pd307-Aug22-mag-web-Neat

Queensland, as we speak? Increasing roy-
alty rates…but let’s not single any jurisdic-
tion out. It’s all part of the equation, so is the
project and so are the people.”
Quartermaine concurred the average
Australian investor is more comfortable with
opportunities at home than taking on per-
ceived risk abroad.
“I’ve found the Australian market to be
fairly xenophobic, to be frank,” he said. “The
Australian investor has a fantastic mining
industry in its backyard, it doesn’t have to
go overseas or assume risks it’s not familiar
with in order to get exposure to world-class
mining projects. You can absolutely under-
stand the Australian investor tends to stay Quartermaine (right) is looking to guide Perseus towards 500,000 ozpa gold production this
close to home. But I think it has changed year, while de Vries is steering Black Rock’s Mahenge graphite project in Tanzania into the
over a period of time as well.” construction phase
The 2021 edition of the Fraser Institute’s
survey of mining jurisdictions reinstated Despite Tanzania seeing a decline in people are actively looking to buy material
Western Australia to first place for investor policy scoring in the Fraser Institute survey that doesn’t come from China, it actually
attractiveness after surprisingly slipping to between 2020 and 2021, de Vries exuded ticks a lot of boxes.
fourth in 2020. newfound confidence in bringing Black “Cost wise, [we have] a few headwinds,
However, African countries drifted to- Rock’s Mahenge project through to con- but the project is strong enough to with-
wards the end of the index, including Zim- struction. stand it.”
babwe, Mali, South Africa and the DRC, “We’re fortunate that we have a very sig- – Fraser Palamara
and had the highest number of jurisdictions nificant revenue-cost ratio,” he said. “The
in the bottom 10 of the survey. option to bring in grid power takes a lot of
The only African jurisdiction to rank in the that tension away from liquid fuel pricing.
top 10 for investor attractiveness was Mo- “Where we’re positioned at the moment, Watch the full replay on Paydirt TV
rocco, a top-four global fertiliser exporter about to start construction, is absolutely fan-
possessing more than 70% of the world’s tastic. It takes you about 15-18 months to
phosphate rock reserves. build a mine…and with China’s constraints,



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2042_ECG_PayDirt_HlfPge_hor.indd 1 24/6/2022 11:47 am
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 51

High-grade real estate As M&A whispers in West Africa become


has Sarama prepared louder, Sarama Resources Ltd (ASX: SRR,
TSXV: SWA) is on course to ensure it has a
for interest prominent seat at the table.

The last 12 months have seen several high-profile acquisitions
on the West Africa gold scene as miners look to consolidated
and bring stranded assets into the fold. With an advanced project,
Sarama Resources Inc. nearly 3 moz gold in resources and considerable exploration
Listing: TSX-V: SWA | ASX: SRR upside, Sarama could find itself a key player in the next bout of
Key management: Andrew Dinning (managing director), deal-making.
Simon Jackson (non-executive chairman), Attracting corporate and investor attention to Sarama is the
Adrian Byass (non-executive director), Sanutura Project in Burkina Faso. Located within the prolific
Steve Zaninovich (non-executive director), southern Houndé belt, Sanutura already boasts a pit-constrained
Jack Hamilton (vice president exploration), resource of 9.4mt @ 1.9 g/t for 0.6 moz (Indicated) and 52.7mt @
Paul Schmiede (vice president corporate 1.4 g/t for 2.3 moz (Inferred). However, with Sarama nearly half-
development), Lui Evangelista (chief financial way through a 50,000m drilling programme, that is expected to
officer) increase when the resource is updated following its completion.
Projects: Sanutura, Burkina Faso, 100%-owned
Resources: 9.4mt @ 1.9 g/t for 600,000oz (indicated); The drilling programme, launched in May, is designed to grow
52.7mt @ 1.4 g/t for 2.3 moz (inferred) the oxide component of the resource to over 1 moz gold, test a
number of high priority regional targets and to define additional
Karankasso, Burkina Faso, 18%-owned exploration targets for follow-up drilling.
(JV with Endeavour Mining Inc)
Resources: 709,000oz (130,000oz attributable to Sarama) According to Sarama managing director Andrew Dinning, hitting
the 1 moz mark for oxides is a key priority along with looking at a
Koumandara, Burkina Faso, 100%-owned raft of regional exploration targets that have the potential to further
Resources: N/A transform the shape of the project.

“The first part of the programme has material,” Dinning says. “At current gold
been structured to increase the oxide prices, we think the oxides can provide
component of the already large resource a 12-18-month payback with the initial
at the Tankoro deposit. We are targeting years producing at significantly higher
near-surface material in extensions to the rates than the nominal 120,000 ozpa we
currently modelled deposits, as the best are targeting.”
place to look for gold is where there is Although substantial in its own right, the
already gold, in addition to this, we will be oxide component is only ever a fraction of
testing a number of regional targets,” Din- a wider gold deposit’s potential. Sa-
ning says. “We look forward to providing nutura’s two main orebodies Tankoro (2.5
updates as the programme concludes moz) and Bondi (0.5 moz) are no different
and assay results come to hand in the and the second half of the 50,000m drill-
coming weeks.” ing programme is designed to establish
Drilling success will lead to a resource just how extensive they are.
upgrade that would unlock the potential “These styles of deposit typically end
for a rapid, low-capex development of up with much longer lives than originally
Sanutura. contemplated,” Dinning says. “Whether
“The aim is to push the oxide resource in Western Australia or West Africa, you With Bantou and Tankoro so close, some
through solidly through 1 moz. We are see the same thing time and again. The sort of tie-up between Sarama and En-
of the view that with a small amount of key thing is to get into production, then deavour appears inevitable, what is less
growth to the existing oxide resource, it you have the power of incumbency, and clear is the form it will take.
will support a plus-120,000 ozpa opera- the geologists have more time and better “We believe the ultimate value play
tion where the formative years are based access to get their head around what’s for the area is to combine the various
on a high-grade oxide material and the driving the mineralisation.” deposits in and around our Sanutura
first seven to eight years are underwrit- Sarama has already started that process Project into one larger project which
ten by oxide feed,” Dinning says. “The with over 100 individual targets within would boast a plus-5 moz resource base
project is close to that point now and we 28 prospect areas that are slated to be and a lot of exploration runway. It is fair to
fully expect to get to a position where we tested in the current drilling programme. say that Endeavour clearly understands
have as a minimum, a nominal seven- Such blue-sky opportunity will inevitably the rationale of consolidating ownership
year mine life based on oxide ounces attract others and Sarama’s advanced under one owner, as is evidenced by
alone, which importantly means we can development and prime geological real their takeover of SEMAFO and Teranga
get the project established using a simple estate make it an obvious player in corpo- and the ongoing shedding of non-core
CIL processing circuit with low capital rate activity. assets,” Dinning says. “Endeavour is
intensity. Anyone who followed projects well aware of the opportunity but as they
like Perseus’s Sissingue Mine, which is Endeavour Mining controls the 1.5 moz have been very busy on the M&A front,
a cash machine and allowed them to Bantou Deposit which is situated just 6km they have a lot of new assets to get their
lever into bigger things, will understand from Sanutura’s 2.5 moz Tankoro De- head around and work through before
the importance of what Sarama has and posit, and also holds the majority stake in they start making long-term calls on their
where it plans to get to.” the adjoining 0.7 moz Karankasso JV in legacy assets. They are on record saying
Among the oxide material, Sarama is which Sarama holds 18%. Endeavour’s their development hurdle is now much
5 moz Houndé and 5 moz Mana mines
finding high-grade zones which could are 60km and 140km north of Sanutura higher – 250,000 ozpa over 10 years –
further boost upfront economics. while Fortuna Silver Inc has its high- and it remains to be seen how or whether
“Like a number of our West African grade Yaramoko mine 120km north. Bantou fits into their development criteria,
whether Sanutura becomes a swing as-
peers including Tietto and West African Endeavour’s development portfolio is set, or they choose to part with it.”
Resources, grade drives the early years bulging after the recent acquisitions of
of this project and fortunately for us, a lot SEMAFO and Teranga, so Sarama is After completion of the planned drilling
of high-grade material has already been staying patient as the larger Canadian on Sanutura, Sarama plans to undertake
delineated and the current exploration miner decides how to play its cards. a resource update and look to complete
programme is looking to add to that. We various study work to frame what the op-
have an opportunity to start with a low- “Now that they have reviewed the main portunity looks like.
capital intensity CIL plant targets, Endeavour have just started drill- “We want to see what we are working
to treat the oxides ing their Bantou property immediately to with, so we can plan the next steps be-
and then pro- the west of us and have a number of rigs fore committing funds on further studies
gressively operating,” Dinning says. “We’re following and resource conversion,” Dinning says.
upgrade their progress with interest, because the “The hardest part is always getting the
for the ground to the west of us forms a key part first mine up and running but as WAF
fresh of any regional consolidation picture.” and Perseus have shown, once you get
through that you have the ability to grow.”




saramaresources.com

ADU PReVIeW





African diaspora offers third lane



at ADU



or nearly 20 years, Africa Down Under that was my first taste of real mining and I
Fhas proven a crucial bridge between Af- liked it,” he said.
rican countries seeking investment into their Having received a scholarship, Atta-
minerals sectors and Australian companies Danso was intent on completing his mas-
with the professional tools and financial ca- ters and joining academia but just as in
pacity to make it happen. Australia, the skills shortage means mining
Meetings at the conference have led to companies are desperate to snap up tal-
many successful partnerships across the ented individuals.
continent, with Australian companies send- “Gold Fields Ghana offered me a place
ing experts to Africa to pull of feats of explo- in their graduate programme and I decid-
ration, engineering, metallurgy and more. ed that before I could be a good lecturer,
However, within this transfer of skills, I needed to understand how the practical
knowledge and capital, there has been one and theory sides of the industry differed so
notable absence; African-born profession- I could add value to my students,” he said.
als and entrepreneurs who already have As is so often the case, day-to-day in-
Australian connections. While Australian volvement in operations proved too strong
companies operating in Africa have been an attraction and Atta-Danso committed
adept at lifting professional skills capacity himself to Gold Fields and a career in in-
in their host country, there is also another dustry rather than academia.
group of African professionals who devel- Having been promoted through the Mark Atta-Danso
oped their skills at home and are now ap- ranks in his home country, Atta-Danso
plying them to careers in Australia. took an opportunity to transfer his metal-
In 2022, this group are about to establish lurgical skills to Gold Fields’ St Ives opera- moving to roles with CITIC Pacific, Saracen
a major presence at Africa Down Under. tion in WA in 2008. Mineral Holdings and Fortescue Metals
Mark Atta-Danso is a process engineer Despite a few culture shocks – he didn’t Group Ltd.
with West Australian gold miner West- have any lunch on Day 1 at St Ives be- “I was asked by Gold Fields Ghana if I
gold Resources Ltd, having arrived in the cause Ghanaian operations feed staff wanted to return home, and one day I would
country from Ghana with Gold Fields Ltd onsite rather than packing lunch back at like to, but at the time I was doing my MBA
in 2008. He is also a member and chair of camp – Atta-Danso benefitted from the in mineral economics and so chose to stay
stakeholder engagement at African Min- intercontinental nature of Gold Fields’ ap- in Australia.”
ing Professionals Association of Australia proach. The combination of Ghanaian and Aus-
(AMPAA), a not-for-profit group eager to “In terms of safety, environmental im- tralian experience sets Atta-Danso and the
provide a strong networking platform for Af- pact, etc., Gold Fields did everything the other 90 members of AMPAA apart from
rican mining and minerals industry profes- same across the board, whether you are at colleagues on both continents. It could one
sionals in Australia. St Ives, Damang or Tarkwa so it was easy day benefit host communities and compa-
This year, for the first time, AMPAA will to adapt,” he said. nies back in Africa.
have a visible presence at Africa Down Un- It is an approach in keeping with Atta- “As a member of AMPAA, I am proud to
der, forging another link between industries Danso’s own outlook. see a number of our members go back to
on the two continents. For Atta-Danso, the “Right from the start of university I Africa and apply their skills and experience
success of Africa Down Under is testament wanted to be a professional to interna- there,” he said. “Being in Australia, there is
to the close cultural alignment between tional standards so I could be at the same easy access to high-quality consultants and
mining sectors on both continents. level as peers everywhere in the world. It professional development programmes
Like many of his Australian-born counter- meant I could come to Australia and work through groups like AusIMM. There are a
parts, Atta-Danso found his way into mining and it will make it smoother when I work in lot of those programmes to enhance the
through a love of science. Ghana again, which is something I would development of younger professionals and
“In high school I was very much a sci- like to do.” I believe we can share those structures
ence student and wanted to be involved in For all the similarities, there are major dif- with Africa to harness the skills which are
chemistry,” he said. “Once I completed my ferences, including elements Atta-Danso already present in countries like Ghana.”
first semester, I knew I wanted to be a met- would like to see introduced into the Gha- It is not only skilled mining migrants who
allurgist and work in the industry.” naian mining sector. are having an impact on Australian-African
From there, Atta-Danso threw himself “At times the working systems are totally mining relations. The meetings and exhibi-
wholeheartedly into the mining game, dili- different,” he said. “The biggest thing here tion space at Africa Down Under is always
gently learning as well as attending any and is the flexible work hours. It means you can teaming with start-ups, unlisted companies
every field trip and participating in vacation spend more time with family, and it also and one-person groups eager to attract in-
programmes. gives you opportunity to study and build vestors to their portfolio of African projects.
“In my second year I did my first vacation your skills and knowledge. A constant presence in recent editions of
programme with Golden Star Resources, Atta-Danso left Gold Fields in 2012, the conference is Beltz Mining Ltd, an un-



Page 54 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

listed company with a portfolio of projects in
Zambia.
Founded by Zambian-born Nkandu Beltz,
Beltz Mining was created to provide a bridge
between Australian capital and Zambian pro-
ject developers.
Nkandu was born in Zambia’s Copperbelt
province and also lived in Orapa, Botswana,
another famed mining town. Having seen the
impact – both positive and negative – mining
could have on African communities, she be-
lieves both sides could benefit from greater
linkages between Australia and Africa.
“I moved to Australia in 2005 but it was after
I moved to Perth in 2016 and began interview-
ing African ministers around Africa Down Un-
der that I recognised the gap in this space for
entrepreneurs that were either female and/or of African heritage,” Nkandu Beltz
Nkandu told Paydirt. “I always look at challenges as opportunity
and it became a no-brainer to put together a company which could That gives us confidence in what we are doing.”
act as a bridge between Australia and Africa, linking investors in And, her advice for others considering a similar venture.
Australia with project vendors in Africa.” “Mining is an inherently risky business and if you are putting mon-
Rather than act as a conduit, Nkandu decided to take the oppor- ey in, you must ensure you put yours in first because losing other
tunity herself, pegging ground on the Zambian copper belt near her people’s money loses you credibility quickly,” she said. “Make good
hometown of Ndola, once the mining capital of Zambia. relationships in both countries, understand what African govern-
“Getting data in Zambia can be very difficult so instead of bringing ments are looking for and understand how the Australian Govern-
a group in, we decided it was best to start from scratch, creating em- ment can help you in Africa.
ployment opportunities in Zambia, returns for nationals,” she said. “There has been lots of skills transfer, investment and business
Although most mining activity is now focused around Solwezi opportunities created by Australian mining in Africa. That is why
in Northwest province, Ndola retains operations and, according to Australia has a good relationship and reputation in Zambia and else-
Nkandu, still presents opportunity. where in Africa.”
“Zambia is home to one of the largest copper belts in the world – Dominic Piper
and it is still underexplored,” Nkandu said. “It has developed a repu-
tation for being difficult to operate but there is a very consistent min-
ing code, and the new Government is talking about creating new
incentives for mining, including the option for a 100% deduction of
pre-production expenses. I think it is the right time to go in because
the investment climate is conducive to it.”
On the Ndola project, Beltz Mining has already begun first-pass
exploration and is looking to step-up its testing for stratabound
sediment-hosted copper mineralisation in the style of the nearby
Mwekera and Mopani mines.
“Our geochem work is mirroring the historical data and we now
have access to aeromags so we are looking to do some drilling this BDO KNOWS AFRICA
year,” Nkandu said. “Twelve months from now we hope to have ex-
panded the portfolio and be looking at listing on the ASX and Zam- With an established presence and in-depth
bian exchange. But exploration is expensive, so we recently became
a public company and we are looking to expand the shareholder knowledge of the Natural Resources industry,
base.” BDO works alongside you to meet the
Nkandu believes her cultural connection to both countries allows
for a unique perspective among mining executives. challenges of operating a business in Africa.
“As a Zambian, I understand the mindset, how to do business,
and the huge role law and traditions play there,” she said. “As an BDO are more committed than ever to continuing to be there for you.
Australia, I understand the culture, what investors are looking for
and the language of Australian business.”
Nkandu believes there is ample opportunity for other African-
Australians to apply their cross-cultural experience to the benefit of
stakeholders on both sides of the Indian Ocean.
“We can provide insight others don’t have,” she said, before con-
firming not everyone recognised the advantages of working with
African-Australians.
“In Australia, people question my motive and ask if it is business
or charity. I can assure you it is definitely business, although we do
have separate charitable projects as well,” she said. “In Zambia,
many people assume that as a woman I don’t know what I am doing.
I may not have a professional background in mining but I have learnt
to surround myself with a good team that does have that expertise.


