The Northern Miner May 1 20 2023 Issue 9

BY HENRY LAZENBY

With an eye to exploring Mars and beyond, space agencies worldwide are

looking to mining to supply water, fuel and oxygen needed to send astronauts on longer missions. The target? Water on the moon in the form of tiny ice crystals. Sci-

Chile to nationalize its lithium industry

POLICY | New mines will be public-private partnerships with state control

entists see mining for water as a critical enabler of humanity’s pursuit of deep space exploration.

Once extracted from a fine, dusty 2-metre surface layer (regolith) on the moon, the water can be split into two valuable commodities in space using simple electrolysis — oxygen to sustain human presence and hydrogen, recombined with oxygen, becoming one of the most potent chemical propellants known to humanity.

To get there, scientists want to adapt terrestrial mining methods for use on the moon. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has contracted the Sudbury, Ont.-based Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) to help identify Earth-bound Canadian mining assets, capabilities and innovators that could help develop and establish a space mining industry.

The goal is to set up lunar infrastructure and a midway space staging area orbiting the moon, from which deep space travel can be explored.

According to Dale Boucher, who has been researching space mining technologies for more than two decades and is working with CEMI on the CSA project, mining on the moon will not resemble anything we’re used to on Earth.

However, he told an Apr. 13 CEMI-hosted webinar on the emerging space mining economy that the clock is ticking to find suitable mining methods applicable to the moon.

With the successful completion of NASA’s Artemis I moon flyby late last year, Canada is set to play an increasingly important role in space exploration and mineral extraction. In 2024, Canada is set

See MOON / 9

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

Chile’s President Gabriel

Boric announced on Apr. 20 that his government would nationalize the country’s lithium, applying a model in which the state will partner with companies to develop the local industry.

The long-awaited policy in the world’s second-largest producer of the battery metal includes the creation of a national lithium company, Boric said on national television.

State copper giant Codelco, the world’s No. 1 producer of the metal, will be initially in charge of signing up partners for new contracts.

That role will then be undertaken by a dedicated national lithium company, whose mandate will be to develop the industry into a pillar for Chile’s economy while protecting its environment.

“This is an opportunity for economic growth that will be difficult to beat in the short term… We can’t afford to waste it,” Boric said.

The two lithium miners already operating in Chile, Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) and SQM (NYSE: SQM) will continue to do so until their contracts expire. Without naming them, Boric said he hoped that lithium miners already present in Chile would be open to negotiate state participation before the end of their contracts.

The contract for the world’s No. 1 producer, Albemarle, runs out in 2043, while the one for SQM, the second largest globally, ends in 2030.

The president noted that future lithium licences will be only issued

as public-private partnerships with state control.

Codelco and state miner Enami will be given exploration and extraction contracts in areas where there are now private projects before the national lithium company is formed.

In a statement, SQM said it was still analyzing the text of the new See CHILE / 10

PM40069240

How humanity’s conquest of space will depend on mining lunar water

MOON MINING | Off-world H20 becomes oxygen, hydrogen-based fuel

SQM An aerial view of the brine pools and processing areas of the Soquimich (SQM) lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat 2. SQM

Oleg Yakovlev/Adobe Images

Teck prepares for crucial shareholder vote on plans to split the business

M&A | Glencore’s hostile takeover bid could upend the Canadian miner’s plans

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

At press time on Apr. 25, Teck

Resources’ (TSX: TECK.A/ TECK.B; NYSE: TECK) was preparing for an Apr. 26 shareholder vote that could determine if it falls prey to a hostile takeover bid from Swiss miner and metals trader Glencore (LSE: GLEN).

In February, Teck proposed a split of its metallurgical coal assets and its base metals. Two-thirds of shareholders — both Class A shares, which count for 100 votes each, and Class B, which carry only one vote each — must approve the spinoff.

If they don’t, it will be seen as a signal to negotiate with Glencore, which has offered US$23.2 million for the company. If successful, Glencore would split the combined company’s assets into a base metals unit and a coal and oil unit that would include Glencore’s thermal coal assets as well as Teck’s metallurgical coal assets.

Ahead of the vote, Teck lined up support from shareholders that included Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining.

The company, one of Teck’s top shareholders, holds 18.9% of the Class A shares and 0.1% of the Class B shares of Teck. It also has a 49% stake in Temagami Mining, which itself holds 55% of Teck’s Class A shares.

Sumitomo and Teck have a decades-long partnership in mining, including the joint development and construction of the Pogo gold mine, in Alaska, and the Quebrada Blanca copper mine, in Chile.

But two influential shareholder advisory firms — ISS and Glass Lewis — have recommended against Teck’s strategy.

And at press time it wasn’t clear how Teck’s biggest B-shareholder with 10% of the shares, China Investment Corp., would vote.

Glencore has raised the prospect of improving its bid for Teck, pro vided that shareholders reject the Canadian miner’s plan to split the company in two companies, Teck Metals and metallurgical coal firm Elk Valley Resources.

In an open letter addressed to Teck’s Class B shareholders, who

own almost all of the equity but hold few of the votes, Glencore chief executive officer Gary Nagle said his company was open to talk improvements to its proposal.

“Glencore has never stated that its proposal is ‘best and final’ and that it is not willing to make changes and improvements,” Nagle said, adding the company would make an offer directly to Teck shareholders “if the proposed Teck separation does not proceed.”

Nagle warned that any potential future offers for spinoff metals unit Teck would likely look very different, given the friction costs, the complexity of the two companies, the time delay involved and the impact of two new management teams and boards.

Nagle also said that the Teck board had “consistently refused” to engage with Glencore.

“We believe that with engagement, we could improve our proposal’s terms and value, which would be in the best interests of all Teck shareholders,” he wrote.

The Canadian company quickly replied by saying that Teck has pre

Glencore’s initial bid represented a 20% premium to Teck’s Mar. 26 closing price, when it was privately made. JP Morgan analysts have said that Glencore could pay as much as US$27.2 billion.

This isn’t Glencore’s first attempt to acquire the Vancouver-based firm. Teck says that in 2020, the two companies engaged in “detailed” discussions about a merger and restructuring, but that the offer contained the same “structural flaws” as the current one. Teck says its separation plans offer better value to shareholders.

No “foreign predators”

Canadian mining legend Robert Friedland, has come out in defence of Teck. The billionaire urged the Canadian government and regulators to protect Teck from “foreign predators” and to ensure that strategic resources, particularly copper and zinc, remain in local hands.

The mining veteran warned on Apr. 17 through a series of tweets that investors should not take lightly the attempted takeover of a Canadian “champion.”

“Losing another quintessential

Canadian support mechanism to multinationals could corporatize and hollow out our unique ecosystem that has so successfully explored our vast landmass,” he said.

Friedland highlighted Teck’s history of supporting Canadian junior mining and exploration companies, including Diamond Field Resources (known today as DFR Gold) — the richest nickel discovery in the world in the last 50 years.

The magnate, who made his fortune from the Voisey’s Bay nickel project in eastern Canada in the 1990s and has been involved with some of world’s biggest recent copper discoveries, said that Glencore’s offer undervalues Teck and its assets, and noted that many investors, including himself, would be interested in buying the company or partnering with it post-split-up.

The 72-year-old has long been warning about the need to secure copper supplies. He believes the orange metal is so crucial in electrifying the global economy that finding enough of it has become a national security issue.

Friedland said he had “great respect” for Glencore as one of

the world’s leading metal trading houses and mining companies, but noted the company and Teck had “vastly different cultures” when it comes to exploration, mine development, and mining operations.

Michael Goehring, president and CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC), on Apr. 17 expressed his concerns about the eventual takeover of Teck.

“The potential loss of B.C.’s long-standing mining champion and head office jobs in Vancouver is not in the best interests of British Columbians,” Goehring said. “We should be growing more local head office jobs in Vancouver, anchored by companies like Teck Resources, rather than see them go elsewhere.”

He called on the federal government to review the deal as the future of a “major Canadian critical minerals producer” is on the line.

Ross Beaty, founder and chair emeritus of Pan American Silver (TSX: PAAS; NYSE: PAAS) and chairman of Equinox Gold (TSX: EQX) also weighed in, saying that “it would be foolish to entertain proposals from a single interested party prior to separation.” TNM

Piedmont’s Tennessee lithium hydroxide plant to double U.S. output

BATTERY METALS | Construction could start next year

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

iedmont Lithium (NAS-

DAQ: PLL; ASX: PLL) says its proposed US$600-million lithium hydroxide plant in Tennessee would pay for itself in less than

The project has an after-tax net present value of US$2.5 billion at an 8% discount rate, an internal rate of return of 32% and a payback period of 2.8 years, according to a feasibility study released on Apr. 20. The study assumes fixed prices of US$26,000 per tonne of lithium hydroxide and US$1,600 per tonne of spodumene concentrate over the project’s 30-year life.

Located about 265 km southeast of Nashville, the proposed 30,000-tonne-a-year plant would double current lithium hydroxide production in the U.S. on its own.

The project has pivoted to processing ore from Quebec, where the company owns a stake in Sayona Mining’s (ASX: SYA) operation, instead of from Piedmont’s delayed US$840-million open-pit project in North Carolina that has yet to secure all permits.

“Tennessee Lithium is positioned to be a key resource for

electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturers,” Piedmont president and CEO Keith Phillips said in a statement with the study. “We can source raw material from spodumene that we own or in which we have an economic interest, providing greater control of our feedstock while capturing the economics of integrated production.”

The North Carolina-based company plans to start construction of the Tennessee plant next year if it secures permits and financing, it said. It will benefit from a US$141.7 million government grant under last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, which the feasibility study assumes in its model.

“America’s pro-EV and battery manufacturing policies are providing an advantage to Piedmont at a time when many analysts are projecting lithium shortages to continue into the 2030s,” Phillips said.

While U.S. output of lithium for batteries is low at the moment, a Biden administration push for more production alongside similar policies in many Western countries is aimed at loosening China’s grip on processing the light metal. Canada alone has more than 400 mostly early-stage lithium projects, nearly

half in the hard-rock hotspot east of James Bay in Quebec, and large brine projects in Alberta, such as E3 Lithium’s (TSXV: ETL) Bashaw at prefeasibility stage.

On Apr. 20, another project in the U.S. was announced. Stardust Power, an unlisted company based in Greenwich, Conn., said it planned to start building a plant next year in an unnamed central state to produce 50,000 tonnes annually using material from brine operations.

Back at the Tennessee plant, Piedmont said it is arranging supplies from the Ewoyaa lithium project in Ghana, which it is developing with Atlantic Lithium (AIM: ALL; ASX: A11). A feasibility study is due on that project by the middle of this year, Piedmont said.

The Tennessee project already has off-take agreements with automaker Tesla and LG Chem. Phillips says the project will save money and be more environmentally friendly than some other lithium processors.

“With the Metso: Outotec flowsheet, we believe we can sustainably produce critical lithium materials on a cost-effective basis for a more responsible profile compared to producers utilizing sulphuric acid roasting,” he said. TNM

Above and left: Views of Teck Resources’ 60% owned Quebrada Blanca 2 copper mine in Chile. TECK RESOURCES

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Mining runs on M&A — one of the only constants in a business that’s full of uncertainty. Still, it’s been painful to watch so many home-grown metals and mining companies disappear in recent years.

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THE VIEW FROM ENGLAND: COLUMN | Famous gems being both flaunted and hidden

BY ALISHA HIYATE

They include: Alcan, which Rio Tinto bought in 2007 for US$37.6 billion; Falconbridge, which was acquired by Xstrata in 2006 for US$17.4 billion; Inco, which went to Vale that same year in a deal worth US$17.2 billion; and Goldcorp, which Newmont paid US$10 billion for in 2019.

Soon, Vancouver-based Teck Resources, which is being pursued by Swiss-based Glencore, could join the list.

Teck’s board has rejected Glencore’s US$23.2-billion bid (mostly shares, with an up to US$8.2 billion cash component for shareholders who don’t want exposure to coal and oil), first made public in early April. But if Teck shareholders reject the company’s plan for a spinoff of its metallurgical coal assets in a vote scheduled for tomorrow, the board would need to sit down with Glencore, which has signalled it’s willing to pay more for the diversified miner.

The problem is, it takes time to build companies worth acquiring. Alcan was founded in 1902; Falconbridge in 1928, Inco in 1902, and Goldcorp in 1994. Teck celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013.

Glencore already owns the historic Falconbridge assets, acquired via a US$31-billion takeover of Xstrata in 2013.

Canada builds great mining companies, but we can’t build them fast enough to keep up with demand.

And demand is high — mining M&A is at its highest level in a decade.

According to New York-based law firm White and Case, there were 288 deals worth US$88.2 billion last year. While that was down 2% in value from 2021, the firm noted in a March post that M&A in mining “massively outperformed” global aggregate M&A activity, which dropped 34% (measured by deal value).

The math is simple. Historic underinvestment in new mines over the past decade + long approval timelines for new projects + growing demand for minerals = more M&A to come. Rather than focus on finding or building new assets in recent years, miners have opted to spend their cash on share buybacks and upping dividends to shareholders; now they’re hungry for reserves.

“A mining company without ore reserves is an oxymoron,” said Teck’s chairman emeritus Norm Keevil in a letter to shareholders on Apr. 16, noting the company built or acquired 17 new mines over 30 years. “… Our previous best growth years resulted from a steady process of adding reserves over many years, one new mine at a time.”

Whether or not Glencore gets the prize, it seems certain that a merger with someone is in the cards for Teck. Teck has noted that it is open to a post-separation deal involving its base metals division, which includes a majority stake in its huge new Quebrada Blanca 2 copper mine in Chile, meaning shareholders could get a much better deal than what Glencore is offering. With no other Canadian companies of size left to digest such a deal, however, that someone is not likely to be Canadian. (International miners Vale, Anglo American and Freeport-McMoRan have all approached Teck, according to The Globe & Mail.)

Should that matter?

Perhaps the most interesting comparator to the play for Teck is the takeover that didn’t happen — BHP’s failed bid in 2010 for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, a one-time crown corporation established in 1975. (After merging with Calgary-based Agrium in 2018, it’s now Nutrien.) BHP’s nearly US$40-billion all-cash hostile offer was rejected by PotashCorp’s board. Saskatchewan’s former premier Brad Wall, who vehemently opposed the offer, said it provided no “net benefit” to Saskatchewan and Canada in terms of jobs and investment, Canadian control of an important Canadian resource, and provincial revenues.

