been increased by 60% from 4,500sq km Some 53.3mt grading 0.47% lithium ox- certainty provides more funding options for
to 7,200sq km and the earn-in amount for ide and 0.08% tin has been reclassified the project.”



Industry leaders in Aircore


Deep hole Reverse Circulation

Experienced in complex remote exploration drilling



29a Clayton St, Bellevue WA 6056

www.bostech.com.au 08 9250 4252





aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 79

coMInGs AnD GoInGs




ernadette Harkin has will continue to consult the consultant during the transi- ardoc Gold Ltd chief ex-
Bjoined Archer Materials company part-time until the tion. Becutive Robert Ryan has
Ltd as a non-executive di- end of June 2022. stepped down. Interim execu-
rector. atalyst Metals Ltd general tive director Neil Biddle will
oni Griffith replaces Shane Cmanager of technical ser- continue to lead the company
arl Schlobohm has re- TTurner chief financial of- vices and development John through a strategic review of
Ksigned company secretary ficer for White Rock Minerals McKinstry has been elevated operations.
and chief financial officer for Ltd. Turner transitions to com- to chief executive. He previ-
DGR Global Ltd and asso- mercial manager and contin- ously served as the manag- alium Lakes Ltd chief
ciate companies NewPeak ues to work as company sec- ing director of KalNorth Gold Kfinancial officer Jason
Metals Ltd, Aus Tin Mining retary. Mines Ltd. Shaw has been appointed
Ltd and Armour Energy Ltd. as a joint company secretary
Schlobohm will assist with on Hyma has been ap- avid Edwards has been alongside Gareth Widger, re-
transitions through to Febru- Dpointed as managing Dappointed as chief finan- placing Antony Beckmand.
ary 2022. director of Australian Rare cial officer and company sec-
Earths Ltd. Hyma previously retary for Burgundy Diamond isa Mitchell has joined
tephen Windle has joined worked as director of projects Mines Ltd. Edwards previous- LWiluna Mining Ltd as a
Sthe board of Pathfinder for Fortescue Metals Group ly served as chief executive non-executive director, while
Resources Ltd as non-execu- Ltd and general manager and and chief financial officer for executive operations direc-
tive director. He holds over 30 vice president of projects for Triton Minerals Ltd. tor Neil Meadows has tran-
years’ experience in geology. Rio Tinto Ltd. sitioned to chief financial of-
oda Minerals Ltd chief ficer.
eonard Math has suc- hris Gibbs has succeed- Cexecutive Chris Stevens
Lceeded the retiring Geoff Ced Keith Middleton as has been appointed as a di- art Mining NL non-execu-
Brayshaw as chief financial managing director and chief rector for Enterprise Metals Dtive director Denis Clarke
officer for Adavale Resources executive officer of American Ltd. has resigned due to personal
Ltd. Math has also been ap- Rare Earths Ltd as the com- commitments.
pointed as joint company pany lists on the US OTC. aul Arnold has stepped
secretary to serve alongside Middleton will continue as a Pdown as chief executive ormer Galaxy Resources
Julian Rockett. non-executive director. and managing director of FLtd chief executive Simon
Energy Resources of Aus- Hay has been selected as the
hor Mining Plc has ap- ewcrest Mining Ltd non- tralia Ltd and is expected to managing director for Fire-
Tpointed Alastair Clayton Nexecutive director and assume a new role with Rio finch Ltd spinout Leo Lithium
as a non-executive director. non-executive chairman Pe- Tinto Ltd. Brad Welsh has Ltd, effective January 10.
ter Hay will retire at the com- been appointed acting chief
illie Slott has joined Emer- pany’s November 10 AGM. executive. ommy McKeith has re-
Bald Resources NL as an Non-executive director Peter Tsigned as chairman of
independent non-executive di- Tomsett will be appointed old 50 Ltd has appoint- Prodigy Gold Ltd. Matt Briggs
rector. Slott has been involved non-executive chairman at Ged Sharmila Watson as will act as interim chair.
with the company’s Okvau the meeting. chief financial officer.
gold project since 2006 due to art-time executive chair-
her background in Cambodian opore Metals Ltd non-ex- Pman Shannon Green has
politics and law. Kecutive director Caroline been elevated to full-time
Keats has been appointed chief executive for Resource
the company’s new manag- Base Ltd. He continues as ex-
ing director, replacing Simon ecutive chairman.
Jackson who will assume the
role of non-executive director. ronbark Zinc Ltd has ap-
Ipointed Paul Cahill and for-
mer Australian foreign min-
ister Alexander Downer as
non-executive directors. Ma-
Melanie Leighton ciej Sciazko has retired from
the board.
elanie Leighton has re-
Msigned as an alternate ewmont Corp senior vice
Tim Goyder
director for Hot Chili Ltd. Npresident Marcelo Godoy
halice Mining Ltd founder will join AngloGold Ashanti Ltd
Cand chairman Tim Goyder avid Chapman has joined as chief technology officer on
will retire at the company’s No- DTaruga Minerals Ltd as November 1. He replaces 30-
vember AGM. Derek La Ferla, Simon Jackson a non-executive director. year veteran Graham Ehm,
previously chairman of Sand- Chapman has over 35 years’ executive vice president of
fire Resources Ltd, has been imon Sharp has succeed- experience in international group planning and technical,
appointed as a non-executive Sed Carlos Escribano as resources as a geologist. He who will retire at the end of
chairman and is scheduled chief financial officer for Benz was previously chief geolo- this year.
to succeed Goyder. Goyder Mining Corp. Escribano will gist and technical director for
founded Chalice in 2006 and remain as a non-executive Western Mining Corp.