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 55

ADU PReVIeW After nearly seven years of work,
Walkabout started mining at its Lindi
Jumbo graphite project in Tanzania
following an initial blast in July






Walkabout




opts to leap













t began with a bang as Walkabout Re- for us to get going. So, we were quite powerline was also being erected.
Isources Ltd made its foray into mining, ready once we settled the financing to pull Cunningham said Walkabout was be-
successfully setting off the first blast from the trigger and get going.” ginning to re-engage with binding partners
its starter pit at the Lindi Jumbo graphite Two years later when the Walkabout over the prices of its product.
operation in Tanzania in July. team, along with the rest of the world, was “We’ve got binding term sheets with two
As the company turns its attention to thrown one of life’s biggest curveballs in Chinese graphite end users as well as a
getting first production from the under- the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, the marketing and sales agreement with a
construction processing plant, chief ex- company once again dug deep. large global sales house out of Hong Kong,”
ecutive Andrew Cunningham said Walka- Walkabout ran a successful vaccination he said. “When we put these [agreements]
bout had managed to “leapfrog” its peers programme for its workforce and the lo- together in 2019, we deliberately didn’t
in the graphite space. cal community, which saw every member put any pricing in there because we knew
“It’s quite an exciting milestone for us. of the Lindi Jumbo team receiving its first what it [the graphite market] would be like
Being in the project from a conceptional shot of the vaccine by October 2021. once we got into production.
idea in 2015 looking for high-grade graph- “We’ve got tremendous support with the “Six months out from production, we will
ite, to actually doing the first blast 6-7 Government, they see what we do, we are start speaking to our parties about a pric-
years later as we’re building the plant is fully compliant and it was never our inten- ing mechanism and put that together. We
quite exciting,” he told Paydirt. “There is tion of running it any way else,” Cunning- are focusing on that area now and will up-
a healthy stockpile of material that we will ham said. “We’ve got very good support date the market once we get that finalised.”
use for the commissioning and the first from the local communities because that’s Benchmark Mineral Intelligence fore-
production from our mine. where we start.” casts demand for graphite, the heaviest
“It’s quite an exciting time to come from Investing in itself and the community has material used in EV batteries, to outpace
way behind any of our peers…to now leap- paid off for Walkabout with Lindi Jumbo its production in the near future, while the
frogging them and being a couple of years forecast to deliver a post-tax NPV of $197 World Bank expects 4.5 mtpa graphite to
ahead of anyone else.” million, IRR of 119% and payback in just 22 be needed by 2050 to support a battery-
Cunningham attributes Walkabout’s months. Over an estimated 24-year mine powered low carbon future.
speedy work to staying the course back in life, the operation is expected to achieve “It’s quite an exciting state in the graph-
2017 when others in Tanzania grew hesi- an annual EBITDA of $44.1 million. ite industry right now,” Cunningham said.
tant following the sudden changes to the Cunningham said while Lindi Jumbo – “There’s a lot of interest from outside of
country’s mining legislation. 987,000t @ 17.9% TGC reserve and 4.5mt China in securing an alternative source
The Tanzanian Parliament passed three @ 10.8% TGC resource – posed a small of graphite supply. China produces about
bills amending the 2010 Mining Act, mak- presence, the project offers high value 70% of the world’s graphite and with what
ing adjustments to free-carried rights, compared to its graphite peers. is happening in Ukraine and Russia, a lot
protections of permanent sovereignty and “It’s a much smaller footprint, it’s a much of Western countries are looking for forms
stabilisation clauses. smaller plant than any of our peer group of responsibly sourced graphite.
“A lot of guys put their programmes and it was relatively quicker to the put the “We are in the unique position where
on hold and didn’t progress, while we in- capital together to get into construction,” we can do things right from the start. We
corporated the changes to our DFS and he said. “The high-grade nature of the ore- are not trying to fix something that is bro-
used that time to complete our engineer- body…meant we could keep the capital as ken…our carbon footprint will be relatively
ing works,” Cunningham said. “We did the low as possible.” small.”
early start works in 2019 where we cleared Civil works at the processing plant were Walkabout was also working towards
most of the plant area…putting some of almost 90% complete at the time of print, initial drawdown of Lindi Jumbo’s debt at
the infrastructure on site. utilising more than 150 workers throughout the time of print, with EY undertaking an
“That gave us a good kickstart and once construction. independent review of the operation.
the financing was put together, we could The mine will have access to grid power – Fraser Palamara
get the contractors that did the early works from a 33kV powerline while a 4.5MW


Page 56 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Wherever we are...





































































trend with us









#paydirtmedia #magazines #conferences








Paydirt editor Dominic Piper and chairman Bill Repard at the Mining Indaba conference,
Cape Town South Africa

ADU PReVIeW



20 Years T o celebrate two decades of Africa Down Under,



we take a look back at some of the major
of ADU highlights, guest speakers and memorable moments
captured over the years.



















































































Page 58 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Australia’s premier

Africa-Australia business forum

ADU PReVIeW





Tietto only just warming up




ietto Minerals Ltd is on the cusp of being “Success always come down to people able with the way everything is being rolled
Trewarded for its aggressive approach to- and relationships and since joining us last out.”
wards construction of West Africa’s newest year, Matt has been working feverishly to Barring any unexpected setbacks, Tietto
gold mine. pull all of this together. To a degree, he’s will finish the calendar year as West Africa’s
First gold from Abujar in Cote d’Ivoire re- managed to lock some prices away in last newest gold producer. While there is usu-
mains firmly on track to be poured before year’s terms because he’s working with ally an element of pressure associated with
the end of the year, with construction works suppliers he has a history with and because such a tag, Strizek is confident the com-
progressing on schedule and budget de- they all knew this project was going to hap- pany will both quickly and comfortably slot
spite a climate of global inflation. pen.” in alongside ASX peers such as WAF and
SAG mill installation and structural me- Strizek added that while Tietto had not Perseus Mining Ltd.
chanical piping activities began last month, been spared the impact of higher transport If anything, Strizek believes the ease with
while two of the eight CIL tanks have now and logistics costs compared to last year’s which Tietto is advancing at Abujar has
achieved full height. Concrete works were feasibility study estimates, Wilcox and his placed a different level of scrutiny over the
due to be completed at the time of print. team have identified savings in other areas company.
The camp is also more than 50% opera- and the company was still yet to dip into any “As we get closer and closer to produc-
tional and scheduled for full handover later contingencies in the construction budget. tion and de-risking, what keeps me awake
this month. Tietto also appears to be benefitting from at night is being taken over before we’re
Rapid progress at Abujar has been a being located in a jurisdiction where avail- really able to execute and deliver what we
consistent theme for think will be some
Tietto over the past 18 exceptional value for
months since appoint- shareholders,” he
ing experienced West said. “Obviously, the
African project director softness that we’ve
Matt Wilcox as chief seen across all re-
operating officer. Wil- source and commodi-
cox and his team have ties markets – a lot of
overseen construction which I think is driven
of four gold mines in by animal instincts
the region over the as opposed to real
past decade, the most fundamentals – cre-
recent being Sanb- ates opportunities for
rado for West African predators.”
Resources Ltd (WAF) Both WAF and Per-
in 2020. seus have been the
At the time of Wil- envy of their Austral-
cox’s appointment, ian-based peers over
which preceded com- the past six months as
pletion of the PFS, inflationary pressures
Tietto pledged to de- continue to impact
liver first gold before profitability of opera-
the end of 2022. As it tions. With Tietto also
stands, that ambition forecasting robust
is all but certain to be- economics from early
come reality. production at Abujar
Tietto executive di- Construction works at Tietto’s Abujar project in Cote d’Ivoire are advancing rapidly ahead – some 260,000oz
rector Mark Strizek of targeted first gold in Q4 2022 gold is expected in the
said the company’s first year alone and
seemingly aggressive development push ability of skilled labour is not a concern. 1.2 moz across the first six years – Strizek
was in line with its commitment to deliver “The big thing that Matt keeps reminding suggested maybe the tide has turned for
maximum value for shareholders. us is West Africa is not Western Australia,” African-focused producers.
“In this game they always say time is Strizek said. “We all used to be talk about a West Af-
money, so anything you can do to compress “In West Africa, there’s still high unem- rican discount, but maybe now we’re going
those timelines is going to save your share- ployment so there’s a labour pool and to become a premium,” he said.
holders money,” Strizek told Paydirt last contractors over there who aren’t subject “The investment proposition has always
month. to the same pressures we’ve seen here in been there – great opportunity for explora-
“We knew that securing great execution Australia. tion success, supportive governments and
ability was the No.1 priority for us on this jour- “We’re very much focused on what we communities, clear timeframes for getting
ney to first gold and we think we’ve managed can control. We’ve still got just under six approvals and development. We’re not only
to secure the best West African construction months to complete the build, so things can creating incredible value for shareholders
team going around. Matt and his team have potentially happen between now and then, but incredible value for the nationals, or the
done it before and they’re doing it again. but right now we’re feeling quite comfort- Ivorians in our case.


Page 60 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

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Strizek said the company’s running in parallel to determine the potential
dual strategy of “drill and build” economic benefits of running such an op-
was vital for its long-term suc- eration in parallel with the main CIL circuit.
cess. “Again, it comes back to Matt and his
“Mining isn’t like building a team having done this before,” Strizek said.
shoe factory and so forth,” he “If we’ve got the inability to do this in-house,
explained. “Resources, once you need to have a good look at it.
you start mining them, the clock “Heap leach could unlock a satellite op-
is ticking and you have to find eration, for example, sitting down the road
more. What drives a mining 7.5km away. If we could get 7.5mt or so, it
company is its exploration suc- could be doing 75,000 ozpa. It’s exciting to
cess, being able to add ounces think about what that could do to the value
into your inventory is key. And of Abujar.”
it’s the biggest cost as well.
Two of the eight CIL tanks have been erected to full height “I think it’s [drilling] been a ga-
mechanger for us, it’s allowed us
to really go at it very hard and
“I always like to point out the United Na- without having to really deplete the cash
tions Sustainable Development Goals and balance. As we look at becoming a produc-
No.1 has always been reducing poverty er, we don’t want to change what we think
and providing opportunity; that’s what these is a winning formula. In the end, it always
projects can do.” comes down to perspiration and hard work,
No one is likely to welcome first gold which in our case is keeping rigs going.
more than Tietto founder and managing di- “There’s still so much upside when it
rector Caigen Wang, who originally estab- comes to exploration, we don’t think we’ve
lished the company as an unlisted explorer hit the limits of what can be found there.”
focused in Liberia before crossing over to Also on the immediate horizon for Tietto
Cote d’Ivoire during the height of the Ebola is an impending update to the Abujar life-of-
crisis in West Africa. mine production plan, due for release this
Strizek met Wang in early 2017 at Mining quarter. Using an updated resource of 3.45
Indaba conference and was immediately moz, the company is targeting increased
struck by both his tenacity to get things mill throughput based on a higher gold Tietto executive director Mark Strizek
done and the opportunity in front of Tietto price than the $US1,407/oz assumed in last (right) on site with country manager Fred
at Abujar. year’s DFS. Yao N’Kanza
“There were probably six people listening “We’ve got a large, under stressed mill,
to his presentation in this little dingy room at we’ve made the tanks bigger…the costs are
the bottom of the conference, but I remem- insignificant to do this now,” Strizek said. Ongoing drilling and further studies as
ber thinking to myself ‘holy hell, he’s really “The great thing in Cote d’Ivoire is we the start of gold production looms should be
on to something here’,” Strizek said. have cheap power, access to hydro, so our enough to remind investors that Tietto has
“Caigen is always looking to get no intention of backing down from its
things done. He can be impatient but now trademark aggressive approach
it’s a good kind of impatient. When you to business. However, it could also be
believe in something, you’ve got to go argued that the company is trying to
for it.” juggle too many things on its plate.
Perhaps one of the best examples Strizek has no such concerns. In
of Wang’s purported impatience came fact, the plate might not be big enough
recently when Tietto recalibrated its for Tietto’s grand plans.
financing arrangements for the Abujar “I think life would be boring other-
build. An opportunity emerged in April wise,” he said. “Our shareholders have
for the company to replace debt man- placed their trust in us to create some
date with Taurus Asset Management incredible value and that’s exactly what
for a two-tranche equity placement of we’re doing.
$130 million, ensuring shareholders “Life’s too short and we want to look
retained 100% exposure to the project. at all of these exciting opportunities
It also allowed Tietto to keep the drill that we have. I like to think of this as the
rigs turning at Abujar in the same man- beginning of the next stage. We’ve got
ner it has during the exploration and The Abujar camp is expected to be fully operational the organic opportunities with our in-
resource growth phases. Intersections this month credible resource base, but we’re also
such as 4m @ 16.16 g/t gold from 19m thinking longer term and, who knows,
(including 3m @ 21.36 g/t including 1m @ costs are going to be low in that regard. we might even be able to give Perseus a
62.27 g/t) and 5m @ 40.14 g/t from 35m (in- We’re really looking forward to seeing what bit of shake and become a 500,000oz pro-
cluding 3m @ 66.52 g/t, 1.32m @ 131.29 those numbers will show.” ducer.”
g/t and 2m @ 25.58 g/t) continue to keep Another future production aspect also
investors salivating over the broader poten- under consideration is heap leaching of the – Michael Washbourne
tial of the project area. APG material. A scoping study is currently


Page 62 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

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Ghana returns to investors’ radars





















































Gold Fields has spent big on expanding its
ust five years ago, Ghana’s position as and stability are proving an attraction to in- Damang and Tarkwa gold mines in Ghana
Ja respected mining jurisdiction appeared vestors.
to be on the wane. The country’s massive Each of Newmont, AngloGold and Gold moz gold resource at its Namdini gold pro-
gold mines were seemingly on the road to Fields have committed to major expansions ject before Chinese gold giant Shandong
depletion and a lack of exploration success of their Ghanaian gold operations in the last Gold Group acquired company and project
meant the development pipeline was bar- five years and now investors are beginning in a $575 million deal in March 2021.
ren. to return to junior stories in the country. According to Atlantic Lithium Ltd chief
Operating costs were also rising with President Nana Akufo-Addo and Minister executive Len Kolff, Ghana is back among
wages higher than in neighbouring jurisdic- for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Africa’s more favoured jurisdictions.
tions and the regulator developing a reputa- Jinapor have both signalled their intent to “From the feedback we are receiving,
tion for being overly bureaucratic and slow- attract further investment to Ghana’s re- investors are comfortable with Ghana as a
ing the approvals system. sources sector and make the country an jurisdiction, they like the maturity and sta-
The perceived issues were also stunting African mining hub, providing services bility of the industry, particularly the skilled
capital investment with rumours the likes of not only for miners within the country but labour, stable politics, good infrastructure,
Newmont Corp, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd and across the West African region. education levels and security,” Kolff told
Gold Fields Ltd were all considering their Australian companies operating in Gha- Paydirt. “That is all more relevant given
futures. na are already seeing the benefits of a more what is happening elsewhere in the region
In 2022, however, many of Ghana’s per- supportive policy approach. The Australian which makes operating in some countries
ceived negatives could turn out to be major contingent is led by Perseus Mining Ltd challenging.”
positives for the West African country over which has managed to keep the notoriously Kolff said the Government was eager to
the next decade. difficult Edikan gold mine operational for see new projects developed as it pushed to
While neighbouring countries in the re- six years, providing a platform for the com- re-establish itself as a go-to destination for
gion battle government instability, security pany’s wider West African growth initiative. mining investment.
issues and capital flight, Ghana’s maturity Elsewhere, Cardinal Resources built a 7 “Ghana is trying to push hard to regain its


