The Northern Miner Feb 20 2023 Issue 4

AUTOMATION & IOT

Would-be lithium miners eye Chile’s Maricunga Salar

makes play for Newcrest

takeover offer.

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM; TSX: NGT), the world’s largest gold producer, is seeking to build a global gold superpower by approaching Australia’s top miner of the yellow metal, Newcrest Mining (ASX, TSX: NCM), with a US$17 billion

If successful, the deal would be one of the biggest in Australian history, though initial feedback from analysts and shareholders suggests that Newmont will have to improve its bid.

It would also increase Newmont’s footprint in copper, a metal which has soared in popularity

and price recently due to its use in renewable energy and electric vehicles as economies decarbonize.

The offer is already 4.7% higher than a previous proposal rejected by Newcrest, as the Denver, Colo. gold giant disclosed in a statement.

Newcrest said on Feb. 6 it was considering the proposal. The miner is in the midst of finding a new chief executive officer as previous boss Sandeep Biswas stepped down in December.

BMO’s analyst Jackie Przybylowski said in a research note on Feb. 7 that while the offer will likely come as a surprise to the market, given Newmont’s generally conservative approach to growth recently, it should be viewed as positive.

Newcrest’s assets fit well with Newmont’s existing portfolio, she noted. Additionally, the larger size of the combined company is consistent with Newmont’s recent comments around responsibly pursuing size, Przybylowski wrote.

Goldman Sachs also reacted positively to the news, highlighting that the integration of Newcrest into Newmont’s portfolio would provide the U.S. gold producer with a path to “immediately and substantially” lift its output, considering the company’s “flattish production outlook” for the next two years on a standalone basis.

“[The deal also] increases [Newmont’s] exposure to copper and expands its footprint in locations such as Australia and Canada in particular, that the miner is comfortable with,” the bank said in a note to clients.

Morningstar analyst Jon Mills noted the offer may push other major gold miners to join the race for Newcrest, given the quality of its assets.

“We think Newcrest is now in play, but if a deal is to be done, it will likely need to be at a higher price,” Mills wrote. Eliminating one potential rival

BY TOM AZZOPARDI

Despite tight restrictions, an Australian junior is planning to begin construction of Chile’s first new lithium project in decades.

Home to the world’s largest lithium reserves, Chile’s exports of the mineral have soared in recent years as producers Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) and SQM (NYSE: SQM) have rushed to expand capacity to meet red-hot demand from the electric vehicles industry. Exports rose 47% to 220,000 tonnes last year as prices soared to record levels above US$50,000 a tonne while the value of its exports rose almost ninefold to US$8.6 billion.

But despite this massive expansion, many fear Chile could be missing the boat.

Having lost its position as the world’s top lithium exporter to Australia, it could soon be overtaken by neighbouring Argentina. Multinationals, including Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO), Posco Corp., and Zijin Mining Group are set to invest billions of dollars over the next decade. With six projects already in construction, production could exceed 300,000 tonnes annually by 2028, up from just 28,000 tonnes in 2021, according to U.S. investment bank JP Morgan.

In contrast, according to the Chilean Copper Commission, a government agency, production in Chile is set to plateau at less than 240,000 tonnes by the middle of the decade.

The problem is tight restrictions on production of the mineral. Albemarle and SQM both operate from state-owned claims

over the Salar de Atacama, home to the world’s richest lithium reserves, but subject to production quotas and production royalties of up to 40%.

Chile has other salt-flats (although none as big and rich as Atacama) but Cold War-era controls reserving lithium production for the state have slowed exploration. So far, the government has

PM40069240

Lithium Power International CEO Cristobal Garcia-Huidobro. LITHIUM POWER INTERNATIONAL

Newcrest Mining’s Telfer gold-copper project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. NEWCREST MINING

Working with rich data and remote sensing methods puts us on site - virtually. .com

Great Bear resource ‘proves our thesis,’ Kinross Gold says

PRECIOUS METALS | Ontario project could produce 500,000 oz. gold per year

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

Kinross Gold (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) says the first mineral resource for its billion-dollar Great Bear project in northwest Ontario shows potential to be a world class asset.

The open-pit indicated mineral resource holds 33.1 million tonnes grading 2.6 grams gold per tonne for 2.7 million oz. contained metal, Kinross announced on Feb. 13. The total open-pit and underground inferred resource is 20 million tonnes grading 3.5 grams gold for 2.3 million oz. contained metal.

Toronto-based Kinross bought the property, which lies 25 km southeast of Red Lake and was previously known as Dixie, last year via the acquisition of Great Bear Resources for $1.8 billion in cash and shares. It has drilled more than 250 km in exploration holes on top of some 300 km conducted by Great Bear and others. The results show the LP Fault zone is expected to host a long-life, high-grade, open-pit and underground mine, Kinross said.

“The drilling results have continued to prove out our thesis that the project could host a multi-decade high grade open pit and under-

ground mining complex,” J. Paul Rollinson, Kinross president and chief executive officer, told a conference call on Feb. 13.

“We have made excellent progress on drilling out this world class deposit and releasing a substantial initial resource.”

The project may take US$1 billion in capital costs to develop, in line with similar projects in the Canadian north, with an all-in sustaining cost of “well below” US$1,000 per oz., Rollinson said.

The company plans 180,000

metres of drilling this year to define deep mineralization up to 1 km down, explore along strike and add to the resource totals. A preliminary economic assessment is due next year, it said. Kinross is targeting first gold in 2029, although it said production could start in 2028 if permits are obtained rapidly.

Half a million ounces

Kinross is considering an industry standard gravity and carbon-inleach process that site testing has shown can recover 95% of the gold

and could produce 450,000 oz. to 500,000 oz. per year. Almost half would be recovered by gravity, it said.

BMO Capital Markets said Kinross’ operations of the Tasiast mine in Mauritania and Paracatu in Brazil bode well for Great Bear’s development.

“We continue to expect that this will be a valuable project as it moves closer to development,” mining analyst Jackie Przybylowski wrote in a note on Feb. 13. “We continue to see Kinross as well-valued in today’s high gold price environment, with Russia risk eliminated, and in light of strong existing operations.”

The resource estimate was based on a gold price of US$1,700 per oz. with a cut-off grade of 0.5 gram gold per tonne. But the size of the pit was determined using a gold price of US$1,400 per oz. to get a higher grade average, Kinross said.

The estimate used drill results to a depth of about 500 metres, while recent drilling has intersected gold mineralization at a depth of almost 1.3 km, Kinross said. Drill hole 579 intersected 25 metres grading 15.5 grams gold in this deep area, the company said.

One open-pit scenario shows

an overall strip ratio of seven to one which is expected to be significantly lower after revisions are made to the design, the company said. More studies need to be done, but a mill handling 10,000 tonnes of ore per day looks like it will be adequate because of the deposit’s high grades, Rollinson said.

There could be 10 years of openpit stockpile created as the mine eventually transitions from open pit to underground, the company said. The underground zone on the LP deposit is seen as a high-tonnage operation that could process 6,000 to 8,000 tonnes a day, it said. The underground operation could run for longer than a decade, it said.

Kinross compares Great Bear’s geology and deposit structure to Barrick Gold’s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) Hemlo mine 300 km east of Thunder Bay, which has produced more than 21 million oz. over a lifespan longer than 30 years.

“We are extremely pleased with the initial resource estimate and believe the best is still to come,” Rollinson told the call. Kinross shares traded at $5.56 apiece in Toronto at press time, in a 52-week window of $3.91 and $7.99, valuing the company at $6.7 billion. TNM

EPA blocks Northern Dynasty’s Pebble project in Alaska

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

Northern Dynasty Minerals’

(TSX: NDM; NYSE: NAK)

contentious Pebble project in southwest Alaska is on the rocks again after the Environmental Protection Agency denied environmental approvals.

The EPA on Jan. 31 ruled the gold, copper and molybdenum project, which has been on-again off-again for decades, can’t deposit waste material within the local watershed to safeguard the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery at Bristol Bay, 380 km southwest of Anchorage.

The decision effectively cancels the project, and any other future development in the watershed, although Northern Dynasty said it would probably appeal to federal court.

“This preemptive action against Pebble is not supported legally, technically, or environmentally,”

John Shively, the project’s chief executive officer, said in an emailed statement. “As such, the next step will likely be to take legal action to

REGULATION | CEO vows legal action to ‘fight this injustice’

fight this injustice.”

The Pebble deposit was discovered in the late 1980s by what now is Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A/ TECK.B; NYSE: TECK) and advanced by Northern Dynasty since 2001 through stages of studies, permits and appeals. It would be North America’s largest mine with a 600-metre-deep pit and a potential US$1 billion in revenue.

But it’s knocking up against a US$2.2-billion-a-year salmon fishery and Biden administration calls for increased wilderness conservation and respect for tribal rights. Earlier this year, it protected the Tongass National Forest in Alaska and the Boundary Waters Area Watershed in Minnesota, blocking the Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) Twin Metals project there. A decision on 1,800 sq. km of native lands in Nevada is expected shortly.

“The Bristol Bay watershed is a vital economic driver, providing jobs, sustenance, and significant ecological and cultural value to the region,” EPA administrator Michael Regan said in a news release. “With this action, EPA is

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advancing its commitment to help protect this one-of-a-kind ecosystem, safeguard an essential Alaskan industry and preserve the way of life for more than two dozen Alaska native villages.”

Pebble has won a legal challenge against the EPA before, during the tenure of former president Barack Obama. Development appeared to be going ahead during his successor Donald Trump’s time in office, when the EPA dumped proposed restrictions, although the same government later denied the mine’s permit. Then Biden singled out Bristol Bay even during his campaign for the White House, calling it “no place for a mine.”

CEO Shively said the administration’s stance lacks consistency when it’s trying to promote battery metals and other minerals needed for clean technology but won’t end dependence on foreign suppliers.

“When we go to China seeking the copper and other minerals we need for our green energy transition, the reaction will likely be more problematic and the cost more expensive,” Shively said.

Alaska’s Governor, Republican Mike Dunleavy, also criticized the EPA decision.

“EPA’s veto sets a dangerous precedent,” Dunleavy said in a news release. “Alarmingly, it lays the foundation to stop any develop-

ment project, mining or non-mining, in any area of Alaska with wetlands and fish-bearing streams.”

Pebble has measured and indicated resources of 6.5 billion tonnes grading 0.4% copper, 0.34 gram gold per tonne, 240 parts per million (ppm) molybdenum, 1.7 grams silver per tonne and 0.41 ppm rhenium, for 57 billion lb. of copper, 70.6 million oz. gold, 3.4 billion lb. molybdenum and 345 million oz. of silver.

Shares in Northern Dynasty fell by nearly 11% on Jan. 31 to close at 28¢ each, a 52-week low. Its shares have traded as high as 65¢ in the past 12 months. The company has a $153.6 million market cap. TNM

Northern Dynasty Minerals’ Pebble project is located in southwest Alaska. NORTHERN DYNASTY MINERALS

“EPA’S VETO SETS A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT. ALARMINGLY, IT LAYS THE FOUNDATION TO STOP ANY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, MINING OR NON-MINING, IN ANY AREA OF ALASKA WITH WETLANDS AND FISH-BEARING STREAMS.”

MIKE DUNLEAVY, GOVERNOR OF ALASKA

Kinross Gold’s Great Bear project in northwestern Ontario. KINROSS GOLD

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Every element of South Africa’s ‘just energy transition’ is in question

This year’s Mining Indaba conference was notable for two things. One was the prominent presence of both Chinese and U.S. delegations looking for critical minerals partners in Africa. The other shone a spotlight on South Africa’s deepening energy crisis.

PRESIDENT THE NORTHERN MINER GROUP: Anthony Vaccaro, CFA, MBA avaccaro@northernminer.com

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SUBSCRIPTION

BY ALISHA HIYATE

Just two days after speaking at Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of disaster in response to rolling blackouts that have become ever more frequent in the nation.

The Feb. 9 declaration was not a surprise; instead, it finally reflected the reality that South Africans have been living for the past 15 years and has only worsened in recent months.

Last year, the population endured 288 days of electricity cuts, according to the BBC, with 2023 bringing blackouts of up to 15 hours per day. At the end of January, the country had experienced 94 consecutive days of scheduled rolling blackouts or “loadshedding,” according to a Bloomberg report. Not only have the blackouts knee-capped businesses, but when they happen at night, the total darkness has emboldened criminals and left citizens vulnerable — and infuriated.

State-owned Eskom produces over 90% of the country’s electricity, and its aging coal plants are starting to give out. Eskom’s R400 billion (US$22.3 billion) debt is a big factor in why it hasn’t made necessary investments in maintenance and new capacity over the years. (Observers point to corruption as a secondary factor.)

The situation has now reached a point where the crisis has become a disaster, South African energy analyst Clyde Mallinson told DW News in late January. Noting that average power demand in the country is about 27,000 MW — far above the 21,000 MW the country can produce, Mallinson said: “It needs almost a war-like effort to pull us out of this.”

Ramaphosa, who faces an election next year, has pledged that the disaster declaration, which will allow the government to bypass some of the bureaucratic processes normally mandated in the procurement and delivery of services, will help deliver a “massive increase” in grid power over the next 12-18 months.

Still the government has warned that loadshedding will continue for at least a year. Moreover, the last time such a declaration was used, which was in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, it resulted in fraudulent contracts of up to US$137 million.

The effect on miners in the nation — a big producer of coal, iron ore and PGMs — has been substantial. (A parallel corruption-driven rail crisis affecting state-owned Transnet has compounded difficulties for miners, crimping their access to global markets last year just as Russia’s war in Ukraine sent commodities prices soaring.)

In January, South Africa’s Minerals Council noted that with recent power price increases announced by Eskom, electricity will make up 12.5% of mining costs by the end of next year, up from 9% in January. Since 2008, electricity prices for the mining sector have risen eightfold.

According to the Minerals Council, which has advocated for greater private sector involvement in both the electricity and rail sectors, mining production declined by 6% last year. The mining sector is a big power consumer, buying about 14% of electricity generated by Eskom, or 30% if smelters and refineries are included.

