The Northern Miner August 7 2023 Issue 16

Sitka Gold drills to expand RC gold project as Snowline steals Yukon limelight

SITE VISIT | Surging Tombstone Gold Belt holds several development opportunities

Newcrest interim CEO on Newmont merger, and why copper’s outshining gold

EXCLUSIVE | Sherry Duhe says block caving is Newcrest’s ‘super power’

BY ALISHA HIYATE

Sherry Duhe has only been in the mining world for a year and a half. But she’s already been tasked with steering Australia’s largest gold miner, Newcrest Mining (TSX: NCM; ASX: NCM), through a merger with the world’s biggest gold producer, Newmont Mining (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM).

The two gold miners reached a US$21.2-billion deal in May for Newmont to acquire Newcrest at what Duhe describes as a “very healthy” premium.

“It’s all now public knowledge that they came back a number of times and bid again,” Duhe said during an interview with The Northern Miner at the AustraliaCanada Economic Leadership Forum in Toronto in July. While she says the early bids were “respectable,” Newmont had to come back quite a few times before Newcrest’s board “felt we could not say no,” she explained. “It needed to be a very healthy price because the company is not in distress and we were not up for sale.”

Newcrest shareholders will vote on the deal in the fall, with the merger expected to close before the end of the year.

Duhe joined Newcrest in February 2022 as CFO before being asked

to take on the interim CEO role just 10 months later when former CEO Sandeep Biswas retired amid investor discontent.

Before Newcrest, Duhe spent close to three decades in oil and gas, most recently as CFO and executive vice-president at Australia’s Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS) and before that, with Royal Dutch Shell and others.

Innovation gap

While mining has a reputation for being too conservative next to its innovative oil and gas cousin, Duhe doesn’t see it that way.

“Could we be looking across to oil and gas more to think about

some of the applications? I think we probably could. But the mentality (in mining) I would say is just as innovation-oriented as in oil and gas.”

The Louisiana native — and now Australian citizen — points to Newcrest’s history as an innovator in block cave mining, a low-cost method of mining underground lower-grade porphyry ore. The company bought a 70% stake in the Red Chris project in British Columbia in 2019 because of the opportunity to apply the same technique, which it’s developed at its Cadia mine in Australia, and which Duhe refers to as Newcrest’s “super power.” A feasibility study on the underground gold-copper development is expected later this year.

Where oil and gas does have mining beat, Duhe says, is in sharing best practices on technology. That happens more often in the energy sector because of more harmonized standards globally and because of the level of risk and danger involved in infrastructure such as offshore platforms and petrochemical complexes, she notes.

“I think that all mining companies, regardless of what country you operate in, should be sharing best practices with each other.

See NEWCREST / 5

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND IN DAWSON CITY, YUKON

Cor Coe might be the Maytag repairman of mining. He’s sure he’s got a good product but no one’s calling.

The CEO of Sitka Gold (CSE: SIG) is sitting on the RC gold project in the Yukon with visible gold in assays, 1.3 million inferred oz. and a road right to his door. Yet Sitka’s share price has been stuck near 12¢ for eight months while Snowline Gold (TSXV: SGD), farther east in the territory about 200 km from the nearest main road, and without a resource estimate, has a $19-million investment from B2Gold (TSX: BTO) and a stock that’s surged 81% since the end of May.

“It’s tough when you’ve got the market where it’s not really interested in gold deposits except for Snowline so I think if it wasn’t around, we’d be the golden boy here,” Coe told a tour group on site. “We got knocked off the pedestal.”

Sitka is part of the surging Tombstone Gold Belt east of historical Dawson City that includes several early-stage projects such as those by Snowline, Banyan Gold (TSXV: BYN; US-OTC: BYAGF), Sabre Gold Mines (TSX: SGLD; US-OTC: SGLDF) and St. James Gold (TSXV: LORD). Victoria Gold’s (TSX: VGCX) Eagle mine is its only current Yukon hard rock producer in the belt that arcs from northern British Columbia, along the border with the Northwest

Territories then west to Kinross Gold’s (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) Fort Knox mine near Fairbanks, Alaska.

Boosters say area production could drown Dawson’s gold rush

Sitka Gold CEO Cor Coe holds a piece of core drilled from the RC gold project, located in the Tombstone Gold Belt in western Yukon. COLIN MCCLELLAND

At the Red Chris copper-gold mine in B.C., owned 70% by Newcrest Mining and 30% by Imperial Metals. NEWCREST MINING

Copper, gold, uranium and more / P11–16

Sherry Duhe, Newcrest Mining’s interim CEO. ALISHA HIYATE

Bolivia looks to mineral wealth as gas era fades

SOUTH AMERICA | Will an economic slowdown make La Paz more welcoming to miners?

BY TOM AZZOPARDI

Once hailed for its growth, Bolivia is facing an economic reckoning.

The huge gas reserves on which the country has prospered for the last two decades are dwindling. Years of underinvestment in explo-ration mean that the country is struggling to meet export commit-ments to neighbouring Argentina and Brazil.

The launch in July of the new Nestor Kirchner gas pipeline linking Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale field with the capital Buenos Aires will hasten the decline. Once oil firm YPF completes a second stage next year, authorities say Argentina will no longer have to import gas either from Bolivia or by sea.

Meanwhile, as Bolivia runs out of hydrocarbons, the country is fast becoming a net energy importer.

Its deteriorating terms of trade are now threatening the economic model left by strongman President Evo Morales (2006-2019) who subsidized food and energy prices to shield household incomes from the vagaries of international markets.

The strategy means Bolivia has dodged the soaring inflation which has scourged its neighbours; consumer prices rose by less than 1% in the first six months of the year.

But as the growing cost of subsidies pushes the government further into debt, the model is beginning to buckle.

Reserves at Bolivia’s central bank have tumbled from US$15 billion in 2014 to just US$3.2 billion today. Rumors that the country could soon run out of U.S. currency triggered panic buying earlier this year, with long lines of Bolivians queuing for hours to change money.

Bond yields spiked and a rating agency slashed Bolivia’s credit rating amid fear of a possible default. To avoid a collapse, the central bank began selling dollars directly to the public and, to bolster its reserves, sold half of its gold reserves.

This has steadied nerves. Dollar purchases have declined since

the central bank’s governor Edwin Rojas reassures the public it has enough reserves to cover imports and debt payments.

But nobody believes Bolivia is out of trouble. Another fall in exports, jump in energy prices or crisis in its volatile politics could spark another panic.

Economic miracle

The crisis marks the end of Bolivia’s economic miracle which made it one of South America’s fastest growing economies so far this century. Gas-backed public spending helped to lift millions out of poverty and created a new middle class.

As the gas boom fades, authorities in La Paz are looking for new industries to take its places.

In the eastern grasslands, cattle ranching and soy farming are booming to meet demand from China.

But the government is putting more hope in the huge lithium resources, estimated to be the world’s largest, hidden in the saltflats in the western highlands.

Though nationalized in 2008, so far there has been little progress bringing the lithium to the surface.

State lithium company Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) is currently ramping up the first industrial-scale plant with capacity to produce 15,000 tonnes a year of lithium carbonate.

A lack of technology as well as testy regional politics are to blame. A deal with a small German firm had to be cancelled in 2019 as politicians in Potosí, the nearest city, demanded a bigger slice of the pie.

Now following an international tender last year, YLB is signing contracts with foreign firms that will provide the technology to massively increase production over the next decade.

In January this year, the company signed a contract with a consortium of three Chinese companies — CATL, the world’s largest producer of lithium-ion batteries, CMOC Group (previously China Molybdenum) and BRUNP Recycling. They plan to invest a total of

US$1.4 billion to build two plants, each with capacity to produce 25,000 tonnes a year of lithium carbonate.

In June, YLB signed two more contracts — with Chinese conglomerate Citic Group and Uranium One, part of Russian nuclear energy firm Rosatom — to build two more plants of a similar scale.

Given the size of the resources, Bolivia sees its lithium industry playing a key role in the transition to electric vehicles and with potentially huge economic benefits.

The question is how quickly these projects can be brought into production. Even after the regulatory and political hurdles, lithium brine operations are notoriously tricky to bring into production, each Salar presenting its own chemical challenges. The giant Uyuni salar for example has much higher levels of precipitation and impurities like manganese than Chile’s Salar de Atacama.

These challenges mean that it will take time for revenues from lithium exports to begin flowing.

“These projects are not going to have any impact on lithium pro-

duction in the next five years,” predicts Daniel Jimenez, a former SQM executive who now runs his own consultancy business iLi Markets.

By then the lithium boom could be fading. As global demand for the mineral is expected to grow sixfold by 2030 to around 2 million tonnes, producers from Argentina to Australia are ramping up output. Since the end of last year, lithium carbonate prices in China have tumbled from over US$80,000 a tonne to just US$30,000 a tonne by some estimates. Meanwhile, changing battery technology and recycling could limit the need for new supply.

“It’s a misperception to imagine that lithium will be to Bolivia what oil is to Saudi Arabia,” Jimenez says.

Another promising sector is metallic mining. Mining has been a central part of Bolivia’s economy and culture since colonial times when silver from the mines of Potosi financed the Hapsburg Empire. In the 20th century, it was a leading tin producer.

But this century, nationalizations and volatile politics scared off

most foreign investment in the sector. Glencore (LSE: GLEN), Coeur Mining (NYSE: CDE) and Sumitomo Corp. have all exited the country in recent years. But junior companies are continuing to see opportunities.

Last year, Santa Cruz Mining (TSXV: SCZ) acquired Glencore’s zinc operations for US$20 million while privately-owned San Cristobal Mining acquired the San Cristobal mine from Sumitomo Corp. in a deal completed in February.

Meanwhile, greenfield discoveries are being made.

New Pacific Metals (TSX: NUAG), one of the first exploration firms to return to Bolivia, is already planning a new silver mine at its Silver Sands project, where it has identified a 200 million oz. resource (54.3 million tonnes grading 116 grams silver per tonne).

The company is now advancing a second major find, Carangas, in the west of the country where as well as silver, it could also be on the brink of a major gold discovery.

“Bolivia possesses remarkable geology, along with a rich mining heritage and has remained relatively unexplored over the past two decades,” NPM President Andrew Williams told The Northern Miner

The authorities have picked up on this renaissance in mine investment and are getting behind projects which they hope will bolster Bolivia’s economic fortunes.

President Luis Arce has identified several promising projects, including Silver Sands, which he hopes will enter production by the time he stands down in 2025.

Last month he appointed a new minister of Mining and Metallurgy charged with speeding up development of the sector.

“Let’s put our foot down to create more jobs, new businesses, more revenue with a modern mining industry that benefits all Bolivians,” Marcelino Quispe said on taking office. TNM

The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. DELPHOTOSTOCK/ADOBE STOCK

“IT’S A MISPERCEPTION TO IMAGINE THAT LITHIUM WILL BE TO BOLIVIA WHAT OIL IS TO SAUDI ARABIA.”

DANIEL JIMENEZ, FOUNDER OF ILI MARKETS

New Pacific Metals’ Silver Sands project in Bolivia. NEW PACIFIC METALS

Patriot Battery posts first Corvette lithium resource

QUEBEC | Shares dip on report outlining 109.2M inferred tonnes at 1.42% lithium oxide, while Albemarle invests $109M

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

Patriot Battery Metals (TSXV: PMET; ASX: PMT) has delivered the long-awaited initial resource estimate for the CV5 pegmatite at the Corvette lithium project in James Bay, Que., saying that results confirm the asset as the largest lithium pegmatite mineral resource in the Americas and the eight largest globally.

The deposit holds 109.2 million inferred tonnes at 1.42% lithium oxide (Li2O) and 160 parts per million tantalum, for 1.6 million tonnes of contained Li2O, or 3.8 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, using a 0.4% lithium cut-off grade, according to the resource report released on July 30.

Using a 1.4% cut-off, the CV5 resource is 46.3 million tonnes at 2.03% Li2O or 3.8 million tonnes of contained lithium carbonate equivalent. The figure, though below some analysts’ estimates, is strong enough to disprove criticism levelled by short seller firm Night Market Research in early July.

Shares cratered despite the positive announcement, dropping over 6% in Australia, about 5.5% in New York and 6.7% at press time in Toronto, where Patriot shares traded at $14.36 apiece. The company has a market capitalization of $1.8 billion and shares traded in a 52-week range of $2.85 and $17.74.

“We could not be happier with the result of this maiden mineral resource estimate at CV5, which will be the first of multiple resource estimates for the Corvette Property

over the coming years,” the company’s president and CEO, Blair Way, said in a statement.

He noted the publication of the first resource for CV5 was a “key milestone” for the company and will underpin future economic and development studies as Patriot looks to aggressively advance the asset towards production.

Albemarle (NYSE: ALB), the world’s largest lithium producer,

Corvette lithium project

decided to seize the opportunity, offering $109 million to Patriot for a 5% stake in the company.

Albemarle will subscribe around 7.1 million Patriot shares at an issue price of $15.29 per common share under a subscription agreement. The issue price represents a 7% premium to the stock’s July 31 closing price on the TSX Venture Exchange. Under a standstill agreement, Albemarle has agreed

PATRIOT

not to further increase its stake in Patriot for a period of 12 months and to support Patriot management’s recommendations on ordinary matters.

The companies also signed a memorandum of understanding to study the viability of building a lithium hydroxide plant in Canada or the United States to process material from Corvette. The agreement comes with an exclusivity

period of nine months, and can be extended.

The resource and geological modelling have outlined significant potential for growth at CV5, which remains open at both ends along strike, and to depth along a significant portion of its length, the company said.

Aussie majors circling Rumours of Australian players eyeing Patriot as a potential acquisition target have been in Australian media on and off this year. In February, it was said that Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN), Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) and Wesfarmers (ASX: WES) were all interested in buying the Canadian miner or, at least, a stake in it.

