OreCorp chief operating officer Henk Diederichs, managing director Matthew Yates and chairman Craig Williams on site at Nyanzaga
luctant to fund new projects, larger gold gold cycle so companies are trying to get to 4% could deliver a AISC reduction of
miners are faced with limited growth op- involved in projects they ordinarily wouldn’t $US35/oz.
tions, which could make OreCorp’s 100% have the opportunity to get into,” Yates ASX investors have witnessed several
ownership of Nyanzaga a compelling said, pointing to OreCorp’s own entry into hiccups in the gold start-up space in re-
proposition. Nyanzaga, during the gold market’s last cent years but Yates is confident Nyanza-
“We are arguably at the bottom of the downturn, as evidence. ga’s grade will allow any teething problems
“In better times to be overcome.
we wouldn’t have “If you look at some of the new mines
got a look in. It is in Australia, their head grade is 1.5 g/t or
about right place, even less,” he said. “We’re sending 2 g/t
right time,” he said. dirt to the mill, so the margin for error is
The project itself much wider.”
remains as com- Growth is also on the cards.
pelling as it has “We believe the current production pro-
been throughout file is just the start,” Yates said. “We are
OreCorp’s involve- still doing exploration with mineralisation
ment. The high- sitting outside the pit shell and still open
grade nature of the at depth. There are also extensions to the
reserve – 40.08mt Kilimani satellite deposit and other region-
@ 2.02 g/t for 2.6 al targets. We will be hitting some of those
moz gold – makes geochem and geophysical targets this
Nyanzaga a stand- year, first within the special mining licence
out among interna- before expanding outside the licence next
tional development year.’
projects and the The exploration potential hints at the
company is already scope for Nyanzaga to be a multi-decade
eyeing improve- operation.
ments. “A project of this size always has option-
Yates said the ality down the line,” Yates said. “The tricky
FEED study would bit is getting it going rather than keeping it
optimise capex going. We just need to steer the ship and
and cash costs and get the right outcome by crystallising value
increase mining for shareholders.”
efficiency, while a
proposed reduc- – Dominic Piper
tion in royalty rates
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 51
Angola’s ‘bright future’
is green and clean
The opportunity to develop a domestic supply of
fertiliser and fertiliser products in Africa received
more support than ever after Minbos Resources
Ltd released the DFS for its Cabinda phosphate
project in Angola during October.
The completion of the study comes at a crunch point
for the fertiliser industry which is expected to reach a
$US219.4 billion valuation by 2028. Sudden headwinds
were particularly felt after top supplier Russia entered
into Ukraine. Europe’s disrupted supply chains have also
sent the costs of fossil fuels such as gas upwards, which
the fertiliser industry is so reliant on.
These issues have now compounded with threats of
drought for farmers, making some of the less developed
industries like Africa’s in dire need of a secure and local
supply.
Fertiliser is generally made of three ingredients: ammo-
nia, phosphoric acid, and potash. According to the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, com-
bined global demand of these ingredients reached more
than 250mt in 2021 while supply was able to address up
to 300mt.
Following Cabinda’s successful study, Minbos chief ex-
ecutive Lindsay Reed said there was no better location
to develop Africa’s own fertiliser products than Angola.
“The Cabinda phosphate rock turns out to be the ideal
phosphate rock for Angola,” he explained. “Angola has
acid soils, high rainfall and staple crops that all work to-
gether to dissolve the Cabinda rock making it useful as a
fertiliser.”
Cabinda is expected to begin mining in Q4 of 2024. Prod-
uct from the 8.4mt @ 29.6% phosphate Cacata resource
will be transported 65km to a processing facility in Porto
de Caio.
The to-be-built fertiliser plant will produce beneficiated
phosphate rock, which then becomes nutrient feed
stock used for application with imported nitrogen and
potassium.
Cabinda could produce up to 187,500 tpa and an addi-
tional plant would support a 20-year project for revenue
of up to $US1.4 billion. Minbos has already trialled the ef-
fectiveness of Cabinda’s product.
“We now have greenhouse trials since 2017 and field
trials since 2019 that show 90% relative agronomic ef-
fectiveness compared to water soluble fertilisers,” Reed
said.
Today, Angola imports 100% of its fertiliser as prices
have climbed to more than $1,000/t over the past year,
up from previous costs of $600/t in 2021.
Key people:
Peter Wall (non-executive chairman), Lindsay Reed (chief executive), Blair Snowball (chief financial officer), Rebecca Morgan
(technical consultant, resource & mining), Steve Abbott (project director), Chris Swallow (corporate development manager)
Reed said the Angolan Government has already recognised the
importance of supporting its domestic farmers. Cabinda phosphate project DFS
“Three million smallholder farmers account for 90% of the farm-
land in Angola,” he said. “The Angolan Government and private NPV: $US399.4 million post-tax (spot
food aggregators, along with the World Bank, African Develop- price case, 85% ownership)
ment Bank, IFC and European Development Banks have allocated
more than $1 billion to develop the smallholder farming sector. IRR: 61% post-tax
“The world is moving from free trade to self-sufficiency. All our
projects are focussed on local production for local markets driv- Payback: 3.6 years
ing development, security and self-sufficiency in Angola.”
Cabinda is also joined by Minbos’ other project, a hydro-powered
green ammonia plant. This will not only satisfy the world’s current
decarbonisation efforts, but also curbing costs of fossil fuel de- “This is starting to become a really compelling project, aside from
pendency, and another of fertiliser’s integral ingredients. its zero-carbon credentials,” Reed added.
A technical study began on the ammonia project in September. Back at the Cabinda project, Minbos has received important in-
The Angolan Government has thrown its support behind the dustry backing from the International Fertilizer Development
operation, which is also under a MoU with Dutch manufacturing Center.
company Stamicarbon. “The IFDC helped us develop and test the Cabinda phosphate
Reed explained the importance of weaning ammonia supply off fertiliser,” Reed said. “But its main work is in working with govern-
of high-cost gas. ments, farmers, and intermediaries to join the dots between poli-
“Up to 85% of all nitrogen fertiliser is made from gas and that pro- cy, finance, soil, fertiliser, transport and markets.
cess contributes 2% of the world’s carbon emissions,” he said. “IFDC has already submitted a MoU to the Ministry of Agriculture
“Green ammonia produced from hydroelectric power is carbon that aims to link 2 million smallholder farmers to the input and
free and is more competitive than gas in Angola.” output markets in the next 10 years.”
This dependence on fossil fuels is despite the fact nearly 100 coun- It is a time of much change for Angola, having elected its third
tries around the world have pledged to achieve net-zero emission president ever in Joao Lourenco in 2017.
targets by 2050 – which represents up to 70% of global GDP. An “Much has changed under the new President and Minister for
additional 55 countries also have carbon pricing initiatives and 39 Mines [Diamantino Pedro Azevedo],” Reed said. “President
have announced their own hydrogen strategies. Lourenco is pushing to develop agriculture and in particular the
At the Ammonia project, Minbos has managed to secure 200MW smallholder sector to alleviate poverty and improve food security.
of baseload zero-carbon hydrogen power, making it one of the “Minister Azevedo has simplified the mining law and administra-
most competitive operations of its kind in the world while global tion, making it much simpler to invest. Angola is a country on the
ammonia demand could grow to 688mt by 2050. up.”
Reed explained a zero carbon hydro energy project doesn’t just Although it will take time to improve the world’s food and fertiliser
address climate change initiatives, it’s also more economically vi- security, Reed remains positive Angola will be a destination to cre-
able than ever before. ate that generational change due to its youthful population and
“Gas is getting more expensive,” Reed said at the Africa Down Un- room to grow.
der conference earlier in 2022. “Hydropower has never really com- “Up to 45% of Angola is under 14-years old,” he said. “Its popula-
peted with gas when gas was cheap, but in Europe, we have seen it tion will more than double between now and 2050.
go from $1 to $100…even in the US it’s reached $9-10.” “It might be the only country with the land, water, and energy re-
Utilising hydro power in Angola means Minbos would be paying sources to accommodate a doubling of its population. The future
1.7c/kWh as opposed to costs as high as 15.7c/kWh in countries is bright for Angola.”
such as Australia.
Minbos Resources Ltd ASX: MNB
Australian Office: Unit 5, 254 Rokeby Road, Subiaco, WA, Australia, 6008
Tel: +61 8 6270 4610 Web: www.minbos.com.com.au Email: [email protected]
INDABA PREVIEW
African projects still risky business
he COVID-19 pandemic, cost of liv- always behaved appropriately and that’s panies operating in countries with per-
Ting crisis and ongoing war in Ukraine where we’ve seen some protracted arbi- ceived high political risk such as Egypt,
have stirred up unprecedented levels of tration cases that have gone on for many Sudan, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mali,
uncertainty in global markets over the years because of that wrongful cancella- Zambia, Angola, South Africa, Ghana,
past three years, but miners remain more tion without appropriate compensation.” Cote d’Ivoire and the DRC.
concerned about expropriation and in- Five years ago, the risk of forced pro- Unsurprisingly, PRI rates for Burkina
creasing security risks in the Sahel and ject abandonment or divestiture was very Faso have increased over the past year
Horn of Africa, according to political risk real for companies in Tanzania when the given the heightened instability in the
insurance (PRI) specialists Gallagher. Government made sudden changes to West African country. Tumelty said pre-
Resources nationalism and expropria- the country’s mining tax regime. mium rates for similar projects in the cur-
tion is a genuine With that risk rent risk climate had almost double com-
fear which foreign- now significantly pared to three years ago.
headquartered ex- reduced, Gallagher “This would be for a project which is
plorers and miners executive director, not in the danger zone, where there’s
operating on the structured credit been no impact on operations and most
African continent and political risks, of the reports suggest it’s business as
have been grap- Rupert Morgan normal,” she said.
pling with for mul- said Tanzania was “Some of those attacks were actually
tiple decades. For the “solitary poster going on three years ago, but because
some companies, child” for mining in of increased security concerns across
the risk of losing a Sub-Saharan Af- the region and an uptick in political risk
highly promising rica. claims arising from the Russian/Ukraine
project has never “As we’ve been conflict, the market is seeing sizeable
been greater due finding – to our cli- premium rate increases. Historically, you
to the spate of ents’ benefit and could buy political violence as a stan-
coups in the likes to our prospective dalone product and it was pretty cheaply
of Mali, Chad and clients’ benefit – priced, but we don’t expect that to be the
Guinea in the past Rachael Tumelty the market is very case going forward.”
12 months. receptive to Tanza- Morgan also remains wary of China
Burkina Faso endured two coups nian risk,” Morgan said. “It’s not just that and its influence on a number of major
within nine months in 2022 despite hav- Tanzania has stood still and everywhere economies, including in Sub-Saharan
ing a longstanding reputation as one of else has deteriorated, Tanzania has ma- Africa where the Asian economic pow-
world’s most attractive destinations for terially improved. erhouse continues
new gold mine developments. “The PRI pre- to expand its pres-
Gallagher national head of credit, mium rate for Tan- ence.
surety and political risks Rachael Tum- zania compares “As the concerns
elty said the highest volatility typically favourably now around China grow,
occurred in the lead-up to elections, es- with other countries so will the associ-
pecially if there was a strong possibility where we tradition- ated fears around
of a change in government. ally see a lot of Chinese influence
Nine African countries went to the mining activity such in the mining space
polls in 2022, including two which were as the Ivory Coast. in Sub-Saharan
still to be completed at the time of print. In fact, I think the Africa, which is
At least another seven will hold some prices that we’re far wider-reaching
form of elections in 2023. getting from the than Russia’s has
“The core cover in your political risk market for Tanza- ever been,” he said.
policy is around confiscation, expro- nia, whilst seem- “If things pro-
priation or nationalisation, and it also ingly competitive, gress along the
includes political violence and forced are artificially inflat- route which we
abandonment cover, a growing risk for ed by the general Rupert Morgan hope they won’t in
certain parts of Africa,” Tumelty told concern around the whole regional en- China, then that will
Paydirt. vironment. So, if anything, Tanzania is have a much more
“Another key coverage is licence can- probably being slightly hard done by, but dramatic impact not only on the industry
cellation which can sometimes be a bit of we’re putting a lot of faith and hope in but, by extension, on political risk insur-
a grey area. For example, if you’re grant- Tanzania at the moment and I think it will ers’ perception of mining risk in the re-
ed an exploration licence and you do the be justified.” gion, because the Chinese are already
right thing – drill, spend ‘X’ amount of Speaking to Paydirt from his London so embedded. It’s not just a couple of
money within agreed timeframes – then base, Morgan insisted there was still ap- rogue mercenary groups.”
it should be converted into a mining li- petite for PRI for good projects located in
cense so you can go on and develop the “difficult” territories. In 2022, Gallagher – Michael Washbourne
mine, but certain governments haven’t was engaged to review on behalf of com-
PAGE 54 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
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EXPLORE
INTERPRET
DISCOVER
• Major new Copper discovery in the
district scale Kalahari Copper Belt “ Without
in Botswana. exploration,
there are no
• US geological survey states that new discoveries.
And without
the KCB is the number one new discoveries,
place in the world to discover there’s no path
to zero carbon
new sedimentary hosted by 2050.”
copper deposits. Martin Holland
Executive Chairman
& Managing Director
JOIN THE JOURNEY ASX:�CBE
info@�cobre.com.au www.cobre.com.au CobreLimited
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Page 1: (Process Cyan) >
INDABA PREVIEW
Leo ready to pounce in 2023
fter negotiating a tricky first three company. Firefinch was forced to go into should all learn from each other.”
Amonths post-listing, Leo Lithium Ltd suspension after it failed to hit production Instead of concerning himself with Fire-
is preparing the groundwork for develop- targets at its Morila gold mine, also in Mali. finch’s travails, Hay is concentrating on
ment of its Malian lithium project, both The gold miner announced plans to sell its Leo’s own journey towards production,
figuratively and literally. 17% stake in Leo to raise much-needed declaring himself pleased with progress
The company started earthworks on its funds but was scuppered by the ASX’s in the September quarter, with activity set
Goulamina lithium project in Mali during insistence the shares remained in escrow to step up significantly in the December
November, kicking off 18 months of con- until 2024. quarter.
struction which will result in an operation Firefinch chairman Alistair Cowden re- “We are really starting to kick off now
capable of producing 500,000 tpa of spo- signed and subsequently stepped down with the contractor mobilising at the start
dumene concentrate. as Leo chairman, with resource industry of November,” he said.
Leo managing director Simon Hay veteran Rick Crabb announced in October The earthworks are the first steps in a
hailed the start of construction as a major as his replacement at the lithium devel- process which will eventually create a
milestone for both company and project. oper. 500,000 tpa spodumene concentrate op-
“It marks the start of the development For Hay, Firefinch’s travails were a dis- eration at Goulamina. Hay admitted the
schedule,” he told Paydirt. “Earthworks traction for Leo rather than a sustained current climate of labour shortages, infla-
in the December quarter, construction in complication. tion pressures and supply chain squeezes
CY23, commissioning and ramp-up to fol- “The Firefinch issues had no impact on made project development more difficult
low in the first half of 2024, with full produc- the project and actually occupies so little but was confident Leo had the ability to
tion in the second half of 2024.” time now,” he said. “We have appointed meet the challenges head on.
There will also be relief within the com- a new chairman so we only have one re- “We have learnt a lot these last few
pany given the external forces which have maining Firefinch representative on the months but there is still a long way to go,”
impacted the company since it listed on board, which is important because they he said. “Inflation seems to be the same
the ASX in June. have a 17% stake and we want to stay as in Australia, although labour costs are
not a major concern and diesel is actually
down 15%, which reflects the global situ-
ation.”
Leo’s task is assisted by the fact it is
building Goulamina in partnership with
Ganfeng Lithium, China’s largest lithium
producer which is using its group purchas-
ing power to access plant and equipment,
a clear advantage with China’s zero COV-
ID policy causing supply chain disruptions.
“The first long-lead item was the ball mill
and that continues to be in line with the
schedule,” Hay said. “It is early days, and
you are never comfortable when building a
project and while there is nothing of con-
cern, we can never rest.”
Hay is also confident Leo will avoid the
setbacks which plagued recent lithium de-
velopments.
“We are absolutely benefitting from re-
cent history in the lithium space,” he said.
“So many of the people in our team are
on their third or fourth lithium project, our
EPCM contractor Lycopodium is not doing
this for the first time and the metallurgical
teams in Perth are working on multiple
projects, so the knowledge is starting to
spread.”
Leo recently kicked off earthworks on its Goulamina lithium project in Mali Leo also appears equipped to negoti-
ate Goulamina’s other major obstacle, its
Leo was hit almost immediately by tur- close to them, especially as there is 20 location.
bulence following its decoupling from Fire- million shares still in escrow. Mali’s mining sector has continued to
finch Ltd, with capital markets around the “We are fully separate companies but operate despite a deteriorating security
world taking a battering, resulting in its still cooperate on things like security intel- situation which has seen three coups in
shares slumping from 60c on June 28 to ligence and human resources and as we the last 10 years as it battles Islamist ex-
36.5c by July 13. are two ASX-listed companies with opera- tremists and widespread lawlessness in
Other factors were also weighing on the tions in Mali we should stay close and we its north.
PAGE 56 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
Hay said Goulamina had been largely material to warrant it.
unscathed by the instability. Drilling results re-
“In-country things have remained rela- leased in November
tively stable, the security in our region is suggest the project
strong and looks stable,” he said. is well on its way to
Leo has enjoyed the support of the Gov- fulfilling that potential
ernment which has identified mining as a with intercepts from
vital component of its economic and politi- the Danaya deposit –
cal recovery. the second orebody
Speaking at Africa Down Under in West- to be mined – return-
ern Australia in September, Malian Minis- ing assays of 72m @
ter of Mines, Energy and Water Lamine 1.77% LiO2, 118m @
Seydou Traore said minerals would be 1.53% LiO2, 69m @
“the cornerstone of our economic turna- 1.67% LiO2 and 64m
round”. @ 1.76% LiO2.
“We have major plans for economic “Danaya was previ-
development but they need exploration ously not well under-
and development of the mining industry to stood but these infill
achieve that,” Traore said. results have exceeded
The Government has identified Gou- expectations,” Hay
lamina in particular as a key project in said. “Not only have
those plans given it will provide diversity to some very wide peg- Leo anticipates an 18-month construction schedule for Goulamina
a sector dominated by gold mining. matite zones been
“Our personal relationships are very intersected, but the
positive,” Hay said. “They aim to diversify weighted-average-grade of all assayed completion in early 2023, laying a path for
the industry, and love that we will play a intercepts to date is higher than the cur- Goulamina’s expansion.
major part in the electrification of transport rent Danaya resource grade [1.57% LiO2 “Stage 1 rates are locked in and are
globally, but the real key is it will create a versus 1.35%].” not changing because we want to get into
lot of new jobs and a new industry in a part An updated resource statement is ex- production as soon as possible. Stage 2 is
of the country that doesn’t have a lot.” pected in December and would feed di- nominal and could be either expanded or
To achieve that, Leo and JV partner rectly into mine planning. we could add a Stage 3.”