“The adverse operating environment of unreliable and expensive electricity, and a crisis in transport logistics for bulk mineral exports erode the mining sector’s global competitiveness and may very well culminate in job losses in mining,” said Henk Langenhoven, the industry association’s chief economist, in a release in January.

At Indaba, Ramaphosa acknowledged the “huge impact” the crisis has had on miners. Until recently, miners have had limited ability to generate their own power. In mid-2021, the government changed the threshold requiring a licence for power generation for private generators and companies to 100 MW from 10 MW.

Ramaphosa said 89 projects had been developed by mining companies with a particular focus on renewables including solar and wind, as well as battery storage.

“Not only will these projects support mining operations themselves and bring down operation costs, but they will also add much needed power to the country’s overall supply and support South Africa’s decarbonization process,” he said in his address, according to Voice of America.

An insurmountable challenge

While Ramaphosa, who’s been president since 2018, has mostly sat on his hands as the crisis has worsened, the government did release an ambitious R1.5-trillion (US$83.5 billion) five-year energy transition plan last November.

The plan focuses on improving the energy grid as well as adding renewable energy; planning for adoption of electric vehicles; and investments in green hydrogen to aid in decarbonization and for export.

While South Africa has secured support from international partners (France, Germany, U.K. and U.S. as well as the EU) in the form of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) first announced at climate conference COP 26 in 2021, the amount pledged so far only comes to US$8.5 billion.

In the meantime, even if miners can now supply their own energy, South Africa is sliding down the list of preferred mining jurisdictions. In a note to clients, BMO Capital Markets mining analyst Colin Hamilton, who attended Indaba, said companies there also report they are bleeding talent to other jurisdictions.

It all adds up to even more obstacles to achieving a “just” energy transition that doesn’t leave the country’s poorest even worse off than they are now. If its electricity infrastructure is already in disarray, what are the chances that it can manage decarbonization in an orderly way while cushioning the effects for the country’s 91,000 coal workers?

Add a corruption scandal that broke late last year, dubbed ‘farm-gate,’ that points to possible “gross misconduct,” corruption and “violation of the constitution” on Ramaphosa’s part, and there is even less scope for optimism on short-term progress. TNM

THE VIEW FROM ENGLAND:

COLUMN | Gold at 550-year high

BY DR CHRIS HINDE Special to The Northern Miner

At the third time of asking, gold seems set to break decisively through the psychologically important barrier of US$2,000 ($2,686) per ounce. More importantly, the precious metal has matched an inflation-adjusted 550-year high when measured in sterling.

Gold recently achieved an alltime nominal high of £1,593 (US$2,600) per oz. in the U.K. but, in real terms, we’ve been here once before, in 1470. Much of the recent price increase is due, of course, to sterling’s worsening exchange rate with the U.S. dollar in the face of an economic recession and mushrooming labour unrest as wages fall behind inflation.

Our currency has suffered a long decline. A pound sterling is currently trading at US$1.20, whereas during most of the Second World War it was worth US$4. Until decimalization in 1971, our ‘half-crown’ coin, first issued in 1549, was worth 2s 6d, with eight in a pound (there were 12 pence, ‘d’, in a shilling, and 20 shillings in a pound). It was nicknamed ‘half dollar’.

Even in dollars, gold is performing well. Recent price rises follow record demand of 1,337 tonnes for the metal in the final three month of last year. This demand was helped in December by China increasing its gold reserves for a second straight month. The People’s Bank of China raised its holdings by 30 tonnes (after November’s addition of 32 tonnes), which brought the nation’s year-end stocks to 2,010 tonnes.

The World Gold Council reported that central banks globally added 1,136 tonnes last year to their official gold reserves, which is the highest level of buying in more than five decades. Indeed, 2022 saw the strongest gold demand overall for a decade, with global purchases (excluding over-the-counter trade) jumping 18% to 4,741 tonnes. In addition to the huge buying by Central Banks, there was buoyant bar and coin investment.

The gold price was supported by only a modest growth in mined production last year, with output remaining below the 2018 peak.

Gold has previously achieved US$2,000 per oz., albeit only briefly, in August 2020 and March 2022. In the U.K., gold was over £1,500 on both those dates, plus in September last year (coinciding with Liz Truss’s short-lived administration). Measured in sterling, the precious metal has boomed since the turn of the millennium (gold was valued at just £170 per oz. at the end of 1999), which rivals the price-multiple performance of the 1970s.

There was a comparable goldprice rise in the 14th and 15th

centuries. We know the real price of gold back to 1270 courtesy of annual inflation figures from the Bank of England (£1 then was worth some £830 in today’s money). In real terms, gold peaked at around £1,600 in 1470. This was 19 years before the Royal Mint issued the first £1 sovereign, with the coin containing 0.5 oz. of 23 karat gold, i.e. 95.8% pure (‘crown’ gold was devalued to 22 karats in 1545 by Henry VIII).

The 16th and 17th centuries were dire for the gold price, with the precious metal flooding into Europe following Spanish conquests in Central and South America. By the start of the 18th century, gold was worth less than £250 per ounce (in 2022 money).

Since 1601, a troy pound (containing 12 troy oz.) of silver had been coined into £3 2s 0d, valuing an ounce of silver at 5s 2d. At the official gold-silver conversion rate of 14.35, gold was valued at £3 14s per ounce. New £1 gold coins were struck in 1663, and called guineas because they were made out of gold from the Guinea coast of Africa.

Gold-price stability was established in 1717 thanks to the Master of the Royal Mint, Sir Isaac Newton, who was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer and author. His Principia book, published in 1687, established classical mechanics and is considered one of the most important works in science.

Although most famous for discovering the law of gravity, Sir Isaac was also a practising alchemist and, although he never managed to turn lead into gold, Sir Isaac did launch the world’s first gold standard. It worked; gold was stable, at around £350 per oz. (2022 money), for the next 200 years.

In 1717, Sir Isaac changed the gold-silver conversion rate to 15.2, and set the ‘crown’, 22 karat, gold price at £3 17s (£3.89; making 24 karat, fine, gold worth £4.25). He also lifted the value of the guinea to 21s by proclamation (the gold content remained the same). In 1816, at the end of the Napoleonic wars, a new coin was introduced that contained 95% of the gold in a guinea, thus making it worth one pound sterling.

This history is a worry. The real price of gold in a local currency is apparently a measure of national risk. If so, the U.K. is now in a much worse position than during the Black Death of 1348-9 (which killed 50% of the country’s population) and the Great Plague of 1665-6 (which killed 25% of Londoners). In terms of 2022 money, gold was valued at £890 during that first catastrophe and at £550 during the second. Struth. TNM

—Dr. Chris Hinde is a mining engineer and the director of Pick and Pen Ltd., a U.K.-based consulting firm. He previously worked for S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Metals and Mining division.

ization of $49.6 billion.

bidder, Barrick Gold’s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) chief executive, Mark Bristow, told Financial Times on Feb. 6 that his company, which in 2019 attempted an unsuccessful hostile takeover of Newmont, did not plan to table a rival offer for Newcrest.

“It doesn’t make sense right now,” he said. “Growing bigger for the sake of growing bigger is not a strategy.”

Newmont’s offer implies a 21% premium to Newcrest’s share price before the bid was announced.

Its proposal is via an agreed scheme of arrangement that would need to be recommended by the Newcrest board and subject to due diligence as well as a shareholder vote that could stretch out for months.

The Australian government would also have to approve the transaction as it would put four of Australia’s five largest gold mines under the control of one company.

Newmont shareholders would also have to approve the deal.

Its shares dipped by more than 3% in Toronto at press time, reaching $62.33 apiece, in a 52-week window of $51.44 and $108.98, giving it a market capital-

Geophysics pioneer and PGW founder

Norman Reed Paterson dies at 96

OBITUARY

| Paterson remembered as ‘excellent ambassador’ for mining

SUBMITTED BY PGW

The geophysical community lost a giant on Dec. 22, 2022, when Norm Paterson passed away, a month short of his 97th birthday. Paterson’s remarkable career spanned a range of techniques and several companies that built strong legacies, with contributions to the full exploration cycle from instrument development to interpretation. He touched and influenced a number of prominent geophysicists along the way, in Canada and worldwide.

Newcrest’s shares jumped by as much as 14% in Sydney by press time to A$25.20, the greatest daily increase since 2008 and highest level since May 2022.

The company currently operates the large open-pit and underground Telfer gold-copper mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region and is the top gold producer in British Columbia, Canada since the 2019 acquisition of the Red Chris copper and gold mine.

A year ago, the company expanded its footprint in Canada with the takeover of Pretium Resources, which handed it the Brucejack gold mine.

Newcrest also operates the Lihir and Hidden Valley mines in Papua New Guinea.

The combination of the two gold miners would bring them back together after almost 25 years.

Melbourne-based Newcrest was established in the 1960s as Newmont’s Australia arm and it spun out in 1990, after it merged with BHP’s historic gold assets.

Gold prices have experienced a sustained period of strength since 2020 and have increased nearly 15% since November last year. TNM

Norman Reed Paterson was an outstanding member of the small group of geophysicists who, after the Second World War, generated a surge in geophysical developments and activity that propelled Canadian geophysics into world leadership. Paterson was born in London, U.K. to Canadian parents. He and his brothers moved to Canada with their mother in 1939 before Paterson enlisted in the British military in 1943, at the age of 17. After the war, he returned to Canada in 1947 and attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a B.Sc. in engineering geophysics in 1950, and continuing his education by earning an M.Sc. at the University of British Columbia in 1952, followed by a PhD from Toronto in 1955, where he was one of Tuzo Wilson’s first post-war graduate students.

Norm’s first working experience in geophysics was as a seismologist in hydrocarbon exploration. However, he spent most of his distinguished career in geophysics applied to mining exploration. He participated in or was responsible for the discovery of more than 20 ore deposits in Canada and in many other parts of the world. After receiving his PhD in 1955,

he began his career with Dominion Gulf in Toronto. He then joined Hunting Survey Corp. in Toronto as chief geophysicist. There, he managed ground and airborne geophysical surveys in Canada and in many other countries. In 1964, he formed Huntec Ltd., which rapidly gained a reputation as a leading manufacturer of geophysical instruments, as well as a skilled consulting and contracting company in geophysical surveys.

In 1970, he left Huntec to form a consultancy, which in 1973 became Paterson, Grant & Watson Ltd., joining with other wellknown geophysicists Dr. Fraser Grant (1926-1984) and Roger Watson (1936-2021). PGW rapidly grew to become a world leader in geophysical consulting and project management for mineral exploration. Within PGW, as it was universally known, and recognizing the growing importance of computer applications, Paterson established Geosoft Inc. headed by Ian Macleod, which is now a division of Bentley Systems and the dominant global supplier of software for pro-

cessing and interpreting geophysical and geochemical data.

Norm’s career at PGW and earlier took him across the world. He had a particular affinity for contributing his knowledge and expertise in the developing world, across Africa, India and elsewhere, with involvement in many projects funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Although his reputation usually preceded him, admiration by other geoscientists only grew once they met Paterson. He was a mentor to and collaborator with multiple generations of geophysicists from the start of his career, and his influence and inspiration endure. Norm’s published technical contributions approached 80, including seminal journal articles.

Bill Scott, a geophysicist and noted early collaborator, remembers first working for Paterson at Hunting Survey Corp. during the summer of 1959, after his first undergraduate year.

“In addition to infecting me and my fellow summer students with his enthusiasm, Norm taught us a great deal about the importance of high-quality data, and about the need to understand the meaning of what we were finding,” Scott recalled. “I can still remember a discussion with him on the implication of the number of significant figures in a number (measurement), a lesson I never forgot.”

Stephen Reford, who worked for and with Paterson at PGW from 1981 until his retirement, noted that he conducted himself with professionalism, dedication and grace, and instilled these qualities in his employees and colleagues.

Reford recalled a field trip with Paterson to Burkina Faso in the See PATERSON / 10

CHILE from 1 awarded no contracts to private companies allowing them to produce lithium.

The situation is further complicated by growing claims from communities and the government over the country’s white gold.

When the government awarded contracts to produce lithium to two private firms — Chinese EV maker BYD and Chile’s Errazuriz Group — the tender was blocked in the courts by Indigenous communities who claimed that they not been properly consulted.

Meanwhile, new President Gabriel Boric, who took office last year, has promised to create a national lithium company to bolster production, strengthen government control of the industry and develop downstream industries such as manufacturing battery components.

The government has thus far not revealed what form the entity will take, other than that private investors will be able to participate. Details should come with the launch of its lithium policy which could happen in March, interim mining minister Willy Kracht said last month.

But now Australia-listed Lithium Power International (ASX: LPI) thinks it may see a way through the morass. Working from minerals claims on the Salar de Maricunga — Chile’s third largest

— which predate the 1979 decree, the company is advancing its Blanco project that would produce around 20,000 tonnes annually of lithium carbonate over 15 years.

The project already has an environmental licence (confirmed by ministers early last year), necessary approval from the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission to extract and sell lithium and the consent of Indigenous communities living nearby.

After buying out its Chilean and Canadian partners in the venture, LPI is now in talks with banks over financing with the aim of beginning construction by the end of the year. It could be in production as soon as mid-2026.

The project “will help Chile to

maintain a strong position in the industry at a global level,” CEO Cristobal Garcia- Huidobro told The Northern Miner Unlike other private attempts, the company has the backing of local Indigenous communities and the Atacama regional government.

“They have done things well from the beginning… it should not have any problems being developed,” governor Miguel Vargas said in an interview.

But LPI is not the only firm eyeing the Maricunga’s riches.

Collision course

Simco, a joint venture between Errázuriz and Taiwan-based Simbalik, is advancing its own licenced

project on the salar, while state mining company Codelco has begun exploring its own claims in the area. Critically, the copper giant was granted a government licence to extract lithium covering a large part of the Salar.

LPI has sought talks with Codelco over joint development of the Salar, signing a memorandum of understanding in 2018, but talks ended without agreement and the MoU has since expired.

“Unfortunately, they did not advance as we’d hoped,” says Garcia-Huidobro. So the company is going ahead on its own.

That could put them on a collision course with other actors.