Page 64 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

position on the global stage,” he said. “There
are some exciting stories in the country and
the Government wants more investment. I
think our discovery is important because it
shows there are still discoveries to be made
in mature jurisdictions.”
Atlantic’s place in the new guard of junior
developers in Ghana is particularly impor-
tant given its focus on lithium rather than
gold.
The company is moving towards release
of a PFS for its Ewoyaa lithium project near
Accra, having produced a positive scoping
study in December. Alongside Leo Lithium
Ltd’s Goulamina project in Mali, Ewoyaa is
poised to herald a new industry for West Af-
rica – battery minerals production.
“Lithium is definitely the buzz word in
Ghana but there is the drawback of it being Ghana’s high levels of education and large
labelled ‘white gold’ which means some ex- “Our point-of-view was that it was a skilled workforce are the envy of many
pectations need to be tempered,” Kolff said. great opportunity to take as we bought it African mining jurisdictions
“But the Government wants to demonstrate for $US23 million and there is probably 5
it is open for business and not just in gold. moz gold in a region which is very under- A 20-year career in Africa has led Kolff
So, we are receiving a lot of support from explored.” to rank community engagement as among
government to showcase this project.” Since taking on Azumah, Ibaera has re- the highest priorities of any project. Ewoyaa
Ghana’s stability is also proving attractive drawn the feasibility study for Black Volta is on the outskirts of the Ghanaian capital
to backers of Ibaera Capital. The private and is now preparing to begin development Accra, making the potential social impact
fund acquired 100% of the Black Volta gold in earnest. Like Kolff, Wallbank is full of substantial, if Atlantic gets things right.
project in March 2020 following its takeover praise for the support provided by govern- “For any project, community is always
of ASX-listed Azumah Resources. ment. one of the biggest risks and I see commu-
The company has since completed a “It is a very open-door relationship with nity and social performance as one of the
feasibility study on the project and tapped government, and they are very construc- most important things,” Kolff said. “We have
investors for funds to take the project to tive about helping,” he said. “They realise said to ourselves, ‘let’s employ the whole
development. Ibaera managing partner they only make money once we have built team out of Ghana’, so we can show sup-
James Wallbank said Ghana’s predictability the mine and the royalties and taxes start port to the community. We have one expat
was a key attraction for the group. to flow. on site and 75% of the workforce comes
“When you have long-term funding se- “In Africa, you are dealing much more di- from the local community. There are not
cured, it does draw you to jurisdictions that rectly with the Minister and the head of the many operations in the world which can say
are going to be robust for the long term,” he Minerals Commission, so you get a lot more that.
said. “If you focus on the fact that it will take impact from meeting with the Minister and “It has extremely low environmental im-
6-7 years to build a mine, you’d think about department heads. pact and because it is essentially a dense
places that are stable, predictable and “When the new minister came in, he media separation project, it will be a lower
consistent so we have to be more selec- brought a lot of energy. He is a young law- power consumer. We have grid power adja-
tive about where we invest. It is impossible yer with a definite mandate and desire to cent, largely hydro and a 20MW solar plant
to predict the political situation in Burkina make changes and take a positive view on 30km away, so green energy is going to be
Faso or Cote d’Ivoire in 10 years, the out- investment in the sector. a big tick with investors as well.”
look is much clearer for Ghana. “The amount of support we are getting is While once a drawback, the benefits of
“There has been mining there for more remarkable and reading between the lines, Ghana’s mature system – from regulation,
than 100 years and it is a bit like investing in the Minister is specifically pushing our pro- to services, to experienced workers – are
Australia. The projects may be a bit more ject and others.” once again being viewed as a benefit.
marginal but the country is lower risk so you Support extends to the community level “Ghana as a country has not been flavour
will get, ultimately, higher rewards.” where both Atlantic and Ibaera are finding of the month in West Africa for a long time
Ibaera’s entry into Ghana is an example positive engagement in areas not tradition- but it is reliable, predictable,” Wallbank said.
of the Australian market’s apathy towards ally seen as mining communities in Ghana. “In comparison to some other jurisdictions
the country. While explorers in Burkina Black Volta is in the remote north of the in West Africa, it is probably not as exciting
Faso, Mali, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire found country, and will represent one of the larg- to segments of the retail market which want
strong investor support, Azumah struggled est investments and therefore employment a bit more speculation and opportunity but it
to raise its profile. opportunities ever seen in the region. doesn’t have coups, the politics are predict-
“Azumah wasn’t getting love from the “We’re trying to do the right thing by the able and society is stable.”
market, it had switched off,” Wallbank ex- community, using renewables and minimis- Given those are attributes Western Aus-
plained. “It had got to a 600,000oz reserve ing the carbon footprint, contributing to lo- tralia – the world’s most respected mining
and hit a bad market from 2013 through cal agriculture and supporting community jurisdiction – often touts, it appears Ghana
2017. They couldn’t raise enough to get an- growth,” Wallbank said. “Everyone has de- is back on the right track.
ywhere, but you could clearly see a couple veloped a level of trust that we are all in it
of million ounces there. together.” – Dominic Piper


aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 65

ADU PReVIeW




Nickel and time



the perfect mix



for Adavale



davale Resources Ltd is confident it economic mineralisation after what he ad-
Ais ready to deliver on the obvious po- mitted was a false start in 2021. The com-
tential of its Kabanga Jirani nickel project pany drilled eight holes last year based on
this year after identifying more than 30 historical geochemical and geophysical
new drill-ready targets last month. datasets. That drilling returned only mod-
Adavale will start drilling this month at est sniffs of nickel and copper, with the
Kabanga Jirani, in the far west of Tan- company quickly realising it needed better
zania, after completing a gravity survey targeting techniques if it was to hit eco-
which identified 32 nickel sulphide targets nomic mineralisation.
across 1,000sq km of its licence area and “We were working with static informa- A recent gravity survey has presented
a heliborne EM survey to identify deeper tion which isn’t as reliable as it could be,” Adavale with 32 high-quality targets on its
conductors within the gravity anomalies. Riekie explained. “So, while the early soils Kabanga Jirani nickel project in Tanzania
“We will start drilling with a mix of RC confirmed the fertile nature of the ground,
and diamond holes in August and then I we didn’t do enough targeting and started
don’t think we’ll stop,” Adavale executive with diamond drilling when maybe we Adavale returned to the planning table at
director Davie Riekie told Paydirt. “The should’ve been doing RC drilling. Nickel the beginning of the year and decided to
next two quarters are going to be full of sulphide exploration can be tricky and you rerun gravity and EM surveys. The deci-
activity.” can easily have a wasteful programme if sion has seemingly paid off with the surfeit
Riekie is confident the company has you are not spending the time to define the of prospects now in front of it.
given itself the best opportunity of finding targets.” “The measure of the success of the


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Page 66 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

gravity programme is quite simply a re- Riekie said. “It is an interesting part of the from the international investment wilder-
flection of the large number of high-quality world because there are just a handful of ness after five years.
targets that have been generated,” Riekie experts on it, but we keep in touch with President Sami Suhulu Hassan has
said. “Without the gravity survey tech- them all and they’re complementary on been welcomed on the world stage and
nique, these targets would have remained how we have pulled it together. the Government’s new mining policies are
undiscovered. This is because the targets “If we find something, we will have on- designed to attract foreign investors back
do not have a recognisable surface expres- going interest because the opportunity into the mining sector.
sion and mostly remain completely hidden to find something big, at good grades, is Pierce was in Tanzania through May and
under the plus-50m of thick cover of highly there. Our objective is that 2-3% nickel noticed a discernible enthusiasm for the
weathered lithologies and soils that covers grade range.” mining sector.
much of our ground holding. Aiding Adavale’s cause is an expert “I met with the deputy minister who is
“Now, we know we have the right rocks, technical and in-country team. Chairman new in the role and had a very positive dis-
the right gravity and the right conductors, Grant Pierce’s near 30-year association cussion,” Pierce said. “There is just a dif-
but until we hit semi or massive sulphides, with the East African country has been ferent atmosphere, people are very posi-
we won’t be able to say we are actually crucial in building Adavale’s reputation tive wherever you go.”
onto something.” in-country, allowing it to put together a Adavale is hoping to use that positive
Should Adavale deliver on that front, it is high-quality local technical team. sentiment to move quickly following the
sure to attract plenty of industry attention. “Grant knows the industry, he knows start of drilling this month.
The Kabanga Jirani project sits adjacent to the people and he knows the country,” “After the EM, we will be drill-ready and
the 58mt @ 2.62% nickel Kabanga nickel Riekie said. “We have been able to hand- probably start in August on a 5,000m pro-
project for which BHP Ltd recently spent pick an in-country team for this compa- gramme,” Riekie said. “We have set our
$US50 million to secure a stake in. Kaban- ny.” sights on delineating a resource in less
ga remains one of the largest undeveloped Non-executive director and former than 12 months. From next month it will be
nickel sulphide projects in the world and if Panoramic Resources Ltd general man- full on for us.
Adavale can get onto something next door, ager John Hicks is providing the explora- “We have been reasonably guarded up
interest is certain to be piqued. tion leadership with chief geologist Pas- until this point but once we start getting the
“There’s only half a dozen places in chal Wadeya the on-ground leader. visuals from September onwards we want
the world where you find this style miner- The company’s exploration push is to get this story out to investors.”
alisation and we have the best and most also well-timed from a geopolitical per- – Dominic Piper
dominant position on one of those belts,” spective with Tanzania slowly returning




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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 67

ADU PReVIeW




Cobre ready to strike



on Kalahari belt




clear path to 100% ownership and a explore as aggressively as we like on the around 300m deep to test for extensions of
A new exploration plan has sparked inves- tenements. On top of that, it means we will copper-silver mineralisation intersected in
tor interest in Cobre Ltd with the Botswana- begin to attract interest from majors around two separate historical drill targets on the
focused explorer’s shares climbing 100% in JVs, earn-ins, etc.” northern margin of the Kalahari copper belt
the first week of July. Coinciding with the changes has been at the Ngami copper project.
Cobre had been in a 51/49 JV with Metal the appointment of African exploration spe- Understanding the stratigraphy could be
Tiger plc over Kalahari Metals Ltd (KML) cialists Ross McGowan – co-discoverer of crucial given the majority of known copper
– licence holder over more than 8,000sq the Kamoa copper deposit in DRC – as a deposits on the belt occur at the contact of
km of prospective ground on the Kalahari non-executive director and Adam Wool- the Ngwako-Pan/D’Kar formation.
copper belt in Botswana – however an ridge as the in-country chief executive Combined with the Kitlanya West pro-
agreement revealed on June 16 will allow heading up a new exploration team. ject, Ngami covers more than 500km strike
Cobre to reach 100% ownership of KML The aggressive approach has started im- of prospective contact, with Cobre having
via a two-stage process; an initial £750,000 mediately with Cobre kicking off a four-hole vectored into the targets using gravity and
for an additional 24.5%, with the remaining diamond programme in July. soil sampling.
24.5% to be acquired via another £750,000 “The new technical team have all been At Ngami, the four-hole programme
or equivalent Cobre shares anytime in the involved in major discoveries in Africa and will follow-up intersections of 2m @ 1.8%
next 12 months. have designed this next programme,” Hol- copper and 8 g/t silver and 5.2m @ 0.7%
According to Cobre executive chairman land said. “We should have the visuals in copper which were considered anomalous
Martin Holland, the deal will allow the com- the next few weeks and that will give us a relative to typical copper values along the
pany to unlock value for shareholders. good indication of whether we are in miner- belt. The drilling will test lateral continuity of
“It wasn’t in the business model of Metal alisation and to understand the stratigraphy mineralisation intersected previously.
Tiger to keep spending exploration money,” we are in.” Holland said the programme would be
Holland explained to Paydirt. “Now we can The programme will see four holes drilled the most decisive yet on the project.










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Page 68 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

operation. Everything we have applied for
has happened in a reasonable timeframe
and it is a pleasure to work there.”
Adding to the growing interest in the belt
has been Sandfire Resources Ltd’s suc-
cess with its Motheo copper project (see
page 20) and the ongoing development of
the Khomecau copper mine, which is re-
portedly up for sale.
Holland believes the attention generated
by those two projects will spread to Cobre’s
own portfolio.
“Sandfire will soon have its mine running
and there is rumoured M&A activity in the
area with Khomecau apparently on the
market,” he said. “We have already fielded
inquiries from majors.”
With the copper development pipeline
as dry as it has ever been, major produc-
Cobre has four projects on the highly prospective Kalahari copper belt in Botswana
ers are desperately searching for belt-scale
positions in underexplored terrains, some-
“We have defined these targets after mil- The Kalahari belt is emerging as a pre- thing which Cobre could offer.
lions of dollars and years spent doing the mier copper exploration belt given the com- “If you want large, high-grade deposits,
technical work,” he said. “We are past all bination of a lack of historical drilling, recent you have to go to Africa, that is where the
that technical work, now we are out to get development success and Botswana’s at- belt-scale discoveries will be,” Holland said.
economic intercepts.” tractive sovereign risk profile. “The US Geological Survey rates Botswana
While the programme is initially set for “Botswana is rated by the Fraser Institute as the area most likely to contain the most
1,200m, Holland said it could increase to as as No.1 in Africa and one of the highest ju- undiscovered copper deposits in the world
much as 7,000m should the results warrant risdictions in the world from an investment and I think the majors and investors are be-
it. attractiveness perspective,” Holland said. ginning to realise they must look outside the
In parallel, the company continues to “It has a strong constitution and renowned developed world to get new discoveries.”
prove up additional drill targets across the mining industry. The Government has been
500km strike it controls. very supportive of us as a company and an – Dominic Piper





We care





We partner


Mahenge Graphite Project

Naturally Beeer Graphite - Tanzania We innovate


Black Rock Mining is an Australian based company listed on the Australian Securiies
Exchange (ASX: BKT). The Company has a 100% interest in the Mahenge Graphite Project
located in Tanzania. The Project has a JORC compliant Mineral Resource Esimate of 213m
tonnes at 7.8% TGC. It also has Ore Reserves of 70m tonnes at 8.5% TGC. The Ore Reserves We act
support a mine life of up to 350k tonnes of graphite per annum for a reserve life of 16 years.


ASX: BKT
blackrockmining.com.au We create


Black Rock Mining Limited
Level 1, 1 Walker Avenue
West Perth, WA 6005 Australia


Following release of the Enhanced Definiive Feasibility Study (DFS) on the Mahenge Graphite Project in July 2019 (see Black Rock ASX
release dated 25 July 2019, Mahenge Enhanced DFS with Execuive Summary), Black Rock confirms that it is not aware of any new data
or informaion that materially affects the results of the Enhanced DFS. All material assumpions and technical parameters, including in
the esimaion of Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves, underpinning the esimates in the Enhanced DFS coninue to apply and have not
materially changed. The esimated Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources underpinning the producion and financial forecasts in the
Enhanced D
Enhanced DFS were prepared by Competent Persons in accordance with the requirements in Appendix 5A (JORC Code).
aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 69

ADU PReVIeW





Sierra Rutile going solo




ierra Rutile Holdings Ltd (SRX) man- in FY2022. However, Iluka still elected to lion in cash so we actually start in a strong
Saging director Thomas de Bruyn is demerge its wholly owned African sub- position. We believe that we can gener-
confident the African-focused mineral sidiary into a separately listed vehicle, al- ate more cash and we believe that we can
sands miner can thrive as a standalone lowing the world’s largest zircon miner to sustain it.”
business when it hits the boards early this also focus more resources on its emerg- Former Iluka chairman Greg Martin will
month. ing rare earths division, including the up- assume the same role on the five-person
Demerged from Iluka Resources Ltd, coming Eneabba operations in Western SRX board alongside de Bruyn, finance
SRX shares are expected to start trad- Australia. director Martin Alciaturi and non-exec-
ing on the ASX from August 5. The com- Speaking at a media briefing session utive directors Graham Davidson and
pany’s cornerstone assets are the estab- last month, de Bruyn said the rude health Joanne Palmer.
lished Area 1 rutile operations and the of the Sierra Rutile business over the past
Sembehun development project in Sierra 12 months meant SRX was now more
Leone. Upon listing, SRX will be able to than capable of standing on its own two
access a $US45 million trust fund from feet.
Iluka to support existing rehabilitation ob- “For the last four quarters, we have had If we were a West
sustained operations,” de Bruyn said.
ligations. borrow money from Iluka, so we are self- “ Perth company
Iluka exits Africa almost six years after “We’ve produced 12,000 tpm of rutile with a project called
acquiring the primary rutile operations on average, we haven’t had the need to
for $375 million and a bit over two years Sembehun and nothing
since threatening to halt production due sustaining and we are generating cash. else, then we would need
to poor market conditions in the wake of “With the demerger, Iluka is also giving
the pandemic. us $US45 million in a rehabilitation trust to raise some equity
Under de Bruyn’s leadership, the SRX fund and we’ll use that money to do all of sometime soon just to
business has turned around dramati- the rehabilitation in Area 1 to meet our re- finish the DFS. This is
cally over the last 18 months and was habilitation obligations.
expected to deliver 144,000t at $US892/t “At the end of May, we had $US20 mil- quite different.

















































Page 70 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
AA_Africa_Down_Under_2022 30/06/2021 10:48

Mining operations are currently focused
on Area 1 (pictured) with plans under way
to bring the Sembehun group of deposits
onstream from late 2025






















While Area 1 is the current operational an opportunity, like what we’re doing at $US52 million. Engineering firm and PFS
focus for SRX, the company believes the Area 1, to extend the life of mine at Sem- manager Hatch is in talks with SRX to
real jewel in the crown is the undeveloped behun,” de Bruyn said. also oversee the DFS.
Sembehun group of deposits which col- SRX plans to begin DFS work on Sem- Alciaturi said the company’s financing
lectively host reserves of 174mt @ 1.45% behun next month and is targeting FID options for Sembehun were “almost limit-
rutile, representing mine life of at least 13 by the end of 2023. De Bruyn said the less”.
years. company’s tentative schedule has com- “They’re not limitless because, if we’re
Area 1 operations are currently project- missioning of the first phase of operations honest, we’re in Sierra Leone which is
ed out until mid-2025 when SRX hopes beginning in October 2025. probably not a country for mainstream
to bring Sembehun – about 30km to the According to the recently completed Australian banks; it’s not their neck of the
north-west – onstream. PFS, Phase 1 capex is estimated at woods, but there’s a number of other op-
“Our life of mine is more than 13 years, $US284 million while Phase 2 – slated tions that do exist,” he said.
but if you ask me, I think there still exists for no earlier than October 2027 – is just “We’ve got very longstanding relation-

