Ganfeng must build a project of world- “We have our chief mining engineer Leo’s insistence on starting at 500,000
class scale. Hay said Goulamina contin- on board now and she is building the tpa points to the lessons learnt from past
ued to meet such expectations. mining plan for the first five years,” Hay lithium developments and the difficulty of
The plan for Goulamina has always said. “We don’t need extra tonnes from funding a lithium project in West Africa.
been to start at 500,000 tpa spodumene Danaya but we need to understand the By keeping Stage 1 as planned, Leo can
concentrate production before expanding potential before we start mining.” keep capex to the manageable $US255
to 850,000 tpa in Stage 2, if it can find the A feasibility study on Stage 2 is set for million and ensure 100% of product is sold
to its JV partner. The company had $71
million in the bank at the end of the Sep-
tember quarter and ample options should
it need to find more funding.
“If we need money, we have the Gan-
feng debt which could be extended, then
we could forward-sell some spodumene
concentrate or even sell DSO product,
which other lithium miners have done pre-
viously,” Hay said. “That would solve any
cost inflation issues but we are very confi-
dent at the moment and we are a long way
away from that so it is not front of mind.”
Ganfeng is also contracted to take 50%
of Stage 2 production with Hay saying it
would likely be interested in the remaining
50% as well.
“That is part of the Stage 2 discussions,”
he said. “We will look at scale but also
conversion, either with or without Ganfeng
and we have already had discussions with
groups in Europe and North America.”
– Dominic Piper
Simon Hay
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 57
Delivering the next generation of metals
projects into production
A diligent, deliberate approach over
the last few years is set to pay
dividends for BMC Minerals Ltd as the
company closes in on an investment
decision over its high-quality base
metals project in Canada.
It has been seven years since BMC first acquired the Kudz Ze Kayah (KZK) “This project met all our brief; it is high-grade with high zinc and copper
project in the Finlayson Lake region of Yukon. After carefully picking its values and very high precious metals content, almost 50% of the con-
way through the permitting process in consultation with provincial and tained metal value, mostly in silver. It is a truly polymetallic project.”
federal governments as well as local First Nation groups, it now stands The company first acquired the Kudz Ze Kayah and Pelly licences before
ready to fulfil all the potential and more it first identified in 2015.
adding a further three projects into the combined KZK asset.
“It has been a cautious approach but and we have worked hard with all
It set about confirming the 10mt historical resource on the ABM deposit
the stakeholders in the community we are operating in to best under-
at KZK. Results confirmed first impressions and the company began
stand the any issues. That is important for any all projects but especially
planning a pre-feasibility study (PFS). HoweverNevertheless, when a
when you operate in the Yukon,” BMC chief executive Scott Donaldson
step-out drilling programme intercepted a new zone adjacent to ABM,
explains. “Recent history is littered with Australian companies who
BMC realised KZK could be even more promising.
went to North America and didn’t get the outcomes they were searching
for because they looked at it through an Australian lens. We have tried “The project quickly became better than we expected,” Donaldson says.
worked hard endeavoured not to do that.” “Late in the first drilling programme, we drilled through 17m of massive
sulphides in the Krakatoa lode. Once we found that, all the milestones
The company has since picked its way through the often-complicated
we had planned went out the door and we had to set out a new plan.”
Yukon and Canadian federal government approvals systems, ensuring
dialogue with First Nations and community groups remainsed open at “It took 18 months to complete our drill program at Krakatoa, (both the
all times. ABM main lode and the Krakatoa remain open at depth) so we had to
defer the planned PFS and we soon realised we would have to re-permit
BMC’s meticulous approach is warranted by the prize on offer. When the the project taking into account Krakatoa and an underground compo-
company acquired the original Kudz Ze Kayah and Pelly permits in 2015, nent.”
they already boasted a combined 10mt resource.
By 2019, BMC had defined total reserves of 15.7mt @ 5.8% zinc, 138 g/t
“It took us 18 months being in Canada before we found the right project,” silver, 0.9% copper, 1.7% lead and 1.3 g/t gold across ABM and Krakatoa
Donaldson explains. “We were very clear that we wanted; base metals (combined resources stood at more than 30mt across three deposits).
VMS deposits with high precious metal credits but however that kind of
project isn’t easy to find. By then, the company had already begun the re-permitting process,
engaging with local First Nations groups to define a sustainable path to
development and long-term production.
“We sat down with First Nations groups very early and from the start
they said they wanted more meaningful involvement,” Donaldson says.
“They had legacy concerns and from that early consultation we have
modified several things, including the pit design, the use of dry stacked
tailings and the inclusion of a water treatment facility, which addressed
some of their key concerns”. For Donaldson, consultation with First Na-
tions groups is about much more than gaining development approval.
“It is important that the listening and openness always continues never
stops, and BMC is committed to that process,” he says.
That will include not only considering input on project design but ensur-
ing that KZK provides a lasting legacy for the district. “Since then a lot of other projects have stalled because of metal prices
but almost all the current commodity prices are above our feasibility
“Very early on in our conversations, the local First Nations Chief & study levels. If we plug in today’s prices, NPV goes up by $US50 million.
Council said they wanted more than just jobs on shovels. We have set We don’t see any need to work on outlandish assumptions. Our costing
ourselves up to do that from the start and we are keen to maximise their models are all built from the ground up on sound engineering principles
involvement,” Donaldson says. “Since we bought the project local First and we are very cautious in our costing and metal price deck assump-
Nations people have been our largest source of labour and the majority tions.
of contracts have gone to First Nation and other Yukon companies.
“We are confident that when the time comes we will be well placed to
“In 2016, we established a scholarship programme which has played take it forward.”
a direct hand in more than 150 local Kaska people either finishing high
The pandemic meant progress continued to slow but in June 2022, the
school, starting apprenticeships or going onto tertiary education and
Yukon and Canadian governments issued a positive decision in relation
even graduate positions. It is valuable work and I’d like to think when we
to environmental and socio-economic impact of the project, paving the
start the mine, we will be able to attract those graduates back to take on
way for BMC to submit its formal mining licence and water application.
senior technical and leadership roles in the project.”
“We have been preparing the mining licence and water licence applica-
That KZK will become a fully-fledged project is looking more certain with
every step. In 2019, BMC released a positive feasibility study and later tions and submitted them at the end of September,” Donaldson said We
that year received draft approval from the Yukon and federal authorities have answered a lot of questions in relation to those and there will be a
to proceed with the project, subject to 30 conditions being met. lot more to go.”
It has been an exhaustive process but yet despite frustration at the pace
The company subsequently updated the feasibility study in November
2020, delivering a report which showed KZK to be technically and of the system, BMC is confident it will stand the company and project in
economically robust with a pre-development capex of $US376 million good stead.
needed to build an asset with a NPV of $US617 million, IRR of 45.9% and “We were surprised it ended up being a five-year process and we have
operating cashflow margin of 43%. spent a lot of time satisfying the assessment bodies on things that
seemed self-evident. But overall we have been impressed by the depth
“This project is superb from a financial point-of-view,” Donaldson says.
and thoroughness of the assessment process – it gives us comfort in
“The 2020 feasibility study had revenue of $US400-500 million a year
the robustness of the permitting.”
with very high margins.
The convoluted approvals process may have slowed project work
but though didn’t stymie it completely with BMC completing further
metallurgical testwork in order to finalise offtake agreements for KZK
concentrate .
“In the last nine months we have locked up sales for about 90% of the
first five years of proposed concentrate production. Trafigura and
Glencore have been the biggest buyers, with two other smelters and one
trader seeking to buy the rest. By the time this article goes to print we
will have placed 100% of years 1-5.” Donaldson says. “The concentrate
buyers did their own due diligence and were satisfied with the product
quality. The final commercial terms are within 1% of the assumptions in
the feasibility, which speaks volumes about the quality of the study.”
Kudz Ze Kayah Base Metals Project BMC has also engaged a corporate advisory firm to assist with debt
funding arrangements. Donaldson says several international institutions
November 2020 Feasibility Study have already expressed interest ahead of discussions starting in earnest
from mid-2023.
“In 2023, we will work on optimising the project designs, completing
Throughput: 2 mtpa
front end engineering and the financing, combined with ongoing com-
Annual production: 7.8 moz silver, munity consultation as we move towards FID in 2024,” he says.
56,600oz gold, After the stuttering progress of the last five years it appears momentum
235 mlb zinc, is gathering for BMC.
32 mlb copper, 56 mlb
Life-of-mine: 9 years
Capex: $US376 million BMC Minerals
Post-tax NPV: $US617 million Canadian offices: 750-789 West Pender St,
Post-tax IRR: 45.9% Vancouver, BC V6C 1H2, Tel: +1 778 379 9262
Operating cashflow margin: 43% Australian offices: 1a 21-25 Teddington Rd, Burswood,
Operating margin: 32.1% WA 6100, Tel: +61 08 6118 1442
bmcminerals.com kudzzekayah.com
INDABA PREVIEW
the September quarter.
Predominantly containing zircon, concen-
trate has historically been built up at the op-
eration until a significant volume is achieved
for sales. This typically occurs every six
months rather than on a quarterly basis.
“Because we’re going to be reporting fi-
nancially on a six-monthly basis, we are
probably going to have concentrate sales
Sierra Rutile every six months to smooth out the whole
process, we won’t be doing it quarterly,” Al-
ciaturi said.
“As it so happens, there had been a con-
starts afresh centrate sale in the second quarter, which
for Iluka in the grand scheme of material-
ity, didn’t actually make a big deal. Had [Q2
2022] been our first quarter, it would have
been a great quarter for us and we would
have been able to say, ‘but don’t expect it
next quarter’.”
SRX has also endured a challenging time
with investors since listing on the ASX at the
end of July. The company’s shares crashed
from a high of 65c post-listing to as low as
18.5c in early November.
Alciaturi said while improving the compa-
ny’s share price performance was a “medi-
um-term project”, he remains convinced the
SRX business has ultimately benefitted from
the demerger.
“We now have a situation where the man-
aging director of the company [Theuns de
Bruyn] is the person who is meeting with
government officials, and is the person who
is handing a community facility over to the
community, etc,” he said.
“While Theuns was already the managing
SRX managing director Theuns de Bruyn director of the subsidiary, it’s not quite the
ierra Rutile Holdings Ltd (SRX) is urging checks out a rutile stockpile same when they’re not the ultimate decision-
Sinvestors to judge the company on how it maker or representative for the company.
performs through the December quarter and guidance to 135,000-137,000t (down from So, I certainly think from an external relation-
beyond after enduring a tough start to life out- 144,000t in the demerger booklet) at unit ship point of view, we’re way better off.
side of the Iluka Resources Ltd sphere. cash costs of $US1,150-1,220/t (up from “I also think, for the same sort of reasons,
The only primary rutile producer listed on $US970/t) although estimated capex is now there are some specific operational things
the ASX delivered just 28,000t from its op- just $US27-30 million (down from $US41 that are better decided closer to the action.”
erations in Sierra Leone for the September million) due to a slower expenditure rate than De Bruyn was instrumental in turning
quarter – down 22% on output in Q2 2022 what was originally planned. SRX around since being appointed to the
– due to heavy rainfall over the final two SRX finance director Martin Alciaturi ex- top job in early 2021. At the time, Iluka had
months of the reporting period, the com- pects the December quarter results will be been threatening to halt production in Sierra
pany’s first since being officially demerged far more indicative of what the business is Leone due to poor market conditions in the
from Iluka in July. capable of delivering. wake of the pandemic.
With the company able to draw on its prior “The fourth quarter is expected to look a Iluka acquired the Sierra Rutile operations
quarter inventory build, rutile sales of 33,000t hell of a lot more like the second than the for $US375 million in 2016 but decided to de-
at a realised price of $US1,535/t FOB ex- third,” he told Paydirt. merge the business in 2021 to focus purely
ceeded production in Q3 2022, however, Alciaturi, who visited the operations in Si- on Australian interests, including its upcom-
unit cash production costs of $US1,464/t erra Leone during August and saw first-hand ing Eneabba rare earths refinery.
were higher than expected due to both the the extreme volume of rain which fell on the Alciaturi conceded SRX was still finding
rainfall and a lack of by-product concentrate country, also believes SRX was unlucky with its feet with the investment community given
sales. the scheduling of by-product concentrate most of its shareholding was more suited to
Following the September quarter re- shipments which did not take place during ASX200 companies such as Iluka.
sults, SRX updated its full-year production
PAGE 60 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
INDABA PREVIEW
“It was predicted and has previously had any form of ex-
come to pass that, in a large posure to.
part, the people who were our Sierra Rutile is the largest
initial shareholders are not nec- and longest established rutile
essarily the natural sharehold- mining operation in the world,
ers for us because they were and the biggest private employ-
the shareholders of Iluka, a er in Sierra Leone.
completely different beast,” he With significant long-term
said. supply deficits forecast for ru-
“We’ve seen some predict- tile, SRX is anticipating plenty
able churn where people who of interest over the coming
are probably more natural Iluka years, especially with custom-
shareholders have exited us ers now believed to be chasing
and have been replaced by more pure products rather than
what you might call more natu- cheaper substitutes such as
ral resource-focused investors. synthetic rutile or titanium slag.
But there are some exceptions “What we’re producing is
to that. We’ve seen some signif- the premium product which,
icant shareholders who we inherited who’ve SRX is the largest private employer in Sierra Leone amongst other things, goes to
actually topped up, which is nice to see. longer established manufactur-
“I’ve also had a number of meetings in the ing sectors like the Japanese
UK and was slightly surprised at the level ernment, finding customers or pulling them steel industry, which has been going signifi-
of knowledge and affinity for this company away from existing suppliers, and construct- cantly longer than the Chinese mills, which
and its broader industry, which is possibly ing a project in a new country…I don’t think are now huge when 20 years ago it was any-
reflected by the fact the company used to be you can debate that Sembehun is a signifi- thing but,” Alciaturi said.
listed in London.” cantly lower risk development than the vast “The world has a heck of a lot more ilmen-
Alciaturi also believes the value of the majority of other ‘new’ developments.” ite than it does natural rutile, with the ilmenite
company’s future plans for the Sembehun Undoubtedly one of the biggest challeng- more or less all upgraded into synthetic rutile
group of deposits are yet to resonate with es which will take SRX some time to over- or titanium slag. It’s a bit like low grade fines
investors. Current activities are focused on come is marketing a company that produces in iron ore being pelletised, but that obviously
the longstanding Area 1 operations, 30km to non-mainstream products from a jurisdiction costs a lot of energy and carbon, as does
the south-east, which has just three years of which many investors would never have creating synthetic rutile or titanium slag,
mine life remaining. whereas natural rutile or your lumpy
SRX is undertaking work to poten- 64% iron ore, you can just chuck it
tially extend the mine life at Area 1, in in the blast furnace and everyone’s
conjunction with completing a DFS happy.
on Sembehun which is due towards “If you’ve got decent quantities of
the end of Q3 2023 with a final invest- natural rutile, you are going to be sell-
ment decision likely before the end of ing it.”
the year. Sierra Leone has enjoyed a stable
The DFS assumes the mine life democracy for more than 22 years
at Area 1 will be extended and the and is the fifth-ranked African coun-
Sembehun group of deposits can be try – and 50th overall – on the World
brought into the production profile in a Peace Index.
phased manner. Alciaturi expects SRX’s co-opera-
“We believe the company has ef- tive relationship with the government
fectively a reserve life closer to 16 and people of Sierra Leone to con-
years and will become even more tinue well into the future.
than that,” Alciaturi said. “It’s a small country, it’s miles away
“The cost structure at Sembehun from Sahel, so it is very democrati-
is materially different from Area 1 be- cally stable,” he said.
cause, in simple terms, we’re not at “Obviously, one of the challenges
the end of life of an area that’s been we have is if you haven’t followed this
mined consistently for over 50 years, company, then there isn’t another
we’re at a new spot. one in this country you would have,
“Sembehun is only 30km away, it’s so we need to spend more time edu-
using the same port and processing cating the market about the benefits
infrastructure as Area 1 and we’ll be of operating there because we’ve had
selling to the same customers. And, nothing but good experiences.”
to a large degree, we’ll be employing
the same people. So, all those clas- – Michael Washbourne
sic risks that most new projects have Rutile production from Sierra Rutile was down 22% in the
of establishing relationships with gov- September quarter due to extreme rainfall in the country
PAGE 62 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
from innovations to discoveries
INDABA PREVIEW
Magnis finds buoyancy
downstream and up
Magnis has chosen to start its vertical
ssets secured on either side of the At- was completed in 2016 but the subsequent integration at both ends of the battery
Alantic Ocean and both ends of the lithi- political upheaval in Tanzania saw develop- supply chain via graphite mining in
um-ion battery chain, Magnis Energy Tech- ment frozen for more than five years. Tanzania and battery cell production
nologies Ltd is now assessing how it can fill The appointment of President Samia Su- (pictured) in the US
in the rest of its fully-integrated supply plan. luhu Hassan in 2021 has reset the invest-
Magnis has been busy in both Africa ment climate in the East African country $US559/t in 2016] and position Magnis well
and North America this year, producing the with a more conciliatory approach seeing in terms of expected margins.”
first units from its iM2NY lithium-ion bat- investors return. Taylor told Paydirt early discussions with
tery plant in New York state in August, then By December, global commodities trader financiers following release of the BFS had
releasing an updated BFS for its Nachu Traxys had signed a binding offtake agree- shown greater appetite for the project and
graphite project in Tanzania in September. ment for 600,000 tpa of graphite concen- Tanzania than five years ago.