“Do we want to add PotashCorp to that list of once-proud Canadian companies that are now under foreign control?” Wall asked at the time.

“In the past decade, promises about maintaining jobs, corporate headquarters and future investment have all been broken. We simply cannot take that risk with this valuable resource that belongs to the people of Saskatchewan.”

In the end, Tony Clement, industry minister in Stephen Harper’s Conservative federal government, used the Investment Canada Act to block the takeover, giving BHP 30 days to improve the offer. Understanding it would likely be futile, BHP withdrew the bid instead.

By now you should have received your invitation to the coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. If you are at Westminster Abbey on May 6 (or watching, having mislaid your invitation) you will see a sparkling parade, but not the Kohi-noor diamond.

One of the world’s most famous gems, the 106-carat Koh-i-noor (Persian for ‘Mountain of Light’) will not be used by Camilla. Instead, Queen Mary’s crown will be modified using diamonds from Queen Elizabeth II’s personal collection, including three of the stones cut from the largest gem-quality diamond ever found (South Africa’s 3,106 carat Cullinan). This will allow Buckingham Palace to sidestep the controversy surrounding a gem acquired during the age of Empire (with Afghanistan, India, Iran and Pakistan all claiming ownership).

Charles will be the 40th monarch to be crowned at Westminster Abbey since 1066, but this is a slimmed-down version compared with his mother’s lavish ‘do’ in 1953. In a break with tradition, however, Charles is inviting other royals. Crowned heads from Europe will include (according to Tatler magazine); Philippe of Belgium, Anne-Marie of Greece, Grand-Duke Henri of Luxembourg, Albert II of Monaco, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Felipe VI of Spain and Carl XVI of Sweden.

Royalty expected from outside Europe include the kings of Bhutan, Jordan, Lesotho, Malaysia and Tonga, the sultans of Brunei and Oman, and the emirs of Dubai and Qatar. Other royal families will also be represented, for example crown princes Frederik of Denmark, Fumihito of Japan and Haakon of Norway.

Diamonds on show aplenty, no doubt, but not the Koh-iNoor. Legend says that this stone was mined in the 13th century at the Kollur mine alongside the Krishna River in present-day Andhra Pradesh, India. There is no record of its original weight, but the diamond was one of many stones used in the ornate Peacock Throne of the Mughal dynasty in the early 17th century.

The diamond changed hands between various empires in south and west Asia before Britain’s East India Co. annexed the Punjab in 1849, and gifted the 191carat gem to Queen Victoria as a spoil of war. The diamond’s lacklustre appearance didn’t amuse the monarch and the stone was re-cut in 1852 (the significant loss of weight was also due to the discovery of several flaws).

Quite apart from the Koh-iNoor, diamonds have been in the news recently, with investment in a Canadian mine, a price rise, political threats and a record auction valuation.

2026. The investment is a boost for Yellowknife’s economy, which has relied on diamond mining for decades. Arctic Canadian Diamond Co. also plans to experiment with underwater mining crawlers to extend the life of the neighbouring Ekati mine.

Meanwhile, diamond prices seem to be rising. London-listed Petra Diamonds reported a 13% increase in values at its tender during March compared with the previous one in December. Petra’s chief executive officer, Richard Duffy, attributed the increase to a recovery in demand from China, as well as stronger interest from major jewelry brands and a rise in orders for coloured stones. Another London-listed company, Gem Diamonds (owner of mines at Letšeng in Lesotho and Ghaghoo in Botswana), agreed that new demand in the short term was likely to come from China.

As The Northern Miner reported on Apr. 12, Botswana is threatening not to renew a five-decade sales agreement with De Beers if the diamond producer doesn’t offer a larger share of rough diamonds to the state’s gem-trading company, Okavango Diamond Co. De Beers and Botswana jointly own Debswana, which mines almost all of the country’s gems.

This political move comes after the southern Africa nation acquired a 24% stake in Belgian diamond-processing firm HB Antwerp. The company’s co-founder, Rafael Papismedov, was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that a revised deal would help Botswana “break free” from the current ‘colonial’ model that says you can only dig and wash diamonds. HB Antwerp recently opened a new facility in Gaborone that was described by Botswana president Mokgweetsi Masisi as having the potential to be a “game changer.”

Botswana’s gems are in the spotlight because of a rare pink diamond of “unparalleled colour and brightness.” De Beers announced at the end of March that a flawless 10.6-carat diamond, named The Eternal Pink, is expected to be sold at auction in June for over US$35 million. This would be the highest price per carat, US$3.3 million, for a gemstone ever sold at auction.

See EDITORIAL / 16 OIER/ADOBE IMAGES

The diamond was discovered four years ago at Debswana’s Damtshaa mine. The stone, originally weighing almost 24 carats, has been fashioned into a cushion cut to better showcase its colour, described as ‘bubble gum.’ Perhaps President Masisi should wear Eternal Pink at the coronation, there could hardly be a better showcase, or colonial statement. TNM

DEPARTMENTS Special Section: Far North 12 Professional Directory 17 Market News 18 Metal, Mining and Money 20 Stock Tables 20-23 COMPANY INDEX Adriatic Metals...................................................6 Albemarle 1 Aya Gold & Silver 6 B2Gold 13 Barrick Gold 5 BHP 8 Carlyle Commodities 6 Copper Mountain Mining 8 Endeavour Silver 11 Glencore 2 Great Boulder Resources 6 Greatland Gold 6 Green Technology Metals 11 HighGold Mining 14 Hudbay Minerals 8 Labrador Uranium 14 Li-FT Power 14 Lumina Gold 16 New Found Gold 6 Osino Resources 6 OZ Minerals 8 Piedmont Lithium 2 Probe Gold 6 Reunion Gold 6 Rupert Resources 14 Sabina Gold & Silver 13 Sayona Mining 11 Sitka Gold 14 SQM 1 Strategic Metals 15 Strategic Resources 15 Sunstone Metals 6 Teck Resources 2 The Metals Company 9 ValOre Metals 14 Vital Metals 13 West Red Lake Gold Mines 8 Western Alaska Minerals 15

Rio Tinto has announced plans to spend US$40 million to extend the life of its Diavik mine in the Northwest Territories to at least

HOW NOT TO DRILL A PROJECT, PART 2: Drill crew tensions lead to disaster

ODDS ‘N’ SODS | The spectacular geology at the Iran gold project was overshadowed by a serious accident

BY RALPH RUSHTON

Strolling around PDAC in March, I ended up in the core shack, perusing all of the world class, upper quartile tier 1 discoveries guaranteed to become a mine one day. Tucked away at one end was Barrick Gold’s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) giant Reko Diq porphyry project in western Pakistan. The photos of the parched Baluchistan desert took me back to 1997 when I spent a couple of months there, prospecting for similar systems along the Afghan border. A year later in 1998, I was involved in planning the second phase of drilling at Anglo American’s (LSE: AAL) Zarshuran gold project in northern Iran and we sourced our drill rigs from Reko Diq, then owned by BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP). The first Zarshuran drill program in 1996 was a slow grinding headache, (See Part 1 in the Mar. 6, 2023 issue) with only seven holes completed in three months. We couldn’t come to any firm conclusions about the project, so we started planning a follow up program for the summer of 1998.

We’d learned some tough lessons in Phase 1, and this time around we were going to be smarter. No more Iranian contractors. We’d use a modern, Western-owned, truck mounted top-drive rig with 1,500-ft. capacity to drill the project. Hopefully we’d get to a technical go/no-go decision ahead of the complex legal work needed for a major mining investment in Iran. But multipurpose rigs didn’t exist in Iran, so we needed to find a Western drill company ballsy enough to send one — along with experienced drillers — to Iran. Luckily, an Australian drill company — I’ll call them OzCo — had a suitable rig across the border in Pakistan at Reko Diq. The rig had finished its contract and OzCo wanted it earning revenue rather than sitting idle. OzCo’s drillers in Pakistan serviced the rig, stuck the rods and assorted widgets into shipping containers, loaded them onto flat beds and got ready to mobilize into Iran. All we had to do was drive it across the border at Taftan, fill in a few Iranian customs forms, and then drive it 1,900 km cross country to northern Iran. Simple.

And then everything stopped. OzCo called to say their gear was stuck at Reko Diq. The government had shut down western Baluchistan. Nothing was allowed on the main road across the province as a state of lockdown was imposed which dragged on for weeks. On May 28, all hell broke loose. The Pakistani government conducted five underground nuclear tests on top of a mountain in the Chagai hills just up the road from Reko Diq. Our rigs were stuck because of a nuclear test; something they never mention in corporate risk management classes.

Our convoy finally crossed the border mid-year under Iranian customs bond, and we were instructed to deliver everything to a customs yard in Tehran for inspection. There were dozens of police check points along the way, on the main roads into every town or city and random ones in the middle of nowhere, and every one of them wanted to stop my drill rigs to get a ‘”closer look at the paperwork” (read: shakedown for some cash) so the trip took weeks. At one point the convoy ground to a complete halt for four to five days in the middle of the desert. The road-

block cops were trying to watch Iran’s games in the world cup on an old black and white TV. Our logistics manager was sleeping under the drill rig truck in the desert heat by the side of a busy truck route nursing a bad case of piles, which he told me about in a tearful phone call to my hotel in Tehran one night. The cops were desperate for a new TV to watch the games and had randomly stopped dozens of trucks — all parked up in the wind-blown furnace — to see which driver would crack first and buy them a shiny new set as a bribe to get going again. One duly arrived out of a dust storm one day and the trucks all moved on to the next check point. Rinse and repeat.

I was holed up in a hotel in Tehran with four very unhappy OzCo drillers including a large Fijian chap who’d taken to punching holes in his bathroom wall. They’d been there for seven weeks, no booze, no clubs, no women; nothing to do but wait for their equipment to arrive at site. Eventually the rigs and containers arrived at Zarshuran, but a lot of stuff was gone — stolen while it sat in the customs yard in Tehran. Some vital parts had been removed from the rig’s diesel motor which now wouldn’t start and we faced more delays as replacement parts were sourced in Tehran and shipped to site.

When drilling finally kicked off I was presented with a new problem; the imported drillers really didn’t like each other. Two were experienced and two were on their first job as fully fledged drillers. The new boys were given the night shift by the drill manager, which ordinarily wouldn’t be too much of an issue, but hostility was quietly brewing away between the two factions. It came to a head one night when a local villager — working as an offsider — was nearly killed in what should’ve been a preventable accident but the day shift saw no reason why they should discuss any issues they might have faced on the day shift with the night shift crew. Apparently, they weren’t there to

teach them how to drill. So, when they did have a serious equipment issue one shift — the thread failed on locally made PQ drill rods when they were under torque — they said nothing. The thread had failed at the top of the hole at the connection between two rods, tearing them apart. The upper rod, which was connected to the top drive, broke off and whipped around at high speed, narrowly missing the driller. Unfortunately, the same thing

happened that night, but the night shift hadn’t been briefed by their colleagues on the potential issue. This time around, we weren’t so lucky. The PQ rod — 3 metres long and weighing close to 100 lb. — broke off under almost full torque, spun around at high speed and hit the offsider diagonally across his chest crushing him against the drill derrick. He was slammed against the hefty stilson wrench on the derrick which ruptured one of his kid-

neys, critically injuring him. Safely tucked away in my little camp office plugging in logging sheets to my laptop, I heard all sorts of anguished shouting drifting across the valley from where the rig was. I jumped into my truck and when I got to the rig, the offsider was unconscious and having seizures with bloody foam coming out of his mouth. He had to go to

See ODDS / 10

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Above: OzCo’s drill rigs on site at Zarshuran gold project.

Left: Iranian drill offsiders at the Zarshuran drill project. RALPH RUSHTON

OUR RIGS WERE STUCK BECAUSE OF A NUCLEAR TEST; SOMETHING THEY NEVER MENTION IN CORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT CLASSES.

Reunion Gold’s Oko West in Guyana tops week’s gold assays

BY BLAIR MCBRIDE

Our TNM Drill Down features highlights of the top gold assays of the past week. Drill holes are ranked by gold grade x width, as identified by our sister company Mining Intelligence.

The top gold assays for the week Apr. 14-21 come from the Americas and Australia. Reunion Gold (TSXV: RGD) leads the rankings with its Oko West project in Guyana. On Apr. 17, the Longueuil, Que.-based junior reported that hole OKWD23-243 returned 109.7 metres grading 5.59 grams gold per tonne from 433.3 metres depth for a grade x width value of 613. The high-grade mineralization in that and other holes drilled in the Kairuni zone at Oko West, cut higher-grade, structurally controlled mineralized shoots within Block 4. The results are among those from 25 diamond drill holes at Kairuni, an area in the northern part of Oko West that remains open along its 2.5-km strike length and at depth. Drilling there is part of a larger, 30,000-metre program that began at the start of 2023, and is expected to wrap up in May. The program is aimed at supporting an initial resource by mid-year, with a preliminary economic assessment planned for the end of 2023.

The second best assay of the week came from Greatland Gold’s (LSE: GGP) Ramses target, located 20 km southeast of the company’s flagship

Havieron gold-copper project in Western Australia. On Apr. 20, Greatland reported that diamond drill hole RAD002, cut 18.3 metres grading 22 grams gold from 924 metres depth, for a grade x width value of 402. That hole was drilled as part of its 2022 initial drill program at Ramses. Mineralization is open at depth, though the hole ended because of drilling limitations. Further structural and geochemical analysis, as well as a future downhole electromagnetic survey are needed to refine the potential for mineralization extending into shallower areas at

Rudall. “While recognising the high-grade intercept is at depth, the strong gold mineralisation and supporting pathfinder geochemistry in consistently altered and veined basement sediments continues to highlight the outstanding prospectivity within Greatland’s tenement package and the Paterson Province in general,” said managing director Shaun Day. Greatland received a A$200,000 ($180,920) grant from the West Australian government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme last May to co-fund its exploration program at Rudall.

The third best drill assay of the

week came from Carlyle Commodities’ (CSE: CCC) Newton project in central B.C., about 100 km west of Williams Lake. On Apr. 18, the company said that hole N23-091 cut 613.9 metres grading 0.53 gram gold from 18.1 metres for a grade x width value of 325. That hole, which went down 764 metres, has confirmed continuity of the well-mineralized main felsic volcanic domain, and that the main felsic zone extends to the west. It remains open at depth and in several directions. N23-091 was also the third and final hole in its first phase, 14-hole program

aimed at increasing the current resource. The diamond-drill program confirmed Newton hosts possibilities for expanding the inferred resource into untested zones. Carlyle is preparing plans for follow-up drilling to test those zones.