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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 71

ADU PReVIeW











ships with some very significant compa-
nies as customers who are very keen to
see this operation extended. As to how
much debt you would want to put into this,
it’s too early to say.
“If we were a West Perth company with
a project called Sembehun and nothing
else, then we would need to raise some
equity sometime soon just to finish the
DFS. This is quite different.
“We are self-funding as we go, we can
do the DFS, we should have additional –
potentially quite material at today’s prices
– cash flow coming out of the business
pre-FID decision, and that puts us in a
great spot.”
Alciaturi said he expected some Iluka
shareholders who will automatically pick
up shares in the demerged entity to im-
mediately drop them because SRX won’t do different things,” he said. “There are West African [Resources Ltd] who have
meet the criteria for an ASX100 company. some, whether they’re institutions or re- consistently delivered from operating in
However, he is not anticipating many in- tail, who will make a decision that they’re that part of the world.”
vestors to walk away because of per- not interested in being exposed to West SRX is the largest employer in Sierra
ceived sovereign risk in Sierra Leone and Africa and there are others that will make Leone and each one of the 2,250-strong
the broader West African region. the completely opposite decision. There’s workforce directly supports another 10 in
“There are different shareholders who companies like Perseus [Mining Ltd] and the local village. De Bruyn estimates the




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Page 72 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

SRX is the largest employer
in Sierra Leone






“Based on my experience in the coun- Production of both standard-grade and
try, it’s not like a Mali or Burkina Faso or industrial-grade rutile represents 90% of
Guinea where you’ve had coups over last SRX’s total revenue. The company also
6-8 months,” he said. produces small quantities of ilmenite and
“I think you need to go back in the his- zircon-in-concentrate which can be used
tory of Sierra Leone and the civil war that in ceramics, chemicals, refractory and
ended in the early 2000s; the country is foundry.
very calm, the culture is very calm, it’s not SRX also currently has no commit-
aggressive. I feel safe when I’m operating ted offtake volumes post December. De
in the country. My wife even came to visit Bruyn expects future agreements will be
me in Freetown, she happily went to the entered into on market terms, especially
markets. with rutile supply currently constrained.
“In the last 20 years there have been “It doesn’t affect the investment case
three changes of political leadership, [for SRX] but it does affect the market and
all very peaceful, democratic changes I think it will affect the long term pricing
of Government. It’s a calm culture over of rutile in a positive way,” de Bruyn said
there, I think the civil war caused that and when asked the impacts of the Russian
they never want to go back to that time.” invasion on Ukraine.
SRX will become the only pure ru- “We see the market fundamentals of
company provides some level of support tile producer on the ASX. The company the pricing being strong in the short term.
to about 30,000 people across the entire boasts a long and established market We had an increase from the last quarter
West African country. presence, including relationships with all to this quarter, I don’t think there’s reason
De Bruyn also dismissed any secu- of the primary chloride-based titanium not to see it continuing.”
rity concerns surrounding Sierra Leone pigment manufacturers and the world’s
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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 73

ADU PReVIeW




The evolution



of Chilalo




ew people are better placed to judge how completely done a 180 and we’re now on
Fmuch the world has changed for Tanza- the cusp of signing our framework agree-
nian graphite developers over the past two ment with the Tanzanian Government, as
years than Evolution Energy Minerals Ltd we’re seeing with other developers in simi-
(EV1) managing director Phil Hoskins. lar positions, and I’ll proudly be putting that
With EV1 all but certain to commit to de- document in front of project financiers to
veloping its flagship Chilalo project as early demonstrate the absolute clarity we have
as the end of next month, Hoskins is poised on those fiscal terms.
to again head down a path he previously at- “With Joe Biden coming in [as US Presi-
tempted with Graphex Mining in late 2019. dent] and the push for decarbonisation
The two key differences this time around around the globe, it has really given a shot
are a far healthier graphite market and a in the arm to the graphite industry and any-
much more welcoming investment climate thing to do with battery metals. The oppor-
in Tanzania under new President Samia tunities are just unbelievable compared to
Suluhu Hassan. where they were 2-2.5 years ago.
“When I think back 2-2.5 years ago to “I couldn’t be more excited about what
when our financing with Castlelake didn’t lies ahead for our company with the quality
work out, around the beginning of COVID, of product we have and some of the tech-
fast-forward to now and you can quite clear- nology partners we’re working with.”
ly see the world for a Tanzanian graphite By the end of next month, EV1 is ex-
developer couldn’t be any more different,” pected to have finalised its DFS update and
Hoskins told Paydirt. completed FEED works to be in a position
“Tanzania, under the new President, has to finally pull the trigger on Chilalo’s long-




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Page 74 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
Paydirt Quarter Page Ad_Final.indd 1 30/6/22 5:11 pm

awaited development. gineers moving on the updated DFS, we’ve
EV1 is approaching FID for its Chilalo
graphite project in Tanzania The original DFS published in early 2020 had three visits to Tanzania to progress our
forecast a post-tax NPV of $US323 million framework agreement and we’ve signed a
and IRR of 34% on a capital cost of $US87.4 cornerstone binding offtake agreement with
million, including 10% contingency and pre- YXGC [Yinchang Xincheng Graphite Co
strip. Key optimisation works include bring- Ltd],” Hoskins said.
ing forward revenue from a revised mining “We’ve gone from essentially stand-
schedule and lowering both operating costs ing still to having all these different work
and Chilalo’s carbon footprint via the im- streams moving…but we’re very proud of
plementation of a hybrid solar/diesel power what we’ve achieved and it’s really pleas-
station. ing to see that delivery capability starting to
CPC Engineering has been contracted to build within our team.”
complete the FEED for the proposed pro- EV1 executive director Michael Bour-
cessing plant at Chilalo, having previously guignon, who oversaw the construction of
undertaken the same works for Syrah Re- Syrah’s Balama mine and has delivered a
sources Ltd at its Balama graphite project number of other projects in Africa for the
in Mozambique. likes of Perseus Mining Ltd and Glencore
With a number of other key work streams plc, is leading the Chilalo project execution
playing out in the background, including the team. He is supported by his former Syrah
all-important project financing, EV1 is edg- colleague Vickey Puncheon, who is EV1’s
ing closer towards a final investment deci- Tanzanian-based general manager corpo-
sion on Chilalo. Such a milestone would rate services.
complete a remarkable turnaround for a Other key team members include John
project which was essentially parked to the Clement (owner’s representative in connec-
side in mid-2020 when Graphex rebranded tion with the FEED) and Marc Smith (EV1’s
as Marvel Gold Ltd after picking up a suite site-based manager).
of gold exploration assets in Mali. Hoskins was officially appointed as EV1’s
Within a year, and amid an improving managing director at the start of the year,
market for battery minerals, Marvel made having originally agreed to stay on in a non-
the decision to spin-out Chilalo via the IPO executive capacity, but he was ultimately
of EV1 and the newly minted company has lured back into the fold to again take the
not missed a beat since listing in November. reins of a project he has committed the best
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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 75

ADU PReVIeW





“Graphite is not as simple as gold and
base metals and it’s been clear in financi-
ers’ and in investors’ eyes that some of
those complexities have held investors
back at stages,” he said.
“For a couple of years there, I was enjoy-
ing the simplicity of marketing a gold story
but talking to our major shareholders and
seeing the opportunities in front of the com-
pany, both to get the mine built but also get
into the downstream markets, it was clear
where my skill set and passion lied.
“Stepping back into the MD role was a
natural fit and I couldn’t be more pleased to
have gone down that route. I’m really excit-
ed about where we’re at as a company after
so many years of hard work, particularly all Chilalo hosts total resources of 67.3mt @ 5.4% TGC, including a high-grade zone of 20.1mt
the travel to China and building those con- @ 9.9% TGC
nections with end-users.”
Given the coarse flake nature of the produced into the “super-premium” class of very high recharge efficiency compared to
Chilalo deposit, downstream opportunities active anode materials for lithium-ion bat- competing products.
for the project have never been fully investi- teries in the EV and energy storage sec- Other test work has also confirmed ther-
gated until recently. Since signing a binding tors. This class of active anode materials mal purification can produce an ultra-high
offtake agreement with YXGC for the sale typically sells for up to $US22,000/t. purity of 99.9995% carbon as a precursor
of 30,000 tpa of coarse flake graphite for at EV1 indicated these results – including to battery-grade spherical graphite. This
least three years, EV1 has only continued reversible capacity of 368 mAh/g and irre- was achieved using an inverted process
to firm up its potential to supply material into versible capacity loss of less than 7% – ex- flowsheet which involves purifying the ma-
the burgeoning battery anode market. ceed the specifications of most major EV terial before milling and shaping occurs.
Electrochemical results from ongoing manufacturers and suggest lithium-ion bat- Hoskins said thermal purification offered
GMR Paydirt QTR-Page Ad-FA.pdf 1 1/7/2022 11:01 am
commercial verification work have con- teries using Chilalo coated spherical graph- an environmentally-friendly alternative for
firmed Chilalo spherical graphite can be ite will have an exceptional cycle life and the production of battery-grade graphite






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Page 76 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

over other methods which use hydrofluoric with major EV and energy storage battery time around, especially with EV1’s major
acid. manufacturers. We can see an end-to-end shareholder ARCH Sustainable Resources
“Thermal purification is just heating the supply chain developing here from what Fund providing plenty of confidence in the
graphite up, so subject to the renewability we’re hoping will be net-zero carbon con- availability of equity funding and the ESG
of the power source, it’s an incredibly envi- centrate coming out of Tanzania into this credentials of the company.
ronmentally-friendly methodology,” he said. renewably-powered and thermally purified EV1 has appointed Auramet International
“The results of the overall programme anode material, which in our opinion would to lead the debt side of the project financing
have been genuinely world-class. For ex- be the most sustainable anode supply exercise, which could be quickly wrapped
ample, the yields into useable spherical chain on the planet.” up following completion of the updated
graphite, which are typically around 40%, Hoskins also sees upside in EV1 being DFS.
were 64% for our product…so it genuinely the only company with a downstream strat- “We had a private equity group on the
fits into the category of ‘super-premium’ egy for coarse flake graphite. Offtake part- debt side a few years ago and now we’ve
coated battery anode material that would ner YXGC is pioneering the use of graphite got private equity on the equity side, and
command a premium price. foil in green hydrogen batteries and Chila- supportive private equity that have addi-
“We’ve got enough data now out of this lo’s coarse flake graphite (comprising +100, tional capital to deploy for this project and
programme to commence qualifications +80, +50 and +32 mesh) provides ideal to follow their money, so that’s a very strong
feedstock for these value-added products. position to be in,” Hoskins said.
“We’ve been dealing with YXGC since “ARCH also have co-investment rights in
Phil Hoskins 2015, and historically, we had a toll treat- their investment deed, so if investors in their
ment arrangement in place,” Hoskins said. fund like the story, they have the opportu-
“That opportunity still exists for us but nity to invest alongside them. We expect
YXGC have gone one step further and pro- them to be able to bring to bear additional
pose that we jointly develop a manufactur- support in that regard and also in the debt
ing facility in Europe together, using their financing process.
technology and IP. “We’ve gone through a process of un-
“There’s no other graphite company I’m derstanding who’s interested in participat-
aware of that has a downstream value-add- ing in that financing and we’re now working
ed strategy for their coarse flake graphite. through the Tanzanian graphite market due
Everyone’s quite rightly focused on battery diligence ahead of the technical due dili-
anodes, but for us, this is a real differentia- gence at the end of the DFS. There’s plenty
tor to be partnering with the global leader of options available, which is pleasantly sur-
for these products.” prising.”
Hoskins expects the impending project fi-
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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 77

ADU PReVIeW




Switching on the lights in Cameroon





he release of a BFS for Canyon Re- The positive BFS forecast a pre-tax NPV disruptions sprouting from Russia’s inva-
Tsources Ltd’s Minim Martap bauxite of $US452 million, IRR of 22%, a 20-year sion of Ukraine. Since the conflict began,
project signals not only a crucial moment mine life and payback within 4.1 years. the Cameroon Government has spent up
for the company but also for Cameroon Minim Martap will produce up to 6.4 mtpa to $US500 million in subsidies, historically
which has long lacked a formidable mining bauxite @ 51.5% total alumina, a 28% in- buying more than half of its gasoline from
industry. crease in production volume from the PFS. Russia.
It contrasts with the neighbouring Gabon Historical hurdles for Cameroon’s mining Meanwhile in the country’s south, the
and DRC which have grown their own suc- have included deficient skills, infrastructure Mekin hydroelectric power station – which
cess in mining, as well as the abundance and energy supply. has faced several hurdles and delays –
of bauxite and iron ore in Cameroon’s Canyon chief executive Jean-Sebastien partially restarted operations in July and
grounds which has laid dormant for years. Boutet, who joined the company in Janu- could reach full capacity later this year. It
Bauxite is integral for the production ary, is hoping to see an improvement to is currently contributing 11.2MW to Cam-
of aluminium in a range of products from Cameroon’s energy situation alongside the eroon’s national electricity network.
manufactured goods like cans, to electron- construction of Minim Martap. “Cameroon does have a lot of access
ics and even aerospace infrastructure. “There’s a lot of large aluminium com- to hydro and they’re building additional
Global bauxite output grew 1.2% in 2020 panies, now that the BFS is out, realising capacity with hydro dams,” Boutet said. “I
to 359mt and could reach up to 406.7mt there is a huge potential in Cameroon to hope for an energy solution to be devel-
by 2025. The sector’s demand continues become a key leader in the future for high- oped because that would put Canyon and
to be driven by stimulated economies and grade bauxite,” Boutet told Paydirt. Minim Martap right to the top.”
goods consumption following the onset of “If Cameroon can unlock an economical Boutet’s experience in bauxite includes
the COVID-19 pandemic. energy solution, then [alumina production] serving on the board of Compagnie des
Canyon plans to be a producer by ship- in Cameroon is a possibility mid-to-long Bauxites de Guinée which has extracted
ping product through the Port of Douala, term. It’s all about the energy and econom- bauxite resources from Guinea since the
travelling by rail. Minim Martap has a ics.” 1960s.
108.91mt @ 51.1 aluminium oxide reserve Like other countries this year, Cameroon “Cameroon is actually very similar to
and 1,027mt @ 45.3% resource. has faced fuel pains due to supply chain Guinea is some ways,” he said. “But the




















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Page 78 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT
0622 WAF Advert 130mmx92mm.indd 1 21/6/22 6:48 pm

which makes a difference. And we now
have a bankable project in hands.
“It’s a pretty simple surface mining op-
eration. No water or washing involved. It’s
not crushing, it’s more about the mineral
sizing to avoid the oversize. A simple train
loading station, ship it direct to the port…
then the product is ready to go to anywhere
in the world.”
Workers at the Minim Martap project are part of a new opportunity for Cameroon’s While global bauxite production is on
burgeoning mining industry to achieve success
track for growth, Indonesian President
Joko Widodo’s decision to halt exports
difference is Cameroon doesn’t have any The mining permit is a natural next step, it’s
mining industry yet. It’s all projects, there’s just a matter of time.” poses a potential problem for supply.
no mine in operation, so Canyon would be Logistics to mine and export from Came- Boutet said putting a pulse on the near-
the first one. There is a difference in terms roon also received a boost in May after the term bauxite industry was “difficult” but ex-
of knowledge and experience in mining, EU pledged €123 million to upgrade parts pected Indonesia’s actions to pose an ele-
but the two countries are similar and have of the rail network which run alongside ment of uncertainty.
rich natural resources.” Minim Martap and haven’t been renovated “Indonesia supply around 20mt of baux-
The first on Canyon’s to-do list is to sign since 1974. ite to the market and [Widodo] said he
a mining convention. Boutet said recent and future upgrades would stop exports by the end of the year,”
“First there will be financing, then con- to the rail network will vastly improve pro- he said. “There’s 20mt there that could dis-
struction,” Boutet said, following a recent ject fundamentals. appear in the short term…that could create
$5 million placement by Canyon. “I have a “What has changed since the PFS is the some additional demand in the market.”
meeting lined up with key official leaders in rail upgrade. Instead of shipping 5 mtpa, – Fraser Palamara
Cameroon and believe Q3 is very likely to we’re about to ship 6.4 mtpa,” he said. “We
see the execution of the mining convention. can load a heavier, longer and faster train