The company followed those milestones trate from Nachu, prompting Magnis to re- “We are in a great position because the
with news of plans to establish a down- turn to the project and review the BFS. market has recognised the need for graph-
stream anode active material plant, also in The updated BFS showed that while the ite in the lithium-ion battery space,” he said.
the US. economics had been marginally squeezed, “Nachu has struggled to gain support in the
It has been a high-voltage introduction Nachu still stood up to scrutiny. past but there is a strong tailwind from a ge-
for new Magnis chief executive David Tay- “The project will produce a high-quality, opolitical perspective. Everyone is looking
lor, who joined the company in June, but the sustainable product that requires minimal for non-Chinese supply and that is playing
former Worley Ltd executive is energised by purification, placing Magnis in a strong in our favour. Also, our product is high-pu-
the challenge. competitive position relative to others in rity, high-quality with minimum purification
“It is a great opportunity to use the skills the market,” Taylor said at the time. “As ex- and cost and sustainability advantages.
and experience I have developed across pected, and consistent with the mining in- “That is all playing well with the funders
infrastructure, energy, chemicals and re- dustry as a whole, we have seen increases we are talking to.”
sources,” Taylor told Paydirt. “At Worley, in capital costs from 2016 [up from $US269 Although still early in the process, Taylor
I was looking after power and new energy million to $US324 million], although oppor- already sees further offtake discussions be-
projects in the Asia-Pacific region so I have tunities remain to improve the current capi- ing linked to finance. The Traxys agreement
been exposed to and spent a lot of time in tal cost estimates as part of the next stage covers 110,000 tpa of graphite concentrate,
the renewables energy space.” of optimisation and detailed engineering. leaving the remaining 126,000 tpa of pro-
The company’s foundation asset, Nachu Pleasingly, operating costs have remained posed production uncommitted.
remains key to Magnis’ future. A first BFS relatively stable [$US639/t in 2022 against “The focus is on offtake and I think that
PAGE 64 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
will link to financing,” he said. “The Traxys Like all other companies in the battery and incentives and hoped to benefit further
agreement is good but we need to bolster minerals space, defining the exact sweet from President Joe Biden’s signature Infla-
that with others and we are working hard spot in the supply chain could be key to tion Reduction Act, which includes massive
on it.” Magnis’ long-term success, however, it has incentives for critical minerals development.
Taylor said offtake could be spread be- the distinct advantage of already identifying “There is a range of reasons for the New
tween traders such as Traxys and end-us- several entry points. York location,” he said. “As well as the fact
ers such as anode and cell OEMs and foil Where other mineral companies are the US is going to be a key market for bat-
manufacturers. tentatively stepping towards intermediate teries there is also the government support
Graphite developers have found it hard to products, Magnis has made an altogether and incentives. And, we were able to ac-
attract traditional funding due to the opaque different leap. In August, the company an- cess an old IBM facility in Endicott which
nature of marketing and sales in the sector. nounced first production from its lithium-ion has meant reduced capex and a good sus-
While Taylor believes this landscape is im- battery production plant in New York. tainability outcome for the local area.”
proving, the company has also cast its fund- “Developing the graphite asset led to Having left its imprint upstream and
ing net wider. discussions with offtakers, that led to the in- downstream, Magnis’ next move is into the
“We are engaged with a range of differ- troduction to C4V,” Taylor explained. “That midstream space. In October, the company
ent funders, including commercial bankers relationship developed and we effectively announced plans for an anode active mate-
and export credit agencies,” he said. “We jumped the downstream section of the rial (AAM) processing plant, to be based in
are speaking with export credit agencies value chain and went straight into battery the US.
in Australia and the UK and had early dis- production. Now we are working on a whole The plant will produce high-quality AAM
cussions with US [export credit agency] long-term strategy and where different val- products with Nachu as potential feedstock.
Exim Bank. Then, there are other avenues ue chains we can work in are.” Magnis and C4V have developed a proprie-
around critical minerals, such as the funds The JV with CV4 has seen the two par- tary graphite anode processing technology
released by the US Government’s Inflation ties combine to build the iM3NY plant in En- over the last six years and will now build a
Reduction Act. It is hard to see those funds dicott, New York. The plant hit commercial demonstration plant to validate the scalabil-
extending to African projects but there is production in August and will ramp up to ity of the flowsheet.
more focus on downstream production, as 15,000 cells a day for an annual production Taylor said the partnership with C4V and
long as it ends up in the US.” rate of 1.8 GWh with future plans to expand the offtake agreements the company was
With the renewed momentum, Magnis is to 38GWh. working on would be crucial to Magnis’ suc-
aiming for FID by mid-2023. “Our view is being an integrated battery cess and an example of what was needed
“It is a tough timeframe, but this is the tar- company is the right place to be,” Taylor in the battery minerals space.
get,” Taylor said. “There is optimisation work said. “If you look at how the industry has de- “In the next 10 years, the world will see
to be done with Ausenco and through that veloped on the battery side, you realise the the importance of partnership,” he said. “No
optimisation phase we will identify things value is in being fully integrated. You don’t single or group of companies can dominate
like equipment supply, logistics chains, have to be every part of the value chain, but the space as there is no way anyone can
where the supply chains are and what the there are critical parts you need to be in.” get to net zero by themselves. It will only
best commercial options are.” The New York location has been a de- happen through partnerships, and our strat-
liberate ploy to attract government funding egy is about ensuring strong partnerships.”
Battery cell production at Magnis’ New and incentives into the battery plant. Taylor – Dominic Piper
York facility will be capable of producing said the company had already received a
up to 15,000 cells a day once at full broad range of state and federal tax credits
capacity in 2023
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 65
INDABA PREVIEW
Graphite gears up in Madagascar
ollowing the completion of the DFS for ket. Company shares dropped 9%, trading tegrated player in the global graphite space.”
Fthe Maniry graphite project in Madagas- at 10c/share in mid-November, following the Benchmark Mineral Intelligence antici-
car, BlackEarth Minerals NL managing di- release of the DFS. pates a global natural graphite shortage of
rector Tom Revy is now looking to start the Maniry will kick off operations in the De- 6.1mt by 2035. More than 90 new mines,
“education process” on graphite’s value in cember quarter of 2024, producing 1.2 mt each producing 56,000 tpa, would be need-
the clean energy transition. of concentrate over a 21-year lifespan. With ed to quench that thirst.
“The general sentiment with graphite is expected EBITDA of $US857 million, inves- The supply crunch is greatly propelled by
just starting to turn now,” Revy told Paydirt. tors can expect a 29% return after 3.8 years graphite’s rising use in the battery sector –
“It’s good timing to release your feasibility from first ore. as the most prominent material in a lithium-
study into a market that is starting to recog- The potential mine achieved a post-tax ion battery by weight – on top of its traditional
nise the value of graphite. Feedback from NPV of $US205 million, but Revy stressed uses.
shareholders has been exceptionally posi- the true value of the project is unlocked in In late 2022, researcher Fastmarkets an-
tive. tandem with BlackEarth’s plans for vertically ticipated annual graphite consumption in
“It’s just the education process that we integrated processing. the battery sector alone to reach 300,000t,
have to go through a considerable
now. Lithium went increase from
through it probably 210,000t the year
four years ago and prior.
once people rec- Revy argues
ognise the intrinsic the best outcome
value of natural of Maniry’s DFS
graphite and all is proving an eco-
of its uses – its nomic project to
importance in the meet graphite de-
EV market – then mand at a time the
it’ll get recognised global economy is
in the price at that battling inflationary
stage.” pressures.
The clean en- “We’ve done the
ergy transition feasibility study in
has undoubtedly a period of time
caused a positive where diesel is
re-rate for battery at record prices,
minerals such as freight is at record
lithium and nickel, prices, steel and
respectively pric- Product from Maniry will be shipped from the Port of Toliara on the west coast of Madagascar concrete are at re-
ing at $US81,732/t cord prices, equip-
and $US23,290/t ment and services
in November. Meanwhile, large flake graph- BlackEarth is currently in JV with Euro- have gone up in price,” he explained. “It’s all
ite was only trading at $US1,400/t that same pean company Metachem, constructing an reflective of a very high-cost market so we
month, despite the mineral’s integral role in expandable graphite plant in India. The com- know how robust the project is.
the makeup of EV batteries. pany also announced a scoping study on the “We know by doing it in this tough market,
In an effort to spruik new investor inter- commercial viability of processing the fines the project is still financially attractive and
est, BlackEarth revealed plans in October from Maniry into a battery anode material in technically robust. What does it mean when
to change its name to EVION Group NL. September. prices come back to more realistic numbers?
Shareholders were set to cast their votes on “[Maniry’s DFS] plays in nicely to the ex- The diesel price is unsustainable in global
the rebrand by the time of print, and Revy pandable graphite project we’re now building economic terms, it’s got to come back.
was confident the change would happen. in India,” Revy said. “It also forms an integral “Freight we’ve already seen fall quite dra-
“EVION for us is a new chapter, a new way part of the battery anode material plant we’re matically. From when we did our scoping
to progress the company,” he said. “EVION currently doing the scoping study on and re- study, to when we did our feasibility study,
is sort of reflective of a new future, but also sults will be released [in November]. freight had gone up 400%. It’s those sort of
encompasses ‘EV’ and ‘Ion’ [lithium-ion bat- “From a shareholder point of view, the numbers that have an impact on capex and
tery]. DFS creates enormous upside for them. opex at the end of the day.
“We’ve hit the marketing pretty hard since From our point of view, it’s that critical part “The upside for us is to come back to
the release of the DFS with very positive of the supply chain we want to be a part of. some sort of normal cost structure, but we
feedback and we’ll continue that certainly In a world that’s getting harder and harder to also expect to see higher graphite prices as
very hard over the next few months.” source suitable quality natural graphite ma- the world goes into deficit as early as the
Marketing the Maniry story will be crucial terial, we know we have that. next six months.”
as BlackEarth is yet to see an overwhelm- “It’s the cornerstone asset for what we
ingly positive reception from the retail mar- want to do, which is to become a vertically in- – Fraser Palamara
PAGE 66 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
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Syrah shrugs off industrial ‘hiccup’
yrah Resources Ltd managing di- mained confident a resolution on the mat- Verner, who has been with Syrah since
Srector Shaun Verner has endorsed ter could be reached without further dis- 2016, said the company’s overall experi-
Mozambique as a “positive” investment ruption. ence in Mozambique had “by and large
jurisdiction despite illegal industrial action “We want to work through this in a way been a very positive one”.
overshadowing record quarterly graphite which provides us with the best long-term “Sometimes, I think it’s easy to point the
sales from the company’s Balama opera- outcomes for our labour force, for the com- finger at countries that are still developing
tion. munities and for the company overall,” their frameworks and investment environ-
Industrial action driven by a small con- Verner told Paydirt. ments, but there is a significant amount of
tingent of local employers and contractors “This is a 50-year asset and we need to potential disruption in developed econo-
forced operations at Balama to be halted in take the time to ensure we get things right mies and jurisdictions as well,” Verner said.
late September with Syrah also temporar- with that long-term production horizon in “From my perspective, Mozambique has
ily moving its workforce from site. By the mind. The frameworks and processes are some very positive elements as an invest-
end of October, all mining and processing there for us to continue to control our des- ment jurisdiction for resources. We’re cer-
activities and unrestricted logistics move- tiny in that environment, and we’ll continue tainly very positive about being there for
ments had resumed and the full comple- to make sure the relationships are in place the long term and we expect it will continue
ment of employees and contractors were to do so.” to develop as a jurisdiction.”
reportedly back on site. This is not the first time Syrah has been Despite the industrial disruption at the
At the time of print, Syrah was still impacted by some form of sovereign risk in tail end of the September quarter, Syrah
working through the periodic renewal of Mozambique. When operations at Balama still sold a record 55,000t of natural graph-
employment conditions under its compa- were being ramped up in 2018, the threat ite at a weighted average sales price of
ny-level agreement with the designated of a terrorist attack on the Cabo Delgado $US688/t. Some 38,000t at 80% recovery
representatives of the unionised work- province where the mine is located re- was also produced at Balama across the
force. Negotiations are being supported mained high with many foreign agencies, reporting period.
by the relevant government authorities in including Australia, warning against any Syrah maintains a forward sales order
Mozambique. travel to the country. book of nearly 70,000t natural graphite,
Verner insisted the industrial relations Earlier this year, Syrah suspended with the company expecting demand to
“hiccup” had not spoiled the positive op- movement on a key transport route fol- only increase further prior to, and through-
erational progress the company has made lowing confirmed insurgent attacks near out, the winter period of lower Chinese
at Balama over the past year and he re- Balama in northern Mozambique. production.
In a further boost for Africa’s first major
commercial graphite mine, Balama also
returned a maiden positive net operat-
ing profit despite production being con-
strained to 15,000 tpm during the quarter
reportedly due to ongoing disruption in the
global container shipping market.
“What’s been key to that is the weighted
average price we’re achieving from Bala-
ma has continued to increase over the past
couple of quarters and that’s reflective of a
very strong demand environment, which is
driven by EV adoption,” Verner said.
“One of the interesting statistics for me
is that in September, we saw 1 million EVs
sold globally; it was only two years ago that
it was 3.2 million for the year, so we’re cer-
tainly seeing a very rapid increase in the
number of EVs being sold and produced,
and that’s feeding through to demand for
the underlying input materials.
“Despite having the industrial relations
hiccup at the end of the quarter, it was a
very good set of results which gives us a
lot of confidence around demand growth
and the production capability of Balama.
We’re super excited in the upstream and
showing the market what we can do on
Syrah reported maiden net operating profit from Balama during the September quarter an uninterrupted basis. I think the demand
despite illegal industrial action impacting operations in Mozambique picture out there is absolutely supportive
PAGE 68 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
tion capacity is on track to be completed ply opportunities.
by the end of the year. A DFS on expand- Verner is anticipating more interest in
ing to 45,000 tpa is also under way. Vidalia given its pioneering status as the
Syrah’s expansion ambitions will be only vertically integrated natural graphite
supported by a grant of up to $US220 mil- AAM facility with developing capacity in
lion from the US Department of Energy, the US.
meaning Vidalia is set to be one of the “The temptation is to frame this in a
first projects funded by the Biden Admin- geopolitical sense, but really it’s more
istration’s bipartisan infrastructure law to a fundamental view around the supply-
expand domestic manufacturing of bat- demand imbalance for these processed
teries for EVs and the electrical grid, as materials,” he said.
well as for materials and components cur- “Yes, China is the dominant producer of
rently imported from other countries. anode material today, but the key issue is
“Interestingly, we were the second-high- there’s a looming natural graphite supply-
est monetary value of the 21 recipients and demand imbalance and there’s a looming
one of only five to get the full proportional imbalance in terms of natural graphite
percentage that was available, so that was anode material production. The Inflation
very gratifying in terms of the view of the Reduction Act seeks to promote potential
importance of the Vidalia project to the an- answers to that imbalance, obviously with
Shaun Verner ode supply chain in the US,” Verner said. the focus on US domestic supply chains.
Syrah recently inked a five-year bind- “It’s a strong example of just how long
ing offtake agreement with Hiller Carbon the lead times are on resources projects
of seeing increased production volumes to supply all by-product spherical graphite themselves, particularly integrated down-
coming out of Balama.” fines from the expanded 11,250 tpa Vida- stream resources projects, and that’s
Syrah undoubtedly sees most upside in lia facility, having previously struck a deal something that is starting to become
downstream production of active anode with Tesla for the supply of natural graph- more and more visible to OEMs and bat-
material (AAM) via its Vidalia facility in ite AAM. The company also has MoUs tery makers in the auto industry.”
Louisiana, US. Detailed engineering for with the likes of Ford, SK On and LG En- – Michael Washbourne
an initial expansion to 11,250 tpa produc- ergy Solution to evaluate other AAM sup-
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 69
INDABA PREVIEW
Evolution jumps downstream
volution Energy Minerals Ltd (EV1) may from Chilalo into value-added graphite prod- number of banks that
Ehave committed to becoming a vertically ucts. have submitted ex-
integrated graphite producer but managing EV1 and its predecessor companies have pressions of interest
director Phil Hoskins insists the company previously resisted temptation to pivot to- to finance the project,
remains laser-focused on establishing the wards the lucrative battery materials space, which comes down
Chilalo mine in Tanzania before heading instead favouring some of the more traditional to the quality of the
downstream. graphite markets. However, this is the clearest project and the qual-
With FEED and an updated DFS both im- indication yet the company has placed all op- ity of the marketing
minent and a framework agreement with the tions on the table. work that’s gone into
Tanzanian Government close to being final- Successfully constructing the Chilalo mine that. We have a great
ised, EV1 is quickly compiling all the critical remains EV1’s highest priority, according to understanding of who
elements required to push the button on the Hoskins, who said it was imperative for the we’re selling to, what products we’re produc-
long-awaited development of Chilalo. A com- company to “walk before we run”. ing and the prices we’ll receive for those.”
plete project financing solution and FID from “I don’t want it to seem there’s been a con- EV1 is not sitting on its hands either when it
the company has been slated for the March stant shift and we’re now all about the down- comes to laying the foundations for its down-
quarter. stream,” Hoskins told Paydirt. stream strategy which has the support of the
In September, EV1 confirmed positive re- “Finalising our framework agreement, company’s largest shareholder, ARCH Sus-
sults from downstream test work to produce which is very close with the Tanzanian Gov- tainable Resources Fund.
coated spherical graphite supported its strat- ernment, the updated DFS and FEED we’re Hoskins said declaring the company’s
egy to become a vertically integrated pro- working on right now and expect to release downstream ambitions this early in the piece
ducer of graphite products and battery mate- within the next month or so, these are all criti- could prove beneficial towards securing the
rials. This was further strengthened later that cal elements in getting this mine up and run- initial development funds for the Chilalo mine.
month when the company formalised a JV ning. “You can’t sit back and wait for things to
with offtake partner YXGC for future down- “We’re very pleased with the amount of happen to advance these downstream op-
stream processing of coarse flake graphite interest from project financers, we’ve got a tions,” he said.
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EV1 will soon finalise FEED and an updated DFS
for its Chilalo graphite project in Tanzania
ed. Fingers crossed Having previously played an integral role
we don’t have to in the development of Syrah Resources
wait for that, but we Ltd’s Balama graphite mine over the border
have every intention in Mozambique, Evolution executive direc-
of progressing these tor Michael Bourguignon said the breadth of
things in parallel.” detailed test work that EV1 has completed
The change in over the years had the company perfectly
sentiment towards positioned to not only land project finance
Tanzania over the for Chilalo but also to become a successful
past year presents producer.
a vastly different en- “Graphite is not like gold where whatever
vironment to the last you produce you’re guaranteed to sell, you’ve
time the company got to work hard and you’ve got to understand
“We’ve got additional test work we need to underwent the financing process for Chilalo your market,” Bourguignon said.
do, we’ve got feasibility studies we need to do, back in 2019. “The more you understand and work with
site selection – be that in the US or in Europe While the company was locked into an your potential customers, the stronger your
– to understand where would be the best exclusivity agreement with a particular debt relationships are, the smoother it will be. I
place to locate these things. And, ultimately, partner at the time, Hoskins said the contrast could definitely see heaps of work had gone
because there’s so much interest from a fund- in financing appetite for Tanzanian projects into those areas before I joined, and over the
ing point of view in where you build the anode was “night and day”. last 12 months it has been more of the same.
supply and these sorts of things, you could “We know from the expressions of inter- “This company has done massive amounts
even get funding that helps you fund the up- est in our data room and from what has been of variability test work here in Australia, as
stream. submitted to us, banks are willing to finance well as in Canada, and the results have been
“If traditional financing sources were to be Tanzania,” he said. “The same goes for the replicated. From reading it after the event, it’s
delayed, then funding from strategic battery Tanzanian banks. Going back 2.5 years, they what I would call a safe bet.”
partners, from governments desperate for ad- would not have banked a Tanzanian mining
ditional industry in their countries, these could project, they were very much acting like for- – Michael Washbourne
very well be the things that help us get fund- eign investors.”