Just a twentieth the size of the Salar de Atacama, some doubt whether the Salar de Maricunga can support several brine extraction operations.

“It is a salar which in my opinion should be developed by one player, not many more than that,” Codelco chairman Maximo Pacheco told reporters last month. The company has applied to extend its government licence to cover more of the salar.

“We have expressed our interest given that we have our CEOL and the procedures that we are pursuing.” Fears are rising that the dispute over who has the right to the Maricunga’s lithium will head to the courts. Simco has already threat-

ened to launch proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes if Codelco tries to block attempts to develop its project. LPI may face similar difficulties if it tries to go it alone with Blanco.

“If this becomes a legal battle, my fear is that it will be several years before Salar de Maricunga is developed,” says Cristian Quinzio, a mining lawyer.

By then, the bull cycle in lithium prices may have passed. Producers in Australia, Argentina and elsewhere are rushing to enter production as soon as possible, lithium recycling is expanding, while carmakers are seeking to lower raw material costs possibly by using alternatives.

“The opportunity for lithium is today — not in eight or ten years, which how is long it would take to develop and build a new project,” says Garcia-Huidobro.

Rather than a battle in the courts, a more promising path would be for the parties to reach agreement on how to best develop the Salar, perhaps with the government using its new lithium development strategy to facilitate a deal between the public and private sectors.

“We hope to continue advancing and working very closely with the Chilean state, whether that’s through Codelco, ENAMI or the vehicle that is defined,” GarciaHuidobro says. TNM

NEWMONT from 1

Geophysicist and PGW co-founder Norm Paterson. PATERSON FAMILY

Lithium Power International’s Blanco project in Chile’s Salar de Maricunga. LITHIUM POWER INTERNATIONAL

At Newcrest Mining’s Telfer mine in Western Australia. NEWCREST MINING

TNM DRILL DOWN:

Red 5’s King of the Hills drilling tops Feb. 3-10 gold assays

BY HENRY LAZENBY

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. (www.miningintelligence.com).

This week’s best drill assays come from Australia and Canada. Red 5 (ASX: RED) announced on Feb. 7 that hole KHRD0868 at the King of the Hills project had returned 50.5 metres grading 15.9 grams gold per tonne from 143.5 metres depth for a width x grade value of 803. The underground drilling is part of an extension and grade-control drilling campaign that will inform the 2023 and 2024 mine plans. The deposit forms part of the company’s Eastern Goldfields gold mining hub operations in Western Australia. The drill program further defined current ore reserves and identified new targets for potential resource extensions. Resource definition and grade control drilling completed in 2022 focused on the eastern contact below and adjacent to current underground mining areas. According to Red 5, the Regal and the Eastern Flank areas represent a significant mining area for its underground mining scenario from 2024.

TNM DRILL DOWN Top gold assays of the week

Snowline Gold’s (CSE: SGD)

Rogue discovery in the Yukon continues to impress. On Feb. 3, the company reported that hole V-22028 in the Valley Zone had returned 363.5 metres grading 1.4 grams gold per tonne from 17 metres depth, for a width x grade value of 509. The hole is said to have intersected a sheeted quartz vein mineralization zone within the Valley intrusion. The hole was collared 121 metres from the nearest hole and

drilled northeast, demonstrating continuity of mineralization within Valley’s near-surface mineralized corridor. Assays remain pending for about 3,474 metres, or 26% of the 2022 Rogue drill program. The hole demonstrates a wide breadth of the mineralized zone and grade continuity between previous holes. Management believes other holes nearby illustrate the potential for more shallow, high-grade gold to be discovered to the southeast.

Catalyst Metals (ASX: CYL) produced the third-best assays of the week from the Four Eagles in Victoria, Australia. Hole FEDD135 returned 5.6 metres grading 53.96 grams gold per tonne from 297.6 metres depth for a width x grade value of 302. According to Catalyst, the drilling represents a breakthrough in its push to find the extensions of the rich Bendigo Goldfield, with drilling showing several high-grade intersections

in seven diamond drill cores from the Boyd’s Dam prospect at Four Eagles. The new Iris Zone is about 150 metres beneath the shallow mineralization at Boyd’s Dam, which underpins the current resource estimate. The Iris Zone lies within a near-vertical shear zone striking almost north-south and contains abundant quartz, often laminated with arsenopyrite and native gold. TNM

Lithium Americas hails mixed ruling allowing construction to begin at Thacker Pass

COURTS | Government must still approve tailings plan for Nevada project

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

Lithium Americas (TSX: LAC; NYSE: LAC) has partially won a court case allowing construction to start on North America’s largest lithium mine, the Thacker Pass project in Nevada where General Motors plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars.

United States federal court judge Miranda Du on Feb. 6 ruled against ranchers, environmentalists and Indigenous groups who argued Thacker Pass will harm the local sage grouse population, groundwater aquifers and air quality. They wanted the federal Bureau of Land Management to rescind its approval given during the tenure of former president Donald Trump. Du’s ruling can be appealed.

However, the judge also ruled the bureau must determine if the developer is allowed to store waste rock and tailings on part of the 24-sq.-km site. At question is whether the 5 sq. km of government land to hold the waste contains lithium. Another court in a separate case ruled last year that miners don’t have the right to use government land if it doesn’t contain valuable minerals.

Vancouver-based Lithium Americas said it would work closely with the bureau to complete its work and welcomed Du’s deci-

sion, which in effect allows construction to start.

“We are pleased that the federal court has recognized the bureau’s decision to issue the federal permit, reflecting our considerable efforts to ensure Thacker Pass is developed responsibly and for the benefit of all stakeholders,” Jonathan Evans, president and CEO, said in a news release on Feb. 7. “The favourable ruling leaves in place the final regulatory approval needed in moving Thacker Pass into construction.”

Automaker GM said on Jan. 31 it will invest US$650 million in the open pit project aiming to produce 60,000 tonnes a year of battery-grade lithium carbonate over a 46-year mine life, according to a 2018 prefeasibility study. The miner says output is expected to be 20% of the continent’s production by 2032 and be enough to power a million electric vehicles. U.S. President Joe Biden has pushed for lithium and other critical mineral production to ease dependence on

China’s supplies.

Judge Du also ruled against allegations by the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and other tribes that they weren’t properly consulted about the proposed mine’s impacts. A government lawyer testified in a hearing last month that the bureau probably doesn’t need to find lithium across the entire project site to allow the tailings plan to proceed.

Thacker Pass has measured and indicated resources of 385 million

tonnes averaging 2,917 parts per million (ppm) lithium for 6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE). Inferred resources are 147 million tonnes averaging 2,932 ppm for 2.3 million tonnes of LCE. Shares in Lithium Americas jumped by nearly 10% from before the court ruling to $34.64 in Toronto, before falling to $32.58 at press time. The stock has traed within a 52-week range of $23.80 and $50.42, valuing the company at about $4.4 billion. TNM

Lithium Americas’ Thacker Pass project in Nevada is projected to begin production in the second half of 2026. LITHIUM AMERICAS

Laboratory equipment for testing lithium ores inside Lithium Americas’ Technical Center in Reno, Nev. LITHIUM AMERICAS

All data supplied by Mining Intelligence for the period of Feb. 3 —10, 2023 for public companies from exploration stage to production. * indicates reverse circulation; otherwise all holes are diamond drill holes. Reported lengths are not necessarily true widths. Only the best hole per property is shown.

VRIC 2023: Former Western premiers slam feds on resource leadership

POLITICS | Provinces move to shield themselves from federal policies

BY HENRY LAZENBY

Concern is growing over the federal government’s seeming inability to leverage Canada’s vast natural resource endowment as it navigates the uncertain global geopolitical and economic landscape, an industry event in Vancouver heard in late January.

Besides examining resource sector investment opportunities closely, Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) organizer and Cambridge House International president, Jay Martin, delved into the political sphere.

He questioned whether Alberta and Saskatchewan’s recent passing of two bills, respectively, aimed at allowing the provincial governments to veto specific federal mandates, was the most pivotal moment in Canada’s recent political history.

“The reason for asking this question is that we’ve seen important legislation put forward from two provinces, the Alberta Sovereignty Act and the Saskatchewan First Act. Both pieces of legislation were built to allow the provinces to emancipate themselves from the decisions of our federal leaders,” Martin explained.

He wondered about the disconnect when it comes to Canada’s inability or unwillingness to leverage its resource economy to its benefit and that of its allies.

Former British Columbia Liberal premier Christy Clark conveyed her disappointment when the chancellor of Germany and the prime minister of Japan, both important trading partners of Canada, recently came pleading for access to Canadian natural gas “because they don’t want to buy from the bad guys in the world anymore,” and Canada sent them home empty handed.

“When Canada’s prime minister decides that as a country, we’re saying ‘no,’ it underlines the fact Canada doesn’t bring anything to the international table anymore. We have so much to bring; instead,

the world thinks we’re holding it,” Clark said.

Without alternatives, Germany has decided to sanction new lignite coal mines — the dirtiest coal in terms of emissions. Perhaps adding fuel to Canada’s resource export predicament is the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), which on Jan. 29 said that global investment in upstream LNG production and export capacity would require US$9.7 trillion by 2050 to meet demand.

The GECF also said energy demand is expected to rise by 22% by 2050, with natural gas’ share in the energy mix rising from 23% to 26% by 2050. The natural gas trade will expand by more than a third, led by LNG, which will overtake pipeline trade by 2026.

Clark drew a contrast between when she was premier and former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, who was able to quickly rally the resource sector during the 2008 financial crisis to see Canada emerge as one of the strongest economies among the G8 countries.

“Back then, Canada decided that we would streamline the permitting process, make it one project, one approval process. And that was

a fundamental change that helped speed up the system,” Clark said.

She stressed that money comes from the private sector, and one can’t afford to smother the private sector and think the money will keep coming in. Then the government changed, and the industry was faced with “a whole different kettle of fish,” Clark said.

“Most notably, the one process, one project system got cancelled, and Canada went back to a complicated multi-layered system which the federal government is again saying they’re going to harmonize,” Clark said. She echoed industry frustration with the seemingly endless moving of the goalposts in the project environmental assessment and permitting processes.

Legislative wrecking ball

Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall told the VRIC he was shocked to see Alberta table this kind of legislation. “I never thought I would see the day when Alberta would go from being passionately Canadian, and wanting ‘in’ on confederation, pivot to fighting for a way out,” Wall said, adding it spoke in both Alberta and Saskatchewan’s cases about an intense sense of alienation from the federal government.

He accused Ottawa of playing fast and loose with Canadian national unity, “especially around this invented conflict between protecting the environment and extracting resources,” Wall said.

“And they’re setting provinces against each other. We find what people feel when parts of the country say, ‘we don’t want your dirty oil, we don’t want your filthy resources,’ that the people who work in those sectors feel totally invalidated. They feel like their way of life is being disregarded. They feel like the dignity of their work is being downgraded. And I think most of all, people feel like the rest of the country is ungrateful for what Western Canada contributes,” Wall said.

He argued the resource sector was the one thing that could once more unite Canadians passionately, especially in the context of providing better-sourced petroleum products and the critical minerals the new global green economy craves.

“Saskatchewan and Alberta don’t want to leave. All they want is to be respected,” Wall said.

The former premier pointed out that the two provincial bills received unanimous partisan support, which is another strong indicator of the level of regional discontent.

VRIC 2023: Junior metals M&A to remain muted in 2023

INVESTMENT | Finance doyens debate M&A pathways to value creation

BY HENRY LAZENBY

Mining personality and resource speculator Rick Rule harbours little hope that the pace of junior resource sector mergers and acquisitions activity will quicken in the coming 12 months as quality companies are scarce.

On Jan. 29, he told the Vancouver Resources Investment Conference that an obstacle for junior M&A is what he calls ‘real yield’ –the salary and bonuses to officers and directors.

“If they think that their listing will fail and they’re not going to get paid next year, they’ll do a transaction. If they think they can get paid, they won’t do a transaction,” he told a well-attended audience in the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Rule said the financing window

for juniors was currently open and would serve to hinder M&A activity.

He expects much more robust deal activity among the mid-tiers since the market has shown that as companies get bigger, their trade liquidity increases, bringing other benefits. The share price also rises, and the cost of capital falls, which, according to Rule, makes for a durable competitive advantage in a capital-intensive business.

The veteran investor also suggested the mining industry has been kept on a short leash by shareholders in terms of M&A — particularly the gold majors, “given all the incredibly stupid transactions that took place in the prior decade.

“And I think the restraint, the institutional restraint, the adult supervision is gradually coming away from the sector,” Rule said.

“I think, too, that the sector

has perhaps been too conservative in capital deployments for the last ten years, which is to say that among the majors and the midtiers, the exploration pipelines are empty. The development pipelines are empty, and the assets generating cash sort of look like me, you know, past their prime,” he said.

To investors’ eyes, Rule said, if one happens to be a shareholder, or rather a victim in an ill-considered transaction, one will lose money even though, as a whole, “M&A is a virtuous process.”

Rule continued by underlining that in the industry’s view, lots of M&A is needed because of the “great sin” the industry commits regarding the level of general and administrative (G&A) expense relative to assets under management.

“If you look at the junior mining industry, what you see is a ‘salary machine.’ Probably 2,500 entrants

From Saskatchewan’s perspective, the Saskatchewan First Act was born of a concern about federal jurisdiction creep into clearly provincial jurisdictions, Wall said.

“It’s the manifestation of what you see happening on Bill C-69, where I think now nine provinces have joined with the Alberta government’s appeal of Bill C-69,” Wall said, citing other examples, including the imposition of the federal carbon tax and its subsequent hikes.

“The federal government is essentially taking a wrecking ball to Section 92 of the Constitution Act of our Canadian Constitution. Saskatchewan will decide for itself the regulation of environmental standards, greenhouse gas emissions and other emissions and the source of fuel for electrical generation. Well, that’s exactly what Section 92 of the constitution already gives the provinces the right to do,” Wall noted.

Resources for healthcare

According to Clark, the most critical issue facing Canadians is healthcare, and in particular how it’s funded, mainly from revenues generated by the energy sector.