Newton is a low to intermediate-sulphidation epithermal gold deposit that saw almost 35,000 metres of drilling between 2009 and 2012. It hosts 861,400 oz. gold in 42.3 million inferred tonnes grading 0.63 gram gold per tonne, according to a resource estimate published last June. TNM

Probe Gold assays hike resource outlook at Novador project

QUEBEC | Estimate update, prefeasibility study due this year

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

Probe Gold (TSXV: PRB) has reported scores of assays from its Pascalis deposit signalling a potential resource increase this year at the Novador gold project near Val-d’Or, Que.

More than 100 of the holes cut grades above the 0.4-gram-gold-pertonne cutoff used in a 2021 pit-constrained resource estimate, Probe said in a release on Apr. 18. The 111 holes drilled were split about evenly between expansion and infill drilling for a total of 18,100 metres.

“Probe continues to achieve a very high hit-ratio which bodes well for an increase in total resources and an upgrade of inferred resources to measured and indicated resources,” Barry Allan, a mining analyst for Laurentian Bank, wrote in a note on Apr. 18.

“Drill results greater than 0.4 gram per tonne are helping more accurately define a waste-ore boundary by converting waste material into ore, which is anticipated to lower the overall strip ratio when updating the project’s economic assessment.”

Toronto-based Probe plans to release an updated resource estimate and prefeasibility study this year for the 175-sq.-km Novador project, which holds the past-producing Beliveau, Bussière and

Monique mines. Novador used to be called Val-d’Or East and lies 25 km east of the Abitibi region town. The studies will follow the tripling of the indicated gold resource at the Monique deposit in January and more drill results from the Courvan deposit due within weeks.

Analyst sees sale Laurentian Bank’s Allan says drilling at Courvan is expected to convert inferred resources to measured and indicated, while there

may be a modest resource increase from Pascalis.

“We expect the prefeasibility study to incorporate a scope increase given that three previous pits outlined at Monique have now merged into one larger open pit, allowing for better economies of scale,” he said. “Ultimately, we anticipate the Novador project to be sold to an established mine builder with experience in the region (Agnico Eagle Mines or Eldorado Gold).”

Allan said selling Novador would allow Probe to focus on the La Peltrie project near Detour Lake, a copper-gold-silver-molybdenum deposit about 190 km north of Rouyn-Noranda in the Abitibi region. Probe is exploring it with Midland Exploration (TSXV: MD).

Allan has a buy rating on Probe shares and expects a “significant” increase in resources will offset higher project capital costs for a neutral impact on the stock’s valuation.

Probe shares gained almost 20% in the month before press time to trade at $1.67 apiece in Toronto, within a 52-week range of $1.09 and $2.25, valuing the company at $265.3 million.

Probe president and CEO David Palmer said the Pascalis drilling confirmed the continuity of gold zones and expanded near-surface mineralization within the 2021 resource estimate’s conceptual pits.

“We are converting what was waste into possible ore, and potentially reducing the strip ratios, and thus overall mining costs,” Palmer said. “Novador continues to exceed our expectations and we will be pushing hard on all fronts to maintain this momentum.”

Pascalis expansion drill hole PC-22-812 cut 19 metres grading 5.6 grams gold per tonne from 38 metres depth, including 1 metre at 96.8 grams gold from 53.2 metres down hole.

Infill drill hole PC-22-807 at Pascalis cut 59 metres grading 2.4 grams gold from 22 metres down hole, including 16 metres at 5.1 grams gold from 45.5 metres depth.

A July 2021 measured and indicated resources estimate for Novador — when it was called Val-d’Or East — showed 29.8 million tonnes grading 1.81 grams gold per tonne for 1.7 million oz. contained metal. TNM

Probe Gold’s Novador project in Quebec’s Abitibi region. PROBE GOLD

Lithium exploration in Canada – in charts

reveals where the projects are and who owns them

BY ALISHA HIYATE

With last year’s record lithium prices spurring a boom in exploration for the energy metal that has persisted even as prices have retreated, The Northern Miner was curious where in Canada that activity is being channelled and who’s behind it.

To get a wide view on exploration activity, we turned to our sister company Mining Intelligence (www.miningintelligence.com).

According to the MI database, there are 409 active lithium projects in Canada, including very early stage properties where little work has been done (145 or 35% of the total).

Advanced projects with a significant amount of drilling, a resource, or any stage of economic study, construction or production) account for 106 or just over one quarter (25.9%) of the total.

Here’s a look at all projects by stage.

Who owns the projects?

The vast majority of Canada’s lithium projects — 293 or 86% — are held by Canadian companies. Australians hold 44, or close to 13%. Given Australia’s status as the world’s top lithium producer as well as its strength in mineral exploration, it’s no surprise to see that when we look at a subset of more advanced projects (37 in total as shown above), the share held by Canadian companies falls to 58% while the share held by Aussies rises to 36%.

WHERE ARE THE PROJECTS?

Quebec, which has had some historical production of lithium, by far hosts the greatest number of active lithium projects (see map above). Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA) and 25% partner Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ: PLL; ASX: PLL) just restarted commercial spodumene production at the North American Lithium (NAL) project in Quebec last month.

The mining and exploration friendly province accounts for almost half of lithium exploration projects in the MI database. By comparison, Ontario, which has the second highest count, has just over a quarter of the total number of projects. TNM

HQ

In Quebec, advanced projects include the NAL mine plus two other feasibility-stage projects held by Sayona (Authier and Moblan); Allkem’s (TSX: AKE; ASX: AKE) James Bay project; Critical Elements Lithium’s (TSXV: CRE) Rose project; Livent’s (NYSE: LTHM) 50%-owned Whabouchi project; and Vision Lithium’s (TSXV: VLI) PEA-stage Sirmac project.

In Ontario, they include Rock Tech Lithium’s (TSXV: RCK) prefeasibility stage Georgia Lake; Frontier Lithium’s (TSXV: FL) PEA-stage PAK project, Green Technology Metals’ (ASX: GT1) Seymour; Avalon Advanced Materials’ (TSX: AVL) Separation Rapids; Gossan Resources’ (TSXV: GSS) neighbouring Separation Rapids; and Critical Resources’ (ASX: CRR) Mavis Lake.

Who’s working the projects?

Another way to look at ownership of active projects is by option agreements. According to MI data, options are held on 153 lithium projects, with the vast majority (over 72%) held by Canadian companies, just over 25% held by Australian companies, and 2% held by U.K.-based outfits.

Other advanced projects include E3 Lithium’s (TSXV: ETL) Bashaw prefeasibility stage lithium brine project, and LithiumBank Resources’ (TSXV: LBNK) Boardwalk lithium brine project, both in Alberta; the Tanco mine in Manitoba, held by China’s Sinomine; and Grounded Lithium’s (TSXV: GRD) PEA-stage Kindersley brine project in Saskatchewan.

ADVANCED PROJECTS OWNERSHIP BY COMPANY HQ

Hudbay makes friendly bid for Copper Mountain amid

M&A flurry

COPPER | New entity will be Canada’s third largest producer of red metal

Troubled Pure Gold mine in Red Lake finds a buyer

M&A | West Red Lake Gold to pay $6.5M, 28.5M shares

BY MARILYN SCALES

Hudbay Minerals (TSX: HBM; NYSE: HBM) and Copper Mountain Mining (TSX: CMMC; ASX: C6C) have agreed to merge, creating a copper producing powerhouse with projects across the Americas, and Canada’s third largest copper producer with 330.7 million lb. of copper annually.

The all-share deal values Copper Mountain at US$439 million, or $2.67 per share. That represents a 23% premium to its shareholders based on both companies’ 10-day volume-weighted average share prices on Apr. 12, the day before the merger was announced. Hudbay and Copper Mountain shareholders will own about 76% and 24% of the combined company, respectively.

After the transaction, Hudbay will have three long-life operating mines with exploration upside, three large-scale development projects, and one of the largest resource bases among intermediate copper producers. The portfolio will have balanced exposure to North America (Canada and United States) representing 55% of net value, and South America (Peru) at 45% of net value.

“This transaction represents a unique opportunity to combine complementary assets and leverage our technical expertise to create value for the shareholders of both Hudbay and Copper Mountain,” said Peter Kukielski, Hudbay’s president and CEO in a release.

The merger came one week after Glencore’s (LSE: GLEN) unsolicited bid for Teck Resources (TSX: TCK.A/TCK.B; NYSE:

TECK), and just a couple of days after Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM) sweetened its bid for fellow gold miner Newcrest Mining (TSX: NCM; ASX: NCM)

In a note to clients, BMO Capital Markets analyst Jackie Przybylowski put her stamp of approval on the deal.

“Acquisition of Copper Mountain will improve Hudbay’s portfolio,” she wrote. “It rebalances geographic exposure, somewhat diluting the Peru risk that has depressed Hudbay’s valuation.”

Przybylowski noted that adding Copper Mountain’s cash flows to its balance sheet would help Hudbay fund and build its Copper World project in Arizona.

After the arrangement closes, the Hudbay board will include two seats for Copper Mountain representatives, and the Hudbay executive team will include select members from the Copper Mountain team.

In light of the transaction, Copper Mountain president and CEO Gil Clausen has postponed his retirement until the deal closes. Both companies’ officers and directors have entered into voting support agreements and will be voting their shares in favour of the merger.

The companies expect an estimated US$30 million annual operating savings at Copper Mountain’s eponymous mine in B.C., including US$20 million from applying Hudbay’s efficiencies at the Copper Mountain mine.

Shares in Copper Mountain had dipped to $2.60 apiece at press time in Toronto, in a 52-week window of $1.23 and $3.74, giving it a market capitalization of $555.9 million. TNM

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

West Red Lake Gold Mines (TSXV: WRLG; US-OTC: WRLGF) has inked an agreement with Sprott Resource Lending Corp. and Pure Gold Mining to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of the struggling precious metals miner, which filed for creditor protection last fall.

The deal hands West Red Lake the Madsen gold mine (which Pure Gold renamed after the company) and associated land package, located in northwestern Ontario’s Red Lake district.

West Red Lake would pay $6.5 million in cash and 28.5 million shares. The agreement grants Pure Gold a 1% secured net smelter royalty (NSR), as well as up to US$10 million in deferred consideration payments.

“The acquisition of the Madsen mine is a major step, and positions us as a leader in Red Lake gold exploration and development,” said West Red Lake CEO Tom Meredith, in a release. “With a wealth of targets near the Madsen mine, alongside regional prospects and those within our existing Rowan project, we are confident that the brightest days for our consolidated portfolio are just ahead.”

Sprott is expected to receive the shares and NSR payment because a fund managed by Sprott is the company’s senior secured lender. The firm may nominate and appoint a director to West Red lake’s board of directors if Sprott or an associate owns 15% or more of the junior’s issued and outstanding shares.

Pure Gold Mining bought the historic Madsen gold mine in 2014. Madsen produced 2.5 million oz. of gold at an average grade of 9.7 grams gold per tonne between 1938 and 1999.

The company poured first gold at the operation by the end of 2020 and

announced the start of commercial production in August 2021.

The asset had a peak market capitalization of nearly $1.2 billion in 2021. Its last resource estimate tallied mineral resources at 1.7 million indicated gold oz. at 7.4 grams gold per tonne and 400,000 inferred oz. at 6.3 grams gold. The estimate is being treated as historical by the company.

Existing infrastructure on site includes an 800-tonne-per-day mill, double ramp access, significant underground mine development, a 1,275-metre shaft, tailings management infrastructure, and a water treatment facility. The operation has all the required permits to restart production.

Cash constraints

The mine was placed in care and maintenance last October, as Pure Gold failed to secure additional funds to keep it operational. In connection with the acquisition, West Red Lake has signed an engagement letter with Canaccord Genuity for a boughtdeal private placement of subscription receipts for $20 million, with an underwriter’s option of $5 million at 35¢ per subscription receipt. Mining investor Frank Giustra, an 18% shareholder in West Red Lake, is expected to provide a lead order for the financing.

The transaction is subject to certain conditions and the approval of the British Columbia Supreme Court in Pure Gold Mining’s ongoing proceedings pursuant to the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings.

Following the completion of the acquisition and concurrent financing, Sprott is expected to own roughly 24% of the company’s outstanding shares.

West Red Lake shares were down 13% in Toronto at press time, trading at 80¢ apiece in a 52-week window of 31¢ and 93¢. It has a market capitalization of $44.6 million. TNM

Australian court okays BHP takeover of OZ Minerals

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) said on Apr. 17 that the Federal Court of Australia had approved its A$9.6 billion (US$6.4 billion) takeover of copper-gold producer OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL), the miner’s biggest deal in more than a decade.

The court decision was the final hurdle for BHP to acquire OZ Minerals. It follows overwhelming support from the target company’s shareholders for the deal, with 98.33% of votes in favour of the transaction.

The takeover, BHP’s largest deal since the US$12.1-billion purchase of Petrohawk Energy in 2011, will boost the company’s exposure to copper and nickel, two metals that are essential for the transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles.

The figure is the third largest in global mining in recent months, right after Glencore’s (LSE: GLEN) US$22.5-billion bid for Teck Resources (TSX: TCK.A/ TCK.B; NYSE: TECK) and Newmont’s (TSX: NGT; NYSE: EM) US$19.5-billion offer for Newcrest Mining (TSX, ASX: NCM).

Chief executive Mike Henry said the acquisition was a strategic move to position BHP for longterm growth and value creation.

OZ Minerals owns two operating copper and gold mines in South Australia, Carrapateena and Prominent Hill, as well as the West Musgrave nickel and copper project in Western Australia.

The operations are located near BHP’s Olympic Dam copper hub and Nickel West, creating opportunities for operational synergies and cost savings.

Shares in OZ stopped trading in Sydney on Apr. 18. TNM

The headframe at the Madsen gold mine near Red Lake, Ont. WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES

Copper Mountain Mining’s namesake operation in southern B.C. COPPER MOUNTAIN MINING

The deep sea mining debate is ‘gone’ — it’s happening, says The Metals Company CEO

REGULATION | International Seabed Authority to start accepting sea mining applications in July

BY BRUNO VENDITTI

Despite opposition from environmental groups, the CEO of The Metals Company (NGS: TMC) — which has exclusive access to the Nori Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) polymetallic project ranked as the world’s biggest undeveloped nickel project — sees deep sea mining happening by the end of 2024.