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INDABA PREVIEW
Borshoff baking the next batch
of Namibian yellowcake
hen Deep Yellow Ltd pushes the button be respectively increased from 3.75 mtpa nium price and all of that, but I think where
Won construction of its highly anticipated and 3 mlbpa in the original PFS to 4.15 mtpa things are moving now, there is a head of
Tumas project in the next few years, almost a and 3.6 mlbpa in the upcoming DFS. This steam building up and some realisations in
decade will have passed since the last major decision was made to accommodate with terms of where new [uranium] production is
uranium operation was built in Namibia. the grade of the reserve (89.9mt @ 345 ppm coming from,” he said.
Discovered by Australia’s Extract Re- for 68.4 mlb contained uranium) updated “Where the pressure is now, is on the
sources and developed by China General earlier this year, while remaining within Deep supply industry that’s essentially been in
Nuclear Power Company, Husab officially Yellow’s project development criteria. a ‘Rip Van Winkle’ stage for years. A lot of
became Namibia’s third uranium mine in late these companies have to muscle up, limber
2016 following first yellowcake production. up and be mentally prepared to make deci-
Around the same time, Borshoff and a host sions they haven’t yet made – or ever made
of other former Paladin Energy Ltd execu- – in terms of getting major projects going.
tives made their way over to Deep Yellow. “The talking and the walking have to
Husab was also the last major uranium be combined because incentive pricing
project developed globally before long-term has reached a level that should galvanise
depressed yellowcake prices forced the clo- boards to say, ‘we’re going to commit to
sure of several large operations, including something’. We’re now in a transition stage,
Paladin’s Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia. the train is about to leave the station, wheth-
Borshoff was of course at the helm of Pal- er that’s right now or in the next six months.”
adin when Langer Heinrich was built, as well Meanwhile, Deep Yellow has begun op-
as the Kayelekera mine in Malawi which has timisation work on its Mulga Rock uranium
also since been mothballed and is now in the project in Western Australia, having now as-
hands of ASX-listed Lotus Resources Ltd. sumed full control of the asset following its
Tumas is firming as Namibia’s next major $658 million merger with Vimy Resources.
uranium mine from 2025, although the ex- Added focus has been placed on the
act development timeline for the project is recovery of copper, nickel, cobalt and rare
expected to become clear following the re- earth credits from the deposit, as well as ex-
lease of a long-awaited DFS by the end of tending the mine life, with an updated DFS
December. slated for completion by mid-2024.
Despite a decade-long gap between con- Borshoff firmly believes Deep Yellow
struction of uranium mines in Namibia, as now boasts all the necessary ingredients to
well as for the man affectionately known as be the world’s next major uranium power-
“Mr Uranium”, Borshoff expects there to be house.
no such concerns when it comes to bringing “It’s been a remarkable achievement,
Tumas online. from nearly a clean sheet of paper five
“We’ve been bringing everyone together John Borshoff years ago, to a DFS coming out soon with a
as a full team – the project engineers and our clear path forward,” he said.
full owner’s team – to go through everything “Really, the big asset has been the invest-
to do with the project and there has been a The updated PFS published in February ment we’ve made in a fairly unique team.
really pleasant surprise from everybody in 2022 forecast post-tax NPV of $US412 mil- There’s no other teams out there that have
terms of the amount of internal expertise that lion (up from $US207 million), IRR of 23% built uranium mines or understand the ura-
has grown in Namibia,” Borshoff told Pay- (up from 21%) and EBITDA of $US2.21 bil- nium markets in a real way. And we’ve in-
dirt. lion (up from $US1.03 billion) based on an troduced fresh blood with [chairman] Chris
“Before, you were relying on just South Af- increased life-of-mine of almost 26 years (up Salisbury, who provides another perspec-
rica and other parts but there’s real maturity from 11.5 years). Estimated capex increased tive to the direction we’ve always said we
now in Namibia. There’s been quite a few just $US13 million to $US333 million, while were taking this company.
gold projects built over there now, so we’ve the breakeven uranium price reduced from “We have been thoughtful at all levels
been pleasantly surprised in terms of the $US47.33/lb to $US42.40/lb. with applying a strategy now five years old,
contractor base for the construction phase While he prefaced caution with the DFS but is as fresh and relevant as if we invented
of our project.” still being wrapped up, Borshoff is anticipat- it to today’s circumstances.”
At the time of print, engineering and de- ing the company will begin detailed design
sign for the DFS was materially complete in early 2023 and complete full FEED works – Michael Washbourne
with scheduling, operating and capital cost for project development within the next 12
estimates being finalised. months.
Plant tonnage and production capacity will “That’s of course depending on the ura-
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The lotus re-emerges A restart of the mothballed Kayelekera
uranium mine could provide up to 600
jobs for the local Malawi community
or the ancient Egyptians, the lotus
Fflower symbolised rebirth as the flora
was able to open and close throughout
the cycle of day and night.
For Lotus Resources Ltd, the connec-
tion to the lotus flower is more than just a
namesake as the company looks to bring
the mothballed Kayelekera uranium mine
in Malawi back to life.
Kayelekera produced 10.9 mlb between
2009 and 2014 before Paladin Energy Ltd
put the operation into care-and-mainte-
nance at a time when spot prices dipped
as low as $US28/lb.
With new ownership, an updated DFS,
and a stronger uranium market, only sev-
eral roadblocks stand between Kayelekera
and a potential restart. But, before Lotus
can fully spread its operations, managing
director Keith Bowes wants to first lock
down a mine development agreement with
the Malawi Government.
“We want to end up in a situation, prior
to FID, where we have this mine develop- we could implement to make it a more eco- our cash costs. We may then look at put-
ment agreement signed so we know what nomic project,” he said. ting the remaining 50% either into the spot
the tax rates and other elements are be- “Effectively, we reduced the operating market or shorter term contracts so when
fore we start operating this mine again,” costs associated with it. We spent about a the spot price goes up, we have the oppor-
Bowes explained to Paydirt. year-and-a-half working on all these differ- tunity to participate in those higher costs
“We’re going through the process now ent areas and it’s really the results of those as well.”
of renegotiating the mine development areas that we’ve included in the feasibility Bowes is also exercising his patience
agreement with the intention of getting study. for getting the best bang for Kayelekera’s
relief for some of the fiscal aspects. Can “I think it was good, I’m really happy with buck as Lotus spruiks interest in its product
we get reductions and duties and tariffs on the results that came out of that, especially with international utilities.
the things we import like reagents? Can the environment we are in now with high “We’ve been to a number of conferenc-
we have a look at royalty rates? Also, what inflation, supply chain issues, and so on.” es around the world…we’ve met with prob-
about ownership? The Malawi Govern- The project’s estimated operating costs ably 10 or 11 North American utilities,” he
ment owns 15% of the project. We’re hav- are lower than its historical operations un- said. “We were at the World Nuclear Asso-
ing discussions about those. der Paladin. Factors that have contributed ciation Conference in London, we met with
“When we sign it, we’ll have 10 years of to the improved project fundamentals in- a number of European and Asian utilities
fixed fiscal regimes that we can work with. clude increased feed grades from ore sort- there. It really was a case of reintroducing
That’s really important and I think investors ing, lower power costs from the grid and Kayelekera and Lotus as a player in Ma-
are looking for that as well; some certainty improved acid utilisation and nanofiltration. lawi.
around what we’ll be paying for those sorts At the time of print, uranium spot pric- “When we’re having discussions with
of things.” es were bubbling above $US50/lb while [utilities], of course we’re talking pricing
Kayelekera’s August DFS provided a Kayelekera’s AISC was estimated at and all that, and we’re probably not quite
level of certainty for investors. It confirmed $US36.20/lb. at the point where we’ve agreed on pric-
the mine can be restarted for $US88 mil- Bowes was tossing up the idea of split- ing yet. They’re signing contracts that are
lion and, after 15 months of development ting the project’s production between long- probably around the low $US50/lb or so.
works, will produce 2.4 mlbpa over the first term and short-term contracts to take best That’s not where we want to be signing
seven years of operations. advantage of the uranium market’s poten- contracts. We still have confidence the
Bowes credits industry advancements tial growth. price is going to increase and when it gets
for helping make Kayelekera financially at- “We don’t have any offtake sorted at to the $US60/lb or $US70/lb mark, that’s
tractive again, despite the current inflation- the moment,” he said. “I think we want to when we want to be signing contracts.”
ary market. put a certain portion of our production into
“The real opportunity for us was when offtake and how much that percentage is, – Fraser Palamara
we did the due diligence and we recog- I’m not sure.
nised it was a good asset, but we thought “But to give a really simple example…
there were things that had changed in the if we could put 50% of our production into
industry, with regards to technology, that offtake agreements, we would cover all of
PAGE 74 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
Elevate glows
under new name
At the time of print, Elevate had two drill rigs
spinning in Namibia, spending up to $1,000
per hole, targeting uranium mineralisation
s the uranium sector geared up for what clear fuels in the country.” tion,” Hill explained. “We see the value we
Athe yellowcake bulls have heralded as Uranium spot prices were trading at just can add to shareholders is by drilling to ex-
the next super cycle, Namibian explorer over $US30/lb at the time Elevate under- plore, find mineralised envelopes, convert
Marenica Energy was busily reconfiguring went its name change. By November, those those to resources and just keep doing that
itself. prices were buoying above $US50/lb. to build an asset base.”
June 2021 officially welcomed the re- Elevate’s own share price has seen much Uranium mineralisation in Namibia is typ-
branded Elevate Uranium Ltd to the ASX. of the same increase since its transforma- ically set in shallow paleochannels. Elevate
According to the company, the new moni- tion, climbing roughly 35% to trade at 48c/ recently made the discovery of unexpected,
ker was chosen to reflect a refreshed ap- share at the time of print. The company’s deeper set mineralisation, causing the com-
proach to developing its uranium projects to shares also traded as high as 80c apiece pany to go back to the drawing board and
support a “carbon-free, baseload energy to in April. reconsider its approach.
power a cleaner future”. Hill is not one to sneeze at this perfor- “What has complicated things a little bit
Elevate managing director Murray Hill mance, regarding the developments of the lately is the Kopi III discovery where none is
believes the rebrand has been a success. company’s portfolio as “unprecedented”. in paleochannel, it’s all in basement-hosted
“We’re probably the most active uranium “The first one we discovered was Kop- mineralisation,” Hill said. “It is less than 11m
exploration company on the ASX now,” Hill pies and then we discovered Namib IV and deep for the vast majority of it. Trying to find
told Paydirt. “We’ve got two drill rigs work- Hirabeb and then the last couple have been that is difficult because there’s no paleo-
ing in Namibia, we’re drilling 10 holes a day Capri and Koppies III,” he said. “I’m calling channel there, so how do you pick it?”
between them and we’re covering a lot of Koppies III a new deposit because it’s a dif- Elevate returned to previously drilled,
ground.” ferent style of deposit to Koppies I and II shallow holes and reassessed the depth
Elevate has made five new uranium dis- which we put a resource on within the first of mineralisation, with up to half of them
coveries over the past three years, includ- three years of holding the tenement, which returning opportunities for undrilled miner-
ing two discoveries in the second half of is unprecedented in the country.” alisation.
2022. The Marenica project (61 mlb ura- Other yellowcake developers in Namibia “It tells us we’ve got mineralisation un-
nium resource) is the most advanced in the include Paladin Energy Ltd, Bannerman derneath the paleochannel, alongside the
portfolio, joined by the Koppies (20.3 mlb Energy Ltd and Deep Yellow Ltd. According paleochannel, and maybe even further
resource), Hirabeb and Namib IV discover- to the World Nuclear Association, Namibia away that we just haven’t picked because
ies. is capable of providing up to 10% of the we haven’t drilled deep enough,” Hill said.
Elevate claims its patented “U-pgrade” world’s uranium mining output. “We’ve changed our exploration techniques
beneficiation process can improve the First uranium mining in Namibia started to drill deeper, about 25m.
grade of Marenica by more than 50 times in 1976 following discoveries in the Namib “We see enormous blue sky potential
to upwards of 5,000 ppm. Desert as far back as 1928. because we were originally just looking
Hill said this value-adding process in- For Elevate, there is no “race” to get for paleochannels and now we’re finding
spired the gameplan to make more dis- into production as the company continues mineralisation outside of paleochannels,
coveries. to better its understanding of the Namib- so we’re having to develop new explora-
“We patented our upgrade process and ian mineralisation. At the end of October, tion techniques knowing we’re more than
we thought, ‘what will we do with this? mineralisation at Koppies was extended by likely to find some mineralisation we never
Let’s start exploring’,” the metallurgist ex- 10km to the north-east, while at Capri, the thought was there.”
plained. “We built up a land position when company had identified 16km of mineralisa-
the uranium price was low and we’ve now tion. – Fraser Palamara
got the largest tenement position for nu- “We’re not in a race to get into produc-
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 75
INDABA PREVIEW
Woodall finds new in Malawi on an $US88 million capex.
“The reason why Tiris is so low capital
is because it’s unlike other similar types
of deposits,” Woodall said. “We will put
aura in Mauritania the product in a rotary scrubber, add wa-
ter, then filter the fine uranium through
about 150 micron filters. Then 80% of
our mined material actually goes back
into the ground straight away.
“The remaining 20% goes in leaching
and our leaching grade is 1,500ppm ura-
nium which is very high. It’s free dig, no
drilling, no blasting and we don’t need to
crush or grind it. That’s the whole cost
benefit there.
“That means our leaching circuit
doesn’t have to be as big as if you were
to put the entire product in it. Higher
leach grade, smaller capital.”
Around the time of Woodall’s appoint-
ment to Aura, the company completed a
10,000m infill drilling programme to con-
vert the inferred 26.3 mlb Tiris resource
to measured and indicated status, while
also discovering new exploration targets
for expansion.
Woodall said an increased resource
will have another positive effect on op-
erating costs.
“The idea is if we grow the resource
and increase that production, we ex-
pect those costs to be reduced again
because a significant portion of our cost
Aura Energy’s Tiris uranium project in basis right now is fixed costs,” he said.
ura Energy Ltd managing director Mauritania is a potential low-cost, low-
ADavid Woodall has already rolled up carbon footprint operation, targeting “As we increase it going forward – and in
his sleeves and jetted off to Mauritania to first production in 2025 the new year we will produce a report to
dig into his “exciting” new role after join- show the increased resource – the ben-
ing the company in September. efits will be in terms of an expanded case
Woodall was appointed to the uranium team on the ground to date has not been for Tiris, which is pretty exciting.”
developer after he spent more than two easy. They’ve delivered a really strong As Woodall prepared to fly to Maurita-
years with rare earths company Austral- DFS, so that’s all ready to go,” Woodall nia, he was eager to start forging strong
ian Strategic Materials Ltd. said. “The focus for us, and why I joined, business relations with the Government
The new gig isn’t Woodall’s first time is to take that from where it is now and and local people; much like he did in pre-
working in Africa, but he’s excited to im- bring it into production.” vious roles in Ghana, Tanzania, South
merse himself in the business relations Tiris is expected to produce an initial Africa, Cote d’Ivoire and the DRC.
of Mauritania and to bring the Tiris ura- 800,000 lbpa for a total 12.4 mlb uranium “We will provide employment for the
nium project into production as early as over 15 years. Capex has been priced local people and we’ll get diversity in the
2025. at $US74.8 million, alongside C1 costs economy,” he said. “When you go into a
“Joining Aura, you’ve got good pro- of $US25.40/lb and AISC of $US29.41/ country, you’re a guest in their country.
jects,” Woodall told Paydirt. “You’ve got lb. Yellowcake spot prices at the time of In Africa, you come in there to do the
a project near production to pave the way print were bobbing above $US50/lb. right thing and bring a view for benefits
for cashflow to come in. We’re also plan- With a total cash flow of $US289 mil- for both the company and the country.
ning an expansion at Tiris soon after we lion after tax, investors can expect a 22% That’s important.”
build it, potentially taking it from nearly 1 return after four years from first produc- Aura is currently awaiting the approval
mlbpa to 3 mlbpa…it’s an exciting gig.” tion. Aura has also signed a 15%, seven- of export permits for Tiris.
Woodall will support Tiris’ pathway to year offtake agreement with UK buyer A resource upgrade is due in early
production by drawing from his experi- Curzon Resources. 2023. Construction, following FEED
ences with a number of majors including Woodall said his favourite attribute of studies and FID, will take 18 months.
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, Ivanhoe Tiris was its low capital intensity, which – Fraser Palamara
Mines Ltd and WMC Resources. He said he attributed to the mineralisation.
the 2021 DFS at Tiris has created a com- Aura’s uranium peers in Africa include
pelling operation. Lotus Resources Ltd which is looking to
“The work that has been done by the restart the 2.4 mlbpa Kayelekera project
PAGE 76 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
INDABA PREVIEW
Ionic’s Ugandan testing or learn what we want quickly and
bring forward FID. We are busy with the de-
tailed engineering now.”
Several western rare earths companies
adventure gathers have come unstuck at the metallurgy and
processing hurdle in recent years and de-
risking the project is particularly vital for Ion-
ic given all other ionic adsorption clay pro-
momentum cessing takes place in China and Myanmar.
Harrison said the company had devel-
oped its own IP over processing as well as
accessing any available data on existing
onic Rare Earths Ltd is trailblazing on two With its environmental impact assess- processes.