Clark said Canada’s healthcare system is projected to grow in cost at a rate of 5.6% annually for the next decade and makes up 40% of provincial budgets across the country. But according to OECD projections, Canada’s economy is predicted to grow at a rate of only 0.8% in the next decade.

“In other words, we have a very slow-growing economy, trying to support a very fast-growing social welfare system,” Clark said.

“We need to grow the economy faster. I would argue the single most important thing in building Canada has been the resource sector — oil, gas, metals, and minerals — we need to grow those sectors. We need to grow investment activity and employment. And that’s how we will save our healthcare system in Canada. The resource sector is the single largest contributor to our GDP,” Clark said. TNM

and 200 are viable, and we need fewer issuers. M&A, or extinction, are the two alternatives in capital markets,” Rule said.

Natasha Kiernan, a lawyer and director of Empress Royalty, also expects significant consolidation activity this year. “I think there’s going to be liquidity constraints on a lot of companies, and then on the flip side, I think certain companies have done very well and built up a lot of cash. And in an inflationary environment, you don’t want to sit on cash. People don’t want it to be sitting around losing value,” Kiernan said.

Whose incentive to sell?

Another value-sucking evil of junior M&A revolves around egregious change of control clauses that reward management or insid-

See JUNIOR M&A / 10

SYLVESTRE, ROGER

Sep 22, 1938

Jan - 27, 2023

A private funeral service and internment will be held at Hamilton Harron Funeral Home 5390 Fraser St. Vancouver, BC on Saturday February 11, 2023 from 10am - 1pm. This service will also be available on ZOOM.

A celebration of life will be held at the Jericho Tennis Club 3837 Point Grey Road, Vancouver, BC on Sunday February 19 from 2pm 5pm.

Former B.C. premier Christy Clark (R) speaks with Cambridge House International president Jay Martin. HENRY LAZENBY

Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall during VRIC 2023. HENRY LAZENBY

Canada Nickel lands $24M investment from Anglo American

ONTARIO | Deal includes offtake from Crawford project; seen as endorsement of ESG credentials

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

Anglo American (LSE: AAL) is buying a minority stake in Canada Nickel (TSXV: CNC; US-OTC: CNIKF) to advance its Crawford project in northern Ontario with improved processing as battery metals continue to spark investments.

The London-based major is spending $24 million for a 9.9% share of Canada Nickel, whose main asset is the Crawford project near Timmins, the companies said in news releases on Feb. 8.

Anglo gets rights to buy 10% of the proposed mine’s nickel concentrate, iron and chromium as well as carbon credits from the project. It will also transfer technology for greater recoveries and less environmental impact.

Echelon Capital Markets called the investment a major endorsement of Canada Nickel’s management, the project and its stance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

“The off-take agreement would also include any associated carbon credits, demonstrating the importance of ESG considerations in Anglo’s investment criteria and Canada Nickel’s leadership in such regards, an important part of our original investment thesis,” mining analyst Ryan Walker wrote in a note on Feb. 8.

“Importantly, the proposed offtake agreement includes sales at market terms,” Walker said, without surrendering the benefit to Canada Nickel when metal prices rise.

Maintaining revenue like that may be a concern while Canada Nickel, having filed a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on Crawford in 2021, still has years of development before entering production and won’t want to give

away too much too soon.

The Anglo deal can be compared to how Giga Metals (TSXV: GIGA) last August sold 15% of its Turnagain nickel-cobalt project in British Columbia to Mitsubishi Corp. for $8 million. Giga expects to release a prefeasibility study for Turnagain in the first half of 2023.

Bulk tonnage

“Ours is the first investment by one of the major mining companies in a bulk-tonnage nickel deposit in Canada,” Mark Selby, chairman and CEO of Canada Nickel, said in an emailed reply to questions. “Investment at the equity level allows us to retain 100% of the project.” Selby also noted Canada Nickel’s land package has potential for several Crawfords.

The company is preparing a feasibility study for release by the end of June. It is targeting approvals, permits and licences to be com-

pleted by mid-2025 before construction. Total production is forecast at 842,000 tonnes of nickel over a 25-year mine life.

The Crawford PEA envisions spending US$1.2 billion for a mine processing 42,500 tonnes a day. Ramping up to 85,000 tonnes per day by year four would cost US$543 million and increasing to 120,000 tonnes a day would require US$194 million more, according to the PEA. Over its life, the mine would have sustaining capital costs of US$1 billion and average operating costs of US$11.27 per tonne.

Anglo’s investment is part of the company’s strategy to expand its battery-grade nickel output in addition to production from mines in South Africa and Brazil, Peter Whitcutt, CEO of Anglo American’s marketing business, said in the release.

“We are committed to support-

ing our industry in increasing the availability of critical materials that will underpin the success of the energy transition, and to do so sustainably,” Whitcutt said. “Our in-depth product knowledge and portfolio of innovative technologies have the potential to provide a value-enhancing contribution to the development of the Crawford project.”

Cost cutting

Under the new agreement, Anglo aims to show Canada Nickel how to improve the targeting of minerals to reduce water, energy and capital by more than 30%, use data in predictive intelligence to reduce the variability in mining and enhance engineering controls to modernize the project.

Cantor Fitzgerald mining analyst Matthew O’Keefe said Anglo’s investment reduces development and financing risk. He raised his

target price on Canada Nickel shares to $4.80 from $3.80.

The project has measured and indicated resources of 1.4 billion tonnes grading 0.24% nickel and another 670 million inferred tonnes averaging 0.23% nickel, according to an update last year.

Last month, Canada Nickel outlined plans to use carbon capture and storage at Crawford, which may qualify for tax credits of up to 60% of some costs by 2030. It also said its Reid property 16 km southwest of Crawford could be even larger.

Shares in Canada Nickel rose 5% in Toronto on the announcement then lost most of the gain after the company said later that day it was issuing 9.2 million shares to raise $18.2 million. At press time, the stock traded at $1.73, within a 52-week trading range of $1.18 and $4.01, valuing the company at $197 million. TNM

Cameco pivots into profit as Ukraine war knocks uranium supplies

NUCLEAR POWER | Saskatchewan miner to supply Ukraine through 2035

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) has swung into profit after uranium prices rose when the war in Ukraine sidelined Russian supplies and as the push to reduce greenhouse gases accelerated.

The Saskatoon-based company on Feb. 9 reported net profit of $89 million last year versus a loss of $103 million in 2021. Revenue rose to $1.9 billion in 2022 from $1.5 billion the year before.

Cameco, the leading uranium producer in Canada, which vies with Namibia as the second-largest provider behind Kazakhstan, benefited from increased demand for nuclear power to help fight climate change, unrest in Kazakhstan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company signed a record number of contracts to sell some 80 million lb. of the metal and resumed output from its McArthur River and Key Lake operations.

“Nuclear is back on with a vengeance and then of course the Russia situation has just really pushed it forward,” Cameco chief executive officer Tim Gitzel told BNN Bloomberg TV on Feb. 9. “Things are looking really good for us.”

Cameco’s McArthur River uranium property in Saskatchewan. CAMECO

Cameco is preparing to complete by mid-year the joint acquisition with Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE: BEP) of nuclear plant builder Westinghouse in a US$7.9 billion deal that will complement Cameco’s fuel business, Gitzel said.

Ukraine deal

On Feb. 9, Cameco agreed with Ukraine’s nuclear authority to sup-

ply the embattled country with all its uranium fuel from next year through 2035. The deal to sell the equivalent of between 40 million and 68 million lb. of uranium oxide is probably the company’s largest single transaction, Gitzel said. It’s part of a push into Eastern Europe as countries such as Poland and Czech Republic also shun the Russian supplies of nuclear fuel and

technology on which they’d been dependent, he said.

“We were just delighted to step up in Ukraine and I can tell you there’s more to come,” Gitzel said on television. “Those are our friends over there and we see what they’re going through.”

The company plans to produce 18 million lb. of uranium a year from McArthur River and Key Lake at full capacity starting next year, efforts Cameco said it expects will “significantly improve” financial results. Any decision to increase output to 25 million lb. annually — the licensed limit — would depend on further improvements in the uranium market and securing long-term contracts, the company said.

Cigar Lake will also continue at full capacity producing 18 million lb. annually, it said. Output from Inkai in Kazakhstan is to follow the 20% reduction planned by the state-run nuclear authority Kazatomprom until the end of this year.

Cameco plans to expand uranium hexafluoride production at its Port Hope, Ont. conversion facility to 12,000 tonnes a year by 2024 to meet contract obligations while prices reach record highs.

The company said its loss of $15

million in the fourth quarter, compared with an $11 million profit in the year-ago period, was due to quarterly variations in contract deliveries. Adjusted net earnings for the quarter were $36 million, it said.

The nuclear industry weathered its own downturn in the decade following the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan as some nations such as Germany reduced reliance on nuclear power, uranium prices fell to less than US$18 a lb. and Cameco had to cut costs and operations. Now the spot price is back to about US$51 a pound.

While there may be current headwinds of high inflation and potential recession in parts of the world, Cameco has been able to sidestep some higher prices by restarting plants that had been mothballed during the difficult years, Gitzel said.

“We don’t have the big capex risks that others would have,” Gitzel said. “We have the facilities built. We just have to turn them on and that’s what we’re doing.”

Shares in Cameco gained 5% on Feb. 9, climbing to $39 apiece at press time in Toronto. The stock has traded within a 52-week range of $25.55 and $41.05, valuing the company at $16.8 billion. TNM

Drill core from Canada Nickel’s Crawford project in Ontario. CANADA NICKEL Crawford is located near essential power and highway infrastructure. CANADA NICKEL

Nighthawk Gold expands Colomac resource by a third

NWT | PEA due out mid-year for past-producing project

B2Gold to buy Sabina Gold & Silver for $1.1B

M&A | Deal gives B2Gold the high-grade Goose project in Nunavut

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

Canada’s B2Gold (TSX: BTO; NYSE: BTG) is buying fellow precious metals miner Sabina Gold & Silver (TSX: SBB; US-OTC: SGSVF) in an all-stock deal worth $1.1 billion.

The transaction hands B2Gold the Back River gold district property in Nunavut, which holds multiple high-potential mineralized zones poised to boost the Vancouver-based gold giant’s reserves.

The most advanced project in the area, situated about 520 km northeast of Yellowknife, is Sabina’s Goose deposit, which is fully permitted and construction ready. Goose is expected to become Nunavut’s third operating mine in 2025, when it starts commercial production. The other two are run by Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM).

It is also slated to average 223,000 oz. of gold annually over a 15-year life of mine from 3.6 million oz. of reserves averaging 5.97

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

Nighthawk Gold (TSX: NHK; US-OTC: MIMZF) increased the open-pit indicated and inferred mineral resources at its Colomac project in the Northwest Territories by more than a third while also improving overall grade.

The project 200 km north of Yellowknife has an open-pit indicated resource of 59.8 million tonnes grading 1.5 grams gold per tonne for 2.8 million oz. of contained metal versus 2 million oz. in an estimate last year, a 36% jump, Nighthawk said in a news release on Feb. 10. The grade improved 5% from 1.4 grams gold.

The open-pit inferred resource increased to 10.8 million tonnes grading 2.3 grams gold for 802,000 oz. contained metal, a 34% gain from last year’s estimate of 601,000 oz., the company said, though the grade slipped from 2.4 grams gold.

Haywood Capital Markets said the new estimate bodes well for a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the project due by midyear and the company’s valuation.

“We are encouraged by the updated resource which favours the development of an open-pit deposit at Colomac,” Haywood mining analyst Pierre Vaillancourt wrote in a note on Feb. 10. “The upcoming PEA should help to bring focus to the economic potential of the project. We expect Nighthawk will continue to build on the existing resource and improving the potential of the project.”

Laurentian Bank noted the increase in the open-pit resource total to 3.6 million oz. from 2.7 million oz. and an increase in average grade to 1.6 grams gold from 1.5 even though the study used slightly lower cut-off grades. It also said Nighthawk stock trades at $9 enterprise value per oz. versus a peer group average of $66 enterprise value per ounce.

“Of the overall 3.6 million oz. in open-pit resources, most of these ounces continue to fall in the indicated category (78% vs. 77% previously), which should provide an increased level of confidence,”

Laurentian mining analyst Ryan Hanley wrote in a note on Feb. 10.

“Despite a growing resource base,

Nighthawk continues to trade at a sharp discount to its peers.”

The combined open-pit and underground indicated resource rose to 70.4 million tonnes grading 1.5 grams gold for contained metal of 3.4 million oz., a 26% jump from 2.7 million oz. in last year’s estimate. The corresponding inferred figures are 24.3 million tonnes grading 2.2 grams gold for 1.7 million oz., a 27% gain from last year’s estimate of 1.3 million ounces.

‘Top tier’ potential

Keyvan Salehi, Nighthawk president and chief executive officer, noted how the open-pit indicated resource estimate of contained metal rose by 415% while maintaining above-average grades compared to deposits in advanced development.

“If the project is developed, it could have the potential to be a top-tier gold project with respect to size, scale, and economics, located in a mining-friendly jurisdiction,” Salehi said in the release. “We believe there is a massive potential for discovering more gold mineralization across our 930-sq.-km district-scale property. All our deposits remain open in all directions and show great promise for further expansion in mineral resource ounces.”

The resource update is based on four deposits in Colomac Centre: the Grizzly Bear, Colomac Main, Goldcrest, and 24/27 deposits; as well as four higher grade satellite deposits 11-28 km away: Kim, Cass, Damoti and Treasure Island.

The update benefits from data collected during an additional 40 km of drilling in 2022, which targeted areas of higher-grade, near-surface mineralization, the company said.

Nighthawk acquired Colomac in 2012. It had been mined intermittently between 1990 and 1997 but was limited to one of three shallow open pits and only targeted a small portion of the 7-km strike length at the site.

Shares in Nighthawk rose more than 4% on the Feb. 10 news to 47¢ apiece, rising to 48¢ at press time in Toronto. The stock has traded within a 52-week range of 26¢ and 94¢, valuing the company at $59.4 million. TNM

grams gold per tonne. This makes it one of the highest-grade gold development projects in the world.