Australian lithium miners, such as Pilbara, Orocobre and Galaxy Resources, are all looking to expand their global footprint and diversify their supply sources amid rising demand for battery metals. Analysts say they see Patriot as an attractive opportunity to gain access to the North American market and secure long-term supply contracts with leading battery manufacturers.

Quebec has become a hard rock lithium hotspot as companies vie to supply the surging electric vehicle market. The federal government approved the James Bay open-pit project by Galaxy Resources, a part of Allkem (TSX: AKE; ASX: AKE), in January.

Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA) was expected to make its first spodumene shipment from its North American Lithium operation in July. TNM

INVESTMENT IN GROWTH OPENS

OPPORTUNITIES

The outcropping CV5 deposit at Patriot Battery Metals’

in Quebec.

BATTERY METALS

A world-class business has to have a worldwide presence. In Barrick’s hunt for new discoveries with Tier One1 potential, it is steadily expanding a global footprint which already covers 19 countries on four continents. At the same time, further exploration of the existing base is delivering major growth prospects, while a valuedriven strategy builds a future of sustainable pro tability.

GLOBAL MINING NEWS • SINCE 1915 www.northernminer.com

What’s driving gold miners’ copper craze?

What happened to graphite’s ‘lithium moment’?

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old miners have never been more bullish. But not on gold — on copper. The red metal is one of the driving forces behind Newmont’s takeover of copper-rich fellow gold miner Newcrest Mining. The US$21.2-billion deal, expected to close by year-end, will be the largest yet for the gold sector. And it will more than triple Newmont’s copper output from 100 million lb. this year to 350 million pounds.

BY JAMES COOPER

BY ALISHA HIYATE

Rumour has it that Barrick Gold has been courting First Quantum Minerals, the world’s sixth-largest copper producer and fellow operator in Zambia’s copper belt, according to a Bloomberg report in June.

Even Agnico Eagle Mines, which currently produces very little copper (6.4 million lb. last year versus Newmont’s 84 million lb.), bought half of Teck Resources’ San Nicolas copper-zinc project in Mexico last year.

The world’s top gold producers aren’t the only ones looking to increase their exposure to copper as forecasts from groups such as CRU and S&P Global predict shortfalls of between 4.7 million tonnes and 19 million tonnes by 2030.

“Nearly every gold company we speak to is looking at copper acquisitions,” Michael Scherb, the founder of private equity firm Appian Capital Advisory told The Northern Miner in July.

Why?

Well, there’s certainly increasing recognition that the world is heading toward a major copper crunch. But Scherb points to another driver behind the trend.

“I think what you’re seeing happening is a lot of gold miners going through identity crises at the moment, justifying their existence to investors,” he said.

That’s despite the gold price being near record highs.

Institutional investors in particular have a strong focus on ESG, he explained. “Their risk committees will be asking, ‘Why are we investing into something that moves a lot of dirt to get a very small amount of finished product that doesn’t have an industrial use?’”

Carbon emissions also play a role, says Mark Fellows, CEO and co-founder of ESG consultancy Skarn Associates.

“The gold mining execs are waking up to the fact that their product is not only not very relevant to the energy transition, but that the mining of it could be perceived as a source of non-essential carbon emissions,” he told The Northern Miner by email. “Therefore, there is a quiet consensus building among the larger gold miners that they have to get to net zero ASAP, or risk losing social licence to operate.”

Fellows notes that while gold miners are making inroads on electrifying mobile equipment, some of the bigger companies are heavily exposed to coal-fired power. In addition, gold miners with refractory ore, such as those operating in Nevada (both Barrick and Newmont), rely on energy intensive processes to recover the precious metal.

“Decarbonizing this will be costly, and some aspects may not make economic sense,” he said.

‘Trillions of dollars begging to find a home’

As the leader of a gold miner with substantial copper assets that has also spent close to 30 years in the oil and gas sector, Sherry Duhe, interim CEO of Newcrest Mining, has a unique perspective on investors’ ESG expectations.

Duhe was CFO at Australian liquid natural gas (LNG) producer Woodside Energy before coming over to the gold miner in February 2022 as CFO.

“I was curious to see what the sustainability or environmental pressure would be because obviously in oil and gas, you’re fighting for your right to continue to exist and to be part of the energy transition — even in the LNG space,” she told The Northern Miner in July at the Australian-Canadian Economic Leadership Forum in Toronto.

“What I’ve seen in the gold space, at least with our investor base, is that there is a lot of interest and curiosity around what is your sustainability road map,” including emissions reductions, water and tailings management, interactions with local communities and diversity in the workforce, Duhe said.

“But I have not personally experienced it as pressure. It’s been more curiosity and I’ve actually found that odd coming out of oil and gas because often the portfolio managers are the same people,” she added.

For now, she sees the focus on dividends in the investment community as a bigger constraint than ESG.

While Newcrest investors have “huge enthusiasm” for the company’s high copper exposure, she sees an urgent need for investors to better recognize the role of critical minerals like copper in achieving net zero.

“There is this juxtaposition where investors are saying, ‘I know you need to invest and I know you need to turn capital back into the company, but I have this KPI and I need dividends. So tell me how you’re going to do both.’”

Duhe points to those pressures as a key factor behind the consolidation that’s starting to happen in the sector.

But without unleashing the capital that’s needed to get more copper out of the ground, that won’t be enough to meet coming demand, which Duhe says will require more copper in the next 27 years than produced in the last 125 years.

“We keep going back to the same superannuation funds, traditional institutional investors, when in fact there are many billions and trillions of dollars sitting out there begging to find a home on green energy. But I think we haven’t broadly made that connection between the fact that critical minerals are the starting ingredient of green energy.”

According to S&P Global, the deal value of base metals M&A last year (97% of that focused on copper) jumped 65% to US$14.6 billion, outshining gold’s deal value of US$9.9 billion. With copper M&A showing no signs of waning this year, gold miners will be stepping up their search for the metal that soon, no one will be able to get enough of. TNM

Graphite has failed to deliver on its lithium moment that some analysts (myself, included) believed would materialize in 2023.

When I say, ‘lithium moment,’ I mean a repeat of the exceptional returns the lithium sector delivered last year on the back of expanding electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing capacity in the U.S. and Asia.

It seemed graphite, the anode material used in EV batteries, was set to follow in lithium’s wake, having been ignored by investors throughout last year’s lithium buying mania. Yet, rather than boom, the sector has slid backwards for most of 2023.

So, given that far more graphite material is needed (by weight) than lithium in an EV battery, does this represent a growing mismatch between the prices of various future facing commodities?

Well, perhaps, but there are some key points that make the pricing of graphite somewhat unique compared to its more ‘fashionable’ EV-battery material cousin, lithium.

First, when people look at graphite as an investment theme they tend to think exclusively about its role as anode material in EV batteries, a future facing metal set to boom in our net zero energy transition. Yet, as it stands, less than one-quarter of graphite supply goes into building EV batteries. Output is funnelled toward traditional industries such as brake linings, lubricants and steel producing electrodes.

That’s in stark contrast to lithium, where virtually all supply is directed to the EV market. So, while this relatively small portion of graphite’s demand segment is growing, demand in other areas remains subdued.

Another area of weakness potentially comes from the synthetic market. Graphite is one of those unique commodities that can be manufactured ‘artificially.’ In fact, synthetic graphite is more desirable among the EV battery makers thanks to its excellent purity.

The ability to manufacture graphite dampens the commodities ‘scarcity’ factor. Supply is virtually limitless, except for one thing…

Producing synthetic graphite is energy intensive. It makes it far more expensive to produce versus naturally ‘mined’ graphite. That’s the key advantage for producers when energy prices begin to rise.

If we see energy costs surge in

the years ahead (something I’ve written about extensively this year), then this puts pressure on the synthetic market. That’s good news for graphite miners.

So, what could lift the sector out of its slump in 2023? Like all commodities we need to look at the supply and demand fundamentals to get some idea on the future trajectory of prices.

In terms of supply, you must first understand what’s going on in China. For several years, we’ve had excess capacity of graphite. The bulk of this material has come from China, which dominates global supply at around 70-80% of the market.

This includes the small and large flake forms of graphite. Small flake is the material used in EV anodes.

However, the principal graphite mining area of Shandong Province in China, has suffered from years of declining grades. Mining in the region has come to a halt due to declining output and the implementation of much stricter environmental laws.

Other areas in China have picked up some of the slack — mostly in the small flake market which has kept a ceiling on prices.

But reduced output in China is the key area to watch for price strength in the graphite market.

So, with that, let’s turn our attention to the demand side.

Not surprisingly, growth in graphite demand is heavily dependent on EV uptake. As I highlighted earlier, that’s only around 25% of the current graphite market. But according to Benchmark Intelligence, EVs are set to become the dominating demand driver. According to the research firm, the battery market is expected to push demand for graphite eightfold through to 2030.

That will align it more closely with lithium whose principal demand driver is the battery market.

Pouncing on sector weakness

With weakened supply and demand fundamentals, the graphite sector has struggled this year. That’s a potential buying opportunity for investors looking at the long-term demand drivers underpinned by graphite’s critical role in EV-battery manufacturing.

African-focused producer Syrah Resources (ASX: SYR), for example, has seen its share price sink more than 60% since November 2022. Lower graphite prices and

TNM DRILL DOWN:

New Found’s Queensway South points to more discoveries

BY HENRY LAZENBY

Our TNM Drill Down features the top gold assays of the week of July 21-28. Drill holes are ranked by gold grade x width, as identified by data provider Mining Intelligence. (www.miningintelligence.com)

New Found Gold (TSXV: NFG) leads the week’s top drill assays, reporting on July 26 the first follow-up results of step-out drilling along the prospective Appleton Fault Zone on the Queensway South (QWS) property in Newfoundland. Hole NFGC-231089 cut 2.8 metres grading 100.65 grams gold per tonne from 158.2 metres depth for a width x grade value of 277. QWS is a bordering portion of New Found’s 100%owned Queensway project. It covers roughly 65 km of strike extension on the regional Appleton and JBP Fault Zones across 1,320 sq. km of the Queensway project’s total area of 1,662 sq. km. The company said it was rare for an explorer to record 27 hits in 33 wildcat drill holes during a first-pass campaign. About 10,000 metres of drilling have been budgeted this year for QWS.

The second-best gold assay reported this week comes from

NEWCREST from 1

That’s because we’re in this race against time to try to develop more mines more quickly. We all win if we find better, safer, faster, more cost-effective ways to get, in particular, these critical minerals out of the ground.”

Unfortunately, Duhe sees little sense of urgency across jurisdictions — Canada and Australia included — when it comes to accelerating permitting.

“None of us have been progressing at the speed that we need to,” she said. Instead, regulatory approvals, and funding for projects have been slowing down rather than speeding up.

“We’re going to need to produce, as a global industry, more copper in the next 27 years than we have produced in the last 125 years combined,” she says, describing copper as Newcrest’s “key product.”

But wait — isn’t Newcrest a gold miner?

Like others in the gold space, Newcrest has been leaning more heavily into copper. The red metal has both the supply and demand fundamentals on its side, and the “green” sheen as a metal that’s essential to electrification and the energy transition.

“We are a gold company,” Duhe confirms, clarifying that copper is the company’s key critical minerals product.

“We are, however, 25% copper today, which is one of the larger concentrations of copper production in a gold producing entity.”

Copper and gold are often found together, including at two of Newcrest’s major projects: Red Chris underground and its 50%owned Wafi Golpu project (held with Harmony Gold) in Papua New Guinea. If the company moves forward with both projects, its copper exposure would double. Depending on copper prices, Duhe says they could tilt Newcrest’s met-

Australia, where Kaiser Reef (ASX: KAU) drilled 9.5 metres grading 25.5 grams gold per tonne from 11 metres depth for a width x grade value of 242. The results come from its cornerstone A1 mine in Victoria, where exploration points towards an opportunity to develop a new

als balance to 50 to 60% copper production by around 2030.

“And strategically, our board has not put a ceiling on copper exposure in the portfolio, so we could go even higher than that, if we found the right organic opportunities.”

Duhe says the company doesn’t expect gold to have the same “exponential growth pattern” as copper. “In the future, (copper) could become the mainstream product with gold as a very valuable byproduct.”

It’s likely one of the biggest factors behind Newmont’s pursuit of Newcrest. The combined company is expected to churn out around 8 million oz. gold and 350 million lb. of copper annually. Newmont expects to produce around 6 million oz. gold and 100 million lb. copper

mining area close to the previously mined Victory and Welcome reefs. Diamond drilling continues in the A1 operations from the 1410 South development, where the company is tracing high-grade quartz veins with visible gold.

In the third spot for the week

this year while Newcrest reported 2.2 million oz. gold and 133,000 tonnes copper (293 million lb.) for the year ending in June 2023.

Canadian assets Newmont’s expected to shed some of the combined company’s smaller assets, post-merger, but not likely either of Newcrest’s Canadian assets.

In B.C., Newcrest’s Brucejack gold mine, bought in 2021 through a $3.5-billion takeover of Pretium Resources, produced 350,000 oz. gold this year, and mining at Red Chris could be sustained for at least another three decades with underground development.

When it acquired its majority interest in Red Chris, Newcrest signed an “IBCA” with the Tahltan Nation. That’s a regular impacts

week is Mako Mining (TSXV: MKO), which completed 8,000 metres of reverse-circulation drilling at its Las Conchitas mine, south of its producing San Albino mine in Nicaragua. The company reported on July 27 that hole LC23-RC65 cut 5 metres grading 30.45 grams gold

per tonne from 13 metres depth for a width x grade value of 152. The near-surface infill drilling campaign aims to shore up confidence in the geometry of the mineralization in six areas of interest where Mako has a permit to process material through the San Albino plant. TNM

and benefits agreement with the added “C” being co-management, which takes Tahltan participation well beyond just employment and opportunities for contracts with the operation.