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ADU PReVIeW



Deep Yellow ready to deliver





he giant jigsaw puzzle Deep Yellow Ltd its which were just pimples on the bum of a
Tmanaging director John Borshoff start- bigger deposit,” he said.
ed piecing together almost six years ago is “We took the punt geologically that we
nearing completion. would have a project of some size there
Over the coming months, Deep Yellow and it’s paid off. We started with 33 mlb and
is set to finalise its merger with rival ura- now we have 125-130 mlb, which we hope
nium player Vimy Resources Ltd and sign to get to 160 mlb and a mine life of 35 years
off on the long-awaited DFS for its flagship once we convert all the remaining inferred
Tumas project in Namibia. Both milestones resources.
are expected to signal the official arrival of “It’s been really good work from a good
a new global player in the resurgent yellow- team who have worked together effectively
cake industry. and efficiently for a long time now. Together
It also realises the vision Borshoff first with Ausenco, we’re confident we’ve got
outlined back in late 2016 when the former a bloody good, long-term project on our
Paladin Energy Ltd boss took the reins of hands.”
Deep Yellow. At the time, many believed The DFS for Tumas is on track to be
his bold plan for sector consolidation and released in the December quarter and
a significantly larger uranium footprint were will build on the results of the previously
nothing more than a pipe dream. announced PFS which forecast average
Speaking to Paydirt last month as Vimy production of 2.5 mlbpa over an initial 11.5
shareholders overwhelmingly voted in fa- years for a post-tax NPV of $US207 million
vour of merging with Deep Yellow, Borshoff and IRR of 21.1%.
said his company was on the verge of an Capex was estimated at $US98 million
exciting new era. per 1 mlb design capacity.
“It has been a journey because when we Borshoff is confident the forecast upside
came in, this company was nothing more in uranium – spot price was $US46/lb at
than a little group of disparate, small depos- the time of print – will offset inflationary cost
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• Production mining stages 1-4 : 27-year Life-of-Mine
• Scoping Study confirms sustainable profitability
+65,000 ounces pa potential
90,000 ounces pa peak production
• Aims to produce 200,000oz pa
• DFS on Stage 1 targets 663,000k oz Au: over
17-year Life-of-Mine

www.westwitsmining.com | [email protected]





Page 80 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

real structures in terms of environmental
controls, the environmental impact studies
are modelled on what we have to do here
in Australia, and there’s a real willingness to
get projects off the ground.
“We’ve done it before when we were at
Paladin, but we’re a much more experi-
enced team now. The core of that team is
still with me now at Deep Yellow and I think
our chances of success are even greater
Deep Yellow is ramping up activity in Namibia ahead of the anticipated release of a DFS for now because we’re a different calibre team
Tumas later this year to what we were back in the Paladin days.”
Meanwhile, Deep Yellow will be handed
pressures on the upcoming development Deep Yellow has been ramping up on- the keys to Vimy’s Mulga Rock uranium
and future operations at Tumas. ground activity in Namibia since May with project in Western Australia on August 5 fol-
“We’ve been saying for some time that, the full development team of contractors lowing official implementation of the $658
from late 2023, the pricing will start to react and infrastructure consultants arriving on million scheme of arrangement announced
to the obvious shortages, which have only site at the time of print back in April.
been exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine Borshoff and other company directors Borshoff said his company had spent the
conflict,” he said. are planning to travel to the Southern Afri- past four months ensuring the Vimy busi-
“There’s so much upside in the uranium can country in October for extensive meet- ness would seamlessly integrate into Deep
price that you only have to get a $US3-5/lb ings with key ministers and other stakehold- Yellow’s culture from the precise moment
increase and the whole thing recalibrates. ers in the Tumas project. the merger is completed.
We don’t think we’ll have that much mining “We like to think of ourselves as the next “Integration and assimilation is the real
labour pressure. Given the upside, where project off the rank in terms of [Tumas] be- hard work of any successful takeover or
we are, the flexibility we’ve got in the model coming Namibia’s fourth uranium mining merger,” he said.
itself, we reckon we’re absolutely on track operation after Rössing, Langer-Heinrich “You can succeed on a merger and fail
to deliver. and Husab,” he said. on the deal in terms of not having two cul-
“When it comes to the capex for any pro- “I’m not fearful of Africa or the whole way tures to work as one. I’m very aware of that
ject, it is usually very low impact. Opex is in which things are done over there. Peo- and we’ve devoted quite a bit of resources
the one that really hits, so we’re looking at ple might think it’s a little bit chaotic, but to ensure that assimilation happens.”
that more than the capex itself.” the people are very genuine. There are
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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 81

ADU PReVIeW



Hunger pains for African fertilisers





hile Morocco continues to shine as one of the world’s top-four
Wfertiliser exporters, a number of other African countries are PhosCo Ltd
looking to join the industry at a time when the sector needs it most. Country: Tunisia
Africa’s historical food supply issues have worsened this year due Market cap: $35.6 million
to the knock-on effects from the conflict in Ukraine. Combined with a
sweeping drought across the continent, farmers on the continent now PhosCo is currently working on the PFS for its Chaketma phos-
need fertiliser more than ever to feed their crops. phate project, which hosts a 148.5mt @ 20.6% P2O5 resource.
The Food and Agriculture Organization and the African Union re- The project is being designed as an open pit, low strip mine
cently estimated more than 300 million Africans were affected by the with access to gas, grid power, roads and ports.
food crisis, while the UN suspects the world’s supply of fertilisers have Chaketma’s resource is currently supported by two deposits,
almost halved over the past 12 months. with another four waiting in the halls to help boost the project’s
Fertiliser prices rose to $US287.5/t in July following an estimate by fundamentals.
Statista last year that global demand had topped at 200mt. Being close to Europe, and in a country already established as
One of the sources for fertiliser production is phosphate, or phos- an oil and gas exporter, will continue to be a major contributor to
phorous rock. Up to 90% of the world’s phosphate is used in agricul- Chaketma’s investor attractiveness.
ture, with primary production delivered by the likes of Morocco (37%), PhosCo claims Chaketma’s KEL resource, which currently
China (26.6%), South Africa (9.7%), the US (9.7%) and Jordan (5.8%). provides 55.5mt, has the potential to be its own 30-year mine
In July, China enacted a “quota system” to limit the exports of its due to the consistent, wide and high-grade mineralisation close
phosphate in the second half of the year to protect the country’s food to surface.
security. It comes after China already mildly restricted phosphate ex- In July, PhosCo raised $2 million in an early exercise of options
ports in October. and strengthened relations with the Tunisian Government after
Another source of fertiliser production is sulphate of potash (SoP) APM Graphics Management > CBE_QPV-Advert_Paydirt_Final.indd > Output: 6/7/2022 @ 18:22 > Page 1 (Pr
the permitting of a development concession for Chaketma.
APM Graphics Management > CBE_QPV-Advert_Paydirt_Final.indd > Output: 6/7/2022 @ 18:22 > Page 1 (Pr
APM Graphics Management > CBE_QPV-Advert_Paydirt_Final.indd > Output: 6/7/2022 @ 18:22 > Page 1 (Pr
APM Graphics Management > CBE_QPV-Advert_Paydirt_Final.indd > Output: 6/7/2022 @ 18:22 > Page 1 (Pr
which is primarily produced in Russia, Chile, China, Germany, Can- “The funding boost comes as development progresses at
ada and Belgium. Chaketma following encouraging early engagement with both
Paydirt journalist Fraser Palamara takes a look at the ASX-listed the Tunisian Government as well as commercial and investment
companies busily preparing projects capable of feeding Africa’s – and banks,” PhosCo executive director Taz Aldaoud said.
the world’s – nutritional needs.

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Page 82 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT




Page 1: (Process Cyan) > Page 1: (Process Magenta) > Page 1: (Process Yellow) > Page 1: (Process Black) >

Minbos Resources Ltd Using a $US360/t potash price, Kola’s post-tax NPV is fore-
Country: Angola cast at $US1.623 billion for a 20% IRR, 2.2 mtpa production
and a 31-year project life. Potash spot prices in June averaged
Market cap: $60.45 million $US562.2/t.
“The development of Kola is of global importance,” Kore chief
Minbos also recently raised money, receiving firm commitments executive Brad Sampson said. “Recent geopolitical events
for a $25 million placement in July to support the Cabinda phos- highlight the risks inherent with potash production concentrated
phate project. within a small number of companies and locations with opera-
The funds will be put towards meeting the capex requirements tions situated long distances inland, far from ports and global
for Cabinda with project construction anticipated to start Q3. customers. New potash producers are required in locations
Minbos has also diversified its interests with technical studies closer to customers.”
under way for a green ammonia project. The hydrogen-based
fuel has the potential to support carbon-free fertiliser growth. Danakali Ltd
Minbos signed a MoU with Italian company Stamicarbon in July
for green ammonia production. Country: Eritrea
“The hydro power-to-ammonia plant will support Angola’s Market cap: $84.71 million
low-carbon and inclusive growth, its agricultural output and its
smallholder farmers and communities,” Minbos chief executive Like Kore, Danakali is invested in the production of SoP and is
Lindsay Reed said. purported to possess one of the world’s largest solid salt, near
surface, high-grade SoP reserves of 1.1bt.
Kore Potash plc If successful, the Colluli project could run for 200 years. It is
Country: Republic of Congo operated in a 50/50 JV with Eritrean national mining corporation
Enamco.
Market cap: $72.75 million Danakali has been in the fertiliser game the longest of its peers
and for many years has seemingly been on the cusp of commit-
Kore recently published an optimisation study and signed a HoA ting to development.
for the construction of its Kola SoP project in the Sintoukola Ba- The biggest roadblock in Danakali’s way right now is secur-
sin, while an EPC contract was also expected at the time of print. ing project funding for Collulli which has an estimated capex of
The optimisation study reduced capital costs previously forecast $US302 million for Phase I. At the end of the previous quarter,
in the DFS from $US2.35 billion to $US1.83 billion. Expected the company retained a cash position of $19.1 million.
construction time was also reduced by six months to 40 months.
Kore expects to receive a financing proposal later in the year.




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ADU PReVIeW Rio Tinto has run into roadblocks again in Guinea





Guinea halts all



Simandou work




uinea’s Mines Minister has ordered all souba wrote, adding that the halt would apply warned that the companies risked losing their
Gwork related to the Simandou iron ore across the country, effective from July 4. mining licences if they failed to meet a tight
project to be halted after the two companies Rio Tinto declined to comment on the latest construction timeline for the Simandou pro-
involved missed an extended deadline to stoppage and WCS did not immediately reply ject
agree on a joint venture, a letter seen by Reu- to a request for comment. The March framework agreement guaran-
ters has shown. Guinea’s ruling junta has suspended con- teed the State 15% of the Simandou iron ore
Rio Tinto Ltd’s Guinea subsidiary Simfer struction of the mine and related infrastructure as well as a free and non-dilutable 15% stake
SA and Chinese-backed consortium Winning once before, in March, resulting in Rio Tinto in the railway and port JV, the Government
Consortium Simandou (WCS) have shown a and WCS signing a framework agreement has said.
“lack of willingness” to work on a partnership, that month under which they would “co-de- The Mines Minister said Rio Tinto and
Mines Minister Moussa Magassouba said in velop” infrastructure for the mine, including a WCS were stalling over the terms of the Gov-
a July 3 letter addressed to both companies. 670km railway and port. ernment’s stake in the JV, blaming the com-
In a later statement, the Government said it On June 19, the Government gave the panies for “inertia” on the issue.
was open to discussions with new partners in companies 14 days to agree to a JV. Rio Tinto has held rights to Simandou since
the ambitious project that aims to extract iron “I expect the creation of the joint venture 1997. Through Rio Tinto Simfer, it owns a
ore from Guinea’s remote hinterland to a port within 14 days,” interim president Mamady 45.05% stake in the southern half, and Blocks
hundreds of kilometres away, but which has Doumbouya said at the meeting, a video of 3 and 4 of the deposit, with Aluminium Corp of
been dogged by delays in recent years. which was posted online by his office. China (Chinalco) holding 39.95% and Guin-
“Despite the significant concessions, the Doumbouya said there had been insuffi- ea’s Government the remaining 15%. WCS
Guinean State has been kind enough to cient progress since then. holds Blocks 1 and 2 of Simandou.
make, it is clear the obstruction is being main- “This situation is not only regrettable, but
tained by both your companies, to the detri- above all, unacceptable for the state,” he said. – Saliou Samb and Helen Reid, Reuters
ment of the interests of the project,” Magas- The Guinean authorities have previously








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Page 84 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

DRC to expand copper clude Glencore SA, Canada-listed Ivanhoe
Mines Inc, China’s CMOC and Kazakh firm
Eurasian Resources Group. Some have in-
border crossing creased copper production this year.
Ivanhoe, operator of the Kamoa-Kakula
mine in DRC, transports its products by truck
to the South African port of Durban.
he Democratic Republic of Congo plans Reuters, adding that it would take at least 18 It referred to a June 6 update on produc-
Tto expand its main border post with Zam- months to complete from the date the project tion, costs and timelines, saying it expects to
bia, a source close to the Government said, is approved. reach the upper end of its 2022 guidance of
to ease truck queues of up to 60km that The source did not give an expected time- between 290,000t and 340,000t of copper
copper miners have faced this year due to line for the approval. concentrate, from 105,884t in 2021. It pro-
increased production and inadequate infra- “The turnaround time of trucks has in- jects further rises for 2023.
structure. creased substantially... it takes an extra 45 DRC is also the world’s top producer of
The backlog of trucks at Kasumbalesa, a to 60 days for the products to reach con- cobalt used to make the rechargeable bat-
border town and the main exit point for met- sumption centres in Asia, Europe or North teries that power EVs.
als exports from the DRC, is an example of America,” said a source at a company with Glencore, which produces most of its co-
supply chain disruption that will make it hard- operations in the central African country. balt in DRC, saw its global output rise 46%
er to meet future demand for copper. This compares to around 15 days in 2019. in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the
“A construction project for a second Africa’s biggest copper producer, DRCC same period last year.
Lubumumbashi-Kasumbalesa road is in the accounted for 1.8mt of mined production of Miners with operations in the DRC say
process of being signed,” the source told the metal last year, about 8.5% of the global they have been calling on the Government to
total, according to the invest in infrastructure and switch from paper
US Geological Sur- to electronic systems, arguing that projected
vey. copper shortages in future are likely to be
The long queues of exacerbated by transportation bottlenecks.
trucks are due in part More border posts would add “a signifi-
to increased traffic, cant amount of processing capacity, create
according to Michel competition between the different provinces
Kibonge Nyekuma, [and] all those customs clearing revenues
chief of staff for the would improve efficiencies,” one official at a
Minister of Mines. mining company said.
The largest min- – Clara Denina, Pratima Desai and
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aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 85

ADU PReVIeW





South African miners



call for rapid response





fter playing a pivotal role in keeping the the industry has done a good job on vacci-
Acountry’s head above water during the nations, with a rate of 76% versus less than
strongest waves of the COVID pandemic, 46% for the whole country. COVID fatalities
South Africa’s mining industry is now looking are also lower in the industry – 1.8% versus
to the Government to provide it with some more than 2.6%.”
buoyancy. Having delivered the country economic
Like its Australian counterpart, the South impetus when it most needed it, the indus-
African resources sector was a crucial con- try is now calling on the Government to stick
tributor to the national economy in 2020 with its partnership and deliver much-need-
and 2021 as international border closures ed reform to the sector. Baxter said the im-
wrecked other key industries such as tour- proved economics were created by rampant
ism and manufacturing. According to Miner- commodity prices rather than better operat-
als Council of South Africa figures, the sec- ing conditions.
tor’s direct contribution to GDP grew 36% to “This wasn’t a volume story, it was a price Cyril Ramaphosa
R481 billion ($41.65 billion) last year with its story,” he said. “Revenue grew because of
contribution to the economy improving from higher prices. As much as we managed to underperformance and the real opportunity
7.1% to 8.7%. It also employed more people, do well in 2021, we didn’t get the volumes.” cost is closer to R50 billion,” he said.
458,954, up from 452,866. Baxter said industry was welcoming of South Africa is currently crippled by lim-
Minerals Council chief executive Roger the positive comments of President Cyril ited power capacity with load shedding
Baxter told Paydirt the sector played “an ef- Ramaphosa and the active support of Man- programmes seeing power switched off for
fective role in bailing out the economy”. tashe. several hours a day. Baxter said miners had
“Some 80% of all extra revenue from cor- “The President recognises mining has a taken practical measures to alleviate the
porations came from mining, we were the key role to play in the economy and every problem.
anchor tenant of the economy,” he said. time we have discussed it with Minister Man- “There is 4.2GW of mining-related power
Baxter pointed to the industry’s partner- tashe, he tells me how much he loves min- projects and we are working with the Presi-
ship with government as the reason why it ing,” he said. “COVID really demonstrated dent to shorten the regulatory timelines and
was able to increase its economic contribu- the importance of mining to South Africa, talking with [state power company] Eskom
tion during the pandemic. mining gave government a bunch of money on streamlining the process,” he said. “On
“Because of the constructive partner- they wouldn’t have otherwise had.” the rail, we are working with Transnet to get it
ship between government and industry, we For Baxter, the critical areas to address back to targeted performance.”
ended up saving lives and livelihoods,” he are obvious – infrastructure (energy, the rail The frustration on all fronts, however, is
said. “We got people back to work quickly, network and port facilities) and regulation the speed at which reform is happening.
and Minister [Gwede] Mantashe played an (applications and approvals, tax reform). “We are unhappy that we are not seeing
important role in encouraging the Cabinet to “Some 45% of production relies on gov- the level of progress quickly enough,” Bax-
get miners back to work. ernment input through railways, ports and ter said. “We have seen the slow pace of
“We implemented a set of operating pro- power. For the railways alone, some R35 structural reforms and we are concerned the
cedures to ensure workers were safe and billion has been left on the table because of Government is still not working fast enough
on red tape. Former mining industry leader
Sipo Nkosi has been appointed the red tape-
busting tsar, so we are hopeful of progress.”
The inertia around infrastructure and a
slow regulatory process has seen South Af-
rica fall further down international investors’
country wish lists. In April, the Fraser Insti-
tute Survey of Mining Companies ranked
South Africa 75th out of 84 jurisdictions
surveyed for investment attractiveness. This
compared with 60th out of 77 in 2020 and
40th out of 76 in 2019.
At the same time, the country’s share of
global exploration expenditure remains be-
low 1%, well off the 5% high of 2003.
“That fall is alarming, particularly given the
efforts of new director general of the Depart-
Workers at Rio Tinto’s Richard Bay Minerals operation. The mining sector’s ability to
vaccinate its workforce meant it was the key contributor to South Africa’s economy in 2021