Mining international waters is in the spotlight as companies and countries are looking at minerals concentrated on the ocean floor that can be used in batteries for smart phones and electric vehicles.

It is estimated that 21 billion tonnes of polymetallic nodules are resting on the ocean floor in the CCZ. Almost 20 international mining companies have contracts to explore the region which spans over 5,000 km and is considered the most prolific area for ocean mining.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) said it will start accepting applications in July from companies that want to mine the ocean’s floor. The recent decision came after the UN body spent weeks debating standards for the practice.

“People think we are debating if this (deep sea mining) should happen or not, and that’s gone. It’s happening,” The Metals Company CEO Gerard Barron said in an interview.

“The International Seabed Au-

thority has been mandated to regulate this activity and put in place the exploration and the exploitation regulations while protecting the marine environment. The NGOs have been trying to use the legal method to oppose deep sea mining, to perpetuate a delay. How badly they’ve got it wrong.”

In 1994, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea established the ISA to regulate the industrialization of the seabed in international waters and ensure effective marine environmental protection.

The ISA had been slowly developing the mining code. However, Nauru, a South Pacific island nation of 8,000 people, sped things up by triggering a two-year rule in

the Law of the Sea treaty. That provision required the ISA to complete the mining code by Jul. 9, 2023, or accept mining applications under whatever regulations existed at the time.

According to Barron, organizations like Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund have been trying to cast doubt over sea mining technology, and lobbying for a moratorium on deep sea mining.

“There is no legal framework to allow it, the convention of the Law of the Sea is really very flat,” Barron said.

Twelve nations, however, have expressed reservations supporting a ban, a moratorium, or “a precautionary pause” on the start of the

commercial exploitation of deep sea mineral resources.

“This is all just noise. Even the nations that are resistant, like France and Germany, have been working very hard over the last weeks to progress the code,” Barron said.

By the convention, only sovereign nations or contractors sponsored by a state can apply to explore the deep sea. The Metals Company has three sponsoring states, the Kingdom of Tonga, the Republics of Nauru, and of Kiribati.

The Metals Company’s NORI-D Project is the world’s most advanced, and is sponsored by the Republic of Nauru.

The company has said the nodule resource at its project, located 4,000 metres deep in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, is now estimated at 4 million measured tonnes with grades at 1.42% nickel, 1.16% copper, 0.13% cobalt and 32.2% manganese, plus 341 million indicated tonnes and 11 million inferred tonnes at similar grades.

Recently, a robotic collector vehicle on the seafloor in the CCZ pulled up about 3,500 tonnes of nodules through an airlift riser to the vessel.

The company plans to have an environmental impact statement as part of the application for a commercial license by the end of the year and start extracting by the end

of 2024.

“They talk about more science, but guess who’s doing the science?

It’s companies like us,” Barron said.

Chinese competition

While debating with environmental groups, western firms like The Metals Company are also facing competition from Asian enterprises.

Last month, China Daily reported that the country will make renewed efforts to join the race to mine the deep sea for critical minerals.

“There is no doubt that China will be fast on our heels. But they will be held to the same very high standards, and China also wants strong environmental regulations as well,” Barron said.

The Metals Company already has its first production vessel, the Hidden Gem, and plans to use an existing plant in Japan to process the wet nodules.

Despite a moratorium signed by Samsung, Volkswagen, RenaultNissan-Mitsubishi, BMW and Volvo Trucks to wait until more research is done on deep sea mining, companies like Tesla, BYD, CATL and General Motors did not sign.

According to Barron, automakers have shown interest in investing in the company.

“Steelmaking companies are interested too since most nickel and manganese go to the steelmaking industry,” he said. TNM

to send astronaut Jeremy Hansen to orbit the moon as part of Artemis II, the first crewed mission of the Artemis program.

“Thanks to our contribution of Canadarm3 to the Lunar Gateway, Canada has not only secured two astronaut flights to the moon’s orbit but also benefits from a range of opportunities to conduct cutting-edge lunar science, technology demonstration and commercial activities,” François-Philippe Champagne, the minister responsible for the CSA said in a December statement following the safe return of NASA’s Orion capsule after a 25.5day mission around the moon.

By December 2025, the Artemis III program expects to touch down on the moon, by which time the first iteration of prototypical moon mining equipment will need to be ready, according to Boucher.

NASA’s Apr. 5 moon-to-Mars strategy aims to bridge the efforts made during the Artemis program, explained CEMI vice-president for business development and communications Charles Nyabeze.

“It aims to reach further down the space development timeline to Mars. It specifically refers to a lunar infrastructure goal to demonstrate the industrial scale of our mining capabilities in support of building that continuous human space presence and creating a robust lunar economy.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations International Space Exploration Coordination Group, or ICG, comprising 27 participating agencies, has developed a space development strategy roadmap.

“The ICG’s goal is to advance the global exploration strategy through coordination and their mutual efforts in space exploration. The global space exploration roadmap is a key deliverable, as well as in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) capabilities (also known as mining

on Earth).”

Nyabeze says elements of mining are sprinkled throughout the timeline extending up to 2035. “We believe ISRU spanning the entire mineral value chain will become a key enabler of mankind incrementally building up infrastructure to support longer space expeditions.”

Lots of water

Boucher says the scientific community has found a surprising volume of water on the moon over the past few years. As of 2016 data, Boucher estimates that about 60 million tonnes of water is there.

“It’s not as dry as we thought it would be. It is mostly concentrated in the north and south poles,” he said.

The ice is said to be about 2 metres from the surface since that’s the maximum depth to which orbiting sensors can penetrate. Scientists don’t know what lies at depth.

“And that means that if we converted all that water into shuttle fuel, we could launch a shuttle per day for more than 2,000 years just using the water at the north pole. The south pole has a little more water, but I don’t have the numbers,” Boucher said.

However, the big question everyone is looking to answer is how to extract the water effectively — and

sustainably.

“The scale of the micro ice crystals are all sub-100 microns, and the average water concentration is about 5% by weight, which means that that is pretty good if it was gold. That’d be an awesome orebody; we certainly don’t get 5% gold per tonne in any of the gold mines in Canada,” he said.

According to Boucher’s backof-napkin calculations, we need around 50 tonnes of oxygen per mission to the moon, just gauging by NASA’s stated ambitions. “Now, that’s not an awful lot, but considering the 60 tonnes of water you’ve got to extract to produce the oxygen, that translates to about 5,000 tonnes of excavated regolith per year.”

“Suddenly, those numbers no longer apply to science experiments in laboratory tests. It can no longer be done in a beaker. It really needs some well-thought-out process to achieve these results at scale,” he said.

Bootstrap into space

The space mining race is quickly evolving. AstroForge, an aster-

oid-mining startup, is preparing to launch the first of its two missions on Apr. 14. The main objective is to test the firm’s technique for refining platinum from a sample of asteroid-like material.

The company has placed a payload on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, pre-packed with elements similar to those in asteroids. Working in Earth orbit, the OrbAstro-built cubesat will attempt to vaporize and sort the materials into their elemental components.

While AstroForge intends to visit asteroids, the Artemis missions revolve around the moon and ultimately Mars. The idea is to extract minerals where they will be used, not to send them back to Earth. And how it will look is the stuff of science fiction.

Boucher suggests that sending a giant Caterpillar bulldozer to the moon is obviously out of the question. Instead, he proposes taking small steps in space, each representing a mighty technological achievement. “You can actually bootstrap your terrestrial market onto the moon,” he said.

He suggests that if the market

is there, the technology will find a way to tap it. He calculates there is already an existing potential market for 60 tonnes of water to supply NASA alone with its medium-term space chemical needs.

“The support required for this long-term human presence on the moon is going to drive a market for the development of larger volumes of product,” predicts Boucher. “And how do you make that sustainable? Again, we only know what’s down 2 metres below surface. It sounds a little bit like it would entail an open pit excavation. But who knows where we’re going to go with this?”

Douglas Morrison, president and CEO of CEMI, also highlighted that aside from finding the best moon mining technologies, there are other essential questions marks that need to be answered.

“There are outstanding issues regarding legal frameworks in space, security of tenure, property rights — simple things like the National Instrument 43-101: How do you do due diligence on the moon?” he asked. “How do you prove that you can actually extract this stuff? How do you stake a claim robotically, and if you can do it, is it defensible? How do you do automated assays on the moon? How do you manage your claim? How do you manage your communications?”

A further sticking point would be to consider how these polarbased moon mining operations will be powered when the water is only found in areas without direct sunlight. Are small modular nuclear reactors the answer?

“While these questions remain to be resolved, I see ample opportunities for the terrestrial mining sector to innovate and transpose their experience to space,” Morrison said. “Conversely, any technological advances on the moon stand to benefit the terrestrial industry directly.”

AstroForge founders Matt Gialich and Jose Acain. ASTROFORGE

Virtual reality simulations of AstroForge technology. ASTROFORGE

The Metals Company uses a vessel for seafloor exploration. THE METALS COMPANY

Small details derail big thinking in Canada’s green budget

COMMENTARY | Increasing the Alternate Minimum Tax would strike a blow to the very industry it seeks to grow

BY PETER NICHOLSON

During Chrystia Freeland’s federal budget address to Parliament on Mar. 28, Canadians heard an unprecedented call to action for the new green economy.

“We’re going to build big things here in Canada — from a Volkswagen battery plant in Ontario, to the Galaxy lithium mine in Quebec, to the Trans Mountain expansion in Alberta, to the Atlantic Loop, to the LNG terminal in Kitimat, B.C.,” she declared.

Of course, with this big thinking comes big money.

Billions of dollars have been pledged to support critical mineral infrastructure and development. Meanwhile, the Canada Infrastructure Bank will pledge billions more to help kick start clean energy projects.

The government also upheld the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (CMETC) first announced in the April 2022 budget.

Exploration involving critical minerals, such as copper, nickel, lithium and cobalt, will now kick out a 30% tax credit (equivalent to a 60% tax deduction).

When the CMETC was first announced, for those of us in the charity flow-through share business were cheering from the sidelines. Because quietly, for the last 17 years, our structure has been supporting this cause. In fact, our industry has been responsible for billions in financing for Canadian junior mining.

Simply put, the flow-through share financing model, with an

ODDS from 5 hospital immediately — preferably to Tehran which was six hours away — or he might die; it wasn’t clear to us how bad he was hurt, but bloody foam at the mouth is never a good thing. The ambulance service in rural Iran is unreliable at best, so my Iranian colleague, Peyman, picked him up and stuck him in a truck and drove off at high speed to the local hospital. He was subsequently transferred to a specialist clinic in Tehran and spent weeks recovering from kidney damage.

That night I had a very panicked Australian driller in my office crying his eyes out. He was in mild shock from the accident and had convinced himself that he was going to a) be hung for killing an Iranian or b) spend the next 30 years in an Iranian prison making friends with people he wouldn’t ordinarily spend much quality time with. He begged to be taken to the border with Turkey so he could walk over to “safety,” but this wasn’t a viable option — the border is heavily patrolled — so I called our country manager in Tehran for some urgent advice. He told us to stay put and called the local police in Takab to report the accident. And then we waited. And waited. I was expecting a police visit or a session with the local health and safety inspector, but nobody came. We’d taped off the rig, worked out what had happened, and I’d reported it back to head office in London.

My conclusion was that the fault lay with the day shift driller. When I examined the accident site, I’d found two other rods with torn thread tucked under a tarp. Mr. Dayshift admitted he’d had the same problem with the poor-quality local rods but “it wasn’t his job

figure to 20.5%, and in the process, strike a significant blow to the mining industry, the very industry it seeks to grow.

If the new AMT is implemented in 2024, then the maximum flowthrough share purchase will decrease from our largest income buyers.

Flow-through shares, which were first introduced in 1954, offer high-taxed Canadians a 100% tax deduction for investing in junior mining stock.

hose, reducing the water supply. In basic terms, an increase in AMT will materially impact how much flow-through many of our clients can purchase. A good analogy would be if the government reduced the maximum RRSP limit, now at $30,000 per person, to $23,000, a 25% reduction.

Under this new rate of AMT, the tax benefit has been diluted.

cal minerals that are essential to our clean energy future — the world’s clean energy future. And I believe we have an incredible opportunity to work together to source and supply in North America everything we need for reliable and resilient supply chains.”

immediate liquidity provider, has been a stalwart for critical mineral exploration in Canada – and junior mining in general — with a significant amount of all financing coming through this trusted charity flow-through structure.

Think of us as the grassroots of Canadian mining — by giving junior mining the financial means to explore, and discover, it provides the water and fertilizer for industry to sprout, and grow.

Our industry was finally receiving some respect. Or so it seemed.

In March, I wrote a column about how the devil would be in the details for Canada’s critical mineral industry. Sadly, my words have become strangely prophetic.

Indeed, one small detail in the budget would throw a big wrench into the government’s lofty plans.

Alternate minimum tax (AMT) was first implemented in 1986 to limit tax deductions for high-income earners. And since then, AMT rates have remained steady at 15% — until now. As of 2024, the government plans to increase this

The shares are not held for long. The buyer can sell these shares almost instantly, at a discount, to a third party, or liquidity provider, and eliminate any stock market risk.

They can also be donated to a registered charity, which sells the shares, at the same discounted price, to investors with a long-term investment horizon. The buyer takes on the stock risk for the standard four-month private placement hold period.

Together, these tax policies allow our clients to give significantly more to charity due to the tax efficiency. It has been an enormous success story for Canada – a true example of innovation when it comes to tax policy.

AMT’s unforeseen impacts

In some ways, Canada’s critical mineral strategy is our true coming of age moment, almost 80 years in the making, from when flow-through shares were first introduced.

Then along came AMT, the first increase in almost 40 years. And the timing couldn’t be worse.

Instead of nurturing the roots of Canadian critical mineral financing, the government just stepped on the

Meanwhile, due to improved stock market optimism for critical minerals, we have seen a considerable increase in available flowthrough product — and that’s great news for Canada’s critical mineral strategy, right?

Well, only if we have the hightaxed Canadians to buy large amounts.

As an industry, we will have to work that much harder to find more Canadians to participate in each flow-through share financing, to bridge the gap. In times like these, when it’s a full court press to build our critical mineral pipeline, and future green economy, we should be making it easier for these companies to receive financing, not harder. The stakes are high.

“We learned the hard way, during the pandemic, when you rely on just in time supply chains, that circle the globe, there are significant vulnerabilities, disruptions and delays, and it drives up costs here at home, both Canada and the United States,” U.S. President Joe Biden said on Mar. 23 in his address to Parliament one week before the federal budget.