“It really allows them to be very involved in thinking about how we’re operating today in the open pit side of things, but then also the scope and the delivery methods and the project plans for the block cave, how they can participate in that,” Duhe says.

Both the community and Newcrest want to maintain the relationship through the merger, she adds.

“They want to make sure that that positive relationship is transitioned over to Newmont and then nothing is lost in terms of all the

years of work and commitment that we put into really making it be a partnership and the collaboration,” Duhe says.

Culturally, Newcrest and Newmont are likely to be a good fit. Newcrest was created in 1966 as a subsidiary of Newmont, then spun out and combined with some BHP Australia assets in 1990. There’s something gratifying about the “parent” coming back for the “child” more than 30 years later, Duhe says.

“I think our people can be incredibly proud that in 30 years’ time we built ourselves up to being (one of) the world’s largest gold companies and one that the largest companies in the world wanted back so much that they just kept bidding against themselves until they got us.” TNM

Slowing global trade will make fighting climate change harder, says BHP exec

EXCLUSIVE | Rag Udd points to need for $100B in investment annually over the next decade

BY ALISHA HIYATE

Mega-miner BHP takes a longer view than most.

The Melbourne-based company, with copper, iron ore, coal and nickel mines in Australia and South America, looks at broad global trends that will shape markets for 20 years to half a century when choosing investments. Decarbonization, electrification and population growth are the trends that they’re paying attention to.

“We’re going to need more copper. We’re going to need more nickel,” says Rag Udd, president of BHP’s (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) Minerals America division. “We’re going to need more potash, and that’s where we’re trying to make strong investments into those jurisdictions working at very high ESG standards.”

Speaking to The Northern Miner on the sidelines at the Eighth Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum in Toronto this week, Udd warned that the drift away from freer trade as countries prioritize security of supply for key materials, will hinder decarbonization.

“What we’re beginning to see in various forms around the globe is different countries looking to shore up or secure their own chunk of critical minerals or the natural resources necessary to solve a problem in their jurisdiction,” he said.

“That creates a world where trade no longer necessarily flows in an agnostic fashion and as a result of that, things will go slow. And if you’re trying to achieve the Paris goals, it’s going to be very hard to meet that in the current world.”

Udd, who’s been with BHP since 1997, noted that the world is already behind in delivering the resources needed to achieve the Paris Agreement goals to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius.

“It requires investments of about US$100 billion a year for at least the next decade. We’re at a fraction of that at the moment, and if countries start to put in place restrictions that actually slow down that investment or block natural trade routes that potentially align or where natural differentiations can occur, that will actually slow down the process as well.”

So where is BHP looking to invest to bring on new supplies of critical minerals? The company has a natural affinity for both Australia and Canada, which similarly boast stable regulatory and fiscal policy as well as quality deposits, strong mining expertise and capital markets.

“I think both those countries have the ability to really supercharge the pathway towards decarbonization as a society as a whole.”

In Canada, BHP is building its Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan, expected to start production in late 2026. The $7.5-billion

mine will be BHP’s first operation in Canada since it sold its majority stake in Ekati — Canada’s first diamond mine — in 2012. The company’s also made technology investments to halve its water use and carbon emissions per tonne compared with average rates of existing potash mines.

Strengths Up North, Down Under

Although there’s been some anxiety about Canada being able to compete with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, Udd said countries like Canada and Australia simply can’t match the inducements offered by the world’s largest economy.

The good news is that they don’t have to.

“For a mining company, we’re looking for not just those inducements to bring you (in), but what’s that country or jurisdiction going to look like over the next 20, 50, 100 years in terms of regulatory certainty, policy,” he explained. “So, where I think Canada and Australia have natural advantages is regulatory streamlining; really becoming much more efficient in terms of how we think about permitting processes.”

The countries could also differentiate themselves through a focus on productivity, industrial relations and energy policy to ensure that there’s enough clean energy capacity and availability, he said.

Permitting times in Canada are coming under increasing criticism as being too slow, but during the opening panel of the forum on July 18, Udd surprised moderator Janice Stein with a positive view of Canada’s regulatory regime.

“I’m actually, on balance, fairly favourable on Canada in terms of what I see on permitting processes,” he told delegates at the invitation-only event. He added

that his frame of reference includes South America and the U.S. where “permitting’s not necessarily simple either.”

Speaking to The Northern Miner later in the day, Udd expanded on that by singling out Ontario Mines Minister George Pirie’s recent permitting reform through the Building More Mines Act, passed in May, as “quite pragmatic.”

“I think what would be even better is if we saw that applied across all the provinces and then actually manage to find a way to actually take away the overlap that exists between federal and provincial permitting so that there is really almost a one stop shop for permitting,” Udd said, emphasizing that doesn’t mean lowering standards. “Point of fact, I think BHP is an organization that typically goes above what the regulatory standards are because we aspire to lead in terms of environmental matters across the globe.”

Public perception Udd says the resource extraction industries are still “relatively misunderstood.” But he has noticed an improvement in public perception over the past five years.

“I have seen a shift in perception around what mining actually contributes to society as a whole. I think some of that has started to take place as the industry has started to become a bit more vocal about what we do contribute beyond jobs and taxes. I think we need to amplify that even further,” he says, adding the onus is on the mining industry to improve how it’s perceived.

The company’s Compromiso Minero or “mining commitment” initiative in Chile, for example, has brought together over 100 mining companies, suppliers, and other aligned industries to highlight what

resource extraction contributes to society and how it can be done in a responsible way.

A core principle for BHP is to focus on creating “social value” when it enters a community or jurisdiction. The concept includes looking for ways to help to “improve the planet,” accelerate decarbonization, create a safe work environment, and make sure its workforce represents the diversity of the communities in which it works.

The heft of the company, which recorded US$65 billion in revenue last year, means it can play a powerful role in local communities.

“One of the great things about working with BHP is you’ve got the ability to shape society in terms of where we’re going,” Udd said.

For example, in Chile, the company helped create a market for renewable energy. Its Escondida and Spence copper mines, achieved net zero scope 2 emissions (purchased energy) in 2022. The mines, which account for a whopping 9% of total power demand in Chile, previously relied on power generated by coal.

It also invested about US$4 billion in a desalination facility to pump seawater over 160 km to Escondida — the world’s largest copper mine — instead of relying on Andean aquifers for water.

And at Jansen, it’s worked to build long-term relationships with local Indigenous communities, as well as business opportunities. Since mid2021, the company has awarded $470 million in contracts to Indigenous businesses in the region.

“We really want to be in a spot that when people think about, we know we’re going to need these raw materials for decarbonization, for population growth, for these other mega trends that are playing out, we want them to be thinking ‘we would like to partner with BHP.’” TNM

Let business lead on energy transition, AusCan Forum hears, while Trudeau touts values

DECARBONIZATION | Black and white views on green investing are counterproductive, panellists say

BY ALISHA HIYATE

The world has a long way to go on meeting net zero emissions targets, but Australia and Canada are both well-positioned to play a key role in making it happen.

During the 8th Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum in Toronto in mid-July, business and political leaders discussed the role of trade, permitting and policy, and cooperation between the two countries in achieving the transition.

The message from panellists on the first full day of the event, on July 18, was to let business help.

“Businesses want to lead on energy transition,” said Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada. “We need government to set the rules and get out of the way.”

Hyder added that businesses “seek solutions” and are the ones who will be putting up the bulk of the investment to develop those

solutions.

“Capital is not the problem. The real issue is becoming the inability for democracies to be predictable, stable places for capital to form and deploy,” he said, adding that businesses can’t be confident that a project approved today won’t be overturned by the next administration.

Hyder’s comments came during a panel on the Indo-Pacific region moderated by Janice Stein, co-chair of the federal government’s advisory committee on the Indo-Pacific region. (Until recently, the geopolitically critical region that includes China, India, Japan and Australia, was known as Asia-Pacific.)

Rag Udd, BHP’s president of

Minerals for the Americas, echoed the importance of regulatory and fiscal certainty. Udd said that while Canada and Australia can’t compete with the massive incentives offered by the United States under the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year, they don’t need to if they can offer business what they’re really looking for, such as speedier

permitting.

“We are not asking for shortcuts or lower standards,” he clarified, “just more efficiency.”

The challenge in meeting global commodity demands for decarbonization is enormous, he said, noting that about US$100 billion a year in

BHP president Rag Udd. ALISHA HIYATE

Conference panel from left: Janice Stein, Goldy Hyder, Mairead Levy, Rag Udd and Jennifer Westacott. CARLOS CAMPOS/AUSTRALIA-CANADA ECONOMIC LEADERSHIP FORUM

Reality star Schnabel takes on new gold-focused role at Australia Creek

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND IN DAWSON CITY, YUKON

Metallic Minerals (TSXV: MMG) is tapping Gold Rush TV star Parker Schnabel to mine the unexploited Australia Creek in the heart of the Klondike 125 years after hordes descended on Canada’s Yukon Territory.

The 28-year-old Schnabel has been the most successful miner on the reality show for the past 10 of its 13 seasons. Metallic signed a royalty agreement this year with Schnabel’s Little Flake mining company to mine 9 km of placer gold claims on the 36.4-sq.-km Australia Creek project. Production is due to start this month.

“This is a guy who really knows his equipment, knows how to scale and operate efficiently,” Metallic CEO Greg Johnson said in an interview at the site. “He’s a real operator and he’s got real expertise. He just happens to be on TV at the same time.”

The 12-15% royalty, which Johnson estimates may pay as much as US$1.5 million a year, is a small but flashy earner for Metallic as Newcrest Mining (TSX: NCM; ASX: NCM) helps fund a drilling program and resource update on its main endeavour, the La Plata copper-silver-gold and platinum group elements project in Colorado. The Vancouver-based company also plans to release in two months the first resource on its Keno silver project in the Yukon beside Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL), the largest primary silver producer in the U.S. Newcrest, being taken over by Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM), invested $6.3 million for a 9.5% stake in Metallic in May to help advance La Plata. Eric Sprott holds 14% in the company and other leading shareholders include U.S. Global Investors and OTP, Johnson said. Management holds 17% including 6% with the CEO. Australia Creek wasn’t mined in the gold rush of 1898 or in the decades after because it was deemed more valuable as a source of water and hydro-power. The creek’s dams came out in the 1980s and

‘90s, then veteran Klondike prospector Bill Harris began amassing claims along the waterway. Metallic acquired them in 2017, helping make it the third-largest placer land owner in the Klondike, Johnson said.

The project has spent US$1.5 million preparing 600,000 sq. ft. (55,742 sq. metres) for sluicing as it targets 1 million sq. ft. this year, Schnabel told The Northern Miner An American from a mining family in Haines, Alaska, Schnabel says measuring square feet is easier to calculate progress in placer mining than using tonnes as in hard rock mining. Little Flake agreed to a $1 million minimum annual work commitment on Australia Creek.

“I don’t really operate on budgets,” he said. “We just do things as efficiently as we can and then we’re out of money. Then we go find more.”

Where?

“Oh, I’m not going to talk about that.”

Tapping Australia Creek’s promise

Test drilling at Australia Creek has found 250 mg gold in some holes, suggesting a production rate closer to historical rates near 10 oz. per hour instead of 2 oz. per hour that

many operators struggle to achieve today, Schnabel said. A recent pan in the creek showed some 50 “points of colour” instead of an area average of eight, he said. Klondike deposits can suffer from poor grades, limited access or being too deep, none of which really affect Australia Creek, he said.

“The drill grade average is a fair bit better than what we’ve been mining and that’s one of the reasons why we took the project on,” Schnabel said. “It does look like very promising ground.”

However, he said there needs to be significantly more test holes dug to determine the site’s true potential. He also acknowledged some

water permits will expire in three years, requiring extensions and bureaucratic scrutiny to complete the project’s scope. Spring floods this year caused by heavy rainfall accelerating the snow melt delayed work for at least a month and a half.

In renowned Canadian author Pierre Berton’s history, Klondike, Australia Creek is only mentioned as the place where crusty solo prospector Robert Henderson, later a co-discoverer instigating the big rush, impaled himself on a broken tree branch. Laid up for two weeks in his tent, he soon hobbled to his discovery on Gold Bottom Creek.

Metallic’s other Klondike area project is 10 claims totalling 1.6 km along a bench of Dominion Creek. The company entered into a production royalty agreement with “an experienced alluvial mining operator” in exchange for a 15% royalty on production, Metallic said. The property is road accessible and has permits for placer gold production.

Dominion Creek had its ups and downs in tales of the 1898 gold rush, according to Berton. Two neighbouring miners on the creek each installed butlers in their log cabins. But it was also the site of government graft when officials gave themselves first crack at the best stakes in a mini-rush on the creek.

A different kind of drama exists on a daily basis with Gold Rush film crews on Schnabel’s separate Dominion Creek site six days a week from late April to October in the Klondike’s work season. After more than a decade on TV, Schnabel reacts to the media grind with less enthusiasm than the mining work he clearly relishes.

“It’s an invasive process. You know, their best days are our worst days and so it’s always tough, right? They love it when things aren’t going right.”

Johnson said it’s been a tough market for raising capital, but that Newcrest investment secured two years of funding for the 171-sq.-km Keno silver project, where drilling began this week, while royalties are due to start within months from Australia Creek.

“When we’re talking about the Klondike, it’s such an interesting history with the historic mining here and the dredges and the fact that Australia Creek wasn’t mined,” Johnson said. “As Parker was talking earlier about that potential for the kinds of grades they used to see in these operations, we’re excited because the potential growth of the Klondike is Australia Creek which we control most of.” TNM

“THE DRILL GRADE AVERAGE IS A FAIR BIT BETTER THAN WHAT WE’VE BEEN MINING AND THAT’S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE TOOK THE PROJECT ON.”