“We are confident that the district has strong untapped upside with numerous avenues for resource growth,” B2Gold CEO Clive Johnson said in a statement.

The B2Gold team has experience building mines in the Arctic, as it built the Julietta and Kupol mines in Russia via B2Gold predecessor company, Bema Gold. The miner said it sees potential to increase Goose’s production in the first five years of the mine life through accelerated development of the underground section.

It also expects to complete optimization studies, which could improve long-term economics by allocating more capital up front.

The acquisition increases B2Gold’s reserves by 66% to 9 million oz. and its measured and indicated resources by 52% to 18.5 million ounces.

Under the terms of the deal, B2Gold will issue 0.3867 of a com-

mon share for each Sabina common share held, equivalent to a value of $1.87 per share. The figure represents a 45% premium to Sabina’s closing price of $1.38 on the Toronto Stock Exchange as of Feb. 2, the date the non-binding letter of intent was signed.

By press time, Sabina shares had climbed to $1.71, in a 52-week window of 92¢ and $1.82, valuing the company at $956.2 million.

B2Gold shares traded at $4.49, in a 52-week window of $3.83 and $6.39. The company has a market capitalization of $4.8 billion.

The boards of both miners have unanimously approved the deal and Sabina’s directors have recommended its shareholders to vote in favour of the transaction.

B2Gold operates mines in Mali, Namibia and The Philippines.

The announcement comes only a week after Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM), confirmed it had approached Newcrest Mining (TSX: NCM; ASX: NCM), with a US$17-billion takeover offer. TNM

Frontier Lithium stock jumps as new drill results extend Spark deposit

EXPLORATION | Drilling aimed at upgrading resource at Ontario project

BY JACKSON CHEN

Frontier Lithium (TSXV: FL; US-OTC: LITOF) shares rose more than 12% on Feb. 9 following the release of additional drill results from the Spark pegmatite showing its connection to the NW zone at depth at the PAK lithium project in northwestern Ontario.

Highlights include DDH PL-094-22, which cut 125.9 metres of pegmatite averaging 1.51% lithium oxide (Li2O), the company said in a news release. The hole was designed to define the western extent of the Spark pegmatite and to target the recently discovered NW Spark zone. The hole was the first indication the NW zone is connected to the main Spark pegmatite at depth.

DDH PL-098-22 intersected 398.25 metres of pegmatite averaging 1.88% Li2O, and was designed to follow up on the results from PL-094-22. It confirmed that the NW zone is connected to the main Spark orebody at depth.

DDH PL-099-22 cut 243 metres of pegmatite averaging 1.58% Li2O, extending the NW zone further towards the west. It was designed to follow up on the results from PL-098-22.

“Now that all the results have been received and processed, we can say that our goal of upgrading inferred has been achieved, and the Spark pegmatite continues to increase in size particularly with the intersections in holes PL-09822 and PL-099-22,” Garth Drever, VP exploration of Frontier Lithium said in the release.

“These two holes, which are 140 metres apart, have confirmed that the new northwest zone discovered in February 2022 is connected to the main zone and contains significant high-grade zones of 2-3% Li2O. This zone will certainly be

explored during the 2023 drill program at Spark.”

Canaccord Genuity analyst Katie Lachapelle raised Canaccord’s target price on Frontier shares to $4.75, citing the potential for its shares to re-rate this year due to such catalysts as an updated resource, pre-feasibility study, ongoing drill results at Spark or preliminary drill results at the Bolt pegmatite, just southeast of Spark.

The new results consist of the remaining seven drill holes from the company’s latest drill program that began in May and ended in October. A total of 15,984 metres of drilling in 50 holes were completed last year.

The drilling was aimed at converting the inferred resource within the Spark deposit to the indicated category in preparation for a pre-feasibility study on PAK.

The latter half of the program

included geotechnical drilling for ground control and pit design purposes as well as step-out drilling to define the eastern and western extents of the orebody.

Spark represents one of several spodumene-bearing deposits delineated by Frontier Lithium on the PAK property, which contains one of North America’s highest-grade lithium resources, encompassing close to 270 sq. km that are largely unexplored.

The largest deposit on the property, the Spark pegmatite, hosts 14.4 million indicated tonnes averaging 1.4% Li2O and 18.1 million inferred tonnes averaging 1.37% Li2O.

Shares of Frontier Lithium jumped 12% on the news to reach $2.97 apiece at press time. The stock has traded in a 52-week window of $1.30 and $3.89, giving the company a market capitalization of $667.6 million. TNM

The airstrip at Nighthawk Gold’s Colomac site in the Northwest Territories. NIGHTHAWK GOLD

Frontier Lithium’s PAK project is located 175 km north of Red Lake, Ont., near the Manitoba border. FRONTIER LITHIUM

ATAC board rebuffs Victoria Gold takeover bid

YUKON | Victoria says it won’t raise all-share offer valuing junior at $25M

BY HENRY LAZENBY

The Toronto-quoted equity of explorer ATAC Resources (TSXV: ATC) jumped about 38.5% on Feb. 13 following the weekend announcement by Victoria Gold (TSX: VGCX) of a takeover bid at an 85% premium.

While the all-scrip deal values ATAC at 12¢ per share, implying a value of $25 million, ATAC’s board has rejected the unsolicited offer, prompting Victoria on Feb. 13 to extend the offer to Feb. 17 to give the ATAC board more time to reconsider.

ATAC’s main asset is the Rackla gold property in Yukon. Rackla contains the Rau project, which hosts the Tiger deposit containing measured and indicated resources of 4.5 million tonnes grading 3.19 grams gold per tonne for 464,000 oz. This includes an open pit measured and indicated resource of 386,000 oz. at a grade of 3.31 grams per tonne. The open-pit deposit has a measured and indicated oxide resource of 238,000 oz. grading 3.74 grams gold in 2 million tonnes of material.

Rau’s 2020 preliminary economic assessment outlines a potential annual output of 45,000 oz. gold annually over a seven-year mine life. Rau also contains multiple exploration targets with gold and base metals discoveries.

Rackla also contains the Nadaleen project, another group of targets with the most advanced being Osiris which holds an indicated

PATERSON from 5 mid-1980’s, part of a CIDA geophysical interpretation project to assess mineral potential.

“This remains the toughest field work of my career due to the extreme heat and new cuisine,” he said. “Norm soldiered on as leader of the team. Partway through a traverse, we settled under a large tree for a break from the heat. It was located in a field outside a local village. Soon after, a small delegation from the village brought water for our group. An elder presented Norm with a live pintade, a domestic fowl. Norm accepted this gift as a deep sign of respect from one elder to another, and later gifted it to the local geophysicist who was guiding us.

“After we completed the project, of his own volition Norm dug back into the data, extracting numerous examples and published a jour-

Glencore reopens Peru copper mine with extra security

SOUTH AMERICA | Antapaccay was closed for 11 days in January

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

Glencore has resumed operations at its vast Antapaccay copper mine in Peru, which remained shut for 11 days on security concerns following violent attacks by locals.

The mine closed on Jan. 20 after the third attack on the site in a month. The company reopened the operation on Jan. 31 with “increased security” after some of the protests waned, a spokesman for the miner and commodities giant said.

Antapaccay is one of Peru’s largest mines, producing nearly 136,000 tonnes of copper between January and November 2022.

Peru, the world’s No. 2 copper producer, has been gripped this year by rising political and social unrest triggered by the removal and arrest of President Pedro Castillo late last year.

resource of 5.5 million tonnes grading at 4.12 grams gold per tonne for 732,000 oz. gold, and inferred resources of 9.4 million tonnes grading 3.47 grams gold per tonne for 1 million oz.

ATAC’s other properties include the Connaught, Catch and Rosy projects in Yukon and the PIL property in B.C.

A disappointed Victoria president and CEO, John McConnell, suggested on Feb. 13 that Victoria had the experience (and pockets) to move the Rackla projects forward.

“With our demonstrated track record permitting, financing, constructing and operating the Eagle Gold mine in Yukon, we believe that we can add value to ATAC’s portfolio, which would benefit shareholders of both companies,” he said in a statement. “Our offer is more than reasonable given that, although we see opportunities

nal article to show how these data could be applied to groundwater exploration, a sorely needed resource in the Sahel.”

Paterson retired from full-time practice in 1995, handing the reins of PGW to long-time associate Jim Misener, but continued in consulting. Like many in the profession, he once said that geophysics was so interesting that he could not contemplate leaving it, even in retirement.

Paterson received wide recognition for his contributions to the geophysical industry. In 1997, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, citing his work in the geological interpretation of magnetic surveys. In 1999, he was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame, where his citation in part reads, “Paterson has been praised the world over for the sound balance he achieved between the practical, applied science of

at ATAC’s properties, we are also aware that risks lie ahead, including the uncertainty surrounding the advancement of permits at the Rackla gold property.”

McConnell said Victoria would not increase the offer value.

BMO Capital Markets mining analyst Andrew Mikitchook suggested in a note to clients that ATAC’s assets could provide additional exploration targets and discovery potential, which as a producing company, Victoria would be in a better position to advance.

“We would view the acquisition as positive for VGCX, providing significant regional exploration leverage,” he wrote in a note to clients.

ATAC shares gained 2.5¢ on the news to 10¢, giving it a market cap of $22 million. Victoria’s equity last traded more than 1% lower at $9.35, giving it a market cap of $603.2 million. TNM

The wave of intermittently violent demonstrations has already imperilled 30% of its copper output and could choke off access to almost US$4 billion worth of the orange metal.

Data from Peru’s ombudsman’s office shows that 58 people have been killed and 1,792 injured in protests since Dec. 7, when Congress removed Castillo, the country’s second Indigenous president, and arrested him.

Protesters have demanded either Castillo’s reinstatement or new elections, which are options experts believe are unlikely to come to fruition.

“As civil unrest fuels disruption, we expect shipments from Peru, which also produces significant volumes of zinc, tin and silver, to be impacted over the coming months, and congress shows no sign of calling a general election in the immediate future,” commodities analyst for BMO Capital Markets, Colin Hamilton, wrote earlier this month.

Besides political reasons, the current unrest is Peru is being fuelled by longstanding grievances about high poverty levels and discrimination felt by many in Peru’s Andean and Amazonian regions.

The country’s south is rich in copper but locals say the benefits of mining don’t reach the communities who live close to the many operations. TNM

geophysics and his professionalism and integrity. No matter where in the world his assignments took him, he always served as an excellent ambassador for the Canadian mining industry.”

He was also recognized as a notable pioneer by the KEGS Foundation.

In retirement, Paterson and his wife Sally moved to a farm near Clarksburg, Ont., and later had a home in Thornbury on the shores of Lake Huron. They wintered with family in Costa Rica. At the age of 93, Paterson wrote the book Mining Geophysics: A Canadian Story, aided by a number of noted collaborators and contributors, and published by the CIM. The book outlines the developments, events and key innovators and contributors that gave rise to Canada’s emergence as a global leader in geophysics and mining exploration during the 19451975 period. Remarkably, turning his diverse talents to fiction, he subsequently wrote three mystery novels, some set in his beloved Georgian Bay, as well as devoting considerable effort to pursuing possible alternative causes of global warming.

During his career, Paterson was greatly aided by his wife of nearly 70 years, Sally, who predeceased him in 2018. He was a devoted and attentive father to his four children, Catherine, John, Michael and Norman Jr., and a much-loved grandfather and great-grandfather to seven grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. In his final years, Paterson became companions with author Dorris Heffron.

Paterson was to be the Guest of Honour at PGW’s 50th anniversary celebration on March 6 during the PDAC Conference. Now it will be an opportunity to celebrate his legacy.

ers for conducting a deal. “They’re clearly to the detriment of shareholders because someone has to pay for those control clauses, and it’s the shareholders,” said Adrian Day of Adrian Day Asset Management.

“When a company’s share price goes from $40 to $18 and gets taken over at the low price, and the insiders are rewarded by $12 and $13 million bonus packages for change of control, their incentive is to sell the company at any price,” Day warned.

On the flip side, should management succeed in eliciting a takeover bid at a premium, they get rewarded on a relative basis, just like the company’s other shareholders.

Rule offered a solution to concerned investors — read the proxy

documents. “This stuff is all spelled out there,” he said.

M&A only works if the fundamentals are there, Kiernan said. “Two plus two does not always equal four. It can, but I think people must be honest with themselves when doing M&A,” she said.

Kiernan added she has seen cases where M&A deals are pursued by executives solely based on psychology, the ego of a CEO who just wants to be bigger, gain a different listing, or a particular property.

She suggests that should markets head for a recession, it could further deflate equities, “Most of the M&A deals that ended up to be accretive for companies are done in down markets. So, I think there is the potential opportunity for good deals if people can make decisions based on the right fundamentals,” Kiernan said. TNM

Cambridge House president Jay Martin (L-R) in coversation with Natasha Kiernan, Adrian Day and Rick Rule. HENRY LAZENBY

JUNIOR M&A from 7

Atac Resources’ Rackla property in the Yukon. ATAC RESOURCES

AUTOMATION & IOT

Digital tech boosts output for gold miners AUTOMATION | Real-life benefits include lower emissions, safer work sites

Meliadine mine in Nunavut.

BY KELSEY ROLFE

The digital transformation is well underway, with many mining companies increasingly turning to automation and internet of things (IoT) technology to make their operations safer and more efficient.

Senior executives from Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM), Alamos Gold (TSX: AGI; NYSE: AGI) and Eldorado Gold (TSX: ELD; NYSE: EGO) told The Northern Miner about the projects underway at their own operations and the automation and IoT trends they expect to see in the next few years.

“Automation and digital technology are fundamental to our business going forward,” Simon Hille, senior vice-president of technical services and operations at Eldorado, said in a recent interview.

At both Alamos and Eldorado, underground mine workings have been major focus areas for automation and IoT projects over the past few years, from tele-remote equipment to automated hoisting and material handling systems.

A major automation project at Alamos’s Young-Davidson operation near Matachewan, Ont. has delivered “substantial improvements” to the site’s productivity since it was commissioned in mid-2020, said Luc Guimond, the company’s vice-president of operations. Guimond said the company’s two years of operating experience is informing the ongoing major expansion and automation project at its Island Gold mine, which will double production from 1,200 tonnes per day to 2,400 and reduce the mine’s truck fleet by half.

