HyTerra’s geological hydrogen work captures the highbrow attention of New Scientist
Innogy eyes Tanzanian nickel
HyTerra boost its board
David Drabble cut his teeth as a young geo straight out of uni garnering attention in the Western Australian resources’ scene circa 2008. Don’t let his boyish appearance fool you – he can a land a punch when the need arises.
And that’s exactly what he will be doing post IPO, all things going well, when he leads ASX-listed Innogy into exploration of over 5,300 square kilometres in Tanzania, using smarts from nearly fifteen years in the industry and the past nine years being responsible for EcoGraf’s nickel and graphite exploration in East Africa.
The fast-emerging Tanzanian nickel frontier has attracted more than just miners.
BHP and the United States are both invested in the region, and Innogy Limited is preparing to go public with the nation’s largest nickel exploration landholding as demand outlooks continue to rise.
“The two priority areas will be our Northern and Western Frontiers, where near-term drilling opportunities
exist” Drabble says.
“The beauty of the timetable is that when we start it will be right at the beginning of the field season.
“Because of that we are not going to miss our opportunity to get out into the field straight away, with an exciting boot on the ground field programme for nickel and lithium ready for execution.”
Rock chips coming in at 14.9 g/t Au are guaranteed to capture attention in this current record market, and that’s precisely what happened when Cooper Metals told the market it had found exactly that.
It is an exciting find and tops a great start to 2023 for the company by identifying compelling copper-gold drill targets at its new Ardmore tenement, just a few kilometres north of Carnaby’s Mt Hope deposit.
These words would indeed send a shiver down any potential investor’s spine.
Yet Chile, the second largest lithium producer globally, announced plans this month to do just that and nationalise its lithium industry, injecting further uncertainty for miners and investors worldwide, currently scrambling to find where best to invest.
Many will prefer to put their faith in the efficiency of private business rather than the State to develop a complex mining project successfully.
Would you put your money in a company part-run by ministries, politicians and bureaucrats?
Chile also stated it will only sanction new lithium developments based on DLE (direct lithium extraction) technology, a complex set of production routes yet to be proved significantly, adding further discouragement to those wanting to manage their risk.
Managing Director Ian Warland is understandably excited: “the June Quarter has the potential to be transformational for the company,” yelled his war cry.
“Our focus is now squarely moving towards drill testing of Ardmore South while continuing to build our pipeline of quality copper-gold targets at Mt Isa East.”
Nationalisation is taking place elsewhere in Latin America (Bolivia and Mexico). The governments intend to contain and control their lithium assets and are discussing operating as a cartel as OPEC did with oil.
Continued on page 5
“Meet your new business partner –the Government.”
Metallurgical testwork to figure out the exact species of rare earth recently unearthed at its Neo prospect in the Gascoyne combined with lithium drilling starting at its nearby Ti Tree project seems to struck a note with investors.
rocks in the middle of a squelching hot Gascoyne summer to ensure drilling could happen when it was meant to. Reminiscent of Dreadnought’s pace, in less than 6 months, they have identified an extensive clay system at Neo while eyeing a bunch of new targets simultaneously.
It is commendable progress from this insanely hard-working and committed bunch who were willing to collect
Meanwhile, the drill touches the ground at VSR’s Andrada lithium prospect nearby for the first time.
The maiden campaign at the Ti Tree project has an array of over 30 drill targets to choose from, with their fearless leader Michael Walshe declaring Andrada is a hot potato target due to its rocks bearing striking similarities to a little resource play next door named Yinnietharra.
HyTerra have done the equivalent of a rock band getting into Rolling Stone by managing to don the pages of non other than New Scientist.
Meanwhile, its board just got even more robust with the appointment of a former high ranking Shell operative Benjamin Mee, coming in as Executive Director after leading successful teams in a spread of countries befitting an Ian Fleming novel.
Now back in Perth, he joins a new company to help deliver on the limitless potential of natural hydrogen.
Making lithium from South America a less attractive prospect for investors has further increased pressure on companies trying to secure their positions for future supply.
As the energy transition accelerates in the years ahead, observers agree there will be a significant shortage of lithium assets.
When the music stops, those purchasers who were unprepared will be left high and dry, and their ability to service their markets will be severely constrained.
Lithium buyers won’t share nicely when there’s not enough, and wise participants are scrambling to secure their future supplies.
Once again, this heightens the focus on lithium projects in safer jurisdictions, where governments are less likely to take a proprietary approach towards your investment.
Australia still leads the way in developing lithium mines for the future. Still, there is also intense activity in Canada, particularly in critical areas of Quebec and Ontario, where hard rock resources are not brines reliant on new DLE processes.
The interest is genuine, and the supply deficit will be enormous. That’s why other governments are trying to accelerate supply through mine development to support their automotive industries.
The latest is Japan, reportedly planning to subsidize half of Japanese companies’ mine development costs for critical minerals such as lithium. It will be interesting to see if this money still heads to Chile.
Interestingly, amid positive dispatches from HYT’s natural hydrogen tensting front at Hoarty NE3 well, the company mentions in its latest quarterly the aquistion of a 100% working interest in 2,241 acres of lease holdings in Riley and Morris Counties, Kansas.
Apparently the leases are supported by its geological model and are calibrated to known historical occurrences of natural hydrogen. Watch this space!
Adrian Stubbs has 35 years of experience in international mining and industrial minerals, from multinationals to mining development juniors and international consulting houses. His expertise covers commodity, speciality and technical marketing worldwide, focusing on boron, potassium and lithium. Adrian is now an independent consultant, providing market research to Balkan Mining and Minerals.