PARKER SCHNABEL, OWNER LITTLE FLAKE MINING

Little Flake mining company owner and reality TV star Parker Schnabel pans for gold in Dominion Creek, Yukon. COLIN MCCLELLAND

Greg Johnson, CEO of Metallic Minerals, which holds the Australia Creek gold project. COLIN MCCLELLAND

Parker Schnabel speaks at the Australia Creek project in western Yukon, where production was due to start in July. COLIN MCCLELLAND

Rio Tinto flags cost hike at Argentina lithium project

BATTERY MINERALS | Miner also announced it will miss its 2025 emissions cuts targets

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) has noted a likely cost estimate and schedule review for its Rincon lithium project in Argentina’s Salta Province, an emerging hub for greenfield projects.

The world’s second largest miner, which released an operational update for the three months to June 30 on July 18, said the US$140 million cost estimate and schedule to develop a starter plant at Rincon was under review in response to cost escalation.

Rio Tinto said that development work continues as usual with the company advancing construction of the camp and ongoing enabling works for the processing plant.

The miner has sped up efforts in the past three years to boost its exposure to battery minerals.

After seeing its lithium ambitions partially crushed when Serbia revoked the miner’s licence for a US$2.4 billion project in early 2022, Rio Tinto began looking elsewhere.

In March last year, Rio Tinto bought the Argentinean asset, saying it would help the company meet double-digit growth in demand for lithium over the next decade, at a time when supply is constrained.

A July 2021 resource estimate of the lithium project lists measured and indicated resources of lithium carbonate equivalent at 5.8 million tonnes, as well as inferred resources at just under 6 million tonnes.

Rincon has reserves of almost 2 million tonnes of contained lithium carbonate equivalent, sufficient for a 40-year mine life.

Rio Tinto plans to use a direct, low-cost extraction technology at the operation, as it believes the method has the “potential to significantly increase lithium recoveries” compared to solar evaporation ponds.

The company, which is already running a pilot plant onsite, continues to believe market fundamentals for battery grade lithium carbonate are strong, with lithium demand forecasted to grow 25-35% a year over the next decade.

Rio Tinto estimates that committed lithium supply and capacity expansions will contribute only about 15% to demand growth over the 2020-2050 period. The remaining 85% would need to come from new projects.

In mid-July, the mining giant bought a stake in Sovereign Metals (ASX: SVM; LSE: SVML) for A$40.4 million ($27.6 million). The Australian developer aims to produce graphite for lithium-ion batteries at its Kasiya project in Malawi.

2025 emissions target

On July 26, Rio Tinto disappointed investors and analysts alike after revealing it won’t be able to achieve a targeted 15% carbon emissions reduction by 2025, unless it uses carbon offsets.

The world’s second largest miner had originally committed to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, those created directly through its operations and indirectly through energy consumption, by 2030. It later made the decision to move the deadline forward to 2025 under

shareholder pressure.

In a half-year update, Rio said it would not be able to meet its self-imposed emissions goal without using carbon offsets. The company attributed the setback to underlying emissions growth tied to “evolving production plans” and other factors, including engineering and construction timelines.

Peers including BHP (ASX: BHP; LSE: BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) remain on track to meet their goals. BHP plans a reduction of at least 30% for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, with Fortescue targeting net zero emissions by that same year.

CEO Jakob Stausholm opened up earlier this year about the targets set by Rio Tinto’s previous executives, saying he “regretted” them. He added at the time that reaching the 2025 and 2030 deadline would require some “hard choices.”

The company’s emissions come mainly from the processing and refining of metals, such as iron ore and aluminum, as it requires very high temperatures and is often pow-

ered by coal. Mining only accounts for 20% of Rio’s total emissions.

“The problem is that in the short term, you add cost to a business where you are not really making money,” Stausholm said in an earnings call on July 26, referring to an US$800-million impairment charge on its Gladstone aluminum refineries in Australia.

Capital will be required to decarbonize the facilities, which are also facing increasing payments for their carbon emissions under Australia’s new carbon credit scheme, he added.

The writedown combined with a period of softer prices for its iron ore shipments impacted Rio Tinto’s numbers for the six months to June 30.

First-half net profit after tax dropped by 43% to US$5.1 billion in the period from US$8.9 billion in 2022.

Rio still announced a US$1.77 per share half-year dividend, which was lower than market estimations but is the third-highest interim dividend in the company’s history. TNM

Colombia names leftist engineer as new mining minister

| Government moves to protect more natural areas from mining activity

Areas protected from mining

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE AND VALENTINA RUIZ LEOTAUD

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has appointed electrical engineer Andrés Camacho as the country’s new minister of mines and energy, following the resignation of former minister Irene Vélez on July 19.

Vélez had to step down after news emerged that she was under investigation by two state bodies for alleged abuse of power.

Local media had also reported that Vélez’s partner, Dutch filmmaker Sjoerd van Grootheest, had allegedly been awarded a government contract for a communications campaign thanks to his wife’s influence.

Camacho, who studied renewable energy and most recently worked as an adviser at the ministry, will be in charge of Colombia’s transition away from fossil fuels, said Petro, who confirmed the appointment in an interview with journalist María Jimena Duzán on July 25.

Camacho, 42, is known for having a strong leftist ideology, which has led local media outlets to predict he is unlikely to embrace private investment.

The new minister is expected

to work closely with the environmental minister Susana Muhamad, who made public in mid-July a draft decree aimed at limiting the issuance of mining titles in areas considered environmentally vulnerable.

Official figures show that the South American nation’s oil production stood at an average of 773,789 barrels per day in May, a 3.6% increase from the same month a year earlier.

Coal and oil remain the coun-

try’s two main sources of revenue via exports, royalties, and tax collection. There currently are more than 200 hydrocarbon exploration contracts in an area of about 170,000 sq. km, where oil and gas has traditionally been found.

This reality has led Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla to say that Colombia’s energy transition would take at least 15 to 20 years, adding the nation will continue exporting oil and coal for much longer.

Meanwhile, in July the government made public a draft decree aimed at setting new criteria for establishing temporary natural reserves.

The decree, which can be commented on by citizens, companies, associations and other entities, was issued by the Ministry of the Environment following a Council of State ruling, and other rulings from the Constitutional Court, ordering the Petro administration to implement a mining reorganization plan to protect the country’s ecosystems.

In a video statement released on social media on July 19, Muhamad said that, specifically, the decree was issued in compliance with an Aug. 22, 2022, Council of State ruling. That ruling demanded the Ministry of Mines and Energy, together with the environment portfolio, straighten out “the massive mining disorder generated by previous governments.”

According to Muhamad, hundreds of mining titles have been granted with no regard for environmental and ecosystem considerations. Thus, the Council of State’s ruling ordered the relevant ministries to take concerted actions to set up temporary protected areas while long-term natural reserves are properly planned and established.

This idea of enacting temporary protected areas is not new and is contained in the 1974 Natural Resources Code and has been implemented on previous occasions.

“The goal is to prevent the mining authority from continuing issuing mining titles in vulnerable ecosystems,” the minister said. “However, in no way does the new decree violate existing rights. For example, a mining company that already has a mining licence, a work plan, a concession, and is operating in a responsible manner and observing all legal requirements, will be allowed to continue doing so.”

Muhamad noted that the new regulations will be strictly enforced, and guided by the principle that natural reserves and ecological services are crucial for the country’s development.

“Within the context of climate change, the economy has no future without water and environmental capacity,” she said. “Part of our responsibility as the government is to organize our territory to guarantee responsible growth.”

Back in May and using a similar tone, Colombia’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez, said that a new mining policy being discussed in government will consider reorganizing TNM

The Rincon lithium project is located in Argentina’s northern Salta province. RIO TINTO Rio Tinto’s mining operations only represent 20% of its emissions, the company says. RIO TINTO

Andrés Camacho, left, took over in July as the new minister of mines and energy in the government of President Gustavo Petro. TWITTER/ANDRES CAMACHO

Tata Group to build US$6B gigafactory in the UK

ELECTRIC VEHICLES | Plant to produce 40 GWh worth of batteries

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

India’s Tata Group will build an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the U.K. to supply its Jaguar Land Rover factories, marking the country’s biggest move to date in the car gigafactory space aimed at boosting domestic battery production.

Under the plan, announced by the British government and Tata on July 19, the company will invest £4 billion (US$6.7 billion) to build its first massive gigafactory outside of India.

The plant is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs and produce an initial output of 40 gigawatt hours (GWh), starting in 2026.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the development, saying it would speed up the slow-moving transition of Britain’s auto industry from gas and diesel cars to EVs.

His office, however, has declined to say how much financial support it promised in order to secure the investment and fend off Spain, which had also lobbied to win the project.

Muthu Krishna, Fastmarkets’ battery manufacturing cost modeller, estimated the alleged state assistance and grants would total US$1.5 billion.

He said the announcement represented a “crucial victory” for the U.K. automotive industry at a time when Chinese EV brands are entering western markets and companies abandon European plans to invest in the U.S.

Tata’s EV battery plant would be the U.K.’s second. By contrast,

Heliostar stock rises after drilling 242 metres of 9 grams gold at Ana Paula

MEXICO | Intercept longest, highest-grade in project’s history

the European Union is said to have more than 30 already operational or in the pipeline.

Energy secretary Grant Shapps said the Indian firm’s decision was the “biggest investment ever” in the U.K. auto industry, as well as the most significant boost for the sector since Japanese makers moved to Britain in the 1980s.

U.K. Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the multibillion-pound investment demonstrated that the government has “the right plan when it comes to the automotive sector.”

The gigafactory could be built in Somerset, southwest England, but the location has not yet been confirmed. Jaguar Land Rover’s U.K. factories are located in Birmingham, in central England.

Britain’s goal of phasing out new diesel and gas cars is part of its goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in order to help tackle climate change. TNM

BY JACKSON CHEN

Heliostar Metals (TSXV: HSTR) shares jumped by 25% on July 18 following the release of drill results from its Ana Paula project in Mexico.

The latest results featured two drill holes assessing the mineralization up-plunge of and within the high-grade panel at the core at Ana Paula.

Hole AP-23-297 returned the longest, highest-grade interval drilled in the project’s history, with 242 metres grading 9.06 grams gold per tonne. Included within are multiple high-grade gold intervals.

Hole AP-23-298 returned 104.1 metres at 6.14 grams gold, including 19.5 metres at 15.11 grams gold.

These holes exceeded the

resource model’s predicted high grades and extended high-grade mineralization up-plunge, which means this up-plunge area could add to Ana Paula’s resource.

“It shows potential to add ounces at higher grade in the up-plunge growth target, and it illustrates the excellent continuity of high grade along the length of the high-grade panel,” Heliostar CEO Charles Funk said in a release.

“Holes AP-23-297 and AP-23298 are both respectively 33% and 38% increases relative to the current resource model prediction, at a >5 gram gold per tonne cut-off grade,” he added.

The current drill program is designed to evaluate Ana Paula’s ability to host a high-margin, underground gold mine.

Heliostar acquired the project from Argonaut Gold (TSX: AR) for US$30 million in March. Ana Paula is located in the north-central part of Guerrero state.

The project currently holds a 1.5-million-oz. measured and indicated resource in 21 million tonnes grading 2.16 grams gold. An April prefeasibility study update concluded that at US$1,600 per oz. gold, the project has a US$464-million net present value and a 31% internal rate of return. Initial capex is estimated at US$233.6 million.

Shares of Heliostar Metals lost 22% of their of July 18 gains and traded at 27¢ in Toronto at press time, valuing the Vancouver-based gold junior at $45.8 million. Its shares traded in a 52-week window of 19¢ and 57¢. TNM

Kindersley PEA outlines strong economic case for lithium project

SASKATCHEWAN | Report forecasts 11,000-tonne annual output over 20-year life

BY WALTER STRONG

Shares of Grounded Lithium rose on July 26 (TSXV: GRD; US-OTC: GRDAF) on the release of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its Kindersley project in western Saskatchewan.

Phase one of the project in Saskatchewan includes an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 48.5% and an after-tax net present value (NPV) of US$1 billion at an 8% discount rate. The initial capital investment is estimated at US$335 million, with a payback period of 3.7 years.

All-in operating costs at the Kindersley Lithium project (KLP) are forecast at US$3,899 per tonne of lithium hydroxide monohydroxide (LHM), amounting to an annual expenditure of US$42.9 million. KLP’s total life is estimated at 20 years.

The PEA is based on annual production of 11,000 tonnes of LHM, and assumes a sales price of US$25,000 per tonne.

Its economics are better than other North American brinebased lithium projects making battery-grade LHM, and the project has the potential for future phases,

the company said. The study pegs the project’s initial capital intensity at US$30,500 per tonne of LHM.

“The independent economic results of phase one of the KLP compare favourably within the lithium mining industry from a

capex and opex perspective and we believe the results of the PEA bode well for critical future steps,” said company president and CEO Gregg Smith. “We now focus our corporate attention on the completion of a field pilot with Koch

Technologies Solutions’ extraction process, while at the same time undertaking certain field activities to provide higher certainty on our resources leading to a prefeasibility study.”

Twenty-four of Grounded’s 300

sections of lithium rights will be developed in the first phase at KLP, with a balance of the sections supporting the development of future phases of the project.

In a research note on July 27, Red Cloud Securities mining analysts Alina Islam and David Talbot wrote that the economics outlined in the early stage study are very positive, especially considering the current inflationary environment of the industry.

The analysts added that the 4.2 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent in inferred resources at KLP support a mine life longer than 20 years as well as additional phases of production.

“With the PEA complete, investors should remain focused on the construction of the field pilot plant (2024), which we believe is the next major de-risking step for the project,” they wrote.