“There is a better way. Our nations are blessed with incredible natural resources. Canada in particular has large quantities of criti-

These remarks during Biden’s visit to Canada were met by a standing ovation and thunderous applause.

The President is absolutely correct. But to reach this shared future, we must all work together.

The government increased AMT to help boost tax revenue, ensuring every high-income Canadian pays his or her fair share. But did the government understand its impact on this grand vision for the future? I suspect not.

If AMT must be increased, an exception for flow-through shares should be explored. There is a middle ground here, where the government’s desire for more tax revenue can be balanced with a robust critical mineral strategy that everyone wants.

The 2023 budget truly underlines why agencies, the government and the private sector need to communicate more effectively, so the big ideas don’t get squashed by the little ones. TNM

Peter Nicholson is the president and founder of Wealth, Creation, Preservation and donation (WCPD) Inc. WCPD has generated more than $1 billion in flow-through financings for junior mining companies and helped raise over $300 million for charities across Canada.

lithium strategy alongside its current contract with Chilean development agency Corfo. It said it hoped the policy would boost lithium production in Chile.

Under Chile’s new lithium policy, there will be a unit in charge of advancing technology to minimize environmental impacts, including favouring direct lithium extraction (DLE) over evaporation ponds — the method currently used.

Applying DLE is expected to speed up production and avoid vaporizing billions of litres of water. The technique, however, is relatively untested at major scale, which could initially mean less output and profit.

turning more of their mined lithium into batteries and tapping into the EV manufacturing sector.

Jordan Roberts, battery raw materials analyst at Fastmarkets NewGen said the immediate impact of Boric’s announcement seemed to be “muted” as market participants digest the news and await Codelco’s plan to be released in the second half of the year.

“We do not expect any material impact to established producers... [but]...there may be some hesitation investing in Chile’s lithium space until further details have been released and companies are confident on stability and in how the public-private partnerships will operate,” Roberts said in an emailed statement.

to tell the other guys because they were grown ups.” My first instinct was to have him thrown off site but bringing in a replacement would’ve taken weeks; time which we didn’t have with the mountain winter drawing near. He stayed.

After three days, the tape flapped pointlessly in the wind and the hours dragged by. Eventually our manager called back. The local cops and the local municipality couldn’t care less. They were surprised we’d even bothered calling them. “It’s God’s will” was literally the response from the police chief. “Why did you call? Nothing to do with us.”

In the end, we completed a couple of dozen core and RC holes. The geology was spectacular and the gold grades locally excellent although with orpiment in the orebody, the arsenic levels were high. The program was a quali-

fied success, overshadowed by the accident, and we still didn’t have enough holes to properly evaluate the full strike length of the deposit. In early 1999 I was transferred to Anglo’s head office in London and spent the next three years raising two baby boys, compiling budgets and writing reports. Anglo finally abandoned Zarshuran — the Iranian government proved too hard to deal with — and it was put into production by a quasi-government mining company. TNM

—Ralph Rushton is a geologist and has worked at mines and exploration projects around the world including stints in South Africa, Turkey, Bulgaria, Yemen, Iran and Pakistan. He is currently the president of Aftermath Silver, a silver development company with projects in Chile and Peru. In his spare time, he writes about mining and exploration at urbancrows.com.

Canada’s Summit Nanotech Corp., which is developing a DLE technology, welcomed the government’s announcement and announced on Apr. 21 the opening of a facility to test its method in Santiago.

Supply squeeze

Chile’s move adds further pressure to electric vehicles (EV) makers, which are scrambling to secure supply of the battery metal.

It follows Mexico’s decision to nationalize its own lithium industry last year and which is now seeking to create a regional lithium association with Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. The three countries make up the so-called “Lithium Triangle,” which has about 65% of the world’s known resources of the metal and reached 29.5% of world production in 2020.

Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil, in turn, are exploring the creation of a lithium cartel of sorts in charge of expanding South America’s processing capacity,

Chile currently generates about 30% of the world’s supply, but it plans to double production by 2025 to about 250,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.

Global demand for the metal, according to the government’s projections, will quadruple by 2030, reaching 1.8 million tonnes of lithium. Available supply by then is expected to sit at 1.5 million tonnes.

The country’s Atacama region, which is also home to vast copper mines, supplies nearly one-quarter of the globe’s lithium.

Last year, the state received more than US$5 billion from the sector, equivalent to 1.6% of its GDP, figures from the Autonomous Fiscal Council show.

Exports of lithium carbonate reached almost US$7.8 billion, an increase of 777% over 2021, according to the Chilean Central Bank.

It means that lithium carbonate surpassed salmon and fruits in the Chilean export basket. TNM

After the drilling accident. PQ drill rod with failed thread hanging to one side of the derrick. RALPH RUSHTON

CHILE from 1

Peter Nicholson

Green Technology Metals targets 2025 production for Seymour lithium project in Ontario

ONTARIO | Aussie junior eyes Thunder Bay conversion plant as it advances permitting, economic studies

BY BLAIR MCBRIDE

ASX-listed

Green Technol-

ogy Metals (ASX: GT1) is working towards a feasibility study for its flagship Seymour lithium project in northwestern Ontario, and targeting production as soon as 2025.

The Perth-based company said on Apr. 12 it has completed more than two years of baseline data and project engineering in support of ongoing permit applications.

“We have successfully expanded our team to include experts in permitting, community consultation and project studies within the Ontario region,” said GT1 CEO Luke Cox, in a release. “Exploration will continue across the region as we develop our resources that will feed a centralized processing hub at Seymour and in parallel the team will continue to work through the environmental studies, permitting and development discussions with our Indigenous community partners.”

Green Tech has opened offices in Thunder Bay as well as in Toronto to support the progress of its preliminary economic assessment and feasibility study for Seymour, targeted for the first half of 2024.

According to a resource update from last June, the North Aubry deposit at Seymour hosts indicated resources of 5.2 million tonnes grading 1.3% lithium oxide (Li2O) and inferred resources of 2.6 million tonnes grading 0.9% Li2O. The South Aubry deposit hosts inferred resources of 2.1 million tonnes grading 0.5 Li2O. Green Technology has formally submitted its project definition for Seymour to the Ontario Mines Minister which will confirm its provincial environmental assessment requirements. Seymour is located just east of the township of Armstrong, and about 230 km north of Thunder Bay.

The company said it is also advancing the mining lease process

that will allow it to extract and sell minerals, subject to the lease terms.

99-ton sample

Green Tech has collected a 99-ton lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite bulk sample from its North Aubry target. The sample was taken to the Saskatchewan Research Centre in Saskatoon, Sask. for metallurgical pilot test work to optimize the lithium converter process that is part of its integrated project study.

A total of 15,290 metres across 69 holes have been drilled at the Aubry and Pye East and West Limb targets of Seymour to date. At Pye West, the company noted near-surface high-grade intercepts of 13.9 metres grading 1.53% Li2O in hole GTDD22-0350 and 14.4 metres grading 1.38% Li2O in GTDD-22-0360.

In June, Green Technology plans to resume field exploration at Sey-

Sayona feasibility for NAL lithium mine confirms

$2B value

QUEBEC | 20-year life forecast for mine, Authier deposit

BY MARILYN SCALES

Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA) has released a definitive feasibility study for its 75%-owned North American lithium (NAL) mine in Quebec, a month after restarting commercial production of spodumene concentrate at the mine.

The study estimates an after-tax net present value (8% discount) of $1.4 billion, and an internal rate of return of 2,545%.

NAL, along with the nearby Authier lithium deposit, is expected to support a 20-year mine life with an average annual mill feed of 1.4 million tonnes. The plant has a capacity of 4,200 tonnes per day, and the average concentrate production during the first four years will be 226,000 tonnes. The all-in sustaining cost is estimated at $987 per tonne of concentrate.

Total capital costs of the mine

and mill restart are pegged at $375.3 million. Onsite total operating costs are $2.3 billion, or $597 per tonne of concentrate.

Sayona says proven and probable reserves are 21.7 million tonnes grading 1.08% lithium oxide (Li2O) for 235.5 million tonnes Li2O. Measured and indicated resources (inclusive of reserves) total 25 million tonnes at 1.23% Li2O for the pit constrained portion. The project hosts another 22 million inferred tonnes at 1.2% Li2O.

A 50,000-metre drilling program is scheduled for this year. The first phase will primarily target the conversion of inferred resources to indicated within the pit shell. Sayona will also drill the northwest and southeast strike extensions at NAL.

NAL and Authier are part of Sayona Quebec, owned 75% by Sayona Mining and 25% by Piedmont Lithium (ASX: PLL; NASDAQ: PLL).

mour which will include prospecting, mapping and soil sampling, and mark the first work at the unexplored 91.4-sq.-km North Seymour tenement blocks. Resource definition drilling will resume in August.

After nine months of assessing more than 50 potential sites in the

region, GT1 also said it has secured a land package in Thunder Bay and entered a letter of intent for its planned lithium conversion facility. That acquisition is still subject to environmental due diligence to determine permit approval eligibility and acceptability to the local

community. The company has also appointed Roger Souckey as vice president for HR and Communities to support Indigenous consultations.

In a research note on Apr. 12, Canaccord Genuity analyst Timothy Hoff gave Green Tech a speculative buy rating given the company’s pre-production status.

He put a price target of A$1.80 ($1.63) on Green Tech shares, significantly higher than their price at press time on the Australia Stock Exchange of A62¢. The shares have traded in a 52-week window of A49¢ and A$1.24. Green Tech has a market capitalization of A$159.9 million.

Seymour consists of 151.4 sq. km of claims that include four main targets: Aubry Complex, Pye East Limb, Pye West Limb and Forsythe. Green Tech is targeting the first spodumene production at Seymour for 2025 and first lithium hydroxide production for 2027.

In the wider region, the explorer holds a total of 408 sq. km of claims including at Seymour, Root and Wisa with which the company holds an 80% interest under a joint venture with Ardiden (ASX: ADV). It also has lithium exploration claims at the Allison and Solstice targets, all of them located in the Archean greenstone belt. TNM

Endeavour Silver greenlights Terronera project despite capex rise

MEXICO | First production expected in late 2024

BY JACKSON CHEN

The board of Endeavour Silver (TSX: EDR; NYSE: EXK) has decided to build the Terronera mine in Jalisco state, Mexico, despite cost pressures that have emerged from systemic inflation and constrained global supply chains.

“With official board approval now in hand, the path is cleared to advance construction of the Terronera project, which will be Endeavour’s next producing mine,” Dan Dickson, Endeavour’s CEO, stated in a news release.

According to the company’s revised scenario, the underground project will cost US$230 million to build, a 32% rise over the previous estimate, partially offset by a decrease in sustaining capital to US$88.3 million over the life of the mine.

Since a 2021 feasibility study on Terronera, changes to the mine design have reduced initial underground mine access development, which Endeavour believes will result in slightly lower operating costs on a per-tonne basis. The processing plant and tailing storage facility capital costs have increased, mostly because of equipment required to achieve the targeted 2,000-tonneper-day capacity.

“The optimization work on the project over the past year has captured opportunities for higher throughput and improved metallurgical recoveries. At the same time, technical risks have been mitigated by further study, engineering, testing and early works,” said Don Gray, Endeavour’s COO.

“Overall, we are very fortunate we started with predevelopment activities well in advance of this construction decision. This has significantly de-risked the project, as we have been able to secure several procurement contracts before certain inflationary cost spikes and supply chain constraints,” he added.

To fund the capital costs, Endeavour has signed a commitment letter with Societe Generale and ING Bank for a senior secured debt facility for up to US$120 million. Before securing this commitment, the board had only approved early spending to advance the project in a “disciplined manner.”

The company has already invested over US$58 million in direct development to the end of the first quarter of 2023, Endeavour said. However, the silver producer may consider alternatives to raise the capital as required by the terms of the debt facility, including a potential cost overrun facility.

Endeavour says it’s made progress on long-lead item procurement and has established a team of development personnel on the ground. The project has also seen mobile mining equipment delivered, initial project infrastructure assembled and earthworks advanced. Underground mine access development has also started.

Construction is expected to take 21 months, including three to six months of ramp-up to full production, with initial production starting in the fourth quarter of 2024. Under the optimized mine scenario, the Terronera project is expected to produce nearly 70 million oz. of silver equivalent over a 10-year mine life, representing an 18% increase over the feasibility study scenario.

Shares of Endeavour Silver traded at $5.46 apiece in Toronto at press time. The company has a market capitalization of about $1 billion. TNM

Green Technology Metals’ Root project, just west of its flagship Seymour project in Ontario. GREEN TECHNOLOGY METALS

Drilling at Endeavour Silver’s Terronera project in Mexico. ENDEAVOUR SILVER

BMC Minerals’ Kudz Ze Kayah polymetallic project in Yukon hangs on judge’s ruling

INDIGENOUS RIGHTS | If project gets court’s blessing, BMC expects late 2024 construction decision

BY BLAIR MCBRIDE

BMC Minerals’ Kudz Ze

Kayah (KZK) zinc-lead-copper project in the Yukon has hit a roadblock on its permitting path amid a legal dispute with the Kaska Nation.

The Vancouver-based BMC, owned by private, U.K.-based firm BMC Ltd., is developing the critical minerals project located 115 km southeast of Ross River.

It is one of the few pre-production critical minerals projects in the Far North to get past the feasibility study stage and into the permitting process.

“We’ve got copper, zinc and silver. And once we get into production, from a very small footprint, from a tiny mine we’re going to be one of the most significant producers of zinc and silver in Canada,”

BMC president and CEO Scott Donaldson told The Northern Miner

Kudz Ze Kayah, which means ‘caribou country’ in the Kaska language will cost US$376 million to develop, and the open pit operation would have a mine life of nine years. According to a 2020 feasibility study, the mine will produce 7.8 million oz. of silver, 56,500 oz. of gold, 235 million lb. of zinc, 32 million lb. of copper and 56 million lb. of lead in concentrate annually during steady-state operations.

Last June, Kudz Ze Kayah was approved by the federal and territorial governments following an environmental and socio-economic assessment. But weeks later, Kaska, on behalf of the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC) announced a civil lawsuit against BMC and the two governments, alleging it wasn’t properly consulted over the mine’s potential adverse environmental impacts, including its impacts on the Finlayson caribou herd.

The RRDC wants the government’s approval reversed and for the decision to be subject to a review panel.