Page 86 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

Anglo American’s 510t dump truck
is piloting the company’s nuGenTM
zero emission haulage solution. It is
the first time a truck of this size and
load capacity has been converted to
run on hydrogen that will be produced
on-site in South Africa in hybrid
combination with a battery

South Africa Roger Baxter

floats hydrogen
opportunity



hile Australia’s energy revolution
Wdiscussion is dominated by lithium,
nickel and rare earths, South Africa is
pursuing a green economy fuelled by
hydrogen with the nation’s miners right
behind the initiative.
The Minerals Council of South Africa has
developed a Net Zero 2050 Action Plan on
behalf of its members with investment in
renewable energy sources such as green
hydrogen, solar, wind and battery storage
at the heart of its strategy.
“The industry has its own ambitions
related to the hydrogen economy and
we are doing work with government and
Sasol on that,” Minerals Council chief
executive Roger Baxter told Paydirt. ment of Mineral Resources and Energy, Ja- silver) from infill drilling on its Prieska copper-
However, with more than 80% of South cob Mbele,” Baxter said, laying some of the zinc project in the Northern Cape.
Africa’s currently limited power supply blame on the dysfunctional new cadastral Orion is updating its 2020 feasibility study
generated via coal, Baxter warned system. on the reopening of Prieska, which operated
the Western World couldn’t expect “South Africa is still not quite in the right for 20 years before closing in 1991.
emerging economies to move at the space to encourage a boom in exploration. Managing director Errol Smart said the re-
same rate as them. Without a functioning cadastral system, sults had exceeded expectations and would
“We are not climate change deniers, we timelines for prospecting rights are blowing benefit the company’s development plans.
are believers in a just energy transition,” he out. There is something like 4,000 prospect- “The grades intersected to date mostly
said. “The Minerals Council emphasises ing rights applications and renewals block- exceed that of the average grade of the
the criticality of a pragmatic and people- ing up the system. standing inferred resource estimate, making
centred energy transition that recognises “We are not sitting here just criticising the the early start of mining via an open pit an
South Africa’s dependency on a Government. We are saying, ‘you have a increasingly attractive opportunity,” Smart
reliable energy supply that is crucial for problem, it’s your problem and it’s our prob- said.
development and inclusive growth. lem’. We will play a role in trying to sort it out. “Our early production strategy aims to tar-
“We can’t sacrifice our energy security and “Every policy targets growth and the Gov- get the open pit and remnant pillars while de-
own development ambitions by turning off ernment has a target to get exploration up to watering is undertaken on Prieska Deeps.”
coal. We are engaged with Government 5% of world spend. Our view is that we have Meanwhile, West Wits Mining Ltd has se-
on a just transition and encourage some of the ingredients but not all of them cured an equity placement agreement with
more investment by the private sector in yet. We don’t have the treasury on board yet SBC Global Investment Fund for up to $75
renewables to enable the transition.” to implement a tax incentive, like Canada’s million as it looks to finalise development of
Baxter said miners had already targeted flow-through shares, to stimulate exploration its 4.28 moz gold Witwatersrand Basin pro-
investment in 1.6GW of renewables investment.” ject.
capacity over the next three years with a Despite the challenges, Baxter encour- Under the agreement, West Wits can elect
further 4.2GW planned. aged junior miners and explorers to consider when to place shares to SBC as it manages
“We are facing increased pressure from investing in South Africa. working capital requirements in parallel with
customers and over the next decade, “South Africa is not the perfect place, but debt funding discussions.
some 11GW of old-generation coal-fired it is a work in progress,” he said. “If you form “We are pleased to secure the agreement
power stations will need to be retired and good relationships at the domestic level, you with North American investor SBC Global In-
the energy mix will require much greater can succeed.” vestment Fund which provides the company
investment in renewables,” he said. “South Australian-listed companies are beginning flexibility to manage capital requirements
Africa has exciting prospects in the green to prove that. In June, Orion Minerals Ltd an- while focusing on the longer strategic financ-
energy space from renewables and nounced several high-grade hits (7.46m @ ing for development of the [project],” West
battery projects to Anglo American’s [plc] 9.24% copper, 0.19% zinc, 0.44 g/t gold and Wits chairman Michael Quinert said.
hydrogen fuel cell dump truck which could 17.46 g/t silver and 12.53m @ 4.89% cop- – Dominic Piper
be a game-changer for the industry.” per, 0.04% zinc, 0.51 g/t gold and 15.12 g/t

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 87

ADU PReVIeW





Southern hopes ASX is alive



to the palladium





he missing link in the recent PGMs
Trebound on the ASX has been filled
by the arrival of Southern Palladium Ltd,
which brings with it a classic South Afri-
can Bushveld Complex opportunity.
The Australian PGM trend has been
fuelled by Chalice Mines Ltd’s remarkable
discovery of the Julimar complex north-
east of Perth. A genuine greenfields find,
Julimar has prompted a rush of PGM ex-
ploration across the eastern margins of the
Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia.
Despite the excitement surrounding the
new province, Australia remains many
years away from becoming a PGM pro-
ducer. This is where Southern Palladium
and its Bengwenyama project on the East-
ern Limb of the Bushveld come in.
The Bushveld has been the world’s larg-
est producer of platinum since the first
vertical shafts were sunk on the Eastern
Limb in 1924. The industry is dominated by
majors Impala Platinum Ltd, Anglo Plati-
num plc and Sibanye Stillwater Ltd and
among these elephants it can be hard for
grassroot juniors to flourish. However, with
the PGM market undergoing structural
changes in both supply and demand, an
opportunity is emerging for a new genera-
tion of black economic empowered (BEE) Members of the Bengwenyama community with Southern Palladium managing director
companies to establish themselves on the Johan Odendaal and Kurt Worden of Bridge Street Capital Partners
famed Bushveld.
The problem until now has been finding ownership and was in court a long time, project forward. That really does set us
the funding to reach production. Southern but the Bengwenyama are the rightful apart.”
Palladium is a classic example. owners,” Southern Palladium managing Ownership secured, Southern Palla-
The company’s story started in 2006 director Johan Odendaal told Paydirt. dium set out to get the project ready for
when the traditional owners of the land, “MUM is the 100% owner of the project, development from 2015, a process which
the Bengwenyama-ya-Maswazi commu- and that process has cleared up a lot of eventually led it to the ASX.
nity, worked with consultants Minxcon to the questions around the prospecting “When we received the prospecting
lodge a prospecting right application for right. It hasn’t been contested again and right, it was in the middle of a rocky patch
the two farms they were displaced from in we reapplied and were granted an exten- for South Africa and for the PGM sector,”
the 1940s. sion to the right in 2021.” Odendaal said. “President [Jacob] Zuma
The prospecting right was awarded to The ownership structure sees the com- wasn’t really impressing investors, com-
private group Genorah Resources which munity hold 12.3% of Southern Palladium panies were having difficulties with labour
subsequently vended it into ASX-listed with the two companies retaining a 30/70 and operations and the PGM prices were
Nkwe Platinum. share of the project through MUM. at rock bottom. We were trying to get
Nkwe drilled 30 holes in 2006-07 before Having seen others fall over in the BEE funders on board, but it proved very diffi-
the Bengwenyama obtained a court inter- process, Odendaal recognises the impor- cult.”
dict to halt exploration. A near-decade of tance of a strong, trusted partnership. Conditions began to change over the
legal disputes followed, with Bengweny- “We are partners, not BEE partners,” next few years. Zuma was eventually de-
ama and Minxcon – under the BEE group he said. “The community is a big partner posed and by early 2020, platinum and
Miracle Upon Miracle Pty Ltd (MUM) – fi- in this project, and it was they who came palladium prices were turning around
nally receiving a five-year prospecting to us back in 2006,” he said. “We have thanks to supply side issues and a grow-
right in 2015. continued to build that relationship over ing recognition of the role they would play
“It has been a complicated history of 16 years. They’re excited about taking the in the green energy revolution.




Page 88 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

The problem for Southern Palladium
remained that South Africa’s investment
Australia’s Bushveld climate was not conducive to junior miner
funding.
adventures “In South Africa it is difficult to find ven-
ture capital, we knocked on a lot of doors,
Aquarius Platinum including the International Finance Cor-

The most surprising ASX-South Africa poration and other development institu-
tions and while they all said they might
story, Aquarius sprouted out of the old be interested, they wanted to see a BFS,” Southern Palladium’s plan is to upgrade
Mount Monger Mines in the mid-1990s Odendaal said. both via the drill bit. And, like other Bush-
to break the dominance of South Afri- “I met Rob Thompson [Southern Pal- veld deposits, resource definition is a rela-
can platinum’s Big Three (Impala Plati- ladium non-executive director] at a 1-2-1 tively straightforward exercise.
num, Anglo Platinum and Lonmin). The conference and we began to look at Aus- “The next logical step is to increase con-
company’s success was based on the tralia together. We found a lot of develop- fidence in the resource, which is why we
Kroondal mine on the Eastern Limb of ment happening and the renewed interest went out and sough capital when we did,
the Bushveld. Long-serving managing in PGMs, so the ASX was the ideal plat- the timing was exactly right,” Odendaal
director Stuart Murray earned himself form to launch on. Now we have the best of explained. “Of the $19 million raised, 60%
and his company a reputation as tough both worlds: venture capital and a signifi- will go straight into the ground. We have
negotiators, switching offtake/toll-treat- cant orebody.” completed a geophysical survey which
ment agreements between Impala and The decision paid off with the company’s has confirmed our confidence in the geo-
Anglo Platinum during the 2000s. The $19 million IPO being strongly supported logical structure and the intention now is to
platinum downturn of 2013 signalled the prior to listing on June 8. The company has embark on a two-phase exploration pro-
beginning of the end for Aquarius, with since held its own on the bourse, posting a gramme.
the company eventually taken over by 25% increase through to June 30 while the “Stage 1 will start on the eastern side of
Sibanye Stillwater in 2016. the property, which is quite shallow, and
rest of the resources sector took a beating. will see 63 holes drilled for 25,000m to
For Odendaal, that performance is a re-
Platinum Australia flection of Southern Palladium’s unique of- increase confidence in the resource. Our
The “could’ve been a contender” of the fering to ASX investors. target is to deliver at least 2 moz into indi-
group, PLA came close to fulfilling its “Obviously, Chalice and the others have cated then reserves down to 500m depth
early promise on the ASX, only to be done well but when you look at PGMs, you and complete a PFS on that area.
scuppered by tough conditions – both still need to be in South Africa,” he said. “Then, during the second phase, we will
underground and on the markets. The A glance at the Bengwenyama project’s bring the exploration target into the inferred
company did achieve producer status, fundamentals supports Odendaal’s as- resource. That means within two years we
turning its Smokey Hills mine on the sessment. The project already boasts an will be in a position to double the size of the
Eastern Limb on in 2008 but continuing inferred resource of 143.89mt @ 4.07 g/t global resource. That is the nature of the
problems with the mining contractors, 3E plus gold for 18.8 moz. CSA Global has Bushveld, you don’t need to go out again
labour and reconciliation meant un- defined an exploration target of a further and drill extensively, it is a tabular orebody,
derground operations never hit steady 134-201mt @ 3.5-5.2 g/t 3E plus gold. fairly consistent in grade and ratio.”
state. In the meantime, its ambitious If Southern Palladium can stick to its
Kalplat project on the northern limb was
a victim of infrastructure problems (not
least power) and investor indifference
with South Africa. By 2012 the company
was in administration before striking a
merger with JSE-listed Jubilee Platinum
in 2013.

Nkwe Platinum
The strangest company on the list, Nkwe
at one point boasted of a 68 moz PGM
resource between its two projects on the
Eastern Limb. A series of legal disputes
around ownership followed (see main
story) and the company then struck a JV
with Chinese group Zijin Mining in 2013.
Zijin eventually took full ownership of
Nkwe, delisting from the ASX in 2019.
In May 2021, it was reported Zijin had
started mining at the Garatau project,
Nkwe’s original cornerstone asset.




The Southern Palladium management team at the company’s Bengwenyama PGM project



aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 89

ADU PReVIeW


The tabular nature of the Merensky and UG2 reefs of the Bushveld
Complex make resource delineation a rapid, uncomplicated process
plans – and it is already marginally ahead
of the schedule laid out in the prospectus
– it could deliver a PFS within 24 months,
paving the way for a mining right applica-
tion.
The company is already considering its
development options.
“We will have a flotation plant to pro-
duce concentrate on site and then look
for a third-party offtake from there,”
Odendaal said. “Impala, Anglo Platinum
and Sibanye would all buy concentrate.”
The project is also blessed with infra-
structure options and Odendaal is confi-
dent the strong ownership structure will
allow for harmonious labour relations,
which hasn’t always been the case in
South Africa’s platinum sector.
“The community will assist with labour
sourcing and labour issues,” he said.
“Many of the community have worked in
the mines before so they have the skills
anyway. I think in general, there is a more
sensible approach from both sides as
well. Unions and companies are working
together now and settling on reasonable
salary increases.”
That sense of good timing extends to
the PGM market with forecasts suggest-
ing platinum, palladium and rhodium will
all be in high demand in the coming dec-
ade.
Odendaal spent much of his career as
a PGM analyst. He sees the next 10 years
as an unprecedented time for the sector.
“With this drive towards the green
economy, PGMs have found a unique
space,” he said. “Prices can’t go back to
the pre-2019 levels because the industry
is not sustainable at those prices. A large
chunk of production was underwater at
those prices, and we haven’t seen any
expansion or exploration to change that.
“On the supply side, we expect to see
solid demand from the existing auto cata-
lyst sector until 2030 with the decline
phased until 2040 and even then, there
will still be hybrid vehicle production
which will use catalysts.
“Behind that, we have the hydrogen
fuel cell technology which demands huge
amounts of these metals and then green
hydrogen which needs palladium and irid-
ium in the electrolyser. There is certainly
going to be solid demand growth for dec-
ades to come.”
– Dominic Piper







Platinum Australia was the last ASX-listed company to mine on the Bushveld, at the
Smokey Hills mine