The analysts maintain their buy rating for Grounded Lithium and increased their target share price to $1.75, up from 90¢. At press time in Toronto, Grounded shares traded at 15¢ for a market capitalization of $10.4 million. The company’s shares have traded in a 52-week window of 13¢ and 50¢. TNM

The new factory is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs. TATA GROUP

Heliostar Metals’ Ana Paula gold project in Guerrero state, Mexico. HELIOSTAR METALS

Grounded Lithium’s Kindersley project in western Saskatchewan. GROUNDED LITHIUM

SITKA from 1 output of 125 years ago and mark a new bonanza for the territory.

But junior miners face an uncertain fundraising environment in markets where even strong drill results and a large resource like Sitka’s don’t necessarily translate into higher stock values. Snowline’s performance is an outlier.

The 376-sq.-km RC project, about 100 km east of Dawson, has 61.1 million inferred tonnes grading 0.7 gram gold per tonne for 1.3 million oz. gold, according to a resource estimate in January. While Snowline hasn’t filed a resource estimate, it has shown consistently strong drill results, such as the top gold assay globally during the first week of July. Hole V-23-034 returned 418.3 metres grading 1.88 grams gold per tonne from 5.7 metres depth.

Vancouver-based Sitka’s low share price also limits its attractiveness to investors who may want to buy 10% or less for their fund, but find the cash outlay is too small for their investment strategy, Coe said.

“It’s not enough to get a good position, so that’s been one of the handicaps,” he said in an interview with The Northern Miner. “But Snowline is a very good positive for us because it opened the belt up to eyes. The thing is it opened them up so much, they all went for Snowline.”

Nonetheless, the RC project’s Blackjack and Eiger deposits start at surface and are open in all directions. Both have potential for open pit mining and heap leaching. RC is at the headwaters of Clear Creek and Big Creek, an active placer mining district serviced by a network of gravel roads and trails.

Resource update

The company is in the midst of 10,000 metres of step-out drilling this year focused on the Saddle zone, midway between Blackjack and Eiger and not included in the resource. Last month, Sitka reported Blackjack drill hole DDRCCC-23-043 cut 111.7 metres of 1.24 grams gold per tonne starting from 315 metres downhole. A resource update could be in the works to generate more interest, he said.

“When we put our resource out, we didn’t get a good reaction in the market, it was almost like a liquid-

AUSCAN FORUM from 6 investment is required. “We’re not doing a fraction of what’s necessary to meet global aspirations,” he said.

“Without copper, decarbonization is not going to occur at the pace the world wants — so help us help you would be the way I would put it.”

While Canada’s permitting regime isn’t perfect, Udd said the “direction of travel both at the federal and the provincial level” is encouraging. He cited Ontario’s recent regulatory reforms (the Building More Mines Act, passed in May) as positive, and also lauded the regime in Saskatchewan, where BHP is building the Jansen potash mine.

Black, white and green

The panel also discussed funding for the energy transition, and the polarized, black and white views of energy and fossil fuels that have emerged among financial institutions and other investors.

“There is a simplified narrative out there around green investing — you’re either good or you’re bad,” said Mairead Levy, president and CEO of Export Development Canada (EDC). “We have to educate investors and their investors to understand that we will have to invest in transition.”

ity event” when some shareholders sold down their stakes at the same time, he said. “It was kind of frustrating for us.”

Shares in Sitka Gold were at 7¢ apiece at press time in Toronto, within a 52-week window of 6¢ and 21¢, valuing the company at $9.9 million.

Sitka has just raised more than $1.2 million with an oversubscribed share sale that includes warrants and shows at least some investors see value in the low price, Coe said. Institutional funds, including lead investor Sprott Asset Management with 10.8%, make up 45% of stockholders. Retail investors hold about 35% of the stock while management and unnamed high-net-worth investors own the balance, he said.

Three-dimensional modelling suggests the Saddle, Eiger, Josephine and Pukelman intrusions coalesce at depth, the CEO said. It also extends the mineralized corridor from about 2 km to more than 5 km to encompass the Saddle, Eiger and Josephine intrusions.

Sitka acquired the property in 2019 after two decades of mapping and surveying activity by Thor

Levy noted that EDC released a green bond framework last year that specifically includes investment into carbon-intensive industries to facilitate their transition.

Jennifer Westacott, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia agreed that excluding carbon-intensive industries is counterproductive.

“We have to fund the transition, not exclude the transition,” she said. “So when people say, ‘we’re not going to do anything in fossil fuels, nothing at all,’ well then that’s going to make the transition harder as opposed to saying, ‘well how do we move in that staged way?’”

During the conversation, Hyder said we need a bigger picture, practical and global approach to reducing emissions, beyond a narrow focus on Canada’s own emissions. He also critiqued Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and its reluctance to step up supplies of natural gas to Europe in response to the energy crisis spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

“I’m confused by environmentalists who say their objective is to decarbonize globally, but we’re measuring locally. It is possible that Canada’s emissions may need to increase to decrease global emissions. We can’t have that conversation because Canada’s made

Explorations (TSXV: THX; LSE: THX), StrataGold (now part of Victoria Gold), Golden Predator (now in Sabre Gold), Pacific Ridge (CVE: PEX) and Kestral Gold (CVE: KGC).

In the 1990s, explorers on the site or nearby included Noranda (eventually owned by Glencore [LSE: GLEN]), Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; US-OTC: IVPAF), Kennecott (now a unit of Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO)) and Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM). Historical mining dates to the late 1800s followed by dredging on Clear Creek from 1943 to 1954 and from 1981 to 1987. There are placer mines operating in the Clear Creek drainage and in Big Creek. The company’s other early-stage projects include the Coppermine River project in Nunavut, about 600 km north of Yellowknife, N.W.T.,

a commitment to decrease their emissions by 40%… but meanwhile Japan, Korea, China, India are turning on coal mines.”

Trudeau lauds common values In a separate address at the forum, Trudeau did not address the natural gas policy directly, but seemed to signal some openness to the possibility of increasing supplies.

“We’re making strategic investments to drive clean innovation and provide clean energy so we can meet the demands of the growing Indo Pacific and the European continent, hurrying to unwind its dependence on Russian fossil fuels,” he said. “Canada is ready to be the reliable supplier of energy that the world needs, and we’re ready to work with partners public and private.”

Much of his speech focused on the government’s values-based approach to trade agreements, including its recently-announced Indo-Pacific strategy aimed at deepening relationships and promoting stability in the region.

Trudeau argued that both Australia and Canada have a global advantage because of their promotion of responsible business standards, and said that economic, security, climate and social policy are all closely intertwined.

deliberate scaling back on output have weighed heavily on the company’s valuation.

According to Syrah, it will continue scaling back production at its Balama operation in Mozambique until demand conditions warrant increased output. Or, in other words, when prices rise. That’s dampened the company’s revenue outlook, but it does offer investors a chance to capitalize on depressed conditions.

You see, Syrah is one of the few active graphite producers operating outside China. That makes it an attractive option for EV manufacturers seeking alternative supply routes.

But weakness has spread throughout the graphite industry, with producers, explorers and developers all trading at enormous discounts to 2022 prices.

It’s not just producers that could be well-positioned for a graphite recovery. Perhaps a better investment strategy would be to focus on companies operating in regions that will be the benefactors of generous government initiatives.

One of those is the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Essentially, the ‘IRA’ is an incentive for local producers to supply the U.S. market with critical metals so it can achieve its energy transition ambitions without relying on China.

which last month acquired permits for water use and drilling, Coe said. Initial geophysical surveys suggest a large sediment-hosted copper deposit that could rival projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he said.

There’s also the OGI property 50 km east of Dawson and 1 km north of Sabre’s Brewery Creek project, the Burro gold project about 150 km northwest of Phoenix and the Alpha gold project in Nevada, 400 km east of Reno.

Even if the company’s stock performance has been lacklustre, Coe, who’s been in the Yukon mining industry for decades, is upbeat about the RC project’s potential.

“Six months ago, we didn’t have a deposit here. We’ve got one and a half million ounces now of gold that is 43-101 certified. Well, that’s huge,” he grinned. TNM

“Certainly there are countries that are producing these resources and inputs in ways that are cheaper in terms of dollars and cents, but the real cost is too often, environmental degradation, low labour standards. Even human rights violations,” he said.

“When you buy Canadian or Australian, you can count on the high standards we maintain at home and that’s not a disadvantage. That’s now our competitive edge.”

Trudeau pointed to the Critical Minerals Alliance, established at COP15 in Montreal late last year as evidence. The pact between Canada, Australia, the U.S., Germany, France, the U.K. and Japan, commits to mining and developing critical minerals in a sustainable way that respects Indigenous rights.

“We bound ourselves together in a common interest, moving beyond competition to cooperation. Because we know the demand is more than there for the coming years and we want to work together to meet that need responsibly in a way that respects and upholds our values. In the global race to build a net zero economy, the world is rushing for access to the critical minerals that Australia and Canada have. But we need to act fast to meet the demand for major projects.” TNM

But there’s another government policy set to advantage a small handful of graphite developers.

It centres around the European Union’s recent drive to push-up domestic capacity to produce its own critical metals and it places local producers in a highly advantageous position. Essentially, this is Europe’s version of the IRA.

It will offer mining companies in Europe a short cut to production, cutting through much of the red tape that’s existed in the region for decades. But it also offers these companies access to unique sources of funding as European governments look to boost critical metal capacity.

Western Europe is also endowed with high-net worth investors who have few options for investing in local mining stocks. It means a small handful of European operators could benefit from ‘local bias’ as fund managers look to maintain their allocation toward local investments while meeting their green energy or ESG requirements.

Australian-owned Talga Group (ASX: TLG), for example, with its high-grade graphite deposit located in Sweden, holds a geographical advantage over its peers. The advantages could come through exclusive offtake agreements with European manufacturers while also having priority access to European financing. TNM

— This column was previously published in Livewiremarkets.com. James Cooper is a former exploration geologist turned mining analyst.

Based in Melbourne, he’s now the resident commodities analyst at Fat Tail Investment Research and editor for the Diggers & Drillers Publication.

Above: Map showing the location of Sitka Gold’s RC project in the Yukon. Right: Sitka Gold geotechnician Madison Golling measures core samples at the RC project. COLIN MCCLELLAND

MINING IN THE U.S.

West Vault Mining likens its Hasbrouck project to ‘gold in a secure vault’

BY HENRY LAZENBY IN TONOPAH, NEV.

West Vault Mining’s (TSXV: WVM; USOTC: WVMDF) Hasbrouck gold project in Tonopah, Nev., stands out among the wave of gold, silver and lithium explorers sinking exploration dollars into the Tonopah Silver District. After advancing the project to a feasibility study in January, it’s now content to bide its time.

The company compares the project to having gold stored securely in a vault — a project ready for construction, backed by favourable economics and a strategic approach, CEO Sandy McVey said on a recent site visit.

“We know that fewer gold discoveries are being made, and more gold is being produced yearly. Time’s on our side. Patience pays,” the mining veteran says.

With an advanced asset under its care, West Vault waits in the hope that regional consolidation will include the sale of its flagship prefeasibility study-level project for the right price.

Situated three hours north of Las Vegas by paved road, the three hills comprising the Hasbrouck project form a series of mineralized mounds standing guard as one enters Tonopah.

West Vault bought Hasbrouck from distressed conditions nine years ago, in line with its strategy of acquiring undervalued assets and readying them for sale when market conditions improve.

“We bought (the Hasbrouck project) in 2014, and to date, it’s withstood deep dives by all sorts of people (including Centerra Gold),” McVey said from atop Hasbrouck Mountain, a short but exhilarating 4×4 drive up what will someday become an open pit right next to Highway 95.

The brainchild of Peter Palmedo, chairman and president of Sun Valley Gold which owns 46% of the company, West Vault has groomed the project for as much as it’s willing to pay and put up the for-sale signs.

A January prefeasibility study calculated an after-tax net present value (5% discount rate at US$1,790 per oz. gold) of US$206 million and an internal rate of return of 51%.

The initial Three Hills operation will cost an estimated US$66 million (and sustaining and growth capex of US$156 million). Between the Three Hills and Hasbrouck Mountain deposits, the company has outlined potential total production of 561,000 oz. gold, or 71,000 oz. per year over eight years at all-in sustaining costs of US$701 per oz. gold, net of byproduct credits.

The study was based on proven and probable reserves of 44 million tons grading 4.8 grams gold per ton for 753,000 oz. of metal. About 175,000 oz. gold is held in the Three Hills deposit, with 578,000 oz. gold in the Hasbrouck deposit.

McVey emphasizes the project’s advanced stage. “We’ve got wet stamp drawings, we’re way beyond study levels… state, federal — fully

permitted,” he said.

At the heart of the project lies the Three Hills deposit, which requires no pre-stripping. This smaller deposit has a 0.8 to 1 stripping ratio. Employing a straightforward run-of-mine heap leach method, West Vault anticipates a recovery rate north of 80%.

Adjacent to Three Hills, the Hasbrouck pit emerges as the project’s second phase. Though it presents a slightly higher stripping ratio of about 1.1 to 1 and necessitates crushing, the Hasbrouck pit holds a bigger promise. Operating for six years, followed by a two-year closure process.

McVey says free cash flow will pay for the subsequent development at Hasbrouck, especially in the current market, with gold prices hovering around US$1,800 per ounce.

Takeout candidate?

McVey claims West Vault is significantly undervalued in the market, based on price to net asset value (P/ NAV) benchmarking.

He says West Vault’s current market capitalization of about US$46 million against its 561,000 oz. of in-situ gold equals an opportunity to acquire a quality, albeit small, project for about US$81 per ounce.

The CEO has a somewhat unorthodox approach to maximizing value for shareholders. “People think production is how you make money. It’s not. It’s buying low and selling high,” he says.

Theoretically, the ideal candidate has already entered the valley. Centerra Gold (TSX: CG) swooped back onto the scene in early 2022, fresh from being kicked out of Kyrgyzstan and with about US$1 bil-

lion in cash burning its pocket (and possibly making it a takeover target for the cash). The gold miner splurged on the nearby Gemfields project, buying it for US$207 mil-

lion from private capital firm Waterton Nevada Resources.