24/7 operation

As part of a lower mine expansion, Alamos introduced a fully automated skipping system in its main production shaft at Young-Davidson. It moves ore over a 60-inchwide conveyor into two storage bins and can deliver 725 tonnes of ore per hour — exceeding its production target of 8,000 tonnes per day.

The system, which is managed by one hoist operator at surface on a computer system, was designed to be able to continue skipping between work shifts and is in operation 24 hours a day. Young-Davidson’s new automated material handling system, comprising three conveyors and ore and waste feeder units, is controlled by the same operator at surface.

“It’s a lot more reliable relative to running with a trucking fleet,” Guimond said. “There’s more consistent movement of ore through the lower mine infrastructure that’s allowed us to demonstrate those efficiencies over the last couple of years.”

The company also now has loadhaul-dump units with remote capabilities underground, which has allowed operators to control the vehicles from a safe and remote location. Guimond noted that the company’s production schedule includes 10-hour shifts followed by a two-hour clearing window when the company does any underground blasting. Having auto-

mated remote-controlled scoops allows Alamos to continue extracting ore during that window while the blasting contaminants clear.

Eldorado recently finished installing Newtrax Technologies’ underground network system and Pitram’s software for managing and measuring underground fleet activities at its Lamaque mine in Quebec to accommodate tele-remote equipment.

“Tracking and measuring our equipment better makes a huge difference to where the opportunities are, and being able to have the data to do the analysis to then make a difference,” Hille said. Eldorado had been “pushing really hard” to install the same systems at its Olympias mine in Greece this year but supply chain snarls have delayed the tele-remote project until 2024.

At Agnico Eagle, the company has spent years rolling out cellular networks at its mines, which Michael Wilson, corporate director for operational technology said have been “game changers as enablers for automation.”

Agnico’s 2018 implementation of an underground LTE and 4G network at its LaRonde and LZ5 mine in Quebec supports its automated mucking and hauling operations there. In the past year it completed an above-ground 5G network and an automation sys-

tem at its Kittilä mine, and plans to test and commission an automated mobile fleet at the Finnish operation in the first quarter of this year.

Luc Girard, superintendent of mining operations at the LZ5 mine, said automated mucking and hauling is limited to isolated zones at both LaRonde and LZ5 due to

safety considerations. At LaRonde it’s used to keep workers away from the face and limit their exposure to potential seismic activity, and at LZ5 automated equipment improves productivity between workers shifts.

Mucking and hauling operations have also been automated at the

NATURAL RESOURCES

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But Wilson said it still takes a long time to reach a high level of reliability with automation: Agnico’s fleet has an average of 75% availability when operated mechanically, and 40% when automated. He attributed the challenges to maturing technology, “the many interconnected electronic components and functionalities” and supply chain challenges. He also noted that automation is complex and requires many teams on site to work closely together.

Harnessing data

Miners are also increasingly focusing on harnessing geological and operational data to make better decisions.

Eldorado recently finished a years-long project to upload drill hole data from all of its operations into the cloud to enable collaboration across the organization, using technology from Leapfrog and Seequent.

“One of the areas we’re looking at is how can we connect our people a bit better, not just at site, but driving collaboration from one site to the next,” said Jaime Awmack, senior director of operational support. “We’re trying to look for those ways to learn from each other.”

This type of collaboration was previously impossible due to the massive file sizes of geological data and models taking days to run, Hille said.

Awmack’s team is now doing the same for the company’s production data, such as conveyor speeds, pump flow rates and failure instances, vibration analysis, equipment speeds and more, which she said is a key focus for 2023. The initial focus is to identify and analyze patterns, which could allow the company to implement predictive maintenance at its sites.

Wilson said the company spent 2022 “building interconnectivity of our equipment and IT networks to allow real-time global data transfer and centralization” and plans to

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Operators inside the automation room at Agnico Eagle Mines’ LZ5 mine in Quebec. MATHIEU DUPUIS/AGNICO EAGLE MINES

Eldorado Gold’s Efemçukuru mine in Turkey. ELDORADO GOLD Eldorado Gold’s Skouries mine in Greece. ELDORADO GOLD

Cyber threats on the rise for resource industries

HACKING | Traditional cybersecurity ‘inadequate’ for mines, industrial sites, experts say

BY HENRY LAZENBY

Mining companies continue to embrace digital technology to improve productivity and safety, and to make the most of insights made possible by big data and increasingly connected equipment and operations. But in the wake of at least two high-profile incidents involving the mining industry in recent months, experts agree that mining companies are not well prepared to deal with escalating and evolving cyber threats.

Cyber-attacks targeting miners seem to be on the rise.

Most recently, in December, Copper Mountain Mining (TSX: CMMC; ASX: C6C) put its Canadian treatment plant on a “preventative” shut down for six days after being hit by a ransomware attack.

On Jan. 1, the company resumed operations of the primary crusher, with mill operations (which were shut down preventatively following the attack) resuming shortly after. On Jan. 4, the mill was at full production, and the operation was being stabilized with the remaining business systems fully restored, it said at the time.

Throughout the outage, all environmental management systems at the mine were operational, and there were no environmental incidents or injuries to personnel. In October last year, a cyber gang also attacked a plant owned by Hamburg-based Aurubis, which recycles copper and produces about 1 million tonnes per annum of copper cathode.

At the time, the company said its incident “was apparently part of a larger attack on the metals and mining industry.”

Two months earlier, an environmental hacking group released documents from mining companies operating in Guatemala and Colombia.

Recorded Future, a Massachusetts-based cybersecurity company, reports that ransomware attacks in North America on manufacturing organizations, “especially related to metal products,” were frequent in 2022.

Dragos, a cybersecurity firm based in Houston, has stated that one criminal operation, LockBit, goes after mining and water treatment plants.

Professional services firm EY has also picked up on the cybersecurity threat to miners. According to the 2022 EY Global Information Security survey, 54% of mining and metals companies suffered a significant cyber-attack. The survey also found that 55% of mining and metals executives are worried about their ability to manage a cyberattack.

EY Canada cybersecurity leader Yogen Appalraju says a recent ransomware attack on an energy pipeline company again highlighted the vulnerability of asset-backed companies.

“The attacker has really performed an attack to exfiltrate money out of the organization,” he said in an EY internal video interview filmed last year.

It is reported that the attackers didn’t intend to shut down the pipeline operations. Still, when that organization was attacked, it felt that the attackers now knew about the pipeline and how to attack it. For safety reasons, they shut down the operations temporarily. “This

could happen to a mining and metals organization as well,” Appalraju said. “And I would argue that mining and metal organizations should be prepared for such an attack, ensure they’ve got good visibility so that they can detect these attacks early and understand what’s happening, and make good decisions about whether it affects the operations or not, so you don’t have such an event happen.”

Rising prevalence

A 2022 analysis by Kaspersky ICS CERT found the internet itself posed the biggest threat to operations’ cybersecurity, with incidents rising in Canada in the second half of the year.

According to Kaspersky, 40% of global industrial control system (ICS) computers were attacked with malware. The firm estimates that 10.1% of ICS computers in the U.S. and Canada have been hacked since the start of 2023.

The company has tracked a fast spread of malware attacks on miners, specifically in Africa. “This is a high-growth threat landscape in Africa that no public or private sector entity, especially in critical sectors like energy and mining, can

ignore,” Kaspersky said in a recent report.

One infected USB drive or a single spear-phishing email is all it takes for cyber criminals to penetrate an isolated ICS network, Brandon Muller, Kaspersky tech expert and consultant in the Middle East and African region, said in a recent press release.

“Traditional security is inadequate to protect industrial environments from rapidly evolving cyber threats,” he said.

Kaspersky advises that ICS is a collection of personnel, hardware, and software that can affect or influence an industrial process’s safe, secure, and reliable operation. IT is one component of this environment, with operational technology (OT) another critical element.

While traditional cybersecurity solutions focus on data-oriented businesses, ICS protection is geared towards OT security, which is all about cyber-physical companies such as utilities, mining, manufacturing, etc.

Proper cybersecurity precautions

According to Muller, effective OT cybersecurity measures must

therefore include industrial endpoint protection to prevent accidental infections and make access by bad actors more difficult. It also entails OT network monitoring and anomaly detection to identify malicious actions on the level of programmable logic controllers and dedicated expert services to investigate the infrastructure, conduct expert analytics, or mitigate the impact of an incident.

“However, despite all the innovations in modern cybersecurity solutions, human error still plays a significant role in compromising ICS systems,” Muller suggests. “As such, it needs to be managed much more proactively than what is currently happening. This requires utility companies, mines, and others operating in the industrial environment to look at building a ‘Human Firewall.’”

Beyond the Human Firewall, Kaspersky suggests there are sector-specific interventions to consider. For instance, modern electrical power systems are complex environments requiring protection, automation, and control solutions covering all areas of electric power facility operation.

In addition to the technical challenges of securing this environment, organizational issues must also be considered. For instance, there’s a lack of guides defining actions to be taken when suspicious activity is detected within automated systems, and just as few documents and practices relating to investigating disturbances in technological environments, including malicious influence on control systems.

The bottom line is that mines are also hotbeds for potential attacks, especially when Industry 4.0 digital technologies link critical operational systems to data analytics and cloud environments, but miners lack the in-house skills to protect their OT and ICS environments adequately.

For these reasons, both Kaspersky and EY analysts agree that combining ICS cybersecurity solutions with ongoing user education and training are non-negotiables, especially when human lives are at risk. TNM

From gun searches to kimberlites: AI makes inroads in Canadian mining

TECHNOLOGY | Explorers hopeful of the speed, deep search power of artificial intelligence

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

An artificial intelligence (AI) executive who co-founded a company searching for concealed weapons is now fronting another firm using similar technology to hunt for hidden mineral deposits.

The company, Montreal-based Windfall Geotek, has worked with explorers such as Canada Nickel (TSXV: CNC; US-OTC: CNIKF), which just landed a pledge from Anglo American (LSE: AAL), and Puma Exploration’s (TSXV: PUMA) Williams Brook gold property in New Brunswick, among other projects.

Dinesh Kandanchatha, chairman and interim CEO, helped start the company Extract One, which scans for hidden weapons at concert venues and other sites using AI technology seeking out anomalies.

Kandanchatha had also worked on scanning patients’ eyes for signs of diabetes using the same concept.

“The foundation of the algorithm was anomaly detection which made a lot of sense in the

mining context,” Kandanchatha said in a phone interview. “We have two data models, one for base metals and one for gold and silver.”

AI’s surging importance was shown this month when Microsoft

announced it would spend billions to revamp its Bing search engine and Edge browser with AI in a bid to take on Google. And news of the AI chatbot application ChatGPT, which mimics human responses,

continues to sweep across marketing and academia.

While chatbots are widely different from the mining industry’s AI efforts, the programming shares the ability to learn with experience. The industry is seeing how AI can not only help in crunching data to find deposits, but cut costs by increasing processing efficiency, upgrading automation and improving safety.

The global mining industry’s investment in AI may be increasing by 10% to 23% a year from US$769 million in 2021, according to London-based GlobalData. Consultant McKinsey & Co. has estimated mining sector investment in AI may realize savings to miners of US$390 million a year by 2035.

“Deep machine learning (DML) has potential to help with explora-

The main camp at Arctic Canadian Diamond’s Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories. AI technology was recently used to discover a new kimberlite at the property. ARCTIC CANADIAN DIAMOND

NISCHAPORN/ADOBE IMAGES

AUTOMATION & IOT SNAPSHOT: EIGHT SUPPLIERS SUPPORTING INDUSTRY 4.0

BY CATHERINE HERCUS

Miners are looking to digitalization and automation to increase productivity and safety and lower costs.

Here’s a look at some of the suppliers that are offering up crucial connectivity, equipment and software solutions.

n ABB

ABB is a leader in process automation, electrification and digitalization, control technologies, software, measurement and analytics for the process and hybrid industries. Clients of the Swiss company include the mining, oil and gas, aluminum, steel, cement, chemical, marine, refining and printing industries.

ABB is installing its enterprisegrade digital platform ABB Ability

Genix industrial analytics and AI suite in Gold Fields’ Salares Norte project in Chile, which will begin production in 2023. The platform will provide efficient, sustainable, safe remote operations, reducing the number of staff and lowering operating costs, and allowing remote monitoring to take place in Santiago, over 1,000 km away. The solution integrates electric, automation and digital technologies.

The Genix platform combines industrial analytics and artificial intelligence to integrate 25 engineering, operational, and information technology systems across functional areas including mines, processing, geology and exploration, asset management, finance, legal, and human resources. It then collects and converts data into meaningful information to improve productivity.

Its Ability MineOptimize solution is already supplying an integrated power and automation system at Gold Fields’ (JSE, NYSE: GFI) Salares Norte under ABB’s Ability System 800xA distributed control system (DCS). These include its Power and Process Control Library and Camera Connect (the ABB video system embedded in the control platform for optimized process monitoring). ABB Ability knowledge manager also handles information production through a plant information management system (PIMS), alongside its Ability Asset Vista condition monitoring.

Salares Norte is expected to produce 3.7 million oz. of gold over an initial mine life of 11 years. The open pit mine will supply 2 million tonnes per year to the mill.

ABB has also been selected by BHP to deliver a power management system for the US$5.7-billion Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan, which is expected to begin production in 2026. It will cover electrical substation equipment remotely, reducing the time needed for diagnosis and problem solving. This project will be the largest potash mine in the world, with an initial capacity of 4.5 million tonnes per year and potential for 16 to 17 million tonnes per year.

n CATERPILLAR

For nearly 100 years, Texas-headquartered Caterpillar has provided equipment and technology solutions for the mining, defence, government, oil and gas, paving, construction, forestry, electric and industrial

Middle: Nokia’s Push-to-X handheld units can be used in tough environments. NOKIA

Bottom: Worldsensing’s tailings dam monitoring technology is used at Newmont’s Boddington mine in Australia. WORLDSENSING

power, and OEM industries.