The petition from the council was at the centre of a six-day judicial hearing in Whitehorse that wrapped up on Apr. 18. Lawyers for the Kaska Nation, BMC, the Attorney General of Canada and the Yukon government presented their respective arguments. Yukon Supreme Court Chief Justice Suzanne Duncan reserved her decision on the matter but said she would give one before July.

Kaska conditions ‘ignored’

RRDC Chief Dylan Loblaw told The Northern Miner that the community’s support for the project “took a turn” when the regulators and BMC couldn’t meet its conditions for the project.

“The project lies within the caribou corridor,” he said. “It’s a place

NATURAL RESOURCES

Trusted. Independent. Committed.

where the caribou calve and where they rut. It’s a sanctuary for the Finlayson caribou herd. One of the terms and conditions was to shut down operations during calving and rutting season. They couldn’t meet those terms.”

Loblaw said the community wants the decision advancing the project to be quashed and for BMC to either redesign the project or walk away from the mineral claims. For now, RRDC is awaiting the judge’s decision.

“We’re looking for an Indigenous, First Nations-led assessment process that captures cumulative effects and adverse impacts to our title, rights and interest and to make it more meaningful and more long-lasting for the nation to benefit from projects like these.”

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.

‘Onus on governments’ Donaldson said that a clear resolution of the issues raised in the review would be the ideal outcome.

“If the judge decides that the government shouldn’t have signed the decision document then the government will have to go back and talk to Kaska a bit more,” he said. “That action is on them. All we can do is maintain our good relationship with Kaska and assist the parties to come together. We’ve already reached out to Kaska to talk about some of the things of mutual interest and some of the things we’ve heard in the courtroom we need to discuss. We’ll approach that with a view to work collaboratively.”

Donaldson noted that the judicial review came after the project had already gone through the environmental and socio-economic assessment process, which started in 2017. The process has seen at least six extensions to accommodate requests over a period that was supposed to be three months long but was extended by 14 months.

But if the judge dismisses the Kaska petition, BMC is looking forward to a final investment decision from its board of directors in late 2024, with construction at KZK targeted for early 2025 and the start of production in late 2026 or early 2027.

The construction and production phases will each create 400 direct jobs, and an additional 400 indirect jobs such as in trucking, rail and ship transport of equipment and ore, Donaldson said.

Indigenous collaboration

Indigenous participation in the project was established as a priority in the socio-economic participation agreement (SEPA) signed with Kaska in 2004, before BMC purchased the project from Teck Resources’ (TSX: TECK.A/ TECK.B; NYSE: TECK) in 2015.

“We have an obligation to work towards Kaska having significant jobs on site. As one chief said to me, ‘we don’t want shovel jobs, we want serious jobs where we can make a difference and where we can be part of the decision-making process,’” Donaldson said, adding that over the last eight years more than 70% of the contracts BMC has entered have been with Kaska companies or firms in joint ventures with those companies. BMC also has a scholarship program with the Kaska Nation that offers funding and support for Kaska students and apprenticeships

so that skilled Kaska members can work at the future mine site.

The company is not yet financed for construction and Donaldson said it would start that process when it sees a clearer timeline on permitting and when the judge makes a decision in the Kaska case.

Looking ahead to when he hopes KZK is a producing mine, Donaldson said the project, while relatively small, will also be an important producer of copper in the wider critical minerals industry.

“I think the combination of being a strong regional employer, a strong employer of First Nations peoples and a strong producer of critical and forward-facing minerals is an important combination,” he said.

John Thompson, spokesperson for Yukon’s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Resources, said that because the case is before the courts, the government won’t discuss any of its particulars, but added the government is committed to continuing consultation with the Kaska First Nations.

“Our government supports responsible mineral resource development in the Yukon,” he said. “The decision bodies for the project issued a decision document. The Yukon government is committed to meeting its obligations during the regulatory phase for this project, which is currently underway.”

The project mainly consists of the ABM open pit mine, with smaller resources in the Krakatoa open pit and underground mines. ABM hosts probable reserves of 15.7 million tonnes grading 5.8% zinc, 1.7% lead, 0.9% copper, 138 grams silver per tonne and 1.3 grams gold for contained metal of 135,800 tonnes copper, 265,700 tonnes lead, 915,000 tonnes zinc, 665,800 gold and 69.5 million oz. silver.

Indicated resources come to 18.3 million tonnes grading 6.3% zinc, 1.9% lead, 0.9% copper, 148 grams silver per tonne and 1.4 grams gold; for 1.1 million tonnes zinc, 345,800 tonnes lead, 164,000 tonnes copper, 87.3 million oz. silver and 827,200 oz. gold.

The feasibility study, using metal price assumptions of US$3.50 per lb. copper, US$1.50 per lb. zinc, US$1.05 per lb. lead, US$1,300 per oz. gold and US$20 per oz. silver estimated Kudz Ze Kayah’s after-tax net present value at US$617 million, based on a 7% discount rate, and its internal rate of return at 45.9%. Cominco began exploring around the KZK deposit in 1977 and drilling in 1994 revealed copper, lead and zinc mineralization. TNM

Collecting weather data near BMC Minerals’ Kudz Ze Kayah project in the Yukon. BMC MINERALS

“WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO WORK TOWARDS KASKA HAVING SIGNIFICANT JOBS ON SITE. AS ONE CHIEF SAID TO ME, ‘WE DON’T WANT SHOVEL JOBS, WE WANT SERIOUS JOBS WHERE WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND WHERE WE CAN BE PART OF THE DECISIONMAKING PROCESS.”

SCOTT DONALDSON, BMC MINERALS’ PRESIDENT AND CEO

Vital Metals plans for rare earth production stall

CRITICAL MINERALS | Junior has stopped construction on its Saskatoon processing plant

B2Gold closes $1.2B all-share acquisition of Sabina Gold & Silver

Canada

BY ALISHA HIYATE

Vital Metals (ASX: VML; US-OTC: VTMXF) is pressing pause on construction of its half-finished Saskatoon processing facility after determining that its plans to market an intermediate rare earth oxide product from the plant aren’t economic.

It also said the scale of mining at its North T zone at the Nechalacho rare earth project in the Northwest Territories isn’t economic. The company has not completed a feasibility study for the project, which has only been permitted for demonstration-scale mining of up to 600,000 tonnes. It has been working on a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Nechalacho, expected mid-year.

In a release, the company said it wasn’t able to sell its intermediate REE product “on commercially satisfactory terms” and pinpointed both higher plant costs and lower rare earth prices as factors in its decision to pause plant construction.

“There is no economic imperative to complete this demonstration project at the current time,” said Vital’s interim chairman Richard Crookes. “However, the Saskatoon processing facility can provide valuable intermediate processing capacity for a downstream rare earth hub in Saskatchewan. North America needs independent downstream processing to further enable the transition to the green economy and Vital is looking forward to working with like-minded parties to deliver a completed project.”

The company says it’s now completing a three-month strategic review of the plant while it conserves cash and seeks out new funding sources and partnerships with third parties to “build a sustainable business model.”

The Australia-based junior had in December announced that it would slow down construction of the plant as costs to complete it had doubled to around $55 million.

At the time, Vital said it would defer completion of the plant to the second half of 2024, when its offtake customer REEtec will be ready to take product for further processing at its plant, now under construction in Norway.

Vital said putting on hold the hydrometallurgical leaching, purification and rare earth precipitation circuits would save it nearly $16 million. But it said it would still finish the calcine circuit at the plant by the third quarter of 2023 in order to produce an intermediate rare earth oxide product.

Rare earths prices “plunged” in March and early April based on China’s slowing economy and modest growth forecasts, according to a recent edition of the newsletter Critical Metals for a Sustainable World. The Apr. 17 report says prices for light rare earths are the lowest they’ve been since late 2020 or early 2021.

H2 resource update

Vital recently completed a more than 6,600-metre drill program at its Tardiff deposit, with assay results and a resource update expected in the second half of the year.

The company has the rights to near-surface zones at Nechalacho, located 110 km southeast of Yellowknife. Avalon Advanced Materials (TSX: AVL) holds the rights to mineralization below 150 metres at the project.

The company recently applied to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water board for a two-year extension to its land use permit at Nechalacho, which expires this June. An extension would allow Vital to complete the demonstration mining project and continue resource drilling.

In 2020 and 2021, Vital’s Yellowknife-based subsidiary Cheetah Resources mined more than 400,000 tonnes of material, compiling a large onsite stockpile of close to 11,000 cubic metres. No mining was conducted last year.

The company said more than 1,000 tonnes of concentrate was produced at Nechalacho and shipped to Saskatoon in 2021. In an email to The Northern Miner, Vital said it continued to ship concentrate in 2022, but has not publicly released figures yet.

According to a February resource update, Tardiff contains 4.6 million measured tonnes at 1.6% total rare earth oxides (TREO), 6.3 million indicated tonnes at 1.5%, and 108.1 million inferred tonnes at 1.4% TREO. The deposit has high grades of light rare earths neodymium and praseodymium.

Vital has reported that metallurgical testwork completed on mineralization from Tardiff Zone 1 has returned grades of up to 39.9% TREO after three processing stages from an original feed grade of 2.4% TREO. The North T zone has a small but high-grade resource of 101,000 tonnes at 9.01% light REO.

At press time, Vital Metals shares traded at A1.3¢ on the ASX for a market cap of A$82.8 million. The shares have traded between 1¢ and A7.2¢ over the past year. TNM

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

B2Gold (TSX: BTO; NYSE: BTG) closed its acquisition of Sabina Gold & Silver (TSX: SBB; US-OTC: SGSVF) on Apr. 19, after Sabina shareholders approved the almost $1.2-billion takeover a week earlier.

The deal gives Vancouver-based B2Gold its first project in Canada, and is expected to boost mining in Nunavut.

B2Gold launched its friendly bid for Sabina in February. The junior’s properties are located in the Back River Gold District, which contains some of the world’s highest-grade undeveloped gold projects.

The most advanced project in the area, situated about 520 km northeast of Yellowknife, is Sabina’s Goose gold project, which is fully permitted and construction ready.

Goose is expected to become

Nunavut’s third operating mine in 2025, when it starts commercial gold production. The other two are run by Agnico Eagle.

“B2Gold’s involvement as an intermediate producer with greater financial capacity provides additional de-risking of the project and leaves Sabina shareholders with a meaningful stake in the combined company,” Sabina’s president and CEO said in a statement.

All of B2Gold’s operations are outside of Canada, including its mines in Mali, the Philippines and Namibia, and its exploration projects in Uzbekistan, Finland and Colombia.

In a release, B2Gold president and CEO Clive Johnson said the deal represents a milestone for the gold miner.

“We are excited to add such a high-quality, high-grade gold project in a top mining jurisdic-

tion to our global portfolio, and we are thrilled to welcome the exceptional Sabina team into B2Gold. We also look forward to working with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association and local communities as we advance the construction of the Goose project and our development strategy,” he said.

“As we continue with the construction of the Goose project and move toward commencement of production in 2025, our exploration program will also start immediately. We aim to further define the Back River Gold District’s untapped potential and unlock the significant value we see and opportunities for growth.”

As an all-share-based transaction, the implied value of the offer is $2.20 a share, or $1.2 billion at close of Apr. 18.

TWO OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST UNDEVELOPED CRITICAL METALS DEPOSITS

Projects located in mining-friendly Yukon & Northwest Territories.

Macmillan Pass project is a clear standoutscale, economics, and upside potential.

Planning the biggest drill program ever at Macmillan Pass for Summer of 2023.

Mining at Vital Metals’ Nechalacho project in 2021. VITAL METALS/ BILL BRADEN

The Goose gold camp in Nunavut. The project is B2Gold’s first in Canada. B2GOLD

FAR NORTH SNAPSHOT: EIGHT COMPANIES TO WATCH

BY SARAH HAHN

The Far North contains a wealth of minerals, and although remote, many Far North regions have a rich history of mining. Here’s a glimpse of eight companies advancing some of the world’s northernmost exploration projects.

n HIGHGOLD MINING

Vancouver-based HighGold Mining (TSXV: HIGH) is focused on its flagship Johnson Tract project in south-central Alaska. The project, which it acquired in 2019, was previously explored by Anaconda Minerals, which completed 88 drill holes totalling 26,840 metres between 1982 and 1995. HighGold believes this underexplored property has a high potential for new discoveries. The gold-copper-zinc-silver-lead project includes the main Johnson Tract (JT) deposit and several other mineral prospects.

According to a July 2022 resource estimate, the JT deposit hosts 3.4 million tonnes of indicated resources grading 5.33 grams gold per tonne, 6 grams silver, 0.56% copper, 0.67% lead, and 5.2% zinc. Inferred resources add 786,000 tonnes grading 1.36 grams gold, 9.1 grams silver, 0.59% copper, 0.3% lead, and 4.18% zinc.

Last year, HighGold completed 6,056.4 metres across 43 drill holes at its Difficult Creek prospect, 39 of which were drilled at the Ellis zone. The other five holes were drilled at nearby targets.

Assay results returned multiple high-grade intercepts and expanded the mineralization in the Ellis zone by almost 50%. Highlights shared in a December 2022 news release include hole DC22046, which cut 14.8 metres grading 10.14 grams gold per tonne, 13.8 grams silver, 0.28% copper, 5.97% zinc, and 0.46% lead (14.3 grams gold equivalent).

The Ellis zone now has a 125metre strike length and a depth of 225 metres with an average true

thickness of 10 to 15 metres in the plunging core of the zone, the company said in the release.

“The 2022 drill program at the Ellis zone was very successful in sketching in a new centre of highgrade gold and base metal mineralization with similar characteristics to the…JT Deposit located 4 km away,” said CEO Darwin Green. “It remains early days in the exploration of this promising new zone, and we look forward to returning in 2023 with larger step-outs, particularly down plunge to the west and to depth.”

HighGold’s portfolio also includes a reduced intrusion-related gold property in Yukon’s Selwyn Basin and the Munro-Croesus gold project located 75 km east of Timmins, which hosts the past-producing Croesus mine. In addition, HighGold is seeking earn-in joint venture partnerships for its Golden Mile and Timmins South projects in the Timmins gold camp.

HighGold Mining has a market capitalization of $56.6 million.

n LABRADOR URANIUM In March, Labrador Uranium

(CSE: LUR; US-OTC: LURAF)

entered into an agreement with ValOre Metals (TSXV: VO) to acquire a 100% interest in the Angilak uranium project in Nunavut in exchange for $3 million in cash and 100 million common shares of Labrador. The shares, which are valued at $40 million, will be distributed among ValOre shareholders on a pro rata basis when the deal closes.