Ifronts; not only is it preparing to become ment approval received in October, Ionic is “We have read a lot of Chinese papers
Uganda’s first large-scale miner but will do now readying to prove Makuutu is of global and obtained what public information is
so with a project which will become one of significance to the rare earths sector. available and spoken with a number of
the western world’s first ionic adsorption “We are now planning for the next stage groups with first-hand experience in the de-
clay mines. of Makuutu’s development,” Harrison said. velopment of ionic adsorption clays which
The significance of both isn’t lost on Ionic “We are finalising the mining licence ap- has provided some insight and validated
managing director Tim Harrison who told plication documents now, which will be our heap leach approach,” he said. “We
Paydirt the company was conscious of its lodged by the end of October and the team know China has been doing it that way for
elevated position in the nascent Ugandan is finalising the economic case to take the 40 years.
mining sector. project forward to Phase 1.” “We have already done an enormous
“We are aware of the responsibility we The company expects to receive its min- amount of test work and will continue with
have,” he said. “Uganda is eager to attract ing licence in the March quarter, at which more and larger metallurgical studies.
investment in exploration, moving into de- point it will begin discussions with the The demonstration facility gives us the
velopment but they also want to attract Government over a mineral development ability to optimise the proof-of-concept,
the right kind of investors. They don’t want agreement. from mining equipment, to material han-
companies locking up tenements and as- “The agreement sets out the terms of ref- dling and engineering, etc to de-risk the
sets without doing work on them or neglect- erence for the economic
ing stakeholders. We are actively taking development of Makuutu,”
our Makuutu project forward and spending Harrison explained. “We
money investing in Ugandan capabilities are aware of the changes
and community engagement which has coming on the Mining Act
meant receiving good buy-in from stake- and are awaiting clarity
holders. on what they are and how
“Chairman Trevor Benson and [mining they will affect Makuutu.
engineer] Allan Mulligan have just been to The terms of the Act are
the Ugandan Mineral Wealth Conference broad and there is room
for which Ionic was a diamond sponsor. We to interpret, which is what
continue to receive very good support in the mineral development
country from government departments and agreement will do.”
stakeholders. Hopefully that demonstrates In parallel, the compa-
the country is ready for investment. ny will be establishing the
“We enjoy good relations with govern- technical credentials of
ment at all levels. We hosted Minister of the project. Harrison said
State for Mining Peter Lokeris and other the intent was to build a
representatives at Africa Down Under in demonstration facility in
Perth in August. We’re hearing very sup- Uganda next year to de-
portive words about development of the risk the flowsheet and
mining industry in Uganda and the Govern- provide proof-of-concept
ment is keen to see Makuutu get into pro- evidence for the mining
duction.” operation.
Ionic’s ability and willingness to engage “The demonstration
on the ground is solidified by the quality of plant capex will be $5-8
Makuutu. million and there are very
The company’s flagship asset represents few technical or legal
one of the few non-Chinese-owned ionic constraints so, moving
adsorption clay rare earths projects in the aggressively to get it up
world. Not only is Makuutu high grade – the in Q1 next year,” he said.
total resource stands at 532mt @ 640 ppm “After six months of run-
total rare earths – the style of mineralisation ning the demo plant, the
is dominated by the magnet and heavy rare question then becomes
earths which attract higher prices. whether we extend that
PAGE 78 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
Ionic has defined Makuutu’s quality through
the drill bit, delivering a resource of
532mt @ 640 ppm total rare earths
more magnet and mand for the product.
heavy rare earths, “There is a real opportunity to be fully in-
Makuutu presents a tegrated through this new rare earths sup-
great option. ply chain. The West will have to build alter-
“We will have the native supply chains because demand is
ability to place rare significantly greater than supply, you can’t
earths carbonate build EVs or wind turbines without magnet
product into different rare earths like terbium and thulium and the
markets, so we are other heavy rare earths.
not locked into any “But there is still a lot of educating in-
specific contract or vestors and strategic partners on how this
payabilities,” Harrison project is different to the hard rock projects,
said. “This is particu- because the end-users have not been pay-
larly important given ing attention to rare earths. After 6-7 years
the product will be of trying, they are starting to get their heads
worth more tomorrow around supply chains for the battery ele-
than it is today. The ments. That is why you are only now seeing
capex will also be the EV manufacturers active in those supply
right size for the size chances. They haven’t even started in rare
of the company.” earths.”
Defining a down- A fresh product from a new jurisdiction,
stream market may the Ionic story could be filled with risk and
include building its uncertainty but with both aspects currently
own capacity. Ionic is flowing its flavour, it instead feels like a rare
currently conducting opportunity.
a scoping study into “There’s not a huge amount of ionic clay
a rare earths refinery projects in the western world for investors
with a focus on sup- to get confidence in the process, material
flowsheet ahead of FID.” plying end markets in the US and Europe. handling, etc,” Harrison said. “But this pro-
The demonstration facility will also pro- “The scoping study on the refinery is ject is of such size and scale it is going to be
vide material for Ionic’s other major task being completed now,” Harrison said. “It of interest to everyone in this new space.”
– marketing. Harrison said while numer- includes a location analysis and we are
ous groups from the US, Europe, the UK zeroing in on the US because it is a key – Dominic Piper
and elsewhere had expressed an interest market and there is strong geopolitical de-
in Makuutu offtake, the rare earths sup-
ply chain was still currently dominated by
China.
“It is a big challenge to the industry; if
rare earth carbonate can only be sold and
processed in China, it may limit us find-
ing funding in other markets if they’re not
ready to take significant quantities yet,” he
said. “There is a desire to get access to our
offtake but we need to produce significant
volumes. One group has asked for a 5t
parcel, so the demonstration plant will start
producing that material for potential offtak-
ers and for our own downstream strategy.”
The fledgling nature of western rare
earths markets has led Ionic to adopt a
staged approach to Makuutu’s develop-
ment.
“The biggest challenge is in the down-
stream space, expansion on site is not a
constraint, so the phased approach is all
about defining the market,” Harrison said.
“We don’t need the economies-of-scale the
hard rock developers require so we have
an ability to scale up once the downstream
markets can take the product. It is a great As the first large-scale miner in the country, Ionic’s community interaction strategy is
opportunity for Ionic. As the world needs vital to its chances of success
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 79
Simply better
graphite Where Black Rock believes it differentiates from the plethora of other
graphite hopefuls is not only in the level of detail, including a completed
FEED process, but the fact its volume of work along with the supporting
For Black Rock Mining Ltd managing ESIA has been intensively reviewed and validated by recognised
director John de Vries, the eeDFS Update independent technical experts.
Black Rock has also attracted critical financial and project development
for the Mahenge graphite project in support from Korean steelmaker POSCO and US cleantech graphite
Tanzania represents more than just processing company Urbix Inc.
“Nobody in graphite has ever done what we’ve done,” de Vries explains.
numbers on a page. “Our work, our ESG credentials and the price deck we’re using has been
validated by independent technical experts. We’re also qualified with
Black Rock released a detailed eDFS for Mahenge in July 2019 and in POSCO, we’re qualified with Urbix and we’ve introduced competition
most respects the project is largely unchanged since those initial cost tension for our fines product. We are re-writing the graphite playbook.”
estimates and production forecasts were first published. With the FEED process complete and the Mahenge project metrics now
However, while the changing global landscape prompted a number of updated, Black Rock has turned its attention to finalising debt funding for
adjustments in the eDFS Update, the company’s ambition to become one what is shaping as the world’s next major graphite mine.
of the world’s largest and most sought-after graphite producers remains It became abundantly clear to de Vries as far back as five years ago when
firmly on course. he joined Black Rock that very few, if any, graphite projects would be
entirely funded from equity. Therefore, the company has long targeted
that up to 50% debt would be sourced via traditional project finance.
MAHENGE GRAPHITE PROJECT - eeDFS Update The debt process is under way with as many as 25 financing entities
currently in the data room. Should the all-important term sheets be
Post-tax NPV10: $US1.4 billion signed prior to the annual Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town in early
Post-tax IRR: 36% February, Black Rock could quickly enter a 20-month construction period
Module 1 production: 89,000 tpa and be primed to deliver first graphite concentrate from Mahenge in 2024.
Module 1 capex: $US182 million “Ultimately, while we can say we feel pretty confident, we can’t really say
Steady production: 347,000 tpa our strategy has been validated until we actually have a term sheet signed
Concentrate product: 95-99%+ TGC purity off by a bank’s credit committee,” de Vries says.
59% +80 mesh, 41% -80 “We do, however, take a lot of confidence into our discussions with the
banks given the independent experts’ report said there were no fatal flaws
Basket price: $US1,709/t identified in any areas of the project.”
AISC: $US518/t Based on the FEED work, the updated capital cost estimate for the
Initial operating life: 26 years
development of Mahenge is $US182 million, including contingency of
PAGE 80 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
$US22 million, representing a 58% increase on the capex reported in the For Black Rock and its shareholders, the strongest indication yet that
original eDFS. Inflation in the cost of building materials, labour, energy and Tanzania has reopened for business under Prime Minister Samia Suluhu
consumables accounted for 32% of the increase. Hassan came when Faru – 16% owned by the Government of Tanzania –
Black Rock GM engineering and technical Daniel Pantany believes was recently granted a Special Mining Licence (SML) for development of a
completing the eDFS Update when diesel prices and quotes for equipment graphite mining operation over a 35sq km area at Mahenge.
suppliers were at their peak will ultimately benefit the company in the long The SML is valid for 26 years, up from the 10 years attached to the
run. previous mining licences. Black Rock was also granted an exemption from
“What we’ve seen since completing the FEED is that diesel is now coming the provisions of the Mines Act 2017 requiring SML developers to issue
down and equipment suppliers have changed from ‘we’re too busy to talk 5% of stock to local interests and listing 30% of the stock on the Dar es
to you, we’ll give you a quote when we get there’ to ‘we’ve got some slots Salaam Stock Exchange.
coming in next year, come back and we’ll have a talk about lead time and “Once you’ve got your framework agreement and SML, they enshrine the
cost’, which is giving us a lot of confidence there won’t be any unexpected legislative environment that you’re working in,” de Vries explains.
cost rises,” Pantany says. “Getting the SML through and locking in the conditions of the framework
The updated capital cost estimates for Modules 2, 3 and 4 are $US107 agreement under that SML was really, really critical. There’s a plethora
million, $US117 million and $US104 million, respectively. Each 1 mtpa of other permits you also need – transport permits, completing our
module is set to be funded from free cash flow and promotes sequential environmental updates, employment permits, etc – but they are not
production increases of at least 85,000 tpa per module. project killers. The project killer is the framework agreement and the SML.
Black Rock’s 84%-owned Tanzanian subsidiary, Faru Graphite Corporation We now have both of those.
Ltd, recently signed a conditional framework agreement with Urbix for “The other important hurdle we’ve now leapt over is we’ve found a way in
exclusivity over offtake of the -100 natural flake graphite fines from Module which international banks can work within Tanzania’s banking regulations.
2, paving the way for potential concurrent construction with Module 1. We’ll find out where that sits soon, but as we stand right now they’ve gone
in with their eyes open, whereas they wouldn’t
have gone into our data room if they thought
that was a fatal flaw.”
Another key advantage for Black Rock in the
development of Mahenge is access to low-
cost grid power in Tanzania, especially with
the proportion of hydroelectricity expected
to grow substantially from its current 40%
contribution over the next few years. The
nearby Julius Nyerere hydro project is under
construction and will have an installed
capacity of 2,115MW when commissioned in
June 2024.
The eDFS assumed the 60km power line to
Ifakara to connect Mahege will be built in
parallel with the commissioning of Module
2. However, given the elevated level of diesel
prices and the significant benefit to project
economics and green credentials, Black Rock
is currently exploring options to bring forward
There is also not expected to be any shortage of available workers to construction of the power line to align with anticipated first production
assist with the construction and eventual operation of Mahenge with de from Mahenge.
Vries saying the company was already receiving CVs from highly qualified Mahenge hosts the world’s second largest known graphite reserve, a fact
individuals seeking to be part of the development process. which de Vries insists remains the company’s greatest asset.
“There’s a real shortage of qualified and skilled people in Australia at the “I remember early in may career a foreman said to me, ‘anybody can break
moment, but in Tanzania, it’s almost the opposite, where there’s a surplus a rock, but the art of mining is moving them’, and time and time again we
of skilled and qualified people,” de Vries says. “Barrick have been there for have validated that saying,” he says.
years, AngloGold have been there for years, so there is a pool of skilled “The geology at Mahenge is unique and it gives us a uniquely high-value
people in Tanzania that we can tap into.” concentrate, which we know from all of the battery testwork we’ve done
Pantany adds: “Because the Tanzanian mining industry is now re- that it will deliver us exceptional yields.
emerging, there are a number of Tanzanian natives currently working in “Then, there’s access to a deep water port in Tanzania that ships to
other countries within Africa who are now looking to come back home, so our terminal markets in China, Korea and Japan, which is really, really
they have started contacting us and asking if they can come and work on important for our ability to competitively supply our customers. So the
our operation.” way I see this is the geology gives us the top line and the geography gives
us the cost line.”
Black Rock Mining Ltd ASX: BKT
Australian Office: Level 1, 1 Walker Ave, West Perth, Tanzanian Office: Faru Graphite Corporation Ltd
Western Australia, 6005 Diamante Building, 3rd Floor Wing A
Tel: +61 8 9383 6200 22 Chole Road, Plot No. 2016, Masaki, Dar es Salam, Tanzania
Web: www.blackrockmining.com.au
Email: [email protected]
Key people:
Richard Crookes (Non-executive Chairman), John de Vries (CEO & Managing Director), Ian Murray (Non-executive Director), Steuart McIntyre
(GM Corporate Development), Daniel Pantany (GM Engineering & Technical), Paul Sims (CFO), Greg Wheeler (CCO), Rae Wyatt (GM People,
Culture & Sustainability) AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 81
All hail the Lindian king
lthough recently ap- their EVs…or do they
Apointed Lindian Re- simply export the mag-
sources Ltd chief exec- nets to a fridge manufac-
utive Alistair Stephens turer in Nebraska or Tur-
claims to love all of the key? I think the decision
company’s projects, it is clear,” he said.
is clear he is most ex- China’s domestic EV
cited about the one he market makes more than
affectionately calls “The 1 million sales each year.
King”. Back in Malawi, Ste-
Lindian entered into phens is confident Kan-
an arrangement to buy gankunde will produce
the Kangankunde rare positive drill results giv-
earths project in Malawi en the project last saw
in August, splashing out rigorous exploration in
$US30 million to acquire 1994 under French geo-
it via the purchase of logical house BRGM.
another company. New “This is a project that
owner Lindian started has laid in limbo for ba-
maiden drilling at the sically 30 years,” he ex-
project in October. plained. “It hasn’t had
Speaking to Paydirt any modern exercises of
just before the drill bit hit exploration or resource
the dirt, Stephens said development done on it
current market dialogue since then.”
was most supportive of Stephens added the
Kangankunde, as op- historical data was en-
posed to the company’s couraging and using
separate bauxite pro- modern techniques
jects. would translate into re-
“Kangankunde is the Alistair Stephens sults for the market to
one that actually has got see.
the market attention at the moment,” he among others. “The quality of the [historical] data I’m
said, following his August appointment Between 2018 and 2021, global rare seeing is that it’s particularly good work,
to the company. “It’s because of the rare earths demand rose sharply from 190,000t it’s just a different format, a different era,”
earths market and the nature of the sup- to 280,000t. Adamas Intelligence founder he said. “BRGM used a cutoff of 4% to
ply chain. I still do like the bauxite assets; Ryan Castilloux told BMO in June he had define what they thought was a rare earth
I think they’re a real great money spinner concerns about production meeting de- resource.
for the organisation, low capital, low cost mand, the latter fundamental which could “So when we look back through the
and easy processing to market. grow by as much as 10% annually. data, we see a much larger potential with-
“But the rare earths has the greatest “We are looking to do a century’s worth in the project. The purpose of the drilling
capacity for launching from what we see of work in 12 years, which is formidable, is to bring to the market modern assay
at the moment, something very small, into but still won’t be enough to meet the tri- techniques in the current environment for
something which will be globally signifi- pling of demand,” he said. rare earths that outline what we think is a
cant and we’re about to start the drill pro- Success at Kangankunde would not significantly large rare earths deposit.”
gramme to prove that. I think it will be a only help plug that demand in the future, On the bauxite side of Lindian’s portfo-
market darling.” but also diversify supply which is greatly lio, Stephens expects the 101.5mt @ 59%
The Phase 1 drilling will encompass 44 dominated by China. The US Geologi- aluminium and 2.1% silica Gaoual project
holes for 12,500m with the aim of defin- cal Survey reports it contains the world’s in Guinea to be the breadwinner due to its
ing mineralisation in the upper 300m of largest rare earths reserves, with 44mt of favourable aluminium grades.
soil. First assays were expected by the product. “The more silica you have the more
new year, following metallurgical sampling The Asian juggernaut was 2021’s larg- problems you have in terms of acid con-
which began in November. est producer of the metals, contributing sumption and viscosity issues within your
A follow up Phase 2 drill programme 168,000t. Vietnam trailed in second place aluminium processing plant,” he said “So,
will then follow with just two 1,000m deep that year, contributing 400t from reserves we’re very optimistic that something will
holes to test mineralisation down to 800m. as large as 22mt. happen especially at Gaoual in the short
Rare earths are expected to play an in- Again, Castilloux voiced concerns over term.”
tegral role in the clean energy transition rare earths supply, suggesting China may
as they contribute to the construction of elect to keep its product in-house to feed – Fraser Palamara
wind turbines, EVs and batteries. Rare a domestic EV market.
earths deposits typically include minerals “Do they sell magnets to the domestic
such as neodymium and praseodymium, market to empower automakers to create
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 83
INDABA PREVIEW
Canyon edging closer to development
urther approvals for the Minim Martap
Fbauxite project in Cameroon are immi-
nent, paving the way for Canyon Resources
Ltd to pursue development funding.
Having received a certificate of environ-
mental compliance in October, the com-
pany is now awaiting approval of the mining
convention.
At the time of print, Canyon chief execu-
tive Jean-Sebastien Boute was expecting
the mining convention to be signed in a
matter of weeks.
“We had seen a number of changes at
the government level, which could explain
some of the delays and we have to also
consider that Cameroon doesn’t have any
mining industry developed yet, so people
are a bit more cautious and take a bit more
time to review a big project such as the
Minim Martap bauxite project,” Boute told
Paydirt. Canyon plans to truck material 45km to the train loading station before standard
Canyon completed a BFS for the project railcars bring product to the port
in June, indicating the potential to produce
6.4 mtpa of high-grade bauxite over an ini- been reduced significantly after an internal advantage of when exporting.
tial 20 years of mining. restructure, closure of an office and con- “We are lucky to have the bauxite deposit
With the mining convention approval on solidation of its operation in Duoala. just next to an existing rail line, so the infra-
the horizon, Canyon is now turning its atten- However, the possibility of a capital raise structure is in place,” Boute said.
tion towards funding. could still be on the cards in the next 12 “There’s an operating port in Duoala that
“The next phase for us is to secure a months. needs a bit of investment but there’s nothing
capex funding for the project. I have a num- “We think we are going to be OK until significant in terms of investment to develop
ber of institutions lined up for discussion to we raise money and secure capex, but we this project.”
secure capex and also a number of strate- might need a little bridge before we raise To export the product from the mine,
gic partners which include offtakers,” Boute money for the project,” Boute said. Canyon plans to truck material 45km to the
said. While Cameroon may contain an abun- train loading station before standard rail-
At the end of the September quarter, dance of commodities, investor interest in cars bring the product to the port.
Canyon had $2.25 million in available fund- the country has been deterred by the lack Boute said there had been strong sup-
ing after it burnt through over $1 million in of infrastructure. port for the project, with Canyon to imple-
staffing costs due to redundancy payouts. A perk of the Minim Martap project is the ment a local content strategy.