The company offers the broadest line of mining equipment in the industry, with its products used worldwide for both underground and surface mines for drilling, digging, loading, hauling, grading, and dozing.

Its MineStar suite of technology products now includes the Cat MineStar Reporting platform, an analytics and reporting product that consolidates information from MineStar and other technologies into a single interface. Data is accessed from a comprehensive database using a web browser on any connected device. The reports and dashboards are suitable for single or multiple mine sites and also work efficiently with other non-Caterpillar products. This system allows users to create customized reports and receive automated email reports. Currently, it supports information from Caterpillar MineStar Fleet, Terrain, Health, and Command for Hauling. All Cat products will eventually be supported.

Standard production reporting includes management and movement summaries, benches mined, cycle details, truck production, and grade movement and summary. Equipment performance, time stats and delay overview, activity calendar, fleet timeline, and event details are included in the time report. The drill report provides drilling accuracy, hole list and drilling information.

In fall 2022, Caterpillar reached a milestone in autonomous haulage, with trucks equipped with

MineStar Command for hauling surpassing a total of 5 billion tonnes of material hauled.

In Alberta, Suncor is deploying a remote Caterpillar DSS accelerated collision avoidance and fatigue management system for all of its mobile mining equipment. The system is already installed at Syncrude’s Mildred Lake and Aurora mines and will be installed in its remaining mines by early 2023.

DSS is a configurable two-part system combining real-time fatigue and distraction alerts and remote monitoring services. It measures the eyelid closure and head position during machine operation

when the system is active. The DSS includes a high-powered computer, driver facing camera and Infrared (IR) lights for eye and face tracking. A forward-facing camera measures hard braking and cornering or impacts. A speaker relays audible alerts to the operator, and a GPS module tracks the truck location, orientation, and vehicle speed.

n HARD-LINE

Established in 1996, in Sudbury, Ont., Hard-Line is a leading supplier of automation, teleoperation, and remote-control technology designed for the mining industry. The now global company has

offices in the United States, Chile, and Peru, and a worldwide distribution network. Hard-Line’s remote-control systems allow operations through direct/extended line of sight, or teleoperation in underground mines, which increases worker safety, continuous production and mine profitability.

In collaboration with Murray Engineering, and Beltor Engineering, Hard-Line helped create a quicker and safer way of recovering buried vehicles in underground mines. Using a mine extraction device (MED) provided by Beltor

Top: An automated device designed to retrieve buried vehicles underground that uses Hard-Line’s remote control technology. HARD-LINE

SNAPSHOT from / 13 and remotely operated using HardLine’s Radio Remote Control (RRC), machines can be recovered in two to five days from a safe distance rather than weeks with traditional methods using loader and haul trucks. The technology can be operated remotely up to 100 metres away with live video, and has been successfully used at underground mines all over Australia since 2020.

For the open pit market, HardLine has developed partnerships with Hexagon and Liebherr to develop autonomous solutions such as collision avoidance, GPS, and drilling patterns. Hard-Line’s TeleOp system allows the tele-remote operation of heavy machinery from a control station on the surface or underground, regardless of distance. The system offers increased profitability, production, efficiency, user friendly software and the ability to continue mine operations during a shift change.

n HEXAGON

Sweden-based company Hexagon has been offering digital solutions for 25 years, combining sensor, software, and autonomous technologies. Its mining applications include surveying, design, fleet management, production optimization and collision avoidance capabilities.

Hexagon’s mining division introduced its Power of One platform at its digital solutions conference HxGN Live Global in 2022. The platform is a life-of-mine smart solution connecting sensors, software, infield apps and cloudware. It connects the mine to the boardroom with a smart computer, antenna, and display. Data from multiple sensors connects exploration, planning, drilling, and blasting, material movement and monitoring activities. Hexagon says the solution streamlines processes, reduces costs, and improves safety and productivity.

The company’s other industry software includes HxGN Mine Enterprise which converts data into real time information, HxGN Mine Protect which offers proximity detection, HxGN Mine Operate, which provides monitoring solutions, HxGN Mine Measure software for drilling and blasting, and HxGN Mine Plan, which helps companies build projects from

exploration to production.

The latest release of HxGN MinePlan enhances functionality for MinePlan 3D, MinePlan Schedule Optimizer and MinePlan Project Evaluator, adding improved speed and performance.

The new reserves engine is now integrated into the Autoslicer tool, allowing users to choose reserve logic setups to slice by tonnes as a target. This allows users to quickly generate shapes to meet planning requirements.

MinePlan Schedule Optimizer (MPSO) combines optimal and manual scheduling with both midrange planning and hybrid scheduling. Block Schedule Coding is a new feature that allows users to code back MPSO period and destination schedule results to the block model. Shovel Control assigns shovels to areas, phases, benches, and cuts. Users can limit the number of shovels applied to a given cut per period and helps generate operational schedules.

MinePlan Project Evaluator ensures a user’s long-term plan starts with an economically optimized shell.

Hexagon has also introduced HxGN MineMeasure Detect, a 3D camera hardware, software, and data solution. MineMeasure Detect enables real-time optimization for plant production with automated digital-image analysis. This provides continuous, accurate and rapid measurement of oversize, volume, rock fragmentation and colour. The system also offers critical early warning notifications for operators to avoid catastrophic production stoppages. This solution has been tested at Capstone Mining’s Pinto Valley copper mine in Arizona.

n NOKIA

Nokia’s private wireless solutions are helping mining operators worldwide to digitalize. Nokia pioneered private LTE in mining 10 years ago with Rio Tinto (ASX, LSE: RIO) in Australia, and has now deployed more than 65 private wireless mining networks for over 35 mining companies worldwide. It now also offers a “straightforward” path to upgrade from its private 4.9G/LTE network to 5G.

In Canada, Nokia recently partnered with Symboticware, an industry leader in real-time data

management solutions for mining, on private wireless and industrial internet-of-things (IoT) to transform connectivity and improve communications and location services. The partnership offers a complete digital solution with real-time connectivity for the underground mining industry and enables artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning using Symboticware’s telemetry technology. The solution has been implemented at the NORCAT underground centre in Sud-

bury, Ont., and has been available since 2021. Industrial-grade private wireless provides underground operations access to accurate location tracking of equipment and personnel and the ability to drive autonomous trucks, ultimately streamlining operations and improving productivity and safety.

n RPM GLOBAL

For over 50 years, Australia-headquartered RPMGlobal has been

providing mining technology solutions including innovative software to create safer, more efficient, and sustainable operations.

RPMGlobal launched its mobile asset management solution, AMT Mobile in 2022. This mobile application allows field technicians, managers, and supervisors to digitize forms and processes while operating remotely. It can be used both on or offline, making it ideal

TOP: As part of its vision for autonomous mining, Sandvik’s AutoMine Concept Underground Drill has been designed without an operator cabin. SANDVIK

Middle: Caterpillar Command Stations allowing remote operation of equipment.

CATERPILLAR

Bottom: RPMGlobal’s Schedule Optimization Tool. RPMGLOBAL

SNAPSHOT from / 14 for underground operations or sites without Wi-Fi coverage. RPM says the technology helps increase productivity and ensures compliance and safety requirements are met.

Users choose from an asset centric focus (Asset View) to complete activities or work activity view (Work View). Both views operate together so users can easily navigate from one activity to another. AMT Mobile also supports an Operator Round process for fixed plant operations.

Workers enter data online during their shift rather than filling in paperwork, and the system synchronizes the data when it is reconnected to the network. AMT Mobile is designed to improve, automate, and digitize inspection and checklist processes. The application provides notifications on breakdowns, damage, and the root cause of issues. Users can scan equipment QR codes, add photographs to the device camera and use voice to text.

AMT Mobile improves RPM’s asset management software solution, AMT, which is 20 years old. It was designed specifically for mining and is used to manage or track over 50% of the world’s large mining equipment by miners, dealers, and contractors. The first generation of AMT mobile used HTML technology to access a webpage where field workers entered their data. This latest release works for both iOS and Android systems.

n SANDVIK

Sandvik is a global leader of automated equipment in the mining space, with more than 20 years of experience with self-driving vehicles for underground mines. (To showcase the precision and safety of its technology, Sandvik released a video in 2018 of an automated loader seamlessly navigating a glass labyrinth.)

Sandvik is also recognized as a leader in the battery-electric vehicle (BEVs) space for underground mining.

The Sweden-headquartered company invests heavily in innovation, with about 2,600 of its 39,000 employees performing research in 50 centres worldwide.

Its AutoMine product line, designed for autonomous and remotely operated mobile equipment, includes includes AutoMine Underground and AutoMine Surface Drilling. Sandvik’s AutoMine Underground Loading and Hauling system is now used in Newmont mines in Japan, Argentina, Australia, and Canada.

Sandvik’s customer base continues to expand, with Sumitomo Metal Mining’s Hishikari mine the first Japanese underground site to use the AutoMine loading technology. It commissioned AutoMine Lite on a Toro LH307 loader in December 2022 for its small cross-section tunnels. The system will be used in production areas to enhance safety, underground efficiency, and productivity.

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions have also launched a highly

automated, twin-boom drill for underground development and small-scale tunnelling. The Sandvik DD322i drill’s new carrier and design can tram in small headings, tight corners, and intersections due to its compact size, and low profile cabin. Its Boom Control While Tramming option allows the operator to control both booms while tramming, providing better control when moving the drill and reducing the risk of damage.

In late 2021, Sandvik acquired Australian mine planning software

developer Deswik, part of a push to build a new Digital Mining Technologies division. That followed a 2019, acquisition of Newtrax, which developed digital solutions to monitor people, equipment and environmental factors in underground mines.

n WORLDSENSING

An IoT remote monitoring company headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, Worldsensing offers wireless network technology providing seamless data acquisition and

transmission for underground environments. In partnership with IDS GeoRadar, a Hexagon company, the Loadsensing integrated system is the first in the world to offer surface, sub-surface, and geospatial monitoring in a single package. The system allows mine personnel to connect and wirelessly monitor tailings dams and excavations in more than 80 mines in 20 countries.

Worldsensing’s Loadsensing system reduces the costs and delays associated with traditional wired or manually read sensor networks. The technology is compatible with sensors and third-party software including Hexagon’s HxGN Geomonitoring Hub. Data management is simplified through this Hexagon analysis and visualization platform.

Mining companies now have a single interface monitoring system which includes wireless geotechnical and environmental sensors, and radar, total station, and satellite inputs. The technology reduces operating and maintenance costs, and time as fewer devices are needed to run the network. It also allows mine operators at surface and underground access to the same data.

The system employs an edge repeater device that connects to and retransmits data in underground environments from hundreds of nodes to the gateway in a series of hops. It extends the network range and data transmission up to 15 km underground.

A cloud-based version is planned for the future.

Worldsensing’s LoRa network runs on a sub-gigahertz radio frequency. The network outperforms wireless alternatives by allowing continuous data flow ranging up to hundreds of metres. TNM

The HYDRA-X monitoring radar system improves safety in open pits, tailings dams and industrial minerals operations. HEXAGON

The ABB Ability Genix platform combines industrial analytics and AI to integrate 25 engineering, operational, and IT systems across functional areas. ABB

tion without any doubt,” Patrick Mercier-Langevin, a research scientist in Quebec City with Natural Resources Canada,” said by e-mail. “It is difficult to assess if DML, although seemingly successful [in some cases], represents an improvement on targeting and outperforms conventional geologists/ geophysicists interpretations.”

Kandanchatha noted how humans can figure out data in a small set of variables or dimensions, often helped by their ability to discern patterns. But mining’s geophysical, geological and geochemical data, satellite imagery and soil types are overwhelming. So, AI makes connections among the data to identify sets of signatures and contexts for tens of thousands of models and compares them to different datasets from around the world.

“When people go out and drill, we can see that the pattern they saw was validated and it goes back into the algorithm,” he said. “Or maybe in this other case you were wrong because sometimes you drill and there’s nothing there, so the AI is constantly learning based on the validation.”

Next-level searching

It was more than three years ago when AI technology developed by GoldSpot Discoveries, now part of Brisbane-based ALS, was behind the drill hole that rocketed New Found Gold (TSXV: NFG; NYSE-AM: NFGC) to the forefront of the central Newfoundland gold surge. Hole NFGC-19-01 returned 19 metres grading 92.9 grams gold per tonne and 6 metres of 285.2 grams gold from 96 metres downhole at the Queensway project just west of Gander, NL.

“We got a lot of good validation out of that work,” GoldSpot and New Found Gold co-founder Denis Laviolette, who continues to run Toronto-based parent firm EarthLabs, said by phone.

Now, Vancouver-based North Arrow Minerals (TSXV: NAR) is betting AI will help it find new diamonds in places across Canada’s north where humans wouldn’t think to look. It wants to emulate Arctic Canadian Diamond, the owner and operator of Canada’s oldest operating diamond mine, Ekati, which used DML programs to find new kimberlites in the country’s most-explored gem area in the Northwest Territories.

North Arrow has used the programming written by Vancouver-based technology company Mineral Services Canada to find preliminary targets at its Pikoo project in central Saskatchewan. It plans to make a second pass with the AI this year.

Liberty Gold lifts Black Pine indicated resource by 52%

IDAHO | Assays for 40 holes from recent drilling still pending

BY HENRY LAZENBY

Liberty Gold (TSX: LGD) has released a resource update for the Black Pine oxide project in southern Idaho, significantly increasing the indicated and inferred ounces and highlighting a significant exploration target.

The company announced on Feb. 7 after markets closed that the deposit now hosts an indicated resource of 157.3 million tonnes grading 0.52 grams gold per tonne for 2.61 million oz. of metal, a 52% jump compared with that outlined in the initial resource announced just 18 months ago.

“We’re really confident that there are new discoveries to be made,” Ken Armstrong, chief executive officer of North Arrow, said in an interview. “This is another tool we can use to help try and identify and build out those targets for drill testing later on.”

Vancouver-based Mineral Services compiles magnetic, electromagnetic and gravity data from property flyovers and feeds them into DML algorithms to predict the location of kimberlite pipes, Armstrong said. He said he’s especially encouraged by how the AI found the 1.7-ha Bear kimberlite for Arctic Canadian, a relatively large pipe in an area that’s been scoured by prospectors for decades.