Page 90 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

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Jupiter shoots




for the stars



fresh approach to both growth and mar- “Jupiter can become relevant in manga- low expectations due to line issues while port
A keting could turn Jupiter Mines Ltd into nese through consolidation and adding more authorities struggle to maintain capacity.
one of the most exciting African stories on the value,” Murray explained. “We have a 100- Murray said logistics were the biggest im-
ASX. year mine life in the largest manganese re- pediment to growth.
Jupiter has felt like a forgotten anomaly gion in the world as a base.” “Transnet is underdelivering by 20-30%,
since listing on the Australian bourse in 2018 The launch of the new strategy will coincide meaning we are forced to make it up through
with its cornerstone asset of a 49% holding in with the appointment of a new managing di- trucking,” he said. “So, we can increase pro-
the Tshipi manganese mine in the Northern rector, expected to be in place by Africa Down duction but that will be a high-cost solution.”
Cape, South Africa. The company appeared Under. Consolidation with other manganese op-
content to share profits from the mine with its “We have a preferential contract and we erations in the region would allow Jupiter to
shareholders without offering too much in a are working through the final contract terms. grow its capacity.
way of growth. We’re optimistic he will be in place before “Instead of being 10% of Transnet on the
However, with well-known resources exec- ADU,” Murray said. “The strategy then comes railway, we could end up with 40% capacity,”
utive Ian Murray now on board as chairman, second. Even though Blind Freddy can see Murray said. “By getting bigger, we would be
the company is preparing to announce an what it should be, it needs to be the new MD able to have conversations with Government
ambitious strategy which could see it become who articulates it and delivers on it.” and Transnet to improve our rail capacity.”
a major player in several emerging commodi- The potential options for consolidation are
ties. numerous. South32 Ltd and Anglo American
Tshipi gives it a very solid base. The mine plc are the largest players in the Kalahari Ba-
has been producing more than 3 mtpa of sin and are joined by several smaller plays.
manganese ore for more than four years, “Tshipi is on the boundary of South32’s
having started operations in October 2012. operation and there are four or five other
Jupiter’s May quarterly report highlighted operations within 100km of us,” Murray said.
just how valuable those rates can be with “We would like to get ourselves into a position
883,384t sold at an average cash cost of where we can use our paper to pick up 100%,
$US1.82/dmtu and 755,600t sold at an av- or stakes in these assets.
erage $US3.56/dmtu, delivering EBITDA of “There is definitely money to be made
$58.9 million and NPAT of $38.5 million. through consolidation. We see the opportuni-
While the mine’s 100-year lifespan would ty but need to work out what the order of play
allow that performance to continue for dec- should be. We know what Step 1 is, but what
ades to come, Murray’s arrival signals a new about Step 2, 3 and 4?”
approach from Jupiter. Ian Murray Although delighted with the performance of
“The previous strategy was to pass on the Tshipi – an achievement he credits to the local
dividends we received from the South African South African company – Murray sees sense
company directly onto our shareholders with The most obvious starting point for consoli- in deploying a diversification strategy as well,
minimal dilution,” Murray told Paydirt. “But we dation would appear to be Tshipi itself. Jupi- given the often-difficult operational climate in
sit on a world-class asset in the most impor- ter controls 49.9% of the operating company South Africa and manganese’s growing repu-
tant manganese region in the world and we Tshipi e Ntle Manganese Mining, with the tation as a battery mineral.
have begun asking ourselves what we can remaining 50.1% held by black economic em- “South Africa can be a challenging juris-
do in regard to consolidation and growth to powerment (BEE) group Ntsimbintle Mining diction, but the board and management in-
become a relevant player in the international Ltd, which is also Jupiter’s largest sharehold- country are doing a fantastic job in finding
manganese sector.” er. A structured merger could deliver 100% proactive solutions to the challenges that are
For Murray, the global conditions couldn’t ownership under the Jupiter banner while en- thrown at us and the workforce is dedicated
be more suited to ambitious companies look- suring both the company and project remain with no labour issues,” he said. “This asset
ing for expansion with the metal’s traditional BEE-compliant. The cleaner framework is is in the lowest cost quartile so it will make
markets set to be joined by new sectors in the likely to be welcomed in an Australian market money through all cycles but as an ASX-list-
coming decade. often wary of convoluted ownership structure. ed company, there are compelling reasons to
“Manganese has always been linked to Outside the immediate operation, Jupiter diversify into other EV commodities and out-
stainless steel and the EV space is a new has its eye on regional consolidation, but the side South Africa as well; whether the rest of
one for manganese,” he said. “Most people task is about more than finding more tonnes. Africa or elsewhere, including Australia.
don’t realise that 1% of manganese currently “We already have potential to grow output “Look at how successful IGO [Ltd] has
goes into EVs but that will grow to 10%, above from Tshipi but the challenge is getting prod- been with its diversification strategy. Given
any future stainless steel demand, as the EV uct to customers through existing rail and port we have this world-class asset, we can use it
revolution gathers pace.” infrastructure,” Murray said. to add others in the EV space.”
Jupiter has aspirations to catch that market South Africa has been crippled by a series – Dominic Piper
uplift but it will need the assets and the logis- of infrastructure problems with the onset of
tics to do so. The plan is to use Tshipi as a the pandemic only accelerating issues. State
springboard for those ambitions. rail provider Transnet is running 20-30% be-


Page 92 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

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ReGIonAL RoUnD-UP





Canadian lithium continues to charge




ith prospective geology, underex- duction a new mine,” he said. “As we tran- skills and mindset for mining is already in
Wplored tenements, encouraging gov- sition to cleaner, mineral intensive forms of place,” he said. “I think that’s generally why
ernment policies and plenty of downstream energy, democratic countries are going to it’s rated among the top jurisdictions by the
opportunities, Canada continues to firm as need access to stable and secure sources Fraser Institute each year.
a serious lithium player. of critical minerals. Clearly, rapid develop- “I also think it can stack up against the
Despite Goldman Sachs’ divisive claim ment of these sources is urgently required.” likes of China because of some of the in-
earlier this year the battery mineral was due McKinsey forecast in April global lithium centives the Canadian Government puts in
for oversupply, Winsome Resources Ltd demand could grow from 500,000t to 4mt place.
managing director Chris Evans told Paydirt by 2030, while supply would grow by 300%. “In Quebec, we get 40% of our explora-
the excitement for lithium was all the con- At the time of print, Australia accounted tion expenditure back in tax credits from the
trary after attending the annual PDAC con- for roughly 40% of the world’s lithium ex- Government. There are also various grants
ference in Toronto. ports but Evans expects Canada to con- available for exploration, metallurgical test
“It was completely at odds with what you tinue carving out its own stake in the market work and pursuing ecological accredita-
hear in the media and what the markets due to its encouraging policies for end us- tions; all of which we’re applying for.
seem to be indicating at the moment. It was ers. “Those sort of early stage monetary fac-
a really strong sentiment,” he said. “Having “I think Canada in particular has been tors make it competitive to get a project off
a booth at PDAC, just the foot traffic alone much more proactive than Australia to- the ground in Canada.”
was attracting so many people. wards developing a battery industry and the Such incentives continue to support Win-
“Being in a battery-associated material, adoption of EVs,” he said. “In Quebec, you some’s exploration at the Cancet, Adina
we saw loads of support. People on all lev- get a $C8,000 grant for a new EV, $C5,000 and Sirmac-Clapier lithium projects in the
els – investors, contractors, consultants, for a secondhand one. They have specific James Bay Region of Quebec.
other players in the Canadian mining space targets in place for 2030; 50% sale of EVs The company recently completed a win-
– were all very interested in us because and bans on new ICEs by 2035.” ter drill programme with intersections such
we’re involved in a battery mineral. The vibe Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta also as 25.98m @ 1.55% lithium from 5.72m,
at PDAC was excellent for battery materials continue to rank highly as attractive loca- including 11.28m @ 2.45% from 5.72m and
in general.” tions for mining investments, according to 4m @ 3.89m.
Speaking at the conference, Canada the 2021 Fraser Institute survey. Winsome will complete field work
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Evans said the Canadian Government throughout the warmer seasons, targeting
Wilkinson said it was important to speed up also provides strong financial incentives for a maiden resource for Cancet next year.
the development of battery mineral mines junior explorers to support a pit-to-product “We got some really high-grade inter-
during a “generational economic opportu- supply chain in-country, while overseas cepts, we extended our known pegmatites
nity”. constructors such as China face instability. from 600m to 1,200m. We’ve done a total
“It simply cannot be the case that it takes “Because Canada has historically been of roughly 6,000m drilling now,” Evans said.
up to 15 years to develop and bring into pro- a gold mining country, the infrastructure, “Because it’s summer over there now,
we’ve got field teams at the main orebody
stripping that back to properly map and to
figure out where next to drill to extend it.
“We’ve got other teams out in the field in-
vestigating exploration targets that we gen-
erated from geophysical surveys. They’re
really going to spend the next three months
on the ground investigating those.
“In the autumn going into winter, we’ll be
drilling at Cancet; both the main known ore-
body and exploration targets.”
Explorers like Winsome haven’t typically
fielded interest from end producers using
lithium, such as automakers, but that has
changed in recent months.
In July, researcher Fitch Solutions report-
ed 16 investments from automakers into
upstream lithium miners in an 18-month
span – an “exponential increase” from just
two investments prior to 2021.
Toyota was an early mover in 2018 when
it invested into 15% of Allkem Ltd (then
named Orocobre) to get its hands on lithium
brines in Latin America.
“We have been approached by some
Chris Evans on site at the Adina lithium project in Quebec parties that are much further downstream



Page 94 aUgUST 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT

noRtH AMeRIcA






Workers on site at one of Green
Technology Metals’ Ontario
lithium projects



























than we would have expected to be in- development mode. In late June, Sayona duction of EVs into one location – is likely
vested in our pre-resource project,” Evans Mining Ltd and ASX-listed development to prove advantageous for companies such
confirmed. partner Piedmont Lithium Inc formallly ap- as Sayona, Winsome and GT1. Tesla Inc’s
Green Technology Metals Ltd (GT1) chief proved the restart of the mothballed North Elon Musk said in June that Canada was
executive Luke Cox has also fielded inter- American Lithium (NAL) operation in Que- a possibility to house his next Gigafactory.
est from downstream players over his com- bec. Spodumene concentrate production “We are looking at sites, but we are
pany’s projects in Ontario’s Thunder Bay. is set to resume in Q1 2023, pending the considering some options more broadly in
“Because supply is at a bottleneck, successful recommissioning of the existing North America, so including Canada and
downstream players are getting very nerv- concentrator. Mexico, and the US as well,” he said.
ous as they have invested billions of dollars Sayona and Piedmont have budgeted For now, the automaker’s priority is to
into their battery and car manufacturing $C98 million ($110 million) for the restart. It ramp up production at the existing Texas
facilities and might not be able to produce comes after Sayona raised $190 million via gigafactory.
anything,” Cox told Paydirt. a placement to global institutional, profes- Reflecting on Canada’s strides made in
“We have already been approached by sional and sophisticated investors in late the lithium supply chain, Evans said Aus-
numerous downstream players to discuss May. tralia was beginning to fall behind in pro-
our appetite for offtake agreements, espe- Under an offtake agreement with Sayona, gress.
cially in North America and Asia who cur- Piedmont is entitled to purchase the greater “I think [Australia] is lagging a bit there,”
rently control supply.” of 113,000 tpa of spodumeme concentrate, he said. “It is two different things. One is
GT1 recently doubled the resource at its or 50% of the production from NAL, follow- producing the primary lithium product like
Seymour project in Thunder Bay to 9.9mt ing the restart of operations. the spodumene product. Then it’s another
@ 1.4% lithium. The company will spend Sayona managing director Brett Lynch thing going downstream and producing bat-
the rest of this year completing step-out said the company was delighted to “put the teries.
drilling at the North Aubry deposit. seal” on its plan to launch North America’s “I think Canada is excelling at the jun-
A first-hole result released in early July first local spodumene concentrate produc- ior stuff to encourage mines to get off the
defined a 17.9m spodumene-bearing peg- tion. ground, it’s also doing very well at the back-
matite from 218m, with assays pending at “All the key players in the North American end to encourage battery construction fa-
the time of print. auto and battery sector are moving to invest cilities. But there have been a couple of no-
Cox said the development boxes for Sey- in local production in Quebec, benefitting table failures in the middle for conversion.
mour were speedily being ticked. from its world-class infrastructure, skilled Nemaska [Lithium Inc] and NAL started to
“We have already commenced environ- labour, proximity to battery markets and build conversion facilities but both failed,
mental baseline studies at Seymour which low-cost, sustainable hydroelectric power,” so there hasn’t been a success story in
takes roughly two years depending on find- Lynch said. Canada yet for the mid-ground of produc-
ings,” he said. “To date, the numerous air, “Combined with our emerging northern ing lithium carbonate or hydroxide.
water, fauna and flora studies have come lithium hub, NAL will ensure Quebec is at “But there are several projects under way
back with positive results...we are also in the centre of lithium carbonate and/or lithi- to make that happen. I don’t think Canada is
the planning phase to commence our pre- um hydroxide production in North America, perfect, it certainly hasn’t got the whole life-
liminary economic assessment now that we becoming the axis on which a successful cycle sorted yet, but it’s working on parts of
have pushed through 10mt and driving to- battery ecosystem can be built.” it and being more proactive than Australia
wards a critical mass of 15mt at Seymour.” Being close to North American gigafac- is.”
Some companies are also moving into tories – facilities which integrate the pro- – Fraser Palamara




aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aUgUST 2022 Page 95

ReGIonAL RoUnD-UP





Spanish inquisition



puts EU metals



supply under the



microscope




Steven Turner
pain’s mining sector was galvanised last supplied from Russia.
Smonth after the country’s Parliament In the wake of Russia’s invasion of
overwhelmingly voted to uphold laws that Ukraine – and the trade sanctions and sup- “We’re seeing it on the food and energy
have been in place for nearly 50 years. ply chain disruptions which have followed side and we think we’ll see it on the supply
The landslide 283-36 vote was in re- – Turner said Spain could be experiencing of raw critical metals. These are real, genu-
sponse to an unsuccessful attempt by the a wake-up call right now to procure its own ine risks that we have flagged for some time
democratic socialist Unidas Podemos party critical metals. but the invasion of Ukraine – we imagine –
to impose stronger legacy responsibilities “Commodities like tungsten have been on should be a catalyst for moving people for-
on existing and future miners, a move that the critical metals list for a long time because ward.”
would potentially make it more difficult to get of its high concentration from China and a Since the uplift of demand for battery min-
a project off the ground. substantial amount from Russia,” he said. erals such as lithium and nickel, the Euro-
Steven Turner, managing director of “We feel that a domestic supply is the solu- pean Union has mobilised to better secure
Spanish tin and tungsten explorer Rafaella tion to Europe’s issues. It mitigates that con- its supply, access and processing of such
Resources Ltd, believes the support from centration of supply and it addresses where commodities.
Parliament to sustain the laws was ironically the source of the material is and that’s im- Some of the European Commission’s
symbolic of change. portant when you’re looking at human rights goals include making Europe more com-
“What is important petitive as an industry for
about that vote is it was critical minerals supply,
overwhelmingly from stimulating its production
the whole Parliament,” and recycling of metals,
Turner told Paydirt. “It’s increasing awareness of
a very rare occasion in the potential supply risks
Spain when opposition and negotiating stronger
and government vote to- trade agreements for sup-
gether. But this time they ply of critical metals.
came tougher and, in that Turner thinks strate-
statement, recognised gies like the European
the importance of critical Raw Materials Alliance
metals and mining.” (ERMA) could go a long
Spain has a long his- way in streamlining the
tory in tungsten mining approvals process for
that dates back through mines and projects such
the 20th century. The as Rafaella’s and those in
metal is important for the the future like it.
auto industry and in the “There’s a big push
production of electrodes, from the EU and Euro-
cathode ray tubes and pean Commission to try
other high-density mate- and address the supply
rials. Bayrock Resources was seeking to complete a $12 million IPO at the time of print to of critical metals,” he said.
But Spain is no longer fund battery metals exploration in Sweden “I think the biggest thing
the poster child for the being pushed for, which
metal as up to 85% of the world’s supply and environmental considerations. is coming from ERMA,
today comes from China, which also con- “We are hoping one of the positives com- is looking to elevate some of the approval
sumes half of that produce with Russia, ing out from all of the geopolitical risk is an mechanisms because that’s where a lot of
Vietnam and greater Eastern Europe add- acceleration of all [pro-mining] policies. If things are being bogged down.
ing to the supply which eventually ends up there’s anything that’s going to highlight the “Our projects, for example, are approved
being exported. risk of critical minerals supply, the invasion locally in Galicia, so there’s no strategic
In 2021, up to 8,500t of raw tungsten was of Ukraine should do that because we’re oversight. So if you have critical metals, that
consumed in Europe and 20% of that was seeing it across all sorts of commodities. are critical to the whole Spanish economy,