The 685.5-sq.-km property is located 225 km west of the hamlet of Baker Lake in the Kivalliq Region.

Angilak hosts 2.8 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 0.69% U3O8 (uranium oxide) for 43.3 million lb. of uranium oxide based on a 2013 resource estimate. The resource is defined by 335 core holes totalling 60,258 metres and is the highest-grade uranium resource in Canada outside of Saskatchewan.

Past drilling highlights at Angilak include 1.5 metres grading 1.4% uranium oxide, 179 grams silver per tonne, 1.9% molybdenum, and 0.34% copper starting from 152.5 metres; and 0.6 metres grading 1.1% uranium oxide, 42.8 grams silver, 0.98% molybdenum, and 0.03% copper from 57.8 metres.

Labrador Uranium also owns 100% of the Central Mineral Belt project in Labrador consisting of the Moran Lake deposit, the Anna Lake deposit, and the Mustang Lake project, as well as the Notakwanon project about 60 km west of the Labrador coast.

In 2023, Labrador plans to continue expanding the mineral resources at Moran Lake and generate new targets based on results from its 2022 drilling program. Labrador Uranium has a market capitalization of $15 million.

n LI-FT POWER

Li-FT Power (CSE: LIFT) is focused on advancing its Yellowknife lithium project in the Northwest Territories, east of the capital city. The 14.9-sq.-km property hosts 13 well-exposed spodumene-bearing pegmatites with average grades of 1.07% to 2.2% Li2O, as well as strike lengths of up to 1,800 metres and widths up to 40 metres. These pegmatites make up part of the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province. A technical report from December outlines exploration work that was conducted on the property, including LiDAR and digital imag-

ery surveys and helicopter-supported mapping, prior to Li-FT’s acquisition of the project in late 2022.

The Vancouver-based company plans to drill between 50,000 and 70,000 metres in the second quarter of 2023 with the goal of compiling an initial resource estimate.

The company’s portfolio also includes the Cali project located in the Little Nahanni pegmatite field in the Northwest Territories, as well as the Rupert, Pontax, and Moyenne lithium projects in Quebec’s James Bay region.

Li-FT recently began diamond drilling at Rupert and plans to complete 5,000 metres across 17 holes. The 2023 campaign will test new targets from the previous two exploration programs.

Li-FT Power has a market capitalization of $332.3 million.

n RUPERT RESOURCES

Toronto-based Rupert Resources (TSX: RUP) is about halfway through its 72,800-metre 20222023 drill program at its Ikkari gold discovery, part the company’s flagship Rupert Lapland project in northern Finland. Located approximately 900 km north of Helsinki within the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt, the project also hosts the Pahtavaara gold mine.

Highlights shared in a Mar. 21 news release include intersections of 141 metres grading 3.6 grams gold per tonne starting from 322 metres and 52.6 metres grading 2.3 grams gold from 515 metres.

“Initial results confirm the exceptional continuity of the Ikkari resource and the potential for resource expansions in the west and at depth,” CEO James Withall commented in a release. “We have also identified further mineralization 7 km east from Ikkari along the main regional structure on our land package at Koppelo.”

Previous drill results from Ikkari include hole 123003, which cut 6 metres grading 74.1 grams gold from 361 metres, including 1 metre grading 445 grams gold.

About 30,000 metres of the current drill program, which began last August, have been allocated to infill and project drilling at Ikkari. The rest is being divided between the Ikkari extension, potential satellites, and regional exploration across the company’s 634-sq.-km land package.

The company is also planning a resource update for the second half of 2023.

Rupert released the details of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Rupert Lapland project last November. According the study, the project is expected to have a 22-year mine life, producing 4.2 million oz. of gold over the life of the mine. The PEA outlines initial capital costs of US$405 million, a post-tax net present value (NPV) of US$1.6 billion at a 5% discount rate, and an unlevered internal rate of return (IRR) of 46%.

In addition to the Rupert Lapland project, the company has a 20% participating interest in the Gold Centre property in Red Lake, Ont. Trillium Gold Mines (TSXV: TGM) holds the other 80% in an unincorporated joint venture.

Rupert Resources has a market capitalization of $917.8 million.

n

SITKA GOLD

On Apr. 12, Sitka Gold (CSE: SIG; US-OTC: SITKF) shared visual observations from the first drill hole

Li-FT Power’s Fi pegmatite at the Yellowknife lithium project in the Northwest Territories. LI-FT POWER

of the season at its RC Gold project in Yukon. Hole DDRCCC-23-041, part of a 10,000-metre diamond drill program at the property, cut 518.8 metres and encountered visible gold as well as quartz-sulphide veins.

“The concentration of gold grains observed in hole 41 is far beyond anything we have seen to date and was encountered near the start of what appears to be a well mineralized interval,” commented CEO and director Cor Coe.

Assay results are pending.

Sitka’s 2023 drill program will focus on step-out drilling from the Blackjack and Eiger intrusion-related deposits, both of which are open in all directions.

“Hole 41 is expected to further extend what appears to be a higher-grade core of the Blackjack gold deposit to the east and to depth,” Coe added. “Drilling at RC Gold is off to a great start and we look forward to the significant advancement that this year’s activities should bring to the project.”

RC Gold is located about 100 km east of Dawson City in the Tombstone Gold Belt and consists of 1,891 mineral claims covering 376 sq. km.

As of Mar. 1, the company had drilled 13,000 metres across 38 diamond drill holes at Blackjack and Eiger.

Sitka released an initial resource estimate in January for the two deposits, which together host 1.3 million oz. in 61.1 million inferred tonnes grading 0.68 gram gold per tonne. The estimate was completed after a successful 2022 winter drill campaign, which returned 220.1 metres grading 1.17 grams gold from surface in hole 21 and 107.5 metres of 1.44 grams gold from 4.5 metres in hole 24.

Sitka’s portfolio also includes the Alpha gold property in Nevada, north of Eureka; the Burro Creek gold project in Arizona; the Coppermine River project in Nunavut; and the OGI property located about 50 km east of Dawson City.

Sitka Gold has a market capitalization of $25.8 million.

n STRATEGIC METALS

Vancouver-based Strategic Metals (TSXV: SMD) is working to advance multiple projects in Yukon. The company is focused on a range of commodities, including precious metals, copper, zinc, nickel and lead.

In November, Strategic Metals announced results from its 100%owned Batt property located about 68 km south of the town of Haines Junction in southwestern Yukon. Highlights from the MS zone include a chip sample that returned 8.72% copper, 0.24% zinc, 488 ppm cobalt, and 19.9 grams silver per tonne over 1 metre.

Strategic is also carrying out exploration work at its Mt. Hinton gold-silver project in central Yukon, where recent prospecting led to the discovery of the new 85 vein, the company reported in January. Two of the four float samples taken from this vein returned grades of 273 grams gold with 284 grams silver and 138.5 grams gold with 57.5 grams silver.

Strategic Metals’ exploration program is primarily focused on discovering new gold and silver veins, strengthening geological and deposit models, and identifying new targets for future drill campaigns.

Mt. Hinton, which was last drilled in 2020, is located in the Keno Hill District, 35 km southeast of Victoria Gold’s (TSX: VGCX) Eagle Mine.

The company’s other Yukon

projects include the Lance property in the Tombstone Gold Belt, which doubled in size last year to 105.8 sq. km after Strategic staked new claims; the Mint project, a gold-copper porphyry located about 26 km southwest of the Alaska Highway; and the Alotta property, which is under an option agreement with Benjamin Hill Mining (CSE: BNN; US-OTC: BNNHF) for up to 60% interest.

Strategic Metals’ vast portfolio includes more than 100 properties across British Columbia and the Northwest Territories (96 that are wholly owned, five joint ventures, seven under option, and 23 with net smelter return royalty interests). In addition, the company owns stakes in multiple exploration companies, including 34.5% in GGL Resources, 32.8% in Broden Mining, and 29.6% in Rockhaven Resources.

Strategic Metals has a market capitalization of $43.3 million.

Focused on Discovery

n STRATEGIC RESOURCES

Strategic Resources (TSXV: SR) is working to advance the past-producing Mustavara vanadium mine located 650 km north of Helsinki in Finland. Last summer, the Vancouver-based company obtained an extension for its water permit until July 2025.

Strategic also submitted exploration permit applications as well as a proposal for an environmental baseline monitoring program in November 2021. Formal approvals are pending.

Mustavaara produced 10% of the world’s vanadium from 1976 to 1985 when the mine was operated by Rautaruukki Oy, a Finnish state company. In total, 10,000 metres have been drilled across 73 holes.

Based on a PEA dated May 4, 2021, Mustavaara is expected to have a 20.3-year mine life producing an average of 460 tonnes of ferrovanadium annually and 10,400 tonnes per day over the life of the

mine. The PEA also outlined initial capital costs of €597 million (about $880 million), an after-tax NPV of €190 million (about $279 million), an IRR of 12.2%, as well as sustaining capital and closure costs of €94 million ($138 million).

Strategic also holds the Silasselkä project, which is located about 850 km north of Helsinki. Historical drilling, consisting of 7,400 metres across 72 holes, identified iron-titanium-vanadium mineralization along a 16-km magnetic anomaly.

Strategic Resources recently acquired the BlackRock project in Quebec. The mine and concentrator will be located 700 km north of Montreal within the James Bay region while the metallurgical facility is to be built in Port Saguenay, just west of the St. Lawrence River. The project includes what will be the first vanadium and titanium-bearing magnetite deposit in

• Johnson Tract, Alaska deposit 1.1 million ounces AuEq and growing

• Ellis Zone - 577g/t Au over 6.4m – maiden resource coming in early 2024

• Advancing the de-risking for eventual mining of the JT Deposit

• Spinout of Ontario & Yukon properties into new Onyx Gold Corp. in May 2023

SNAPSHOT from / 14

See SNAPSHOT / 16

Geologist Jessica Roberts at the Ellis Zone at HighGold Mining’s Johnson Tract project in Alaska. HIGHGOLD MINING

An exploration shack at Sitka Gold’s RC property in the Yukon. SITKA GOLD

Rupert Resources’ Pahtavaara gold project in northern Finland. RUPERT RESOURCES

2023 Resource expansion drilling program in progress at the RC Gold Project, Yukon

Resource of 1.34 million ounces grading 0.68 g/t gold • Located in the Tombstone Gold Belt in the Yukon

Carlin-type mineralization discovered in drilling at Alpha Gold, Nevada

Botswana threatens break-up with De Beers in push for better deal

DIAMONDS | Debswana JV’s sales hit a record $4.6B last year

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

Botswana may not renew a five-decade sales agreement with De Beers if the diamond producer doesn’t offer a larger share of rough diamonds to the state’s gem trading company, Okavango Diamond Company (ODC).

The move comes after the southern Africa nation acquired last month a 24% stake in Belgian diamond processing firm HB Antwerp for an undisclosed sum.

Analysts saw this deal as a way for Botswana to loosen the Anglo American-owned miner’s grip on its diamond sector, a major source of employment and tax revenue for the country.

De Beers and Botswana jointly own Debswana, which mines almost all of the rough gems in the country — the world’s second-largest diamond producing nation after Russia.

The partnership has helped Botswana become one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, while supplying De Beers with 75% of Debswana’s rough diamonds, which are then sorted and sold to sightholders around the world.

Debswana’s diamond sales hit a record $4.6 billion in 2022, compared to $3.4 billion in 2021.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi has threatened to walk away from the talks if Botswana does not get a larger share of Debswana’s output for marketing outside of the De Beers system.

The government has not publicly stated what share it seeks, but it is believed to be as high as 50%, double its current allocation.

The two parties have been

Lumina’s Cangrejos ranks as 26th-largest global gold asset, according to new PFS

ECUADOR | Initial capex for large, low-grade project pegged at US$925M

BY HENRY LAZENBY

negotiating for several years to extend their 2011 mining rights and sales agreement, which is due to expire in June this year.

“Colonial” model Rafael Papismedov, co-founder of HB Antwerp, told the Financial Times that a revised deal would help Botswana break free from the current model of being “stuck in a box that says you can only dig and wash the diamonds.”

Papismedov added that De Beers’ operating model perpetuates “colonization” principles, acting as if Botswana was incapable of building midstream capabilities for polishing diamonds.

Masisi wants more locals employed in the diamond sector, which accounts for a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product.

De Beers has said it is confident that it can maintain its partnership with Botswana, but that some of the negotiations are complex and require more time.

The largest diamond producer by value also said that the arrangement must make economic and strategic sense for both parties, adding that it is committed to supporting Botswana’s aspirations to grow its diamond industry.

The stakes are high for both sides, as they seek to secure their future in a volatile and competitive industry that has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, changing consumer preferences and ethical concerns.

A new deal between Botswana and De Beers could have significant implications for the global diamond supply chain and the balance of power in the sector.TNM

Anew prefeasibility study on Lumina Gold’s (TSXV: LUM, US-OTC: LMGDF) Cangrejos gold-copper project in El Oro province, southwest Ecuador, substantially improves the large but low-grade project’s economics..

The study, led by Ausenco Engineering, calculated a net present value (NPV) of US$2.2 billion at a 5% discount rate — an improvement of 43% over the two previous studies, including a 2020 preliminary economic assessment.

On the same basis, the internal rate of return (IRR) is up 1% to 17.2%, using gold and copper price assumptions of US$1,650 per oz. and US$3.75 per lb., respectively, compared with US$1,400 per oz. and US$2.75 per lb. previously. At US$1,980 per oz. gold, the NPV rises to US$3.5 billion.

In a release, Lumina president and CEO Marshall Koval suggested the company wants to start project permitting and move towards construction as soon as possible.

“This study not only confirms the tremendous value of the Cangrejos project but also allows the company to commence negotiating terms for its investment protection agreement and begin the permitting process required for Cangrejos to begin construction,” he said in a statement. “We believe this is one of the best gold and copper development assets globally based on its surrounding infrastructure, scale and multi-decade mine life.”

Throughput will rise to 60,000 tonnes per day in year four and 80,000 in year seven.

Highlights of the study include a 26-year mine life with a revenue mix of 79% gold, 20% copper and 1% silver, the Vancouver-based company said in an after-market

release on Apr. 17.

The average yearly payable output is pegged at 371,000 oz. gold and average payable byproduct copper is estimated at 42 million lb. per year.