McVey breaks down the math: for 483,000 saleable oz., Centerra paid a total price of US$427 See WEST VAULT / 16

per oz. gold, compared with West Vault’s current theoretical acquisition value of US$81 per sale-

NATURAL RESOURCES

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Delivering fit-for-purpose solutions across the entire mining life cycle

Our fit-for-purpose solutions encompass the skills of qualified geologists, geostaticians, analytical chemists, mineralogists, metallurgists, process engineers and mining engineers brought together to provide accurate and timely mineral and process evaluation services across the entire mining life cycle.

Above: West Vault Mining’s Three Hills deposit in Tonopah, Nev.

Right: The steeply graded road down from Hasbrouck Mountain will someday vanish into the open pit towards road level below. HENRY LAZENBY

South32 takes US$1.3B charge on Hermosa lead-zinc-silver project

ARIZONA | Steel, cement and electrical components drive up development costs

Highland Copper lands private equity partner for Michigan project

COPPER-SILVER | New PEA outlines 21.8-year mine life at White Pine North

BY JACKSON CHEN

Highland Copper Co. (TSXV: HI) has published a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its White Pine North project in Michigan, and at the same time, clinched a new JV partner — Kinterra Copper — which can earn up to a 66% interest in the project.

The PEA outlines a mine life of 21.8 years, including 21 months of ramp-up, with annual payable copper production of 93.5 million lb. and 1.2 million oz. of silver, Highland said on July 24.

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

Australia’s South32 (ASX: S32; LSE: S32) announced on July 24 a US$1.3-billion non-cash impairment expense on its Hermosa zinc-lead-silver project in southern Arizona, which will be reflected in its 2023 financial results.

The Perth-based miner said recent studies show Hermosa’s Taylor zinc-lead-silver and Clark battery-grade manganese deposits can be developed independently. For accounting purposes, this means the company needs to assess separately what was considered a single project.

South32 blamed high costs for steel, cement and electrical components for pushing up the price of developing the Taylor deposit, which is the largest asset within the Hermosa project.

It also said that since acquiring Hermosa, in August 2018, several factors have negatively impacted the value of the Taylor deposit. These include Covid-19-related restrictions that curtailed development activity during 2020 and 2021, dewatering requirements that delayed the timeline to first production and a required US$365-million investment to access the orebody.

After the impairment, Hermosa’s carrying value at the end of June would be around US$1 billion, South32 said. The Taylor deposit would sit at US$482 million, but the carrying value of the Clark deposit and regional exploration land package would remain unchanged at around US$519 million.

“The Hermosa project has the potential to sustainably produce commodities critical for a low-carbon future, from multiple devel-

opment options, for decades to come,” CEO Graham Kerr said.

“We are disappointed by the delays resulting from the impact of Covid, the significant dewatering requirements and current inflationary market conditions,” Kerr noted.

South32 added Hermosa in May to the United States’ FAST-41 process, a piece of legislation aimed at promoting faster development of clean energy assets and permitting processes.

The company said at the time that the project was the country’s only advanced mine development as of 2023 able to produce two federally designated critical minerals — manganese and zinc.

South Africa, Gabon and Australia account for more than two-thirds

White Pine’s after-tax net present value (at an 8% discount) is calculated at US$821 million with an internal rate of return of 20.8%. That’s based on a copper price of US$4 per lb. Initial capital costs are estimated at US$615 million, net of pre-production revenue of US$265 million.

Underpinning the study is a significant increase in indicated resources to 3.5 billion lb. of copper (150.7 million tonnes at 1.05% copper) and 65.5 million oz. of silver (13.5 grams silver per tonne). Inferred resources add 2.2 billion lb. of copper (96.4 million tonnes at 1.03% copper) and 27.8 million oz. of silver (9 grams silver).

Kinterra Copper, which is affiliated with private equity firm Kinterra Capital, has made a cash payment of US$30 million to Highland for a 66% stake in White Pine

North. The investment will allow Highland to start early site works at the fully permitted Copperwood project, where it is focused on advancing to development and production.

Kinterra Capital’s co-founders and co-managing partners both formerly worked at another resource-focused private equity firm, Waterton Global Resource Management.

Additionally, the JV has agreed to spend a further US$30 million to advance the White Pine North project through permitting, infill drilling and a feasibility study.

Project history

White Pine North, located 7.5 km south of Lake Superior in Ontonagon County, is an extension of the historical White Pine mine that operated from 1953 to 1995, during which time it produced 4.5 billion lb. copper at an average grade of 1.17% copper.

After closing in 1997, it passed through multiple owners before First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM) acquired it in 2013. The following year, First Quantum sold the project to Highland Copper.

The updated PEA provides a base case assessment of mining resources at White Pine North only. Potential synergies with the company’s nearby flagship Copperwood deposit were not considered.

“The White Pine North project was able to operate successfully for 50 years until the mid-1990s. The results of the PEA indicate that the project could have another 22 or more years of mining in the Upper Peninsula,” Denis Miville-Deschênes, CEO of Highland Copper, said in a release.

“While we continue to maintain our focus on the fully permitted Copperwood project, we have a viable path to simultaneously advance the White Pine North project, keeping our focus on nearterm value creation by creating a new U.S. copper producer.”

Discovered in 1956, Copperwood boasts the highest-grade of all known sediment-hosted copper deposits in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Geologically it is very similar to the White Pine deposit.

Based on a 2018 feasibility study, the deposit is expected to produce over 10.7 years leveraging 25.4 million tonnes of reserves at a grade of 1.43% copper. Its initial capital cost is US$244.6 million. Using an annual discount rate of 8%, the aftertax IRR, NPV, and payback period for the project are 18%, US$116.8 million and 3.2 years, respectively.

Shares of Highland Copper traded at 8¢ apiece at press time in Toronto, giving the company a market capitalization of $58.9 million. Its shares traded in a 52-week window of 5¢ and 10¢. TNM

Highland Copper’s Copperwood project, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. HIGHLAND COPPER

South32’s Hermosa zinc-lead-silver project in Arizona. SOUTH32

See HERMOSA / 16

DEEPLY INVESTED IN MINING.

URANIUM DOMINATES LIST OF TOP 10 US JUNIORS TO MID-TIERS OUTSIDE OF PRECIOUS METALS, COAL

BY NORTHERN MINER STAFF

Nuclear fuel providers again led the largest United States-based junior and mid-tier mining companies valued from US$250 million to US$2 billion, excluding precious metals and coal producers. The data as of July 14 were compiled by Mining Intelligence, part of The Northern Miner group.

There were several adjustments in the running order compared with last year and three new entrants.

1 URANIUM ENERGY

Market cap: US$1.2 billion

Uranium Energy (NYSE-AM: UEC) retook the top spot on the list after a buying spree last year to enter Canada’s premier uranium district, the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan.

The Corpus Christi, Texas-based company’s $244-million purchase of UEX Corp. last summer beat Denison Mines (TSX: DML) for the Christie Lake, Hidden Bay and Horseshoe-Raven projects on the basin’s eastern side. In October, UEC paid US$146.2 million for Rio Tinto’s (ASX: RIO) Roughrider project. Those deals followed the US$112 million acquisition of Russia’s state-run Uranium One in 2021.

The purchases have helped UEC expand operations focused on the U.S. Southwest in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, as well as Wyoming. UEC has two huband-spoke projects in Wyoming and Texas nearing production that may help the company swing into profit after reporting a US$3.8-million loss in the nine months to the end of April. Acquisitions helped

UEC increase its uranium sales fivefold to US$125.4 million compared to the same period last year.

UEC holds a US$125 million war chest for buying assets. Physical uranium trading earned the company US$41.8 million profit in the quarter to April 30.

The company has also been buoyed by U.S. and European Union government measures passed this year to block imports of Russian uranium. Russia and its allies, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, account for nearly half of the uranium powering U.S. nuclear plants.

UEC’s Irigaray plant in Wyoming is slated to produce 2.5 million lb. per year with plans to increase output to 4 million pounds. The Hobson processing plant in Texas would produce 4 million lb. per year from five satellite projects, three of which have been approved.

UEC also holds a major equity stake in the metal’s sole royalty company, Uranium Royalty (TSXV: URC; NASDAQ: UROY).

Market cap: US$1 billion Energy Fuels (TSX: EFR; NYSE: UUUU), the leading producer of uranium in the U.S., fell to second spot this year, losing about US$200,000 in market value as costs mounted for several uranium projects.

The Denver-based company reported first-quarter earnings of US$114.3 million, primarily due to the sale of its Alta Mesa property for US$120 million to enCore Energy Corp (TSXV: EU; NYSE: EU) and sales of uranium and vanadium with a total gross margin of 57%.

In February, Energy Fuels closed the acquisition of the 151-sq.-km rare earth elements Bahia project in Brazil that will supply the White Mesa plant in Utah as it continues to also process uranium.

It plans to produce 3,000 to 10,000 tonnes of monazite sand per year or 1,500 to 5,000 tonnes of total rare earth oxides a year. The company calls it a low-cost, longterm source of monazite for rare earths, titanium from ilmenite and

rutile, and zircon for zirconium.

In April, the White Mesa plant delivered shipments of uranium, vanadium and rare earth oxides for the first time in the same week, showing how it aims to become a critical minerals hub.

The company plans to sell 560,000 lb. of uranium and focus production exclusively this year on rare earths. It aims to process about 600 tonnes of monazite into as much as 170 tonnes of total rare earth oxides this year, followed by as much as 700 tonnes of monazite by early 2024. It also wants to begin producing up to 1,000 tonnes of rare earth neodymium-praseodymium as it spends US$25 million to expand capacity at White Mesa. It aims to start producing rare earth elements dysprosium and terbium in 2027.

Energy Fuels also has the La Sal complex of uranium and vanadium mines and projects in Utah, and the Pinyon Plain uranium mine in Arizona.

In addition, it has projects in

2 ENERGY FUELS

Uranium Energy’s Christensen Ranch in-situ leach project in Wyoming. URANIUM ENERGY

Former Nebraska Lt. Gov. Lavon Heidemann, left, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, and NioCorp COO Scott Honan at the Elk Creek site. NIOCORP DEVELOPMENTS

tion season. The wells are expected to boost brine grades and output. Similarly, the company announced in mid-June the completion of the first phase of its HB injection pipeline at the Carlsbad Solar solution mine, which will triple the average injection rate. The second phase of the buildout is winding its way through the permitting process.

6 UR-ENERGY

Market Cap: US$266.3 million

Dropping to the sixth spot this year from fourth last year is Ur-Energy (TSX: URE; NYSE-AM: URE), which is currently restarting commercial production at its Lost Creek ISR uranium facility in Wyoming. The company expects to ramp up cash flow on the back of a production restart at the mine due to improving market conditions and some favourable long-term contracts. It’s already sold 100,000 lb. of uranium oxide at US$64.47 per lb. this year and is contracted to sell another 180,000 lb., with projected sales to reach over US$17 million in 2023.

Ur-Energy is the lowest-cost producer of uranium in the U.S. and has a strong track record of maintaining low costs due to the quality of the orebody in Wyoming.

Ur-Energy’s Lost Creek production plant has a capacity of 1.2 million lb. per year, while its second facility, Shirley Basin, is licensed for 1 million lb. per year but has not been built yet. The company aims to secure additional contracts to reach 2.2 million lb. per year, which could help justify the buildout at Shirley Basin.

7. ITAFOS

SNAPSHOT from / 14

New Mexico, Arizona, and Wyoming, and where it plans for up to 1.5 million lb. of annual uranium output across a 15-year mine life at its Sheep Mountain project.

3 AMERICAN BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

Market cap: US$475.3 million

American Battery Technology (US-OTC: ABML), an aspiring lithium producer in Nevada, joins the ranking at No. 3 after the Biden administration chose the company to build the state’s first extraction plant for the light metal while investors clamour for stocks in the green energy boom.

The Reno-based company plans to build a US$115-million pilot plant 50 km east at Fernley which will process ore from its Tonopah Flats project located 300 km to the southeast. Washington is funding US$57 million of the cost through last year’s infrastructure-building legislation. The plant is to process 5,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate a year with the option of expanding annual output to 30,000 tonnes. Plans include a 30,000-sq.-metre lithium-ion battery recycling facility.

ABT’s 42-sq.-km property holds 4.8 billion inferred tonnes grading 561 parts per million of lithium for 14.3 million tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent, according to a technical report released in February.

Tonopah holds so much of the light metal “people don’t know what to do with it all,” according to a recent account by The Northern Miner’s Henry Lazenby. Indeed, lithium is abundant on the planet, but plants to process it outside of China are rare as the West scrambles to reduce reliance on the Asian giant.

ABT says it’s developing its own processing using selective leach extraction to lower costs by reducing chemical reagents, water use and resultant contaminants. It’s refining methods at the University of Nevada Reno’s Nevada Center for Applied Research.

The company had US$12.6. million in cash at the end of the first

quarter as it embarked on recommendations in the technical report to spend US$4.9 million for drilling, studies and metallurgy for a prefeasibility report.

4 ENCORE ENERGY CORP Market Cap: US$343.7 million

A new entrant to the list this year at the fourth spot is enCore Energy Corp which is focused on uranium production in southern Texas. The company operates the Rosita, Alta Mesa and Kingsville Dome Central in-situ recovery uranium processing plants licensed and built for a 2023-2024 production capacity of 3.6 million lb. of yellowcake.

Encore has set itself the goal of achieving yearly uranium production rates of 3 million lb. uranium oxide per year by the end of 2026 and 5 million lb. by the end of 2028.

The company’s executive chairman William Sheriff was an early participant in the uranium renaissance as the co-founder and executive chairman of Energy Metals when it was acquired in 2008 for US$1.8 billion. He is credited for

compiling U.S. history’s largest domestic uranium resource base.