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where automobile manufacturing is big and In Sweden, Bayrock Resources Ltd is soon as we get funding in the bank.
needs tungsten…what’s driving permit- seeking to complete a $12 million IPO to list “We’ve got more approvals in the train
ting is very different from perhaps what the on the ASX and fund exploration for nickel, and the approvals process for drilling typi-
country’s requirements are. copper, cobalt and palladium in the coun- cally takes around six weeks if there’s no
“One thing I know ERMA would like to do try’s north. complications. We’ll be drilling some other
is figure out a way to allow approvals of cer- Bayrock managing director Ian Pringle targets; we’ve got some really nice shallow
tain projects to go through in a more strate- said Sweden was a no-brainer to explore as targets at Vuostok with some really good
gic position. They could pass projects they glacial cover has locked away prospective hits around 10-20m undercover. There’s a
deem as critical.” geology for decades. light shallow rig there we can mobilise pretty
Rafaella is currently chasing permitting “Sweden has undeveloped nickel-cobalt quickly.”
for the open pit at its Santa Comba tung- deposits,” he told Paydirt. “It’s somewhere Pringle will also practice what he preach-
sten-tin project in Spain following a positive you can develop a deposit relatively quickly, es with plans to use Scandinavian-made
PFS released in mid-June. electric-powered drill equip-
On just the open pit alone, the ment which will contain the
PFS outlined a pre-tax NPV of very metals he’s exploring for.
$94.8 million and IRR of 32.6% And just like Turner, Pringle
with payback 2.3 years after echoes the same sentiment
commissioning. that Europe’s inhouse invest-
Its proven and probable ore ments into procuring and pro-
reserves are currently estimated ducing battery metals will go a
at 7.48mt @ 0.15% tungsten for long way in fostering the mining
12,374t of contained tungsten. industry into the future.
Santa Comba already came Pringle is particularly keen to
with a permit for underground see product from Lainejaur find
works when Rafaella acquired its way to gigafactories – facili-
the project, but Turner said an in- ties that produce EVs from raw
tegrated approach will be the key material to product in one loca-
to unlocking success. tion – with the helping of local
“What we need to take this green energy like hydroelec-
mine forward is an integrated tricity and nuclear.
mine; underground and open “[The EU] have dozens of
pit,” he said. “The open pit re- gigafactories planned, they’ll
source is potentially very large. The Vuostok target provides potential exploration upside for Bayrock to be needing nickel and cobalt in
All the lower grades would be a complement the existing resource at its flagship Lainejaur project the next few decades,” he said.
larger bulk mining operation and “Hopefully we’ll have some
then you’ve got the underground high-grade an area where there hasn’t been a lot of ex- things in the production stream for them.
selective mining that would complement the ploration and where nickel and cobalt have Sweden also produces pretty much all of its
feed. been particularly overlooked. electricity from hydroelectricity and nuclear.
“Our focus has very much been on ad- “We’re currently getting approvals in place It’s very low carbon and we’ll be looking at
vancing the open pit to get to a point where for an airborne SkyTEM survey. We want to some of the Swedish and Scandinavian
we can move the overall development for- fly as many areas as we can of our ground developments in electrifying mining equip-
ward in an integrated way.” with that system to provide some really good ment.
Meanwhile in Europe’s north, the Nordic geophysical information. “We’re talking to several, large European
regions have come under increased interest “[Because of the cover] there’s not a lot of battery manufacturers that are planning gi-
from Australian explorers to secure battery outcrop and it’s one of the reasons prospec- gafactories. We are getting a lot of interest
minerals. tors in the past haven’t found these things, and gigafactories take a number of years
In July, Finnish explorer Nordic Nickel they didn’t have systems like SKYTEM to build. There will be factories coming on-
Ltd released a maiden 133.6mt @ 0.21% available to them at the time.” stream in the next 3-4 years and they’ll be
resource for its Pulju project just over one The company’s flagship Lainejaur project looking to get their nickel and cobalt within
month after listing. in the Skelleftea mining district already has the EU.
Nordic managing director Todd Ross said a JORC-compliant resource of 460,000 @ “We’ll bring a competitive advantage to
there was still significant upside to be seen 2.2% nickel, 0.7% copper, 0.15% cobalt, producing something in house. A lot of nick-
at the project. 0.68 g/t palladium, 0.2 g/t platinum and 0.65 el is produced out of Russia. The European
“Gaining access to the high quality histori- g/t gold. trend continues to cut imports from Russia
cal drill core at Hotinvaara from Outokumpu Pringle, who previously explored for co- so that supply will be affected.
has not only confirmed the extensive dis- balt near Broken Hill in New South Wales “We’ve got everything we need; we’ve
seminated nickel sulphide mineralisation under Broken Hill Prospecting (today called got smelters and refineries all around the
and the scale of the Pulju nickel system, American Rare Earths Ltd), is eager to Nordic coast within a very close distance to
but it has also highlighted the potential to spend the majority of the IPO money “in the where we are.”
discover bonanza grade massive sulphides ground”.
at depth which is the focus of our upcom- “We’ve got drilling approvals to drill test – Fraser Palamara
ing drill programme,” he said in a market the depth extent of Lainejaur,” he said. “We
release. can push the button on that very quickly as



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ReGIonAL RoUnD-UP LAtIn AMeRIcA




But wait, there’s more



ot off the heels of releasing a 2.1 moz scoping study on the project in Q1 next year in ground at roughly $100/oz, [earlier this
Hgold equivalent maiden resource for the following the resource upgrade. year] we would have been valued at $150-
Hualilan project in Argentina, Challenger Ex- “We kicked off some of the engineering $200/oz because there’s some really nice
ploration Ltd managing director Kris Knauer and geotechnical work and environmental high-grade components and as we keep
says an upgrade could come as early as baseline management,” Knauer said. drilling, we’re finding more high-grade than
November. “I don’t think the market understands how low-grade.”
“That resource was based on 125,000m robust and low-cost this project is. We re- Challenger’s current discovery cost is
of drilling from a 204,000m programme,” cently got a quote for 60-70c/L diesel deliv- $US8.20/oz gold equivalent. But Knauer
Knauer told Paydirt. “I don’t think the mar- ered to site, we can get power from the San keeps the blinkers on and tries to not let the
ket understands we only recently finished Juan Government or the power utility which gold market and costs distract him from get-
about 197,000m of that programme, so is pure hydro and solar power at 10c/kWh. ting on with the job.
we’ve got the best part of another 40,000m “We would pay a skilled mine worker “I don’t have any real expectations for
of assays pending and the market, you just
30,000m of core to be have to make sure
cut, sampled and sent that whether the gold
to the lab.” price is $US1,400/oz or
The core included in $US2,400/oz, your pro-
the maiden resource jects will make money
estimate – which or there’s a pathway to
Knauer stressed to the make money at a low
market was an interim gold price and a high
resource estimate – gold price,” he said.
covered just 2.2km of a Knauer also con-
total 3.5km strike. tends that Argentina
“Mineralisation [is] has outperformed its
open in all directions, Latin American peers
this interim resource in business funda-
provides a window to mentals as a means
the substantial potential to attract more foreign
at Hualilan,” he said in a expenditure. In mid-
June market release. July, Chinese company
Before publishing the Ganfeng Lithium Co.
maiden resource, Chal- Ltd bought two lithium
lenger had undertaken The volume of core at Challenger’s Hualilan gold project in Argentina signals a swift upgrade to carbonate-producing
an internal review of the maiden resource released in June salt lakes from Lithea
the project where “just Inc for $US962 million,
over 1 moz” of gold in a clear sign inter-
equivalent was delineated while one-third of there about $US1,500-2,000/month. So, national investors are willing to reconsider
the way into the drilling programme. Knauer two thirds of our costs are less than a third Argentina after a decade in the wilderness.
anticipates that pace will be maintained. of what Australian or US mining costs are.” In contrast, Chile’s constituent assembly
“We expect the next 40% of drilling to de- While bullish on the exploration and de- in March approved an early-stage proposal
liver almost metre-for-metre what the first velopment front, Knauer continues to feel to nationalise its copper and lithium mines
62% of drilling has given us,” he said. dismayed at the market’s response to the which are some of the largest in the world.
If the first bout of drill results following the work thus far. The proposal received 13 votes, three
maiden resource are anything to go by, then After releasing the resource for Huali- against and three abstentions. The policy
Knauer’s confidence could be warranted. lan, Challenger shares fell more than 30% change, which would make it easier to en-
Standout hits later in June included 2.4m in value to trade at 18c each at the time of act new laws and create uncertainty for for-
@ 64.7 g/t gold equivalent, 3.7m @ 8.5 g/t print. eign investors, approaches a final vote on
gold equivalent and 6.6m @ 6.4 g/t gold This devaluation is despite Challenger September 3.
equivalent. meeting all guidance, prompting Knauer “We’ve recently seen different countries
“Once we get more assays back, we’ll re- to point towards a weakened gold market like Argentina and Ecuador become more
lease the upgraded resource later this year. that has taken a particular hit the past six attractive than Chile, which was a go-to
Worst case, it would be in December, but months, burning mid-tier producers such as destination but is now nationalising assets,”
I’m hoping for November,” Knauer said. “To St Barbara Ltd which recently fell as low as Knauer said.
turn around 85,000m of core at a time of 75c/share. “Meanwhile, the Argentinian Govern-
worldwide delays, that’s roughly what it will “We previously told the market we hoped ment has made a dedicated effort to get
take. to start with 2 moz, which we did,” he said. mines into production because they know
“Based on drilling since the resource cut- “It’s really nice high-grade core with 1.1 moz they need foreign currency.”
off date, we expect this trend of significantly @ 5.6 g/t gold equivalent. [I believe it will]
more skarn to continue which will be a ma- be Argentina’s next mine. Unfortunately, we – Fraser Palamara
jor boost for the project.” put it out into a [weak] market.
Challenger also anticipates releasing a “Right now, the market is valuing 2 moz


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Searching for ASX companies in Brazil


Company Commodities Market Cap
lithium in Oz Minerals Gold and copper $5.45 billion

Jervois Global Cobalt and nickel $714.28 million
‘elephant country’ Centaurus Metals Nickel $371.58 million

Latin Resources
Lithium
$125.45 million
Big River Gold Gold $80.99 million
ollowing a July listing on the ASX, from identified out- Tombador Iron Iron ore $51.17 million
FOceana Lithium Ltd chairman Gino cropping. BBX Minerals Precious metals $46.17 million
Vitale is confident of unearthing critical “We’re fortunate
minerals success out of Brazil – a country enough that we’re Aguia Resources Phosphate and copper $23.19 million
historically recognised for its coal and iron not starting from Oceana Lithium Lithium $22.21 million
ore mining. scratch,” Vitale
Oceana brings to the bourse the Solo- said. “The fact that Meteoric Resources Gold $18.31 million
nopole lithium pegmatite project, covering we’ve inherited a Alvo Minerals Precious metals $16.02 million
114sq km of ground across eight permits in large database
the coastal state of Ceará. from our previous
Recent foreign success in Latin America predecessors is dustry, it’s not easy to find people with ex-
has typically been in the likes of Argentina, giving us a head start when it comes time perience,” Vitale said. “We’ve been fortu-
Chile, Ecuador and Peru; ranging in com- to identify potential drill targets. nate to secure Sebastian and others who
modities from gold to copper to lithium. “There’s been about three years of work were involved in exploration and produc-
However, a combination of Brazil’s geol- done on the project and that included map- tion with Galaxy. It always helps when you
ogy, business fundamentals and indicators ping and remote sensing. The artisanal have people who know the rocks.”
for revitalised foreign trade has Vitale bull- mines also haven’t gone any deeper than Meanwhile in July, the Brazilian Govern-
ish the company’s $6 million in IPO money 10m because of the hard rock.” ment enacted a policy change for lithium
will be spent wisely. Oceana’s pre-IPO register included a exporters to no longer need approval from
“It’s fair to say Australian companies cornerstone cash injection from Sichuan the Science and Technology Ministry to
have not had the experience in Brazil that Yahuan Industrial Group. The Chinese ship their product.
they have had elsewhere, like in Chile, but company is the third largest lithium hydrox- The move to cut red tape comes as
I think that is changing,” Vitale told Pay- ide producer in the world and a major sup- Brazil seeks to be a standout lithium ex-
dirt. “I think it’s changing for a very simple plier to Tesla Inc and other notable players porter after prices peaked as high as
reason: the country is highly prospective in the battery space. $US78,000/t in April.
geologically, it’s incredibly well-endowed Vitale said such an investment was in- Mines and Energy Minister Adolfo Sach-
dicative of hungry end-users swimming sida said the Government’s decision could
upstream to safeguard against supply redirect lithium investments away from
shortages. Eastern Europe and Asia towards Brazil.
“They [Sichuan] want to align themselves “That increases legal certainty and pre-
with upcoming producers so as not to miss dictability [for companies] while reducing
the boat,” he said. “It’s a very interesting bureaucracy,” Sachsida said.
arrangement because we haven’t had to The policy change comes four years af-
give away any offtake rights. They’ve sim- ter the Port of Rotterdam Authority, man-
ply made an investment to back the explo- ager of Europe’s largest port, purchased
ration team.” 30% in the port of Pecém in Ceará.
The Oceana board includes execu- Cargo throughput at the Port of Pecém
tive director Sebastian Kneer, formerly of has grown at an average of 26% each year
Galaxy Resources, non-executive direc- over the past decade, handling up to 17mt
tor Qingtao Zeng who also serves on the of cargo in 2018.
board of North American lithium explorer Such a collaboration is an indicator of
Winsome Resources Ltd, and non-execu- strong business fundamentals for Vitale.
Gino Vitale tive director Simon Mottram. “The port of Pecém is being established
“We are fortunate to have a local direc- with the cooperation of Rotterdam to in-
and it’s unexplored. It’s huge, it’s elephant tor, Simon, who has been a resident of corporate their systems for exporting bulk
country.” Brazil for more than 12 years and is flu- commodities,” he said. “[Ceará are] very
Solonopole has been subject to shallow ent in Portuguese. That helps a lot,” Vitale serious about developing their industries
artisanal mining and the work of a previous said. and they’re doing something about it, not
company which lost the project to Oceana “We’re very keen to hit the ground run- just talking about it.
following the breakdown of a JV. This has ning, we’ve inherited the ‘A Team’ from “About this time last year, Fortescue
left guidelines for Vitale and his team to Galaxy Resources, in particular Sebastian Future Industries even signed a MoU with
explore deeper when it comes time to spin Kneer.” Ceará to develop their hydrogen industry.”
the drill rig. Galaxy merged with lithium producer – Fraser Palamara
A previous soil sampling programme at Orocobre last year to operate as Allkem
the project took place over a 400 by 400m Ltd, the Australian-Argentine lithium pro-
grid and Oceana plans for a more refined ducer valued at more than $6 billion.
follow-up programme with some guidance “Because lithium has been a nascent in-


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SIGNED, SEALED & DELIVERED Protecting Directors. Together.





Oz Minerals chooses inform decision processes,” he said. “This ment, academia, mineral exploration, pe-
deployment will seek to illustrate the value
troleum, hydrogeology, geothermal energy
Aussie-made tech this can create within accelerated studies and geotechnical engineering. It currently
and the ability to provide additional support has long-term contracts with more than 20
Orexplore Technologies Ltd’s analysis to techno-economic assessments. geological surveys and several mining com-
technology will be used by Oz Minerals Ltd “We remain focused on the commerciali- panies.
at its exploration sites to scan thousands of sation of our transformational technology The purchase will give SensOre access
metres of core samples as part of a $2.35 platform through field deployments and lab- to several new targeting and decision based
million binding agreement inked in July. oratory scanning to unlock new value for our proprietary technologies using 2.5 dimen-
The GeoCore X10 hardware will be used customers.” sional airborne EM technology, tensor gra-
to scan and analyse up to 30,000m of core dient technology and automated workflows.
over a six-month period. The hardware will SensOre management said the purchase
be delivered to site in an all-inclusive ship- SensOre makes an was made to bolster its own AI technology
ping container which will be used by on-site intelligent purchase and to access Intrepid’s “large client base
technicians and support staff. and strong cash flows”.
The collaboration is part of Oz’s “Think SensOre Ltd is expected to bolster its The purchase comes after a successful
& Act Differently” (TAD) programme which business after moving to purchase geophys- collaboration between the two company’s
investigates new ways to bolster operations ics software company Intrepid Geophysics technologies during a pilot project in the
and exploration through innovation. as part of a $4 million deal. Stawell and Ballarat gold corridors earlier
Results using Orexplore’s technology will The Melbourne-headquartered Intrepid this year.
be assessed by the TAD team to inform the offers a suite of geological technologies to “Acquiring Intrepid Geophysics is a major
company on how to make exploration more complement SensOre’s own platform of opportunity for us,” SensOre chief executive
efficient. machine learning and artificially intelligent Richard Taylor said. “Intrepid’s deep geo-
The GeoCore X10 hardware will be able exploration services. science and machine learning expertise in
to rapidly extract information from up to 1m The $4 million acquisition will be funded geophysics complements SensOre’s geo-
of drill core in less than 15 minutes. GeoCore via issue of $3 million of SensOre shares chemistry and economic geology focus for
X10 will also be joined by Orexplore’s Insight and $1 million in cash. SensOre expects targeting in mineral exploration. Demand
software which allows for remote decision the purchase to boost its yearly revenue by for advanced geophysics software is strong
making during the exploration process. roughly $2 million. and deployed globally.”
Orexplore managing director Brett Giroud Intrepid’s services include airborne and
said the deal with Oz was indicative of the ground geophysical data processing (In-
industry’s hunger for new technological ad- trepid 3D), airborne EM data processing EQ contract sings
vancements. (Moksha-EM), 3D geological modelling pro- a tune for Golding
“This agreement further demonstrates grammes (Argus) and web-based search
increasing demand for non-destructive, 3D catalogues for geoscientists (JetStream II). EQ Resources Ltd has brought on Gold-
information sourced rapidly from the field to Intrepid’s products are used in govern- ing Contractors Pty Ltd for the early stage
works of a planned open pit restart at the Mt
Carbine tungsten mine outside Cairns.
Open pit operations are forecast to begin
in Q1 2023 with Golding to collaborate on re-
vising the pit’s design, selecting equipment
for cost optimisation and managing the pit’s
development in line with Queensland mining
legislation.
“Golding has strong credentials including
specialist mine site rehabilitation works and
environmental earthworks,” EQ chief execu-
tive Ken MacNeill said.
Orexplore’s core analysing technology will be delivered to OZ Minerals’ work sites in a “Mt Carbine is ramping up treatment of
shipping container























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