Capital costs are pegged at US$925 million to build a 30,000-tonne-perday initial operation, compared with US$1 billion in the PEA to build a 40,000-tonne-per-day mine.

The planned processing plant for Cangrejos is a conventional coppergold flotation concentrator and hybrid leach-carbon-in-leach circuit.

B2GOLD from 13

As part of the deal, B2Gold also acquired Zhaojin Mining Industry’s stake in Sabina. The Chinese company is one of Sabina’s largest shareholders with a 7.4% stake, and the transaction deals a small blow to its global expansion move, which began in 2017 with Zhaojin acquiring an initial stake in Sabina in 2017 for $66 million. At the time, the firm’s 25 mines and smelting operations were located in China.

A year later, Zhaojin poured an additional $12 million into Sabina by buying 7.8 million shares and said its intention was to take the Nunavut projects into production. In June last year, it invested another $12 million in the Vancouver-based miner.

Over the life of the mine, the output will average 469,000 oz. of gold-equivalent metal.

Cash operating costs came in at US$602 per oz. gold and all-in-sustaining costs at US$671 per oz., net of byproduct credits.

Probable gold reserves are 11.6 million oz. in 659 million tonnes grading 0.6 gram gold per tonne. Indicated resources (inclusive of reserves) increased to 16.8 million oz. from 10.4 million oz., held in 1 billion tonnes grading 0.48 gram gold per tonne. It also has an inferred resource of 3.7 million oz. in 296.3 million tonnes grading 0.4 gram gold.

The resource estimate includes the Gran Bestia deposit, 1 km away.

At 68¢ per share at press time in Toronto, Ross Beaty-backed Lumina’s equity has gained about 70% in value since the beginning of the year, despite being down 5% over the past 12-month timeframe. The share price has touched a low of 23¢ and a high of 67¢ over the year. It has a market capitalization of $257.9 million. TNM

In late 2022, Yamana Gold agreed to sell itself to two Canadian rivals, Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM), the third-largest gold miner, and Pan American Silver (TSX: PAAS; NASDAQ: PAAS), for about US$4.8 billion. Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM), the world’s largest gold producer, offered in early February to buy Newcrest Mining (TSX: NCM; ASX: AEM), Australia’s largest gold miner, for the equivalent of $17 billion.

After a rejection, Newmont came back this week with a sweetened offer which, if successful, would lift Newmont’s gold output to nearly double its nearest rival Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD).

North America and one of the lowest carbon-emitting metallurgical plants in the world, according to the company.

Strategic Resources has a market capitalization of $102.9 million.

n WESTERN ALASKA MINERALS

Western Alaska Minerals (TSXV: WAM) is focused on exploring several deposits at its 100%-owned Illinois Creek Mining District in Alaska. The 295.9-sq.-km land package comprises five exploration targets containing gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, and zinc. Western Alaska’s portfolio includes the past-producing Illinois Creek oxide gold-silver mine, and the Waterpump Creek carbonate replacement deposit (CRD), a high-grade silver-lead-zinc deposit.

The company’s 2023 drill campaign will target both the east and west blocks at the Waterpump Creek project. It is planning to use up to four drill rigs to complete 17,000 metres this year.

In February, Western Alaska reported that it has identified multiple high-potential drilling targets at Waterpump Creek

In the east block, geophysics and soil geochemistry revealed multiple anomalies that are consistent with mineralization discovered in 2022, including one that measures

more than three times the length of the current known sulphide body. In the west block, a new CRD target nicknamed Warm Springs is seen to extend westward into a copper-gold soil anomaly south of the past-producing Illinois Creek gold oxide mine. The company said that this could be the porphyry-related mineralizing fluid source for the property.

Highlights from the 2022 drilling campaign at Waterpump Creek include hole WPC22-22, which cut 22.7 metres grading 292 grams silver per tonne, 20.3% lead, and 9% zinc starting from 161.6 metres, including a 7-metre interval grad-

ing 557 grams silver, 21.8% lead, and 16.7% zinc.

The Illinois Creek Mining District is located about 45 km from the Yukon River and contains exploration targets that were initially discovered by Anaconda Minerals in the 1980’s.

Western Alaska’s other projects include Round Top, a copper porphyry deposit 25 km northeast of Illinois Creek; TG North, a silver-rich CRD located 3 km west-northwest of Round Top; and Honker Gold.

Western Alaska Minerals has a market capitalization of $56.3 million. TNM

B2Gold’s takeover of Sabina comes as the global gold sector is undergoing a free wave of mergers and acquisitions.

At press time, B2Gold shares traded at $5.59, in a 52-week window of $3.83 and $6.20, valuing it at about $6 billion. TNM

EDITORIAL from / 4

He also voiced concern about bribery charges against the company in the U.K. and U.S. (Glencore pleaded guilty to the charges, setting aside US$1.5 billion to settle the cases.)

“I recognize we’re in a global economy here in British Columbia and we have lots of international actors, but Glencore’s record is really problematic,” Eby said.

The federal Liberal government, which has so far earmarked tens of billions in tax credits aimed at building a secure critical minerals supply chain from mining to manufacturing, also seems determined to see Teck stay in Canadian hands.

“We need companies like Teck here in Canada — companies with a strong commitment to Canada,” Finance Minister and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson wrote in a letter to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade this week, as reported by Reuters and The Globe & Mail. “This is all the more important today as we confront unprecedented geopolitical, economic, and environmental changes.”

While Canada has seldom sought to block foreign takeovers in the past, it hardened its stance against state-owned entities (and particularly Chinese investment) in the critical minerals sector last year. Security of supply concerns and resource nationalism mean the rules are changing rapidly — even for investment from like-minded nations (see page 1 for details on Chile’s recently announced plans to nationalize its lithium industry).

With lots of parts in motion, it’s impossible to say how the Teck saga will conclude.

But there’s a lot at stake, as mining luminary (and dual U.S.-Canadian citizen) Robert Friedland recently summed up on Twitter:

“Losing another quintessential Canadian support mechanism to multinationals could corporatize and hollow out our unique ecosystem that has so successfully explored our vast landmass.” TNM

SNAPSHOT

Labrador Uranium’s Moran Lake project in Labrador. LABRADOR URANIUM

Lumina Gold’s Cangrejos gold-copper project in Ecuador. LUMINA GOLD

TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE / APRIL 17-21, 2023

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 113.09 points or 0.6% over the Apr. 17-21 trading week to 20,693.15. The S&P/TSX Global Mining Index declined 4.03 points or 3.4% to 113.15, and the S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index lost 7.78 points or 3.9% to 192.19. The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index rose 8.45 points or 2.6% to 318.59, and spot gold ended the week US$20.10 per oz. or 1% lower, at US$1,983.90 per ounce.

Teck Resources was the biggest value gainer over the week, as multinational Swiss miner and commodities trader Glencore said on Apr. 19 that its US$23.2-billion bid for the company — recently sweetened with a US$8.2 billion cash component —isn’t its final offer. Teck’s Class A “super-voting” shares, which carry 100 votes to one for a Class B share, rose $3.50 each or 3.6% to $100. Class B shares went up by $1.58 each or 20.1% to $62.01.

Teck’s proposed spinout of its metallurgical coal assets (announced earlier this year) needs support of two-thirds of both shareholder groups in a scheduled meeting on Apr. 26. If the separation plan fails, Teck will need to engage with Glencore, whose advances it has so far spurned.

Aya Gold & Silver shares rose 17¢ or 1.6% to close at $10.61. The Montreal-based

miner, which operates the Zgrounder highgrade silver mine in Morocco, reported a record drill hole assay at its Boumadine exploration project in the North African country. Hole BOU-DD23-095 cut 129.4 metres of 192 grams silver equivalent per tonne (1.06 grams gold, 25 grams silver, 1% zinc, 0.2% lead and 0.03% copper), starting at 498 metres depth. The hole included several shorter intercepts of up to 16.6 metres of 443 grams silver-equivalent.

The company is halfway through a 36,000metre drill program, slated to finish mid-year at the project. It plans to compile an initial NI 43-101 resource for Boumadine within the next year. Aya holds an 85% interest in Boumadine, a historic mine and polyme-

TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE / APRIL 17-21, 2023

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index fell 23.68 points or 3.7% over the Apr. 17-21 trading period to close at 614.2.

Sigma Lithium fell the most by value, dropping $5.37 apiece to $47.99, after the government of Chile said on Apr. 20 it planned to nationalize the country’s lithium industry.

While Sigma’s main project is in Brazil, there are concerns other South American countries accounting for some two-thirds of global production could follow suit. Brazil’s leftist President Lula da Silva began serving another term in January.

Sigma said Apr. 17 it had begun production at its Grota do Cirilo hard rock lithium project in Minas Gerais state after completing phase one construction. The first shipment of about 15,000 tonnes of 6% lithium oxide concentrate is expected in May as the plant ramps up to full production by July.

Red Cloud Securities said Sigma’s production start should help the stock and provide revenue for expansion, where a feasibility study is already underway. The expansion would increase annual output to 766,000 tonnes lithium oxide concentrate, equal to 104,200 tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent, from 270,000 tonnes of concentrate.

New Found Gold dropped 57¢ to $6.42

apiece despite reporting strong assays from its Queensway project in central Newfoundland. The company said on Apr. 18 that drill hole NFGC-22-911 at the Keats West target cut 31.6 metres grading 4.27 grams gold per tonne and 4.7 metres at 8.42 grams.

The result follows assays reported in November including 32 metres of 42.6 grams gold in drill hole NFGC-22-960 and 16 metres at 18.6 grams gold in NFGC-22-773. The mineralized footprint of Keats West now spans 250 metres wide by 305 metres down dip, averaging 30 meres thick, the company said.

NGEx Minerals gained 46¢ apiece to close at $6.78 after reporting its strongest assays yet at its Los Helados copper-gold project in

U.S. MARKETS / APRIL 17-21, 2023

U.S. markets fell slightly as investors weighed strong corporate earnings and declining inflation against the fall of the index of leading economic indicators to its lowest point in more than two years. Rising jobless claims also signalled economic activity is about to cool.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 77.51 points or 0.2% to 33,808.96 and the S&P 500 dropped 4.12 points or 0.1% over the week to 4,133.52.

Gatos Silver fell nearly 14% over the week to US$6.20 per share after it said on Apr. 17 it was delaying its annual report for last year, and the Toronto Stock Exchange said three days later it was reviewing the company’s listing on the index. It gave Gatos until Aug. 18 to comply.

The company said it’s working to complete the annual report and restate earnings for 2021 and three quarters from last year. The delay concerns net deferred tax assets and liabilities as well as income from affiliates, it said. Gatos controls 70% of the Los Gatos silver and zinc joint venture in southern Chihuahua state, Mexico, where it has the Cerro Los Gatos mine.

With economists still expecting a mild recession this year, some large commodity producers fell during the week. Mining giant

Vale was down nearly 11% to US$14.27 a share and Cleveland-Cliffs, North America’s largest flat-rolled steel producer, dropped 8.5% to US$15.88.

The Ohio-based company said it expected to report first-quarter revenue at US$5.2 billion — down 13% from US$6 billion during the same period a year ago. Still, it said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization should be US$200 million compared with US$123 million a year ago.

Freeport-McMoRan fell 8% on the week to US$39.66 per share after it reported Apr. 20 that first quarter copper and gold output fell 4.4% and 2.4%, respectively, compared with the same period a year ago. It produced

tallic deposit located in western Morocco’s Drâa-Tafilalet region.

B2Gold recorded the highest trading volume for the week, with 35 million shares changing hands and the stock declining 13¢ or 2.4% to close at $5.59. On Apr. 19, the company closed its friendly, all-share acquisition of Nunavut-focused Sabina Gold & Silver — giving the gold producer its first

project in Canada. The company’s $610-million Goose project is expected to begin production in 2025. According to a 2021 feasibility study, the project will produce an average of 223,000 oz. gold annually over 15 years. Using a discount rate of 5% and a gold price of US$1,600 per oz., the study pegged the project’s net present value at $1.1 billion and its internal rate of return at 27.7%. TNM

Chile. Drill hole LHDH081-2 cut 343.8 metres grading 0.9% copper equivalent, including 63.8 metres at 1.25% copper equivalent.

The results follow drill a new discovery this month at its Potro Cliffs project in northwest Argentina. Drill hole DPDH002 cut 60 metres grading 5.65% copper, 2.04 grams gold per tonne and 44 grams silver from 212

metres downhole.

Shares in IsoEnergy, a uranium explorer in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin fell 34¢ to $2.36 each. The company said on Apr. 21 it had completed a winter program of five drill holes at the Hawk project totalling 4,273 metres, six drill holes totalling 1,909 metres at Larocque East. Assays are pending. TNM

965 million lb. copper and 405,000 oz. gold in this year’s three months to Mar. 31. Copper sales of 832 million lb. came in 8% lower than a January estimate, mainly because of reduced operations at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Freeport also said its copper production net cash costs rose by nearly a third to $1.33 per lb. compared to a year earlier.

Sibanye-Stillwater gained almost 5% on

the week to close at US$9.84 per share. The diversified miner’s stock recovered after a decline following the deaths of four workers at its Burnstone gold mine east of Johannesburg on Apr. 13. On Monday, the company reported net profit of US$1.2 billion for last year after producing 671,000 oz. of gold, 1.7 million oz. of platinum group metals in South Africa and 421,000 oz. in the U.S. TNM

METALS, MINING AND MONEY MARKETS

TSX WARRANTS

LME WAREHOUSE LEVELS

Metal stocks (in tonnes) held in London Metal Exchange warehouses at opening on Mar. 30, 2023 (change from March 23, 2023 in brackets):

Alloy 1920(0)

PRODUCER AND DEALER PRICES

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

eColbalt 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.

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

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.

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 may 16,

2019

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 the Issuer at $3.00 until expiry.

TSX VENTURE WARRANTS

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

Eros Resources Corp. (ERC.WT) - One (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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Our global, reliable fuel supply network keeps mines running.

Our unique supply chain and terminal network in Ontario enables us to source and supply fuels from multiple sources, minimizing dependence on any specific refiner. This translates into superior supply reliability for our customers. This supply flexibility could translate to zero downtime on equipment, improved operating cost and overall market competitiveness for your mining operation.

Greenergy offers:

• A wide range of biodiesel blends to support your carbon reduction targets and help improve air quality in underground mines by 38%*.

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*Based on a B45 biodiesel blend

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