Boute said the monthly burn rate had nearby rail line which Canyon plans to take “We intend to employ local first, we un-
derstand it is going to be an expat handover
strategy over a number of years, specifi-
cally for the jobs that require more skills that
are not available in country, for example
high-volt electricians,” he said.
“I can’t say specific numbers but it’s going
to be up to 80% after a number of years of
operation.”
Following the signing of the mining con-
vention, Boute predicts it would take a fur-
ther 12 months before development kicks
off, but this timeframe may be fast-tracked if
a strategic partner is secured.
“The fundamentals are there, it’s a bit un-
fortunate the company is undervalued but
it is what it is, the market is the market,” he
said.
“I’m very happy to lead this company, it’s
exciting. We have a strong team and strong
partnerships that are just waiting on the
sideline for this mining convention and I’m
confident we will be successful.”
Mining convention approval for Minim Martap is imminent – Yvette Ogilvie
PAGE 84 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
Arrow finds new target Arrow has struck an agreement to
acquire up to 60.5% of the Simandou
North iron ore project in Guinea
in Guinea
that green steel environment.
“As the steel industry moves into the de-
carbonisation world, we see this as an op-
portunity to find more of those high-grade
materials which can feed directly into the
green steel environment.”
In conjunction with the definitive agree-
ment over Simandou North, Arrow an-
nounced that resources industry veteran
Tommy McKeith would assume the role of
non-executive chairman, with Frazer Ta-
beart continuing as a non-executive director
and former Iron Ore Holdings and BCI Min-
erals Ltd managing director Alwyn Vorster
also joining the board.
Meanwhile, Arrow is set to boost its cash
position through the sale of its Strickland and
Malinda projects, both in Western Australia,
reaffirming the company’s commitment to
West Africa. However, there are no plans to
ow entirely focused on West Africa, Ar- “With the infrastructure agreements with revive activity at the Vrasno gold project in
Nrow Minerals Ltd is keeping one eye on the Guinean Government now in place and Burkina Faso due to ongoing security con-
the long-awaited delivery of critical infra- the construction of the rail and port facilities cerns following two military coups in country
structure in the world’s largest undeveloped under way, all of a sudden that area has within the last year.
iron ore province after inking a deal to begin opened up…and because it’s open access “We were fortunate to get last season’s
exploring a northern extension to the prolific infrastructure, the area will be massively de- work done before everything started to un-
Simandou group of projects in Guinea. risked,” Bresser told Paydirt. ravel there,” Bresser said. “It’s a very, very
In late October, Arrow executed a binding “It’s like the Pilbara in the 1950s when good project and we would like to move it
definitive agreement formalising the com- there was no infrastructure, but now it’s forward but until I’m comfortable that it’s safe
mercial terms upon which the company can coming and we have the northern extension and secure, I have no intention of sending
earn a 60.5% controlling interest in Amalga- which we’re looking to expand the value of any more people out into the field. I don’t
mated Minerals Pte Ltd, a private Singapore- through discovery of large-scale iron ore de- want to put peoples’ lives at risk.”
an-registered company which owns 100% of posits.” Arrow is also keeping a watching brief over
the Simandou North iron ore project. Arrow pounced on Simandou North after the pending sale of the Perkoa zinc mine,
Sitting at the northern end of the Siman- completing extensive due diligence on the owned by Trevali Mining Corp, the compa-
dou Range, the project is an extension of the project, including several site visits by com- ny’s JV partner at Vrasno. Trevali closed the
stratigraphy which hosts Winning Consorti- pany directors and intensive reviews from mine in April following a flooding event which
um Simandou’s (WCS) Block 1 & 2 deposits reputable legal firms in Australia, Singapore resulted in eight fatalities and has since en-
(1.8bt @ 65.4% iron) as well as the Block 3 and Guinea. tered voluntary administration.
& 4 projects (2bt @ 65.5% iron) held by Rio Under the agreement with Amalgamated Despite the well-documented geopolitical
Tinto Simfer. Minerals, Arrow immediately earns 33.3% of challenges of the region, Bresser remains
A major breakthrough in the storied his- the project for the issue of 500 million shares confident that Arrow can ultimately be suc-
tory of the Simandou group of projects was and must spend $2.5 million on exploration cessful in West Africa.
realised last July when the Government of within 24 months. The company can lift its “West Africa has a mammoth amount of
Guinea, Simfer and WCS established the La stake to 60.5% via the issue of a further $1 potential and governments are trying to im-
Compagnie du TransGuineen JV to co-de- million in shares or cash. prove the lives of their people and they see
velop the high-grade iron ore resources via Bresser said the company initially planned mining as being a fundamental key in mak-
the initial construction of a 670km railway ex- to complete mapping and geochemical work ing that happen,” he said.
tending from the Simandou Ranges to Fore- over Simandou North, as well as reprocess- “There’s numerous high quality assets,
cariah on the coast where a deep-water port ing of historical geophysics, with the aim of there’s government support and there’s op-
and ship loading infrastructure will be built. undertaking maiden drilling early in 2023. portunity for the application of modern tech-
The $US15 billion shared proposed infra- “One of the things we managed to find as nologies in historical data sets to really am-
structure project is earmarked for comple- part of the due diligence was a digital data- plify the value proposition of West Africa. It
tion by December 2024, ending almost two base for the geophysical survey that was has been a beautiful place to work for many
decades of stalled development plans for the flown by Vale and BSGR,” Bresser said. years, but I think we’re coming to a point now
Simandou area. “We’ve been able to identify that raw where we’re actually seeing the value of that
Arrow managing director Hugh Bresser data, so fortunately we’ll be able to re- commitment and time already spent.”
said the large capital investment from the process that using modern software and – Michael Washbourne
three parties would go a long way to unlock- evaluate that data to identify the areas of
ing a host of “low-risk” opportunities for oth- potential high-grade iron ore, because we
ers in the region. really want to position the company into
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 85
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
Argentina asks Aussie
tions with Canada, US and we are talking
to our neighbours on this issue on a daily
miners for support basis. It is very important for us to work as
a region.”
Cooperation is the buzzword at a na-
tional level as well with Catamarca, Jujuy
and Salta willing to share information but
rgentina will turn to international min- cluding Galan Lithium Ltd, Lake Resourc- also promote healthy competition for inter-
Aing investors to help dig it out of the es Ltd and Lithium Power International national investment.
deep economic hole it finds itself in. Ltd, are enjoying strong market support for Salta secretary of mining and energy
The international mining community has their own progress. Romina Sassarini said her province pre-
had a fraught relationship with Argentina Avila recognised the need to move swift- sented a great opportunity for explorers
in the last two decades with the South ly to establish Argentina as a global lithium and miners given it had only “recent start-
American country’s obvious geological player. ed its mineral journey”.
potential being weighed down by an at “We know we are in a privileged position “We have one of the strongest public
best ambivalent, at worst openly hostile but must use this window of opportunity,” policy environments to facilitate mining in
investment climate. Various federal and she said, pointing to the progress in the Latin America,” she said. “We have clear
provincial governments have disavowed three lithium-endowed provinces – Cata- regulations and legal security, guaranteed
mining investment while others, such as marca, Jujuy and Salta – as evidence of by a mining court, the only province which
Catamarca, Salta, Jujuy and Santa Cruz the national attitude to battery minerals. provides that. It is guaranteed because the
have welcomed investment, particularly in “They have created a combined lithium court is outside of the political system and
lithium, gold, silver and copper. region, which shows that it is a state poli- therefore promotes consistency.
The disjointed nature of Argentine policy cy because it transcends political parties “We know investment is for the long term
is changing, however, with the Federal across those regions,” she said. “They and has risk so that is why we protect that
Government earlier this year declaring ex- have created committees addressing dif- investment.”
ploitation of the country’s natural resourc- ferent needs; infrastructure, science and While the three lithium provinces have
es a state policy and a high priority of its technology, environment, local suppliers, agreed to cooperate on many areas, there is
economic plan. social licence, tax and royalties.” still friendly competition for investment.
“Argentina is eager to show investors
the resources and reserves we have, there
is tremendous geological potential and we
have added another ingredient; by making
mining a state policy,” Federal Secretary
of Mining of the Nation, Maria Fernanda
Avila told Paydirt. “We are taking it very
seriously and we see it as part of the eco-
nomic solution.
“Now that mining is state policy, we have
to talk to companies to understand their
needs and create a good environment for
investment.”
On the fiscal front, the Federal Govern-
ment has eased foreign exchange restric-
tions, allowing investors to access up to
20% of exports from new or expanding
projects.
“It is a sign to investors who are worried The Argentina delegation – made up of federal Secretary of Mining Maria Fernanda
about the flow of currency that we are se- Avila as well as senior delegates from the provinces of Catamarca, Salta, Jujuy and
rious about new investments,” Avila said. Santa Cruz – at the IMARC conference in Sydney in November
Further encouraging the change in ap-
proach is Argentina’s lithium potential.
Along with Chile and Bolivia, Argentina Avila said the national government was “We have signed an agreement with Cata-
forms part of the Lithium Triangle, the vast now working towards a downstream lithi- marca and Jujuy and will regionally explore
expanse of salt pans and lakes which um strategy. and develop our lithium brines,” Sassarini
contain large quantities of lithium-bearing “We see value addition as very impor- said. “We will work together on exploration,
brines. tant and are working to understand the op- developing mining services and the technol-
ASX-listed Allkem Ltd is already produc- portunity,” she said. “We believe we have ogy around environmental issues and water
ing from its Olaroz mine and carbonate to try to go further in the value chain, as use. We want to be able to standardise regu-
facility in Jujuy province and is developing far as we can. That is our particular view. lations across the three provinces and work
its Sal de Vida project in Catamarca, while We haven’t signed any bilateral agree- with the national mining body as well.
several other Australian companies, in- ments but we are involved in conversa-
PAGE 86 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
LATIN AMERICA
ASX-listed Allkem has built a $10 billion business on the back of its Olaroz lithium project in Jujuy province
“But we know Salta has the largest re- trying this time to do it correctly.” very clear on their preference for lithium,
serves of lithium in Argentina with 15 sal- Jujuy Minister of Economic Develop- one of Argentina’s most established min-
ars and we are digitising our cadastre sys- ment and Production Exequiel Lello Iva- ing jurisdictions, Santa Cruz, remains fo-
tem with a portfolio of projects available.” cevich told Paydirt his province was look- cused on more traditional metals such as
While Salta has the largest lithium re- ing to Australian companies to aid lithium gold, silver and copper.
serves, Cartamarca boasts the most cur- development. The province is the largest gold-silver
rent activity with the likes of Allkem and “Australian companies have the know- producer in Argentina and has recent and
Galan highly active in the province. how, and we have the critical minerals so historical success with Australian compa-
That progress is the clearest sign yet there is an opportunity for cooperation,” nies. Andes Resources found and devel-
Catamarca has found a consistent ap- he said. “We need more exploration and oped the 2.3 moz Cerro Negro gold-silver
proach to mining policy. that is why we are here, to speak with project before being taken out by Gold-
“We have had problems with mining in explorers and miners but also Australian corp in a $US3.3 billion deal in 2009.
the past but we are working hard to get it METS companies. In 2022, the province plays hosts to two
right,” Catamarca vice president Julio Ce- “We have a challenge in Argentina to ASX-listed juniors in E2 Metals Ltd and
sar Cordoba told Paydirt. “We have been increase the industrial supply chain for NewPeak Metals Ltd.
making changes, taking mining regulation lithium, we need investment, not only in “The social licence to operate is very
out of the judiciary’s hands and into the mining but in industrial [downstream] pro- important in Santa Cruz,” Santa Cruz Min-
Government’s. When the judiciary had duction as well.” ister of Production, Commerce and Indus-
it, it wasn’t business-oriented, properties Ivacevich said the Jujuy Government try Silvina Cordoba told Paydirt. “Public
were lying unexplored for years. We want had changed legislation to improve its ap- policy has been maintained while other
a more Australian model of exploration. proval process and respond faster to ap- provinces have problems with mining.”
Now we are looking for partners to rede- plications. Cordoba said her Government was
velop those areas with potential.” “We have better processing and our keen to recover its gold and silver produc-
Cordoba said his Government enjoyed province has more transparency than oth- tion which had dropped from 1 mozpa and
strong relations with international miners, ers,” he said. “We have an online mining 25 mozpa respectively before COVID to
including ASX-listed companies. cadastre system on which you can see 700,000oz and 20 moz last year. She said
“Australian companies have expressed ownership and licence holders. No other state-owned company Formicruz had am-
their gratitude, for the quality of the miner- province has the level of geological infor- ple opportunities.
al resources and for the social licence that mation Jujuy has, and with open access.” “Formicruz has 10 advanced explora-
they have, because that is not the case in Ivacevich also said the infrastructure in tion projects looking for JV partners. It is
all provinces,” he said. “Importantly, they Jujuy – which borders Chile and Bolivia – already working with AngloGold Ashanti
know their tenements are secured and was also an advantage. [Ltd] and Yamana gold [Inc],” she said.
supported by law.” “Infrastructure is important because else- According to Avila, partnerships and
Community opposition to mining devel- where they don’t have the roads we have in new exploration investment across Ar-
opment is a constant presence through- Jujuy with a major road running through the gentina’s mining-friendly provinces was
out Latin America and Cordoba said his lithium-bearing salars,” he said. key.
Government insisted on the highest social Ivacevich acknowledged Argentina “We need more exploration, that is the
standards. hadn’t been attractive to international inves- reason why we’re here in Australia,” she
“Development must be done with the tors but urged miners and explorers to look said. “We are trying to attract serious
people,” he said. “We don’t want to be ex- again. companies and we will support that risk
porting lithium but have no local develop- “Take a chance in Argentina, because we that they take.”
ment. We have a bad history because we know there are macro problems but we are – Dominic Piper
would set out by saying: ‘Mine what you working hard at the provincial level to de-
want’ and then when community didn’t velop long-term plans for mining,” he said.
see any benefit we said: ‘Stop’. We are While the three northern provinces are
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 87
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
Nothing daft about Galan’s resource
alan Lithium Ltd managing director “bigger, better, faster, stronger” resource at value that we can add. We must walk be-
GJuan Pablo Vargas de la Vega expects Hombre Muerto West. fore we run.”
the newly updated resource at the Hombre Exploration, including drilling and pump- Galan has become one of the most pop-
Muerto West project will finally put to bed ing tests, was ongoing at the time of print ular lithium stocks on the ASX since Vargas
any question marks still hovering over the in a bid to improve Galan’s geological and de la Vega undertook a backdoor listing of
company’s ambition to become Argentina’s hydrogeological understanding of the indi- his private company in early 2018. At the
next lithium producer. cated resources areas and extend the re- time of print, the company boasted a mar-
Hombre Muerto West now hosts a con- source to unexplored tenements. ket cap of more than $500 million as well
tained LCE resource of 5.8mt @ 866 mg/L Galan’s last updated economic study as a very health cash position of circa $47
lithium, representing a 152% uplift on the on Hombre Muerto West conceptualised million.
previous resource estimate. Galan also steady-state lithium carbonate production The former resources analyst described
reported a maiden measured resource of of 20,000 tpa over a 40-year project life for the progress Galan has made over almost
4.4mt @ 833 mg/L lithium with the October an average cost of $US3,518/t, generating five years as “a dream come true” whilst in-
update. an unlevered pre-tax NPV of $US2.19 bil- sisting his company would not be taking its
The upcoming DFS – due for completion lion and IRR of 37.5% with payback inside foot off the accelerator anytime soon.
in Q1 2023 – will now likely feature “It’s a collective dream because
a bigger production profile for Hom- along the way, many people stopped
bre Muerto West, located in South believing in what I was saying, so
America’s famed Lithium Triangle I’m thankful that people have stayed
and the same salar which is home with the story and now we have a
to several prolific lithium brine pro- good team to endorse the effort that
jects, including Livent Corp’s El Fe- everyone has put in so Galan can
nix operation, Allkem Ltd’s Sal da be where it stands today,” he said.
Vida deposit and POSCO’s Sal de “We probably have the best lith-
Oro assets. ium project in Argentina by grade.
Interestingly, Galan’s total con- We don’t have offtakes, we don’t
tained LCE resources of 6.5mt have royalties, we want to keep
@ 839 mg/L lithium (including things in God’s hands and run our
685,000t @ 672 mg/L from Can- own destiny as much as we can.
delas) only marginally trails the There’s a lot of value to be added in
6.85mt at the nearby Sal da Vida a year’s time, we could be a very dif-
project currently at the develop- ferent company to the one that we
ment stage. are today.”
Vargas de la Vega said the larger Vargas de la Vega also said Liv-
resource recently unveiled at Hom- ent’s success in Argentina over the
bre Muerto West now provided the past three decades, as well as the
certainty many were seeking to be presence of Korean conglomerate
confident the project could one day POSCO in the Catamarca province,
be put into production. was more than enough evidence to
“There were a lot of question suggest why Galan can be confi-
marks throughout the early study of dent of eventually moving into pro-
Hombre Meurto West, people ask- Galan Lithium managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega duction at Hombre Muerto West.
ing me, ‘how can we have 2.3mt has officially joined the electric revolution, having recently “Argentina definitely has its ups
with two drill holes and geophys- purchased his first Tesla and downs, it’s had them for a long
ics?’,” he told Paydirt. “Well, now time now, but there are means and
the reality is that we’ve got eight diamond three years. Capex was priced at $US439 ways of operating within that uncertainty,”
drill holes, three bore wells and a lot of million. he said.
geophysics, and this is showing flying col- “Our objective is to become a lithium “There are a few things that often repeat
ours. We have extinguished those technical producer with a simple story focusing on themselves, so you work out how to cover
questions that were raised at the beginning producing lithium chloride concentrate,” yourself and how to operate, and testimo-
of the project and I believe we’re going to Vargas de la Vega said. ny of that is Livent who have been there
become a lithium producer. “A lithium chloride concentrate will allow for close to 30 years. And our neighbours
“The strength of Galan is this fantastic, us to get a project into the market quicker POSCO are committing $US4 billion into
big elephant we have now. We were a baby than if we were going to carbonate because this province. They would not be doing this
elephant, but this has matured very quickly with carbonate you need to qualify, where- if they didn’t have the political certainty their
in size thanks to the really good team we as we don’t have to qualify the concentrate. investment is going to pay off.”
have behind us.” “Beyond that, we will look at becoming
Vargas de la Vega conceded the DFS a chemical company producing carbon- – Michael Washbourne
release date could be pushed back if the ate or hydroxide, or lithium metal, whatever
company requires more time to review the comes, as we mature the project and the
PAGE 88 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
LATIN AMERICA
Alvo lines up perfect purchase
lvo Minerals Ltd managing director
ARob Smakman expects the Brazil-
focused company’s decision to purchase
its own exploration targeting equipment
will “start paying dividends” as early as
the next round of drilling.