According to the company, its assets are in a prolific district for sandstone-hosted ISR production, with historical production of about 80 million lb. of uranium.

The Rosita Central Processing Plant (CPP), one of enCore’s critical assets, is licensed and built about 97 km west of Corpus Christi and covers more than 14 sq. km of mineral rights and plant facilities. The facility has a production capacity of 800,000 lb. of uranium oxide per year, with 2023 output forecast at 200,000 pounds.

The Rosita CPP will receive uranium-loaded resins from remote South Texas projects and satellite wellfields.

Located nearby is also the Kingsville Dome Centra ISR processing plant which is licensed and on standby for potential future feed.

Alta Mesa is the company’s other cornerstone growth asset, with a production capacity of about 1.5 million lb. uranium. Production is expected to start in 2024.

Denver, Colo.-based Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI), a fertilizer manufacturer, falls to fifth place in this year’s ranking from third in 2022. The company is the largest producer of potassium chloride, also known as muriate of potash, in the U.S. It owns three mines, all in the western U.S., near Carlsbad, N. M., and Moab and Wendover in Utah.

As of the March quarter, Intrepid saw an increase in demand for potash and its specialty fertilizer Trio (potassium, magnesium and sulphate), with sales volumes totalling 89,000 tons and 65,000 tons, respectively. Despite the first-quarter profitability being impacted by lower pricing compared to last year, the company said in early May that potash pricing remains elevated compared to recent historical levels, with U.S. corn belt potash trading at about US$490 per ton. Intrepid completed the Well 45 and 46 drilling projects at its solar solution potash mine in Moab in early July, in time for the 2023 evapora-

Market Cap: US$210.2 million

Itafos (TSX: IFOS) is another new entrant to this year’s ranking of the top U.S. miners by market cap, placing seventh. Although it doubled its 2022 net income to US$114.7 million, the company announced on March 13 it was considering strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value. Private capital fund Castlelake LP backs the company and has moved to strengthen its business over the past year. Measures have included work to extend the life of the Conda phosphate mine in Idaho, extending the maturity and reducing the cost of Itafos’ debt, improving its capital structure through deleveraging and strengthening the company’s management and board. Its first-quarter results were impacted by lower phosphate prices compared with 2022.

The company received permits for its Husky 1/North Dry Ridge (H1/NDR) mine project this spring, allowing it to extend Conda’s mine life with production through 2037, and the potential to further extend the resource life through leases and third-party arrangements.

The company also holds the Arrais and Santana phosphate businesses in Brazil, the Araxa rare earths and niobium mine in Brazil, and the feasibility-level Farim phosphate project in Guinea-Bissau.

8 NIOCORP DEVELOPMENTS

Market cap: US$149.6 million

Dropping from fifth place in last year’s rankings, NioCorp Developments (TSX: NB; US-OTC: NIOBF) is focused on developing its Elk Creek niobium, scandium, titanium and rare earths project in southeast Nebraska.

In early July, the Colorado-based company made an initial agreement with automaker Stellantis N.V. (NYSE: STLA) on access to rare earth product from the Elk Creek plant and mine.

The non-binding term sheet lays out a 10-year offtake contract

5 INTREPID POTASH Market Cap:(US$305.5 million)

enCore Energy’s Rosita wellfield in southern Texas. ENCORE ENERGY

Intrepid Potash’s evaporation ponds near Moab, Utah. INTREPID POTASH

for specific amounts of neodymium-praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium oxide. The volumes will be determined in a definitive agreement, subject to project financing.

SNAPSHOT from / 14 98,900 tonnes of neodymium, 2,300 tonnes of terbium and 9,100 tonnes of dysprosium, according to a 2022 feasibility study. It also hosts total probable reserves of 36.6 million tonnes, including niobium grading 0.81% for 297,278 tonnes, titanium grading 2.92% for 1 million tonnes and scandium grading 70.2 parts per million for 2,573 tonnes.

The agreement came just months after NioCorp reported significant results in high-purity critical mineral recoveries, including rare earths at its demonstration plant in Trois-Rivieres, Que.

In April, it reported that a “process breakthrough” in niobium and titanium recovery at the L3 Process Development facility supports the technical feasibility of separating high-purity oxides of important magnetic rare earths from ore extracted at Elk Creek.

And in February, NioCorp said recoveries in a high-purity mixed concentrate of rare earths at L3 likely exceeded 92% and would meet commercial purity specifications for rare earth oxides.

Elk Creek has an indicated resource of 632,900 tonnes of total rare earths oxides (TREO), including 26,900 tonnes of praseodymium,

The company plans to release an updated feasibility study this year that incorporates rare earth economics.

9 TEXAS MINERAL RESOURCES

Market cap: US$77.2 million

Exploration company Texas Mineral Resources (US-OTC: TMRC) is focused on heavy rare earths, uranium and beryllium at its flagship Round Top Mountain project near Sierra Blanca, Texas, about 142 km southeast of El Paso.

The Round Top deposit contains 11 heavy rare earths, and five light rare earths. The project is under an 80-20 joint venture between privately held USA Rare Earth and Texas Mineral Resources.

A 2019 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Round Top estimated annual production of 2,213 tonnes of REEs, of which over 1,900 tonnes would be heavy REEs, over a 20-year mine life from an open pit mine. The estimation was based on mining only 14% of the current mineral resources at the project.

The explorer has over the last year focused more attention on the Black Hawk silver/nickel/cobalt mining district in Grant Cty., New Mexico. It has been conducting geophysical exploration for silver around the historic and high-grade Alhambra mine since October 2021 when it executed an option agreement with Santa Fe Gold. Alhambra was mined in the 19th century and opened briefly again between the 1950s and 1970s.

Geophysical surveys in the area detected 16 significant anomalies that TMRC plans to target in a future drill program, the company said in July. It also plans a feasibility study for the Black Hawk deposits.

10 EXCELSIOR MINING

Market cap: US$52.8 million Excelsior Mining (TSX: MIN; US-OTC: EXMGF) holds its flagship Gunnison copper project, the past-producing Johnson Camp copper mine (JCM), and the Peabody Sill and Strong and Harris copper-zinc-silver deposit, all located in Cochise Cty., Arizona.

An amended permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency became active in June, allowing for well stimulation at the Gunnison ISR project. Well stimulation enhances the flow of ISR solution through injection to recovery wells and improves copper productivity.

Excelsior plans to conduct field trials of the wells in the second half of 2023.

In February, Excelsior released a technical report on an update to its PEA of the JCM heap leach project, released in March 2022. The update incorporated results from a 2022 drill program and proposed the use of sulphide leaching technology to enhance recoveries at an open pit at JCM.

The updated PEA estimates an operation of 196 million mined tons for 492 million lb. copper over about 20 years.

Using a 7.5% discount rate, the PEA estimated JCM would have an after-tax net present value of US$180 million and an after-tax internal rate of return of 30.4%. Initial mine capital was pegged at US$58.9 million and operating costs at US$2.24 per pound. TNM

Saudi firm to buy 10% stake in Vale’s energy metals business

FINANCING | California-based activist investor buys 3% interest

able oz., meaning it’s cheaper and would deliver more ounces than the Gemfield transaction at current prices.

“Bear in mind, Hasbrouck also has stronger economics than Gemfield, which at US$1,300 per oz. gold delivers a 46% IRR for Hasbrouck versus 20% for Gemfield,” McVey says.

However, Centerra may first want to get to grips with what they bought (could explain the drills visible from the roadside) at Gemfield, which they’re now busy drilling, before entertaining any further ideas of regional consolidation. While West Vault Mining avoids unnecessary drilling or exploration activities, Hasbrouck holds potential for future expan-

sion, with indications of a highgrade feeder system warranting further exploration.

The Three Hills resources entail 10.4 million tons indicated at 0.6 gram gold per ton for 185,000 oz. gold, and the Hasbrouck deposit holds measured and indicated resources of 42 million tons grading 0.5 gram gold per ton for 651,000 oz. gold and 9 grams silver for 12.2 million ounces.

With nearly $4 million in the bank and a four-year runway ahead, the company is prepared to wait it out because conditions must turn — eventually.

At 88¢ per share in Toronto at press time, West Vault shares are down almost 10% over 12 months, having touched 83¢ and $1.15. It has a market capitalization of $51.1 million. TNM

HERMOSA from 12

of production of manganese, mainly used in the steel sector. Domestic output in the U.S. — which once had mines in states including Virginia — ended in the 1970s.

Resource, production increases South32 said separately that the feasibility study for the Taylor deposit was on track for delivery in the first half of 2024.

Work to date, the company said, has validated the potential for a

BY AMANDA STUTT

Vale (NYSE: VALE) has inked a binding agreement with Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s state-owned miner Ma’aden and the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund. In this deal, Manara Minerals will buy a 10% stake in Vale Base Metals Limited (VBM), the holding entity for Vale’s energy transition metals business.

The Brazilian miner also made a deal with San Francisco-based activist investment firm Engine No. 1, which will invest in VBM under the same terms for a 3% interest. The total consideration to be paid to VBM under both agreements is US$3.4 billion, for a total 13% equity interest.

Vale Base Metals is expected to invest US$25-30 billion in new projects across Brazil, Canada and Indonesia over the next decade, the company said. The funding will help drive a significant potential increase in VBM’s production from about 350,000 tonnes per year to 900,000 tonnes yearly in copper and from roughly 175,000 tonnes to more than 300,000 tonnes per year in nickel, the company said.

Manara Minerals will own 10% of VBM, while Engine No. 1 will hold a 3% stake. The closing is

expected to occur during the first quarter of 2024.

“We see these strategic investments as a major milestone in our path to accelerate accretive growth in our Energy Transition Metals business platform, creating significant long-term value for all of our stakeholders,” Vale CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo said in a statement.

“We are uniquely positioned to meet the growing demand for green metals essential for the global energy transition, while remaining committed to strong social and environmental practices and sustainable mining,” Bartolomeo said.

“Manara Minerals’ investment into VBM marks our first major investment into the global mining sector,” Robert Wilt, executive director of Manara Minerals and CEO of Ma’aden, said.

“This strategic investment signifies our confidence in Vale’s strategic minerals business and will facilitate growth in VBM’s world-class asset portfolio across all of the countries it operates in. Manara Minerals brings longterm capital, mining experience, and deep sector knowledge, and will act as a key strategic partner in global supply chain resilience and energy transition efforts,” Wilt said in the statement. TNM

zinc-lead-silver underground mine and conventional processing plant with a nameplate processing rate of up to 4.3 million tonnes per year.

The asset, it said, had seen a 41% increase in the “measured” resources category.

The company noted the Clark deposit could supply high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) for the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain in North America, providing a second development option at Hermosa.

The impairment overshadowed South32’s report of three annual

production records in aluminum, copper and manganese as part of its June 2023 quarter results.

South32’s copper production jumped by 9% in the three months to June 30, while aluminum output rose 14% in the fiscal year 2023.

Base metals production also surged, registering a 17% increase for the year as the miner embedded the Sierra Gorda copper operation in its portfolio, while the Cannington zinc-lead-silver and Cerro Matoso nickel operations achieved revised guidance. TNM

Texas Mineral Resources’ Round Top Mountain uranium, beryllium and heavy and light rare earths project in western Texas. TEXAS MINERAL RESOURCES

WEST VAULT from 11

West Vault Mining’s CEO Sandy McVey on top of Hasbrouck Mountain south of Tonopah. HENRY LAZENBY

South32’s Hermosa project contains the Taylor zinc-lead-silver deposit and Clark manganese deposit. SOUTH32

Vale’s open-pit mine and concentrator at Voisey’s Bay in Labrador. VALE

TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE / JULY 24—28, 2023

Over the July 24-28 trading period, the S&P/ TSX Composite Index lost 28.14 points or 0.14%, to 20,519.37. The S&P/TSX Global Mining Index added 1.13 points or 1% to 110.62 and the S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index gained 8.8 points or 4.5% to 202.28. The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index dipped by 5.67 points or 2% to 383.46 and spot gold ended the week off US$6.35 per oz., or 0.3% lower, at US$1,954.25 per ounce.

Global Atomic Corp. shares lost 33%, ending the week at $1.89 each as a military coup erupted in Niger, where the company is building the Dasa uranium mine. Niger’s elected president Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown on July 26, with General Abdourahmane Tchiani, the head of the presidential guards unit, seizing power.

In a statement on Friday, the company said it’s continuing to prepare the plant site for construction and to open access to the orebody. However, Global Atomic said in late June it was still working to finalize a term sheet for a loan with a syndicate of North American financial institutions. A 2021 feasibility study estimated initial capital costs of US$208 million.

The company expects to begin shipments of yellowcake from Dasa in 2025.

“While the situation in Niger remains vol-

atile and there has been protesting in some parts of the capital, the rest of the country remains calm,” Stephen Roman, president and CEO of Global Atomic said in a statement. “Importantly, our people remain safe and normal business is being conducted at our offices and development of the Dasa project continues.”

Roman noted that leaders of other West African countries that are part of ECOWAS have given the coup leaders one week to reinstate President Bazoum.

“It is too early to speculate on the outcome of this mandate. In the meantime, the Global Atomic Board and Management team, as well as SOMIDA Management in Niger are closely monitoring the situation. We hope

TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE / JULY 24—28, 2023

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index added 13.1 points or 2.1% over the July 24-28 trading session to end at 625.1.

This week, leading in terms of value gainers was Sigma Lithium which closed Friday up $2.88 at $51.70 per share. The stock continues to trade at more than double its price 12 months ago, buoyed by lithium’s role in the energy transition, as well as Sigma’s July 27 announcement that it has shipped its first product from the Grota do Cirilo lithium mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The first shipment was produced at the Sigma “Greentech” plant. The company says its operation is the first lithium project without a tailings dam. Under an offtake agreement with China’s Yahua, the company sells its high-purity tailings grading around 1.3% lithium oxide as a by-product for further processing. The remaining tailings are dry-stacked. Sigma has started generating revenue from Phase 1 and expects to produce 130,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate this year as the operation ramps up. The company expects to achieve Phase 2 and 3 production in 2024, positioning it as one of the world’s largest lithium producers.