Page 80 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

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LeFtFIeLD




Perth Mint’s peace



of mind is golden




he Perth Mint was recognised for out- port. Current initiatives
Tstanding work in the field of mental include a large network
health at the Industrial Foundation for Ac- of mental health first aid
cident Prevention (IFAP) SafeWay awards officers, flexible working
in October. arrangement for employ-
Australia’s largest gold refiner was ees, healthy lifestyle re-
awarded the SafeWay Health and Wellbe- imbursements, corporate Perth Mint group manager for organisation and cultural develop-
ing award at the event that took place at volunteering days and em- ment Kristen Potter (left) with colleague, group manager for
Perth’s Crown Towers. IFAP’s SafeWay ployee access to a regis- people and culture edwina Lewis
awards recognises outstanding innovation, tered psychologist on site. “We are honoured to be presented with
management, strategies, and contribution “It is imperative for organisations to pro- this award and are dedicated to further edu-
of both individuals and organisations in the vide a workplace that is free from bullying cating others, learning, and adapting as re-
field of work health and safety. and discrimination,” Perth Mint group man- quired in the changing landscape of mental
The Mint was celebrated for its “Mentally ager for organisation and cultural develop- health to keep our employees safe within
Healthy Workplace”’ programme which pri- ment Kristen Potter said. “An environment and outside of the workplace.”
oritises employee wellbeing and safety at where mental or physical problems are The Perth Mint is also currently recog-
the organisation. understood without stigma and employees nised by Mental Health First Aid Australia
It achieves this by focusing on three key know how to respond appropriately and ef- as a “Gold Mental Health First Aid Skilled
areas: promotion, protection, and sup- fectively to people who face difficulties. Workplace”.

InDeX Caspin 58-59 Kalium 80 Predictive 78

43
80
Castillo
KalNorth
Primary Gold
60
Catalyst 80 Kin 5, 10-11 Prodigy 80
92 Energy 72 Centaurus 32 King River 76
Chalice 36, 43, 68, 80 Kirkland 5 Ramelius 10
Adavale 80 Coda 80 Kopore 80 Red 5 76
Adriatic 75 Core 58-61 Resource Base 80
Agnico 5 Critical 77 Lake 50 Revolver 17
Alicanto 79 Legend 28, 46 Rio 76-77, 80
Alligator 66-67 Dart 80 Leo 47, 80
Alpha Fine 42 De Grey 5 Liontown 16, 59 Sandfire 74-75, 80
Altura 54 DevEx 66 Lithium Royalty 55 Sayona 55
American Rare Earths 80 Lunnon 46 Sibanye-Stillwater 48-49
Anglo American 45 Eastern Metals 60 St Barbara 5, 10-11
AngloGold 5, 80 Emerald 80 Mako 78 St George 32
Apollo 10 Emmerson 65 Metal Hawk 29 Strandline 16, 76
Arafura 60-61, 64 Encounter 79 MetalsTech 54
Archer 80 Energy Resources 80 Mincor 35, 46 Taruga 80
Ardea 40 Enterprise 80 Mineral Resources 19 Teck 60
Armour 80 European Metals 79 Thor 80
Aura 71 Nemaska 54-55 Tietto 70
Auroch 41 Firefly 10 Neometals 44 TNG 60-63, 68
Aus Tin 80 Firefinch 54, 80 Newcrest 5-7, 80 Todd 63, 68
Australasian 59 First Quantum 39, 42 Newmont 5, 80 Triton 80
Australian Rare Earths 80 Fortescue 60, 80 Newpeak 80 Turaco 78
AVZ 47 NickelSearch 42
Azure 37 Galaxy 80 Northern Star 5 Vimy 66
Gascoyne 10-11, 5
Bannerman 71 Gold 50 80 Oklo 78 West African 70
Bardoc 80 Greatland 6-7 Orocobre 47 West Gold 5, 10-11
Barrick 5 Oz 60 Western Areas 28-29, 41
BCI 19 Highfield 77 Western Mining 80
Benz 80 Hot Chili 80 Paladin 71 White Rock 80
BHP 9, 16, 27-28, 33, Panoramic 34, 46 Widgie 16, 44
39, 60, 79 IGO 27-29, 35, 46, 60 Pathfinder 80 Wiluna 80
Blackstone 45 Impact 45 Piedmont 55 Winsome 54
Boss 71 ioneer 48-49 Pilbara 47
Burgundy Diamond 80 Ironbark 80 PNX 69
IsoEnergy 72 Poseidon 38
Cannon 42


Page 82 NOVeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

ST GEORGE MINING



is making WA’s



next big nickel


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Mt Alexander Project: High Grade Nickel Copper Sulphide Discovery


High grade nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE sulphide mineralisation
commences 30m from surface








High impact drilling campaign underway

Quality exploration team with track record of success
in discovery of gold and massive nickel sulphide deposits

Strong investor backing supports St George’s exploration model



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