Reflecting on Alvo’s one-year anniver-
sary as a listed company, Smakman has
no doubt the progress made at the Palma
VMS project over the past 12 months was
largely due to the success of geophysical
techniques never previously deployed in
Brazil until now.
“We’re actually doing things a little bit
differently to a lot of our Australian coun-
terparts,” Smakman told Paydirt.
“During this past year, we trialled a few
geophysical techniques in Brazil and they
seemed to work quite well, but due to the
cost and the difficulty in getting contrac-
tors, we’ve gone out and purchased our
own equipment to do our own in-house
surveys. We can now do fixed-loop EM, Alvo is targeting a resource update for its Palma VMS project during the first half of 2023
moving-loop EM and downhole EM.
“We’ve just recently purchased a full IP like what we’ve got, you can’t get indicated principles,” Smakman said.
kit so we can start doing induced polarisa- status unless you do some additional drill- “If ever we needed to guard our cash
tion surveys. There’s not many Brazilian ing,” he said. position [$4.2 million as of September 30]
companies really focused on exploration “That drilling was done close to 40 years we’ve got all the key equipment in-house,
like we are, but we think that it’s going to ago and whilst we had access to some of then it’s just the cost of the consumables
start paying dividends once we put holes the core, it had been re-boxed and jum- and staff to run these things. Brazil, over-
into some of these new targets that we’re bled – people had sampled it for different all, is a much cheaper environment to be
pulling together.” things, maybe souvenired a few pieces exploring, which is a huge advantage for
Since listing in October 2021 following a here and there – so we didn’t exactly know us.”
$10 million IPO, Alvo has completed about what was missing. Smakman said despite Brazil’s long his-
14,000m of diamond drilling over the C1 “When we actually started drilling into tory of mining, particularly iron ore and
and C3 prospects at Palma, Central Brazil, C3, we were really surprised at how mas- gold, the South American country remains
essentially confirming the historical work sive the massive sulphides were, and how largely underexplored. As a result, com-
completed on the project by the Geologi- extensive the mineralisation was and how panies such as Alvo have been able to
cal Survey of Brazil. thick it was. So the drilling we’ve done has acquire quality projects which have been
Best hits from drilling reported during not only improved our understanding, but it dormant for the best part of four decades.
the September quarter included 22m @ does look like it’s thicker and higher grade “There’s maybe a dozen Australian
0.87% copper, 5.62% zinc, 1.26% lead, than what we quoted in the MRE for the companies and maybe two dozen Canadi-
30.8 g/t silver and 0.04 g/t gold from 50m prospectus.” ans actively exploring in Brazil, in a coun-
(including 5.7m @ 1.45% copper, 16.9% Smakman said an update to the JORC- try that’s bigger than Australia,” Smakman
zinc, 3.63% lead, 80.9 g/t silver and 0.08 compliant historical inferred resource of said.
g/t gold from 59m) at C1 and 14.9m @ 4.6mt @ 1% copper, 3.9% zinc, 0.4% lead “Brazil has always done exploration very
2.22% copper, 10.78% zinc, 0.48% lead, and 20 g/t lead was on the cards for the differently to what happens in Australia,
34 g/t silver and 0.11 g/t gold from 74m (in- first half of 2023. The first metallurgical they tend to do geochemistry and then a
cluding 5m @ 2.72% copper, 17.46% zinc, samples from C1 arrived at the labs for couple of drill holes and if they don’t hit it in
0.87% lead, 52.6 g/t silver and 0.16 g/t gold testing in November. the first instance, they walk away, whereas
from 75m) at C3. Alvo was also in the process of shipping Australia is a bit more systematic.
Now Alvo has entered what Smakman in a mechanical auger rig at the time of “The Government held this asset for 40
described as a “more exciting” phase of print in a bid to keep the pipeline of explo- years, but the Geological Survey never de-
drilling with a number of regional explora- ration targets at Palma ticking over. veloped assets themselves. They’ve made
tion targets and extensions to the known “Given that we’ve got such a large ten- quite a few discoveries, but they kind of got
mineralisation set to be tested. ement holding that hasn’t ever been sys- stuck about what to do with the asset once
“We had to cut our teeth on the geol- tematically sampled for geochemistry, we they got to that more advanced stage. I
ogy first, so the primary focus was basi- are going to combine our new geophysics think we’re reaping the benefits of that.”
cally infilling the resource at sort of 50m with this little auger rig and hopefully
centres, because with VMS-style deposits start building some new targets from first – Michael Washbourne
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 89
REGIONAL ROUNDUP NORTH AMERICA
Not so made in America?
recently passed North American gov- and the carbonates that are going to go is stumbling across the finish line when it
A ernment act will promote the domes- into that battery? comes to procuring the battery materials.
tic resources industry, but Green Tech- “The North American market is in its in- “You can build a car manufacturing plant
nology Metals Ltd (GT1) chief executive fancy, it’s become a bit of an issue, a bit of quite easily – they’re doing that with Tesla
Luke Cox is concerned about gaps in the a crunch point.” and GM – you can build a battery manu-
supply chain. The US Geological Survey reports the facturing site,” he said. “But, then it sort
August saw the passing of the Infla- US only has one active lithium mine, Al- of just stops there – it’s like tumbleweeds;
tion Reduction Act which will require at bermarle’s Silver Peak in Nevada. This where’s the product going to come from
least 40% of the minerals in a US-made means the country had to import 2,500t to go into the battery? That’s where the
EV battery to be sourced from domestic lithium in 2021 with the majority of supply crunch point is.”
supply, or from foreign mines using free coming from Argentina, Chile and China. GT1, which listed in November 2021, is
trade agreements. This requirement will Domestic US consumption of lithium working to establish itself as a vertically
increase annually to a maximum of 80% is expected to grow as automakers build integrated lithium developer using its Sey-
by 2027. more production centres to manufacture mour, Root and Wisa exploration projects.
The Inflation Reduction Act was passed EVs and their lithium-ion batteries on Seymour, the flagship, will be the first
by the Biden Administration to improve the home soil. cab off the rank to get into potential pro-
cost of living for US citizens by reducing General Motors has plans to build duction. At the time of print, it contained a
deficit and investing in domestic and clean 400,000 EVs in North America by the end 9.9mt @ 1.04% lithium resource.
supplies of energy. of 2024. The auto manufacturer previously “Whoever gets first into the market to
Cox, whose company is developing a hoped to achieve this goal throughout produce a lithium concentrate or lithium
portfolio of lithium projects in Ontario, is 2023, but delayed ambitions due to under- hydroxide in the next couple of years,
pleased to see the US promote a domes- staffing at the battery production plant. they’re going to be the winners because
tic supply chain but is concerned about a Meanwhile, EV posterchild Tesla is bol- there’s only going to be a couple of provid-
potential “crunch point” if more lithium pro- stering manpower at its Fremont gigafac- ers in North America,” Cox said.
jects don’t come online. tory in California to speed up production At the time of print, GT1 was continuing
“Half of a battery produced in North needs – aiming to replicate success seen “aggressive” diamond drilling at Seymour,
America has to come from domestic sup- at its Chinese gigafactory. Currently three with plans to incrementally increase the
ply. Where’s that half of that battery going out of 10 Tesla US factories produce the project’s resource.
to come from?” Cox told Paydirt. “Where’s lithium-ion batteries needed for the end Already looking to line up the down-
the operating mines? Where’s the down- product. stream side of the business, Cox is
stream processing to create the hydroxide Cox believes this manufacturing growth buoyed with confidence to attract potential
partners after recently paying Ardiden Ltd
$18.5 million to acquire the remaining 20%
GT1 chief executive Luke Cox with senior exploration geologist Jesse Koroscil at the Root interest in the Ontario projects.
deposit in Ontario
“When you’re dealing with potential
partners in joining us – we’re not really
looking for something like a non-binding
offtake agreement – what we’re looking
for is someone to join us, to join GT1, on
the journey of building a lithium hydroxide
plant in Thunder Bay,” he said.
“We’re very advanced in that process
right now, there’ll be some additional news
as that develops and becomes more offi-
cial and signed off.”
GT1 recently began a preliminary eco-
nomic assessment – the equivalent of a
scoping study in Australia – at Seymour.
Cox said the work was “almost done”.
“We’ve kicked that off, we’ve brought on
a scoping study team in-house,” he said.
“Everything from exploration to resource
and pit optimisation, mining and getting
the material to the ROM pad is being done
by the GT1 team. It’s almost done. We’re
going to release that in Q1 [2023].”
– Fraser Palamara
PAGE 90 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
ASIA-PACIFIC
Indonesia courting
Australian investment
ndonesia is stepping up attempts to at- als and Coal in the Ministry of Energy and
Itract new foreign investment to its mining Mineral Resources, said the new amend-
industry, with Australian juniors high on ments would change the opportunities for
their target list. foreign miners.
Australian explorers and miners have “We are trying to improve the invest-
largely steered clear of the country’s ment climate,” he said. “We transformed
northern neighbour in recent decades, the Mining Law in 2020 to strengthen
given restrictive investment conditions good mining practices and ensure legal
but Indonesia’s Government has coun- certainty, including introduction of a cen-
tered that perception, ripping up its in- tralised mining authority.”
vestment and mining laws to create a new The new central authority will take The Grasberg mine in Indonesia is the world’s
landscape. much of the decision-making on mining largest gold and third largest copper mine
Indonesia’s pitch includes a new min- and exploration licences away from re-
ing law which eliminates many of the gional governments.
more stringent restrictions placed on in- The amendments also include changes the ease of investment,” Karma said.
ternational investors. It is all designed to to the transfer of licences between for- As well as encouraging greater explo-
capture a greater share of both the up- eign companies. Under the previous law, ration, Indonesia is eager to expand its
stream and downstream battery minerals only majority locally owned companies downstream capacity, particularly in bat-
markets. could transfer licences. The amendments tery minerals such as nickel.
“The new trends have transformed In- will allow all licence holders to transfer li- The country has already proven it is
donesian mining at the policy, institutional censes, as long as they can prove to have capable of building a processing sector
and operating levels,” Indonesian Con- completed exploration on the project and from scratch. In 2014, the Government
sul-General to Western Australia, Listi- satisfy technical and financial require- imposed a ban on the export of raw nickel
ana Operananta said at a recent seminar ments. laterite ore in an effort to encourage local
in Perth. The amendments also removes many smelting. While not immediately success-
Alma Karma, director general at the of Indonesia’s prohibitive divestment ful – it revoked much of the ban in 2017
Department of Manufacturing and Indus- requirements. Under the 2009 Mining – it eventually led to Chinese producers
try Planning, said the goal was to widen Law, foreign companies were required such as Tsingshan and ASX-listed Nickel
international investment in Indonesia’s to divest ownership to central or regional Industries Ltd building nickel pig iron fa-
mining and metals industry, which the government after five years of produc- cilities in the country.
Government sees as underperforming on tion. The amendment allows for gradual Tsingshan is now testing its ability to
a relative basis. divestment, without specifying when it produce nickel sulphate – a key ingredi-
“Indonesia’s geological potential has should start and how long it should take. ent in EV batteries – through its nickel pig
yet to capture a fair proportion of the Hilman Hilman, general manager at iron operations.
global exploration budget,” Karma said. PT Timah Industri said the amendments “Indonesia wishes to build not only an
“In the period 2006-2014, Indonesia at- recognised that juniors were not always upstream industry but a downstream one
tracted 2.5% of the global exploration aiming to reach production. as well, creating value-added products,”
budget but only 2% in the next five years, “We know explorers aren’t specialists Haryo Sedewo, director of the Indonesian
which is low compared to Indonesia’s in mining, so the amendments allow for a International Investment Promotion Cen-
mineral potential.” change of ownership to miners,” he said. tre in Sydney, said.
Indonesia is already home to several “Juniors in the exploration stage can own “We already have several state-owned
world-class mining operations. It is the 100% of the project. After 2-5 years and and international smelters operating in the
largest nickel miner in the world, produc- the definition of an indicated resource country and also have precursor cathode
ing 1 mtpa from its vast laterite deposits and feasibility study, they can change active material plants, battery cell manu-
and is the world’s third largest coal pro- ownership to a major company.” facturing, battery pack assembly and EV
ducer after China and India. It is also The new amendments are combined production capability.
home to Grasberg, the world’s largest with liberalised general business invest- “We would like end-to-end capability in
gold mine and third largest copper mine, ment laws. Indonesia is now offering tax the battery supply chain.”
48.8%-owned by Freeport MoMoRan Inc. holidays and a smoother approvals pro-
However, restrictive licensing laws has cess for foreign businesses building new – Dominic Piper
meant international juniors have been or expanding projects in the country.
largely locked out of the country. Ridwan “Government has put the upmost effort
Djamaluddin, Director General for Miner- into attracting investment and improving
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 91
SIGNED, SEALED & DELIVERED Protecting Directors. Together.
“Our client came to us with a very specific
Dynamic sinks a triple request that would enhance safety for their their own expectations, those of society and
as set out in agreements like the UN Paris
on drilling contracts staff on site and I am pleased that our team Agreement; the faster solutions happen, the
were able to find a solution and quickly sup- better,” ABB Process Industries division pres-
Dynamic Group Holdings secured three port the team on site,” RCT Mt Isa branch ident Joachim Braun said.
drilling contracts in October for its Welldrill manager Danny Ballard said. “If we can combine state-of-the-art equip-
and Orlando Drilling Pty Ltd subsidiaries. “I am confident the lighting system will ment with digital solutions, we can better help
Orlando received a contract with a Pilbara warn pedestrians and the machine opera- customers achieve their business goals and
lithium producer for RC drilling which started tor of potential safety hazards and prompt carbon-free operations.”
in November, as well as an expansion on an them to take corrective actions immediately Meanwhile, FLSmidth Group chief execu-
original scope of works for further RC and so that everyone goes home safe at the tive Mikko Keto voiced concern over a lack
diamond drilling at another site in the region. end of each shift.” of enough high-grade mineral deposits for
Meanwhile, Welldrill landed a production critical minerals needed to drive renewable
and monitoring bore contract with a Tier 1 energies.
gold producer, and an exploration monitoring Critical collaboration “Mining is essential in the energy transition,
and production well contract with Liontown meanwhile, the mining industry is facing un-
Resources Ltd. to curb carbon precedented challenges due to declining ore
These combined contracts will provide Tech companies ABB and FLSmidth have grade and high demand as it develops new
more than $11 million in revenue for Dynamic announced a collaboration to combine exper- sites, while also being asked to make exist-
across 12 months’ work. tise and resources to accelerate the mining ing operations more sustainable,” Keto said.
Dynamic managing director Mark Davis industry to a carbon-neutral goal. “Modern technology, expert analysis and digi-
was particularly proud of the business se- The two companies inked an agreement to tal solutions will help lower water and energy
cured with Liontown. combine skills across technology, equipment, use and reduce waste – and FLSmidth and
“We are pleased that our exploration drill- mineral processing, automation, electrifica- ABB can really move the needle in this area.”
ing capabilities and experience in delivering tion and digital solutions.
services within the lithium sector is resulting The agreement was signed after leaders
in new work being secured with well-funded from both companies took part in a mining Sedgman brings peace
and experienced battery metals producers in innovation panel at the FT Mining Summit in
the critical minerals space,” he said. London. of mind
ABB and FLSmidth will apply findings from Sedgman’s new software platform is pro-
RCT lights up with the agreement to help mine sites reduce viding clients with “peace of mind” for remote
emissions and lower operational costs. monitoring across operations and mine sites.
new product “Driving collaboration within the mining in- SEDGMETRIX, a cloud-based software
dustry is increasingly important and timely if which launched in October, allows users to
RCT Global has turned on the lights at the the industry is to achieve its targets in line with monitor the status and real time data of
Mt Isa smelting facility in Queensland with
a nifty solution to keep pedestrian workers
out of harms’ way of moving vehicles.
RCT collaborated with mine site manag-
ers to fit light beams to heavy machinery,
keeping workers at the copper smelter
dome alert to potential hazards.
The “Halo Exclusion Zone Safety Light-
ing System” projects red light beams
around the Cat 988K wheel loaders which
pack copper concentrate into hoppers at
the dome.
The bespoke lighting system’s design
was based on remaining visible through the
dome’s dusty environment. Sedgman’s new SEDGMETRIX platform allows for remote workers to not only keep an eye on
mining operations, but to also provide optimisation through real time data analysis
PAGE 92 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
Protecting Directors. Together.
anything from renewable energy infrastruc-
ture to minerals processing performance at
mine sites anywhere around the world.
Users can also use the commodity-ag-
nostic platform to optimise the performance
of operations, potentially value-adding to
projects and supporting the on-ground
workers from afar. Data gathered from
SEDGMETRIX can also help track sustain-
ability metrics against environmental and
emissions targets.
Sedgman said a team of more than 50
remote operational engineers currently use
the platform which provides 24-hour ac-
cess and rapidly detects abnormal readings
from projects.
Decmil stays up the hill
Decmil Group Ltd will return once again
to the Roy Hill mine in the Pilbara following
award of a contract to provide designs for
the rolling stock maintenance workshop
upgrade.
Decmil previously worked at the iron ore
site in 2013 as part of a $57 million rail ter-
minal buildings package.
The new contract includes extensions to
the rolling stock maintenance workshop, lo- Tradesales is moving into its bigger and better pad east of Northam after achieving record
comotive washdown facility and warehouse revenue in FY22
buildings.
At the time of print, Decmil was yet to de- achieving record revenue in FY22. minerals processing industries. Independ-
termine the impact the new contract would Avon Valley Industrial Park is roughly 15 ent market research expects Avon Valley to
have on company revenue. minutes east of Northam and 90 minutes provide up to 2,000 direct jobs and 3,000
“We have the significant potential to ex- from the Perth CBD. Being close to North- indirect positions when fully operational.
pand our order book further via the Roy Hill am will give Tradesales access to a larger “We are stepping into an exciting new
Rail Yard expansion contracts, which sit pool of potential employees and allow the chapter of our company’s 40-year history,”
right within our geographical expertise and company to continue manufacturing its Tradesales general manager and director
core operational capabilities,” Decmil chief products in the Wheatbelt. Ben Judd said.
executive Rod Heale said in October. At the time of print, Tradesales had al- “We have an aggressive growth strategy
ready started moving its operations into the laid out for the next five years. It became
Tradesales trades up new location, along with its sister division evident that we needed a bigger facility to
support that strategy. The Avon Valley In-
Retra Fluid Handling Systems.
Tradesales expects to be fully settled in Tradesales designs and manufactures dustrial Park location came at the right time
at its new location in the Avon Valley Indus- workplace storage systems and custom and we have the backing of all our staff and
trial Park by early next year. shipping containers for the mining, con- suppliers as we change locations.”