“This Bear discovery is really intriguing because it’s so big in such a heavily explored brownfield environment,” Armstrong, a 25-year veteran of diamond exploration, said by phone from Vancouver. “It shows the platform clearly has promise.”

Still, there’s no word at this point if Bear holds economically viable gems. Arctic Canadian didn’t reply to an email seeking comment.

Gilles Bellefleur, a research scientist in Ottawa with Natural Resources Canada, said he was impressed with how the Mineral Services team prioritized the predicted targets with human expertise to avoid drilling false-positive anomalies, a potentially costly error.

“Deep learning techniques are very efficient at recognizing complex patterns in data from known examples, e.g., kimberlites, and at finding similar patterns on a large volume of data elsewhere,” Bellefleur said in an emailed reply to questions. “Of course, predictions are never 100% perfect. Their method may have missed some kimberlites or misidentified other geological bodies as kimberlites.”

Armstrong said he couldn’t be specific about the cost of using Mineral Services.

“But fair to say it is not high because it does not require additional field work,” he said. “It uses existing exploration datasets which were much more expensive to acquire in the first place.”

Geotek charges a fee for processing an explorer’s data and may seek equity stakes or potential royalties for other projects depending on the size and time required. Most contracts are three to four years, Kandanchatha said.

“Our goal is to provide a platform where you’re able to upload your data and leverage the AI to generate targets,” he said. “We’ve spent the last two years taking what took us 18 weeks and three people using a supervised algorithm to now do in two hours, unsupervised.” TNM

The inferred resource totals 35.2 tonnes grading 0.43 gram gold per tonne for 483,000 oz., 32% more than the previous resource estimate.

It now also includes a high-grade core within the 0.2 gram gold cutoff constrained resource pit shell, using a 0.5 gram per tonne cut-off. The high-grade portion entails 47.4 million tonnes grading 1.02 grams gold per tonne for 1.5 million oz. indicated and 7.3 million tonnes grading 0.93 gram gold for 219,000 oz. of inferred metal.

The significant increase in ounces can be attributed to the discovery and subsequent intensive drilling of 154 holes included in the resource in the Rangefront Zone beginning in July 2021 over 15 months. The company had succeeded in expanding and merging several existing zones, including the CDF, E, and M zones and the discovery of the Bobcat Zone, a southern extension of the CDF Zone.

The company’s drilling of surface waste rock storage and pit backfill and definition drilling in previously defined areas of inferred mineralization also contributed to the resource increase.

Liberty CEO Jason Attew said in a statement the resource update positioned Black Pine in the “rarified territory” of an oxide resource with more than 2.6 million indicated oz. and a further half a million oz. inferred.

Liberty Gold’s corporate technical advisor, Moira Smith, said the

updated resource represented the next step in validating the company’s hypothesis that the Black Pine gold system might be the most extensive oxide gold system in the Great Basin not currently being mined.

“Our initial concept of a gold system hosted along low-angle, bedding-parallel faults over a wide area has withstood the test of time, and we were able to test the concept in an area of shallow cover to the east of the main zone of mineralization, resulting in a major discovery at Rangefront,” explained Smith.

The company said there are already another 40 holes pending assay results post-resource, pointing to strong potential for further resource growth. Smith estimates the resource potential within and outside the current resource pit, including across its other Great Basin property, Goldstrike, could extend to at least 7 million ounces.

Much of the gold system at Black Pine remains unexplored or incompletely tested, including areas along the southeastern, eastern and northeastern edge of the deposit, as well as the gap between the Back Range and E zones, the company said.

The 2023 drill program started on Jan. 7 in low-elevation areas along the eastern margin of the

deposit. While the company awaits feedback on its recently submitted modification to the United States Forest Service plan of operations, it also recently received a Bureau of Land Management plan of operations approval, allowing access to some of these priority exploration areas.

The company has budgeted for about 32,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling, targeting resource upgrade and expansion over several areas of the deposit, as well as reconnaissance drilling in new places along the eastern margin of the deposit.

Haywood Capital Markets mining analyst Geordie Mark said the resource update was bigger than expected, with leverage to growth via the drill bit or at lower cut-off grades.

“This update marks a critical milestone as they have now bedded away a cornerstone resource mass to focus on improving and de-risking project economics by targeting shallow, high-grade mineralization and completed metallurgical domaining study for an upcoming prefeasibility study,” wrote the analyst in a note to clients.

At 51¢, the company’s shares traded more than 2.5% lower at press time amid difficult markets generally. It has a market cap of $162.7 million. TNM

AUTOMATION from / 11

focus on using those gains to begin making data-driven decisions at the operational level this year.

Future opportunities

Wilson said Agnico has been watching South Africa’s mandated collision avoidance systems with interest. “Collision avoidance is complex, however in addition to possible safety gains it would also be an enabler for underground automation to advance further as automated equipment and workers could potentially work in the same zone,” he said.

Both Awmack and Hille pointed to traffic management in underground operations as an area ripe for improvement by automation. Awmack pointed out that minimizing the amount of vehicles backing up to make room for others would not only be a safety improvement underground, but lead to more efficient vehicle movement that boosts productivity.

Eldorado’s Efemçukuru mine in Turkey created its own traffic management system “because

there wasn’t one [available on the market],” Hille said. It comprised a simple red and green light system in both directions on haulage ramps, with small bays that trucks can pull into if a vehicle coming from the opposite direction as the green light.

“You could think of a future mine where perhaps that isn’t going to be utilized because you have real-time tracking of equipment, and you’re very certain you’re not going to run into someone,” he said.

Awmack said Eldorado is also considering equipment and employee tracking technologies to improve safety, and more intelligent supply chain management systems.

“As a mid-cap we really have to watch the spend we’ve got and make sure every dollar is well used,” she said. “One of the things that will be a bit up and coming is around, how do you use leading practices in operations, supply chain and asset management and tie them to more intelligent systems around inventory use [and] purchasing to try to limit the obsolescence factor.”

As mining companies continue their shift toward net-zero operations, Guimond said automation projects will play a meaningful role in driving down greenhouse gas emissions. The company has managed to drop its truck fleet at Young-Davidson from 15 vehicles to nine, and will reduce its Island Gold fleet from 14 trucks to seven, resulting in overall lower fuel emissions.

Hille said he expects to see companies relying more on technologies for measuring and analyzing sustainability-related metrics, such as fuel burn, gas emissions and the total energy use of any activity, and leveraging those to inform future operational decisions.

“Technologies are catching up very quickly in this space, and they’re something we will be fast adopters for,” he said, adding that the company plans to embed those types of monitoring and measuring technologies at its Skouries mine in Greece from day one. “It’s important for us as a corporation to do the best we can and the first step is always to measure, then make better decisions in terms of the next generation of equipment.”

AI from / 12

At North Arrow Minerals’ Pikoo project in Saskatchewan. NORTH ARROW MINERALS

Drilling at Liberty Gold’s Black Pine project in Idaho in 2019. LIBERTY GOLD

TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE / FEBRUARY 6–10, 2023

Over the Feb. 6-10 trading period, the S&P/ TSX Composite Index rose by 146.22 points or 0.7% to 20,758.34. The S&P/TSX Global Mining Index gained 3.34 points or 2.9% to 116.22 and the S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index ended 10 points or 4.9% higher at 202.37. The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index gained 9.47 points or 3.3% to 290.92 and spot gold ended the week flat at 1864.82, down just US93¢.

The big news of the week was Newmont’s takeover offer for Newcrest Mining, which sent the Australian gold producer’s shares up $2.83 apiece or 14.1% over the week to end at $22.94. The unsolicited US$17-billion allshare offer implies a 21% premium based on Newcrest’s stock price prior to the bid. Newmont has offered 0.38 Newmont shares for each share in Newcrest. Newcrest shareholders would own 30% of the combined company. Newcrest, which was originally formed via a spinout from Newmont in the 1960s, says it is considering the offer.

One of the week’s top percentage gainers was Sabina Gold & Silver, which advanced 26¢ or 19.7% to close at $1.58. The company, which is advancing its Back River gold project in Nunavut toward production, did not release news during the period. However, B2Gold announced a friendly, $1.1-billion,

all-stock takeover bid for the company on Feb. 13. The rally leading up to the announcement suggests news of the acquisition may have leaked out early.

Nighthawk Gold gained 15.7% during the week to end at 48¢. The junior updated the resource estimate at its Colomac gold project in the Northwest Territories, reporting a jump in total gold ounces of more than one-third. The company is working on a preliminary economic assessment for the project, which is located 200 km north of Yellowknife and has seen open pit production in the 1990s.

The project contains an open pit, indicated resource of 59.8 million tonnes grading 1.5 grams gold per tonne for 2.8 million oz. gold. Open pit inferred resources total 10.8 million

tonnes grading 2.3 grams gold for 802,000 oz. gold.

“If the project is developed, it could have the potential to be a top-tier gold project with respect to size, scale, and economics, located in a mining-friendly jurisdiction,” said Keyvan Salehi, Nighthawk president and CEO in a press release.

Cameco shares added $1.77 over the week

to end at $38.98. On Feb. 9, the Saskatchewan-based uranium miner reported a net profit of $89 million on revenue of $1.9 billion for 2022 compared with a $103 million loss on revenue of $1.5 billion the previous year. Cameco pointed to rising uranium prices last year, boosted by a resurgence in nuclear energy and by supply disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. TNM

TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE / FEBRUARY 6–10, 2023

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index retreated by 6.7 points or 1.1% over the Feb 6-10 trading session to end at 613.42.

Callinex Mines was the week’s top value gainer, adding 71¢ per share to close at $3.35 apiece on Friday. On Feb. 6, the company announced it had appointed former Hudbay Minerals CEO Peter Jones to its technical team. Jones is credited for playing a pivotal role in developing Hudbay’s 777 mine in Manitoba and the Konuto Lake and Chisel North mines in the same province. The company also recently announced receipt of the results from the 2022 exploration campaign to expand and delineate its high-grade Rainbow copper-gold-silver and zinc deposit at Pine Bay in Manitoba’s Flin Flon region. Rainbow sits 850 metres and 1.4 km from the historical Pine Bay and newly discovered Alchemist deposits, all located within the mineral lease. The company anticipates that the resource estimate will be completed by the second quarter.

The week’s top traded mining equity was ATEX Resources which closed 4¢ higher at $1.14 following 13.7 million trades during the week. On Feb. 7, the company announced assay results from a single hole, ATXD-11A, part of the third phase of drilling at the Valeriano copper-gold project in Chile’s Atacama

Region. The hole returned 1,270 metres grading 0.63% copper equivalent, ending in porphyry mineralization at 2,130 metres. The company said the drilling campaign had confirmed the continuity of the high-grade porphyry trend to the northeast by a further 200 metres and extended the known copper-gold mineralization along a new trend to the west.

The current phase of drilling continues to expand the mineralized corridor through step-out drilling along the strike, mainly to the northeast, test new targets along this corridor and define the continuity and geometry of high-grade trends. Two diamond drill holes were underway at press time.

Satori Resources was the week’s top gainer in percentage terms. The equity

climbed 150% to close the week at 10¢ apiece. The market interest ostensibly stemmed from industry personality and investor Rob McEwen acquiring a 37.6% interest in the company. The former Goldcorp executive stated that his investment’s primary objective would be to expand the high-grade gold zones at the past-producing Tartan Lake gold mine in Flin Flon, Man. In return, Satori is

proposing to acquire McEwen’s 100%-owned private exploration company, Apollo Exploration, which has been acquiring exploration ground near some of Canada’s largest gold projects and mines, including Barrick Gold’s Hemlo mine and Agnico Eagle Mines’ Hammond Reef project and Canadian Malartic mine. Apollo will also have about $1.5 million in cash and no debt upon closing. TNM

U.S. MARKETS / FEBRUARY 6–10, 2023

During the Feb. 6-10 trading week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 56.7 points or 0.17% to 33,869.3 and the S&P 500 fell 46 points or 1% to 4,090.5.

Among this week’s top-traded stocks was major Barrick Gold, which saw at least 31 million shares change hands by market close on Friday. The company’s equity added US62¢ to end the trading week at US$23.94. The company made headlines this week after announcing substantial global reserve growth. Barrick said on Feb. 9 that the proven and probable reserve base grew by 6.7 million oz. (net of depletion and using US$1,300 per oz.) to 76 million oz. This compares with total reserves in 2021 of 69 million oz. (at US$1,200/oz.). The largest increase occurred at Pueblo Viejo, in the Dominican Republic, where the completed prefeasibility study for the new Naranjo tailings storage facility added 6.5 million oz. The mine life will be extended beyond 2040 and as a result, the 2022 reserves for the region increased to 27 million oz. from 21 million oz. in 2021. When all was tallied at the end of 2022, Barrick had gold reserves of 1.4 billion tonnes grading 1.67 grams gold per tonne (76 million contained oz.), copper reserves of 1.5 billion tonnes grading 0.38% copper (12 million contained lb.), and silver

reserves of 980 million tonnes at 5.39 grams silver (170 million ounces).

Arizona Metals counted among the week’s top value gainers, adding 90¢ to close at US$4.85. The copper junior’s story has become more interesting of late, given its announcement of a VMS discovery in Yavapai County, Ariz., on Jan. 17. The company said step-out drilling located 300 metres north and on strike of its Kay mine deposit had intersected a new zone of copper-gold VMS mineralization, at depths ranging from 150 to 600 metres below the surface. The new zone is said to be open in all directions, with drilling underway to test for extensions and thickening of the

mineralization encountered. The company remains fully funded (with US$58 million in cash on Sept. 30, 2022) to complete the remaining 8,500 metres planned for the second-phase program and a further 76,000 meters in an upcoming third phase of the program (budgeted at US$32 million). The third phase will be used to test the parallel targets heading west of the Kay and possible

northern and southern extensions.

Sabre Gold recorded the week’s top gain in percentage terms, adding 23.8% to close at US26¢ per share on Friday. Sabre said on Jan. 30 it had sold a 1% net smelter return royalty on the Kerr-Addison mine claims owned by Gold Candle for cash proceeds of US