This week’s second-best value-gainer was Electra Battery Materials, which closed 75% higher Friday at $1.97. The company reported

on July 24 an improved battery-grade cobalt supply agreement with LG Energy Solution, a global manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, from terms initially announced in September 2022. Under the updated terms, Electra will supply LG with 3,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in a cobalt sulphate product in 2025 and a further 4,000 tonnes in the following years through 2029 for a total of 19,000 tonnes under an agreed pricing mechanism. Previously, Electra had agreed to supply LG with 7,000 tonnes of battery-grade cobalt over three years, starting in 2023. The value of the initial deal was estimated at US$63 million.

GoviEx Uranium was the Venture Exchange’s top-traded issue, seeing 8.3 mil-

U.S. MARKETS / JULY 24—28, 2023

U.S. markets rose moderately during the week of July 24-28, after investors considered an interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve to be near its last while inflation fell and economic growth remained resilient.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 231.6 points or 0.7% to 35,459.29 and the S&P 500 gained 45.89 points or 1% over the week to 4,582.23.

Hudbay Minerals topped the chart with an 8.9% gain to US$5.78 after saying July 27 that drill results may lengthen the life of its Lalor mine in Manitoba beyond 2038 and that it had more than tripled its land holdings in the same Snow Lake region of the province to 2,690 sq. km.

Step-out drilling about 500 metres northwest of Lalor intersected a series of base metal and copper-gold zones, including a highgrade copper-gold-silver zone, Hudbay said. Down-plunge drilling from Lalor indicates the alteration zone, hosting mineralization currently being mined, continues for at least 2 km to the north, it said.

The company says it’s also keen to use modern geophysics on the recently acquired Cook Lake properties where historical drilling was limited to about 275 metres deep compared with Lalor’s depth of as much as 1,500 metres. The acquisition of Rock-

cliff Metals announced in June also expands Hudbay’s landholdings in the region.

Southern Copper rose 8.7% to US$85.22 after saying it was more optimistic about building a new mine in Peru, where anti-mining protests have rocked the industry.

The company said on July 28 it was making progress with communities around the US$1.4 billion Tia Maria project in the South American country’s coastal mountains. Former president Pedro Castillo opposed the project, rousing locals against it despite a licence approval in 2019.

Protests in Peru affected production from mines such as MMG’s Las Bambas, Glencore’s Antapaccay and Hudbay’s Constancia after Castillo was ousted in December.

for a timely and successful resolution to this unexpected event.”

Western Africa has seen several coups in the past few years, including in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

Excelsior Mining jumped 19.6% to 28¢ per share after it made an agreement with Rio Tinto’s copper heap-leaching technology unit, Nuton.

The US$5-million agreement will see Nuton fund costs at Excelsior for a two-stage work program at its Johnson camp project in Cochise Cty., Ariz. Nuton will pay US$3 million in advance for stage 1 costs, and US$2 million for an exclusive option to form a 51/49 joint venture with Excelsior after stage 2 work is complete. Stage 1 work will start in August and take six to nine months. TNM

lion shares change hands to close the week at 12¢ per share. On July 18, the company reported an updated resource estimate for its Muntanga copper project in Zambia, moving most of the resources into the measured and indicated categories at higher grades. The measured and indicated resources have almost tripled and now represent 74% of

total resources, increasing to 42.6 million tonnes grading 359 parts per million (ppm) uranium oxide for 33.7 million pounds. In its previous resource statement in 2017, measured and indicated resources were pegged at 16.1 million tonnes grading 353 ppm uranium oxide for 12.6 million pounds. TNM

The unrest has subsided somewhat despite renewed calls for demonstrations this month.

President Dina Boluarte has criticized the protests calling them a threat to democracy and stationed military units to protect industry transportation routes.

Nexa Resources added 7.6% to US$4.83 after saying on July 27 that normal operations resumed at its Atacocha San Gerardo open

pit mine in Peru after local groups stopped protests and allowed access to the mine.

An estimated zinc production loss of 900,000 tonnes is expected to be recovered in the coming months while this year’s production guidance remains unchanged, it said.

Nexa, a top-five zinc producer, has three mines in Peru and two in Brazil with a third, Aripuanã, now ramping up. TNM

METALS, MINING AND MONEY MARKETS

LME WAREHOUSE LEVELS

stocks (in tonnes) held in London Metal Exchange warehouses at opening on June 29, 2023

PRODUCER

Alio Gold Inc. (ALO.WT) - 10 Warrants to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $7.00 until expiry Alio Gold Inc. J (ALO.WT.A) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $8.00 until expiry

Aris Gold Corporation (ARIS.WT) - One Warrant to purchase one Common Share of the Issuer at $2.75 until expiry.

Aris Gold Corporation (ARIS.WT.A) - One Warrant to purchase 0.5 of one Common Share of the Issuer at $2.75 until expiry

Aris Gold Corporation (ARIS.WT.B) - One Warrant to purchase of one Common Share of the Issuer at $2.21 until expiry

eCobalt Solutions Inc. J (ECS.WT) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at US$1.95 per share until expiry Excellon Resources Inc (EXN.WT.A) - One warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $2.80 until expiry Excellon Resources Inc. (EXN.WT) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the issuer at $1.40 per share until expiry Excelsior Mining Corp. (MIN.WT) - One Warrant to purchase one Common Share of the Issuer at $1.25 until expiry.

ABE Resources Inc. (ABE.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.15 per share.

Alpha Lithium Corporation (ALLI.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $1.10 per share.

Alpha Lithium Corporation (ALLI.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $1.10 per share.

American Cumo Mining Corp. (MLY.RT)2 rights and $0.07 are required to purchase one share

American Lithium Corp. (LI.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.30 per share.

Antioquia Gold Inc. (AGD.RT) - One (1) Right and $0.042 are required to purchase one share.

Aurania Resources Ltd. (ARU.RT) -

Fourteen (14) Rights exercisable for one common share at $2.70 per common share. Aurania Resources Ltd. (ARU.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $5.50 per share.

Aurania Resources Ltd. (ARU.WT.A) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $4.25 per share.

Aurania Resources Ltd. (ARU.WT.B) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $2.20 per share.

Avidian Gold Corp. (AVG.RT) - Three rights and $0.11 are required to purchase one Share.

Boreal Metals Corp. (BMX.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.50 per share.

Boreal Metals Corp. (BMX.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.30 per share. Cabral Gold Inc. (CBR.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.80 per share.

Caldas Gold Corp. (CGC.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $2.75 per share.

Cascadero Copper Corporation (CCD. RT) - One right and $0.015 are required to purchase one Share.

Cordoba Minerals Corp (CDB.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $1.08 per share.

Cordoba Minerals Corp (CDB.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $1.08 per share.

Cordoba Minerals Corp. (CDB.RT) - One (1)

Right exercisable for One (1) Rights Share at $0.05 per Share.

Cordoba Minerals Corp. (CDB.RT) - One right to purchase one common share at $0.54 per share.

Denarius Silver Corp. (DSLV.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.80 per share.

Elevation Gold Mining Corporation (ELVT. WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $4.80 per share.

Elevation Gold Mining Corporation (ELVT. WT.A) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.70 per share.

Empress Royalty Corp. (EMPR.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.75 per share.

Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $3.00 per share.

Eros Resources Corp. (ERC.WT) - One

TSX WARRANTS

Gran Colombia Gold (GCM.WT.B) - One

warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $2.21 until expiry.

Karora Resources Inc. (KRR.WT) - One

Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $0.50 until expiry.

Liberty Gold Corp. Wt (LGD.WT) - One

Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $0.90 until expiry.

Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.WT) - One

Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $0.90 until expiry

Lydian International Limited (LYD.WT) -

One Warrant to purchase one additional ordinary share of the Issuer at $0.36 per share until expiry

Nevada Copper Corp. (NCU.WT) - One

Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $0.20 until expiry

Nevada Copper Corp. (NCU.WT.A) - One

Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $0.22 until expiry

Nomad Royalty Company Ltd. (NSR.WT)One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $1.71 until expiry.

Novo Resources Corp. (NOVO.WT.A) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of

TSX VENTURE WARRANTS

(1) Right exercisable for (1) Unit at $0.05 per Unit.

Falco Resources Ltd. (FPC.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $1.70 per share.

Firefox Gold Corp. (FFOX.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.60 per share.

Firefox Gold Corp. (FFOX.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $3.00 per share.

Freeman Gold Corp (FMAN.WT.U) - One warrant to purchase one common share at US$0.65 per share.

Giga Metals Corporation (GIGA.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.60 per share.

Giga Metals Corporation (GIGA.WT.A)One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.45 per share.

Giyani Metals Corp. (EMM.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.60 per share.

Goldstar Minerals (GDM.RT) - One Right to purchase one common share at $0.03 per share.

Goldstar Minerals Inc. (GDM.RT) - One (1) Right and $0.05 are required to purchase one common share. Hot Chili Limited (HCH.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $2.50 per share.

Kaizen Discovery Inc. (KZD.RT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.51 per share.

LaSalle Exploration Corp. (LSX.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.15 per share.

Lion One Metals Limited (LIO.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $2.75 per share.

Lion One Metals Limited (LIO.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $1.25 per share.

LithiumBank Resources Corp. (LBNK.WT)

- One warrant to purchase one common share at $2.00 per share.

LSC Lithium Corporation (LSC.RT) - One (1) right exercisable for One (1) Unit at $0.40 per Unit.

Mako Mining Corp. (MKO.RT) - Rights exercisable for One (1) share at $0.10 per share.

Mako Mining Corp. (MKO.WT.A) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.60 per share.

Manganese X Energy Corp. (MN.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.15 per share.

Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (MGM.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.40 per share

Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (MGM.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.40 per share

Mas Gold Corp. (MAS.RT) - One (1) right exercisable for one (1) common share held at $0.01.

Mexican Gold Corp. (MEX.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.12 per share.

Millennial Lithium Corp. (ML.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $4.25 per share.

Millennial Lithium Corp. (ML.WT) - One right to purchase one common share at

the Issuer at $3.00 until expiry.

Novo Resources Corp. (NVO.WT.A) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $3.00 until expiry.

Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (PTM.WT.U)One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at US$0.17 until expiry

Royal Nickel Corporation (RNX.WT) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $0.50 until expiry. Sandstorm Gold (SSL.WT.B) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at US $14.00 until expiry.

Sherritt International Corporation (S.WT)Each whole Warrant entitles the holder to acquire between 1.00 and 1.25 additional common shares (as bulletin 2018-0062 table ) determined based on the Applicable Reference Cobalt Price at an exercise price of $1.95 per Warrant at any time prior to the Expiry Date Treasury Metals Inc. Wt (TML.WT) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $1.50 until expiry.

Trevali Mining Corporation (TV.WT) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $0.23 until expiry.

$4.80 per share.

Millennial Precious Metals Corp. (MPM. WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.50 per share.

Mineworx Technologies Ltd. (MWX.RT)For every one (1) Share held, Shareholders will receive one (1) Right exercisable for One (1) Share at $0.015 per Share.

Mineworx Technologies Ltd. (MWX.RT) -

One right to purchase one common share at $0.015 per share.

Northern Vertex Mining Corp. (NEE.WT)One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.80 per share.

Novo Resources Corp. (NVO.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $4.40 per share.

Orezone Gold Corporation (ORE.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.80 per share.

Orezone Gold Corporation (ORE.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.80 per share.

Osisko Development Corp. (ODV.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $10.00 per share.

Osisko Development Corp. (ODV.WT.A) -

One warrant to purchase one common share at $14.75 per share.

Osisko Development Corp. (ODV.WT.B) -

One warrant to purchase one common share at $8.55 per share.

Osisko Development Corp. (ODV.WT.U) -

One warrant to purchase one common share at US$10.70 per share.

Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (RCK.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $4.50 per share.

Sandfire Resources America Inc. (SFR.RT) -

Forty one (41) Rights exercisable for One (1) Share at $0.15 per Share.

Sandfire Resources America Inc. (SFR.

RT) - Eight (8) Rights exercisable for One (1) share at $0.06 per unit.

Silver Mountain Resources Inc. (AGMR. WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.70 per share.

Silver Mountain Resources Inc. (AGMR.

WT.A) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.45 per share.

Star Royalties Ltd. (STRR.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $1.00 per share.

Three Valley Copper Corp. (TVC.WT) - 20 warrants to purchase one Class A common share at $6.66 per share.

Tintina Resources Inc. (TAU.RT) - Nine(9) Rights exercisable for one share at $0.06 per share.

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (UCU.RT) - One (1) right exercisable for one share at $4.00 per share.

Vision Lithium Inc. (VLI.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.15 per share.

Vizsla Silver Corp. (VZLA.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $3.25 per share.

Westhaven Gold Corp. (WHN.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $1.00 per share.

Yellowhead Mining Inc. (YMI.RT) - One (1) Right and $0.12 are required to prchase one Share

DAVID GAROFALO Chief Executive Officer, President, Chairman and Director GOLD ROYALTY

SEAN ROOSEN Chair of the Board of Directors OSISKO GOLD ROYALTIES

FRANK GIUSTRA Strategic Advisor ARIS MINING

RANDY SMALLWOOD President & Chief Executive Officer WHEATON PRECIOUS METALS

CATHERINE MCCLEOD-SELTZER Independent Chair KINROSS GOLD

DON LINDSAY Former CEO of Teck TECK RESOURCES LTD

ROBERT FRIEDLAND Founder and Executive Co-Chair IVANHOE MINES

JOHN MCCLUSKEY President, Chief Executive Officer & Director ALAMOS GOLD