The company traded up for the new loca- struction and defence sectors.
tion – which is close to 12-times larger than Avon Valley is a 200ha estate and was
its previous location in Cunderdin – after constructed with the aim to support rural
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 93
DRILL BITS www.capdrill.com www.capdrill.com
OD6 makes smashing for Henty because it underpins our growth confirmed further high-grade intersections,
Final drill results from Valentina also
“This reserve is a key strategic milestone
start at Splinter Rock plan and highlights the project’s increasing- including a hit of 6m @ 1.3% copper from
ly strong future,” Catalyst managing director 10m, ahead of planned expansion drilling
Initial assays from drilling at OD6 Metals James Champion de Crespigny said. awaiting regulatory approval.
Ltd’s Splinter Rock project have returned “This is shown by the fact we have been More results are pending with a PFS up-
some of the highest grades and thickest able to convert 55% of the indicated re- date expected imminently.
clay-hosted rare earth intersections seen in source to ore reserve. Importantly, the
Australia. anticipated Henty mine life now extends
Four significant prospects were defined beyond five years using a mine plan which AVZ with plenty to ponder
from the drilling, with each extending 4-7km incorporates the increased production rates
along drill lines. Grades of up to 6,729 ppm being targeted in coming years.” AVZ Minerals Ltd has drilled the first
TREO were also observed. four diamond holes into the Roche Dure
Almost half of the holes assayed returned orebody as part of the company’s commit-
grades greater than 750 ppm, while clay Hot Chili sizzles with ment to the early works programme at its
thickness varied between 10-30m and up additional copper Manono lithium-tin project in the DRC, con-
to 80m. firming further widespread and high-grade
Significant intersections include 41m @ New drill results have delivered higher- mineralisation.
1,262 ppm TREO from 15m (including 29m than-expected copper grades from previ- The lithium grades, tenor and intersec-
@ 1,585 ppm TREO from 27m), 30m @ ously unsampled intervals of diamond core tion widths were the same as previously
1,576 ppm TREO from 15m (including 27m at Productora and Alice, part of Hot Chili encountered. One hole returned 226.8m @
@ 1,716 ppm TREO from 18m) and 21m @ Ltd’s Costa Fuego development project in 1.67% lithium and 307 ppm tin.
2,029 ppm TREO from 18m (including 18m Chile. AVZ managing director Nigel Ferguson
@ 2,249 ppm TREO from 21m). Best intersections included 244m @ said while the latest results demonstrated
“Importantly, these drill results validate 0.8% copper equivalent from 23m (includ- grade continuity both down-dip and along
historic assays, plus they extend the discov- ing 71m @ 1%) at Productora and 152m @ strike at Roche Dure, there had also been
ery of clay-hosted rare earths across a new 0.6% copper equivalent from 42m (includ- some other encouraging findings.
line perpendicular to the original line,” OD6 ing 39m @ 1.1%) and 23m @ 0.9% cop- “Of potentially significant interest is the
managing director Brett Hazelden said. per equivalent from 226m to end-of-hole reinterpretation of the Roche Dure orebody
“This bodes well for future drilling, which at Alice. from about Section 8,200m onwards, which
we anticipate will significantly grow the is well beyond the most northerly edge of
known mineralised area.”
The catalyst for a longer
life at Henty
Catalyst Metals Ltd continues to build the
foundations for a more sophisticated opera-
tion at Henty with the unveiling of a maiden
reserve for the longstanding gold mine in
Tanzania.
Henty’s maiden reserve of 983,000t @
3.6 g/t gold for 115,000oz supports a life-
of-mine plan beyond five years. It follows
the recent release of an updated resource
which revealed a 20% increase in ounces
since Catalyst acquired the mine in Janu-
ary 2021.
H
Hot Chili has encountered higher-than-expected copper grades at its Costa Fuego project in Chileot Chili has encountered higher-than-expected copper grades at its Costa Fuego project in Chile
Complete
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PAGE 94 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRTAGE 94 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
P
www.capdrill.com www.capdrill.com
the current pit design,” he said.
“Hole MO22DD003 shows strong miner-
alisation with higher grade intercepts down-
hole but the lower dip of the orebody here,
interpreted from both the reported hole and
the lithological logging of new holes drilled
nearby, is significant in that higher tonnag-
es per section and vertical metres may be
generated because of the lower angel of dip
of orebody moving north.
“Further work is required in these areas,
but this is an encouraging and unexpected
development.”
Musgrave still finding
more high-grade gold
More high-grade results at White Heat-
Mosaic, part of the Break of Day trend, have
all but confirmed these deposits will corner-
stone the future development of Musgrave Meeka has discovered a new lode at St Anne’s, part of its Murchison gold project in WA
Minerals Ltd’s Cue gold project in Western
Australia’s Murchison district. Assays from the deepest hole which en- shallow strike extension holes to the north
Extensional RC drilling outside the cur- countered the strongest mineralisation with and south pending. Drilling remains ongoing.
rent resource boundary intersected 4m @ visible gold returned hits of 4m @ 87.5 g/t
7.6 g/t gold from 2m, extending the high- from 172m, 8m @ 1.22 g/t from 124m and
grade mineralisation closer to surface. 4m @ 1.54 g/t from 128m. Lunnon baking a
Infill drilling also confirmed grade and The first five holes in this RC programme resource update
continuity at White Heat-Mosaic. Best inter- targeted the shear zone from 100m to 150m
sections were 5m @ 80.2 g/t gold from 12m below surface and below the oxide gold ho- Lunnon Metals Ltd has turned its atten-
(including 2m @ 194.5 g/t from 12m), 8m rizon. Each hole intersected the shear zone, tion to a resource update for the Baker dis-
@ 19.8 g/t from 37m (including 3m @ 49.7 exposing the pinch and swell nature of the covery at its Kambalda nickel project after
g/t from 38m) and 5m @ 43.9g/t from 89m lode with varying widths of mineralisation receiving the final results from a recently
(including 1m @ 176g/t from 89m). evident. completed infill and extensional drilling pro-
Assay results are pending for additional Meeka also reported the discovery of a gramme.
infill and extensional RC drilling at Big Sky. new lode, now called Wood, in early Novem- Significant intercepts from these last
Diamond drilling is also now under way at ber after striking strong oxide gold minerali- holes included 9.45m @ 6.94% nickel
the Waratah prospect. sation on a previously untested contact. from 137.1m, 0.75m @ 10.84% nickel from
The Stage 1 PFS covering the initial Wood is located 100m east of the Driver 211.2m and 0.5m @ 11.52% nickel from
years of production at Cue is scheduled for lode where drilling has also returned sub- 93.5m, using a 1% nickel cut-off grade.
completion in Q1 2023. stantial high-grade gold results, including Elevated cobalt, palladium and platinum
32m @ 16.07 g/t from 48m (including 16m values were also recorded where the nickel
Double delight for Meeka @ 28.59 g/t), 20m @ 20.74 g/t from 48m (in- grades were highest.
cluding 16m @ 24.86 g/t) and 24m @ 4.73 “With the drilling assay results all back
Deeper RC drilling has intersected high- g/t from 52m (including 8m @ 11.78 g/t). now, our focus turns to the mineral resource
grade and visible gold at St Anne’s, part of The Wood lode remains open to the north, update which will be the ultimate test of the
the Meeka Metals Ltd’s Murchison gold south and at depth, with assays from 25 success of this infill programme,” Lunnon
project. managing director Ed Ainscough said.
Complete
Mining Services
Contact us to discuss your project [email protected] | www.capdrill.com
A
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 95USTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 95
COMINGS AND GOINGS
alium Lakes Ltd has ap- Putland has been appointed chief executive, following the astion Minerals Ltd has
Kpointed Hon Cheryl Ed- as a non-executive director, resignation of Yasmin Liu. Bappointed Murray Brooker
wardes AM as independent replacing Roberto Castro. Surendran has previously as consultant geologist and
non-executive director and held senior roles at Aurizon, Rosendo Puig as consultant
chairperson, following the re- ew Century Resources Wesfarmers, BGC Australia geologist in Chile.
tirement of Stephen Dennis. NLtd has appointed non- and DUET Group.
executive director Kerry Glee- eo Lithium Ltd has appoint-
enmin Ltd has appointed son as chair following the res- addison Cramer has Led Rick Crabb as non-ex-
GDennis Wilkins as com- ignation of Robert McDonald. Mbeen appointed as com- ecutive chairman. Crabb was
pany secretary. pany secretary of Alicanto previously managing director
Minerals Ltd, Cygnus Gold of uranium miner Paladin En-
evelop Global Ltd has ap- Ltd, and Bellavista Resourc- ergy Ltd and currently holds
Dpointed Ben MacKinnon es Ltd. At Alicanto, Michael the non-executive chairman
as chief financial officer. He Naylor has resigned from the role at Eagle Mountain Mining
most recently held the same company secretary role but Ltd and Ora Gold Ltd.
role at drilling company DDH1 will remain chief financial of-
Ltd. ficer. E strella Resources Ltd
has appointed Benjamin
ed Dirt Metals Ltd has ap- idan Platel has resigned Smith and Stephen Brock-
Rpointed Atlas Iron founder Robert McDonald Aas managing director hurst as joint company sec-
David Flanagan as executive and chief executive of Auroch retaries.
chairman to guide the compa- urelia Metals Ltd has Minerals Ltd, while Silfia Mor-
ny’s transition towards lithium Aappointed Martin Cum- ton has been appointed as arrick Gold Corp has ap-
production. mings as chief financial offic- joint-company secretary, re- Bpointed Isela Costantini
er. Cummings has previously placing Cameron O’Brien. as an independent director.
held senior positions at Evo- Costantini has more than 25
lution Mining Ltd, Newcrest years of experience in inter-
Mining Ltd and Lihir Gold. national business and was
previously the chief executive
reat Northern Minerals of Argentina’s national airline,
GLtd has appointed Don- Aerolíneas Argentina.
ald Garner non-executive di-
rector. Garner was previously
the managing director of Red
David Flanagan River Resources Ltd.
Aidan Platel
olGold plc has appointed
ngus Thomson has re- SScott Caldwell and Dan
Asigned as chief executive Vujcic as independent non- din Metals Ltd has ap-
of Forrestania Resources Ltd, executive directors. The ap- Opointed Justin Mouchac-
with chairman John Hanna- pointments are part of the ca as company sectary, fol-
ford to take on the role in the merger between SolGold lowing the resignation of Isela Costantini
interim. and Cornerstone Capital Re- Aaron Bertolatti.
sources Inc. eavy Minerals Ltd has ap-
odium Minerals Ltd has ndrew Naudé has re- Hpointed Wayne Richards
Ppromoted Rod Baxter to ianqi Lithium Energy Asigned as a director of as non-executive director,
chairman, replacing Clayton TAustralia Pty Ltd has ap- DRA Global Ltd. following the resignation of
Dodds. Meanwhile, Linton pointed Raj Surendran as Glenn Simpson. Richards has
PAGE 96 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
previously held senior execu- Resources Ltd at the upcom- nternational Graphite Ltd ichard Monti will join
tive roles with BHP Billiton, ing annual general meeting. Ihas elevated non-executive Rthe board of directors at
Anaconda Nickel, Queens- Williams joined the board as a director Andrew Worland as NickelX Ltd as non-execu-
land Nickel and Brockman director in June to fill a casual managing director and chief tive director. Monti has more
Resources. vacancy. executive, while executive than 35 years of experience
chairman Phil Hearse will across 15 ASX and TSX-
ohn Mogford has retired an Lougher will be ap- transition to a non-executive listed mining and exploration
Jas non-executive of BHP Dpointed chairman of role in early 2023. companies, including Ana-
Group Ltd. American West Metals Ltd in conda Nickel, RTX Explora-
February, having joined the ovonix Ltd has appointed tion, the North Group and the
outhern Gold Ltd has ap- board in November as a non- NDaniel Akerson and Ron Normandy Group.
Spointed Peter Bamford as executive director. The former Edmonds to the board of di-
chair of the board, replacing Western Areas managing di- rectors. Akerson is the former amelius Resources Ltd
Greg Boulton. rector also joined nickel de- chairman and chief executive Rhas appointed Colin
veloper Blackstone Minerals of General Motors, leading Moorhead as non-executive
an Murray has retired from Ltd as non-executive director. the company through its IPO director. Moorhead has pre-
Ithe board of Matador Mining in 2010. viously spent more than 20
Ltd. Dr Nicole Adshead-Bell years working at Newcrest
will take on the role of audit ohn Toll has resigned from Mining Ltd and currently holds
committee chair while Kerry Jhis non-executive chair- senior roles at Xanadu Mines
Sparkes has been appointed man role at Tesoro Gold Ltd. Ltd, Aeris Resources Ltd and
chair of the remuneration A search is under way for his Coda Minerals Ltd.
committee. replacement.
ietto Minerals Ltd has ap-
hristopher Burton has irectors Shalain Singh Tpointed Shaddrack Ad-
Cresigned as company di- Dand Ross Loturco have jetey Sowah as non-execu-
rector at Newfield Resources resigned from Lincoln Miner- tive director.
Ltd. Dan Lougher als Ltd, as part of the board’s
aim to reduce its size to a outh Harz Potash Ltd has
ed River Resources Ltd opper Strike Ltd has ap- level more appropriate to its Sappointed Luis da Silva
Rhas appointed Michael Cpointed Christopher Bath market capitalisation. as managing director, with
Ryan, David McGrath and as joint company secretary. Ian Farmer stepping back into
Kathryn Warwick as admin- an Finch will step down his role as a non-executive di-
istrators of its subsidiary, attery Minerals Ltd has Ias executive chairman at rector. A review of the board’s
Cromarty Resources. The Bappointed Nerida Schmidt Torque Metals Ltd to non-ex- size and composition has
appointments follow the re- as company secretary, re- ecutive director, with Patrick been initiated.
cent operational issues at the placing Tony Walsh. Burke to become non-execu-
Thalanga mine in Queens- tive chairman. obert Ryan has replaced
land. ula Gold Ltd has ap- RAlex Passmore as chief
Kpointed Ric Dawson as ambourah Metals Ltd has executive and managing di-
tlantic Lithium Ltd has ap- chief executive, while Simon Tappointed Caue (Paul) rector of Rox Resources Ltd.
Apointed Keith Muller as Adams has resigned as direc- Araujo as managing director. Ryan was a non-executive
chief operating officer. Muller tor. Dawson previously held Araujo has over 20 years of director of the gold explorer
previously held senior roles at managing director roles at international and Australian and his elevation marks the
Allkem Ltd. ASX listed companies Pros- exploration and technical ex- start of the company’s strat-
perity Resources and Altech perience. egy to restart the Youanmi
an Williams will not seek re- Chemicals Ltd. gold mine.
Ielection to the board of KGL
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 PAGE 97
LEFTFIELD
Education is golden
old producer West African Resources Ltd
G(WAF) announced the inaugural recipi-
ents of its annual tertiary education scholar-
ship programme in Burkina Faso during No-
vember.
The two students, who recently graduated
from regional Boudry high schools, are pur-
suing degrees in applied geology and mining,
and mining engineering. The scholarships will
provide tuition fees, study materials, access to
mentors, and future internships at WAF.
WAF said the scholarship programme re-
inforced the company’s commitment to sup-
porting local opportunities through education
and professional development.
The programme follows a history of com-
munity engagement programmes under the
ASX gold producer, including the construction
of primary schools in Sanbrado, Silmiougou,
and Roulghin.
WAF has also supplied school kits, sup-
ported adult literacy programmes, and provid-
ed financial support for young professionals
and other community members.
The new annual scholarship programme will WAF’s latest community engagement programme in Burkina Faso
see two recipients acknowledged each year. awarded two tertiary education scholarships to local youths
INDEX
Aeramentum 13 Calidus 4 Galan 86-87, 88 Magnis 64-65 Ramelius 97
Aeris 97 Calix 7 Gascoyne 4 Matador 97 Red 5 4
Alicanto 96 Canyon 84 Genmin 96 Meeka 95 Red Dirt 96
Allkem 86-87, 88, 97 Catalyst 94 Greentech 13 Musgrave 95 Red River 96, 97
Altech 97 Cobre 44 Green Technology 90 Mineral Resources 8 Richmond Vanadium 13
Alvo 89 Coda 97 Metals Rio Tinto 10
American West 97 Copper Strike 97 Global Lithium 8 New Century 96 Rox 97
Atlantic 13, 26, 97 Critical Minerals Group 13 Globe 10 Newcrest 96, 97
Arafura 10 Cygnus 96 Great Northern 96 Newfield 97 Sandfire 42, 44
Ardiden 90 Newpeak 87 Sierra Rutile 60, 62
Arrow 85 Deep Yellow 72, 75 Heavy Minerals 96 NickelX 97 Southern Gold 97
Aura 76 Desoto 12-13 Hot Chili 94 Nickel Industries 91 South 32 42
Aurelia 96 Develop 96 Northam 12-13 South Harz 97
Auroch 96 DRA 96 Jupiter 46 Northern Minerals 10 Star 97
Australian Strategic 76 Novonix 97 Syrah 68-69, 71
AVZ 26, 94 E2 Metals 87 Kalium 96
Eagle Mountain 96 KGL 97 Octava 13 Taiton 13
Barrick 50, 96 Encounter 10 Kula 97 OD6 Metals 91 Tambourah 97
Basin Energy 13 Evolution Energy 70-71 Odin 96 Tietto 32-33, 97
Bastion 96 Evolution Mining 96 Lake 86 Ora 96 Tiger Tasman 13
Bannerman 75 Estrella 96 Leo 26, 56-57, 96 OreCorp 50-51 Terra 13
Battery Minerals 97 Elevate 75 Liontown 92 Orpheus 13 Tesoro 97
Bayrock 12-13 Lightning 12-13 Torque 97
BCI 85 Firefinch 56 Lincoln 97 Paladin 71, 72, 75, 96 Toubani 12-13
Bellavista 96 Forrestania 96 Lindian 83 Patriot 12-13
BlackEarth 66 Fortescue 76 Lithium Power 86 Pilbara Minerals 4, 6-7 WA1 Resources 10
Blackstone 97 International Peak 26 West African 32
Burgundy 20 IGO 4 Lotus 71, 72, 76 Perseus 32, 36-37 West Wits 48-49
Breaker 8 Iluka 10, 60 Lunnon 95 Podium 96
BHP 42, 50, 97 International Graphite 97 Lynas 10 Primero 32 Xanadu 97
Bubablus 13 Ionic 26, 78-79
PAGE 98 DECEMBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT
Abujar:
West Africa’s next gold mine
Targeting first gold
Targeting first gold in Q4CY22
in Q4CY2022
260,000oz gold forecast in first year of production
at AISC US$651/oz*
* DFS 5 October 2021
ASX: TIE
Contact: + 61 8 9420 8270 [email protected] www.tietto.com
+
Contact: 61 8 9331 6710 [email protected] www.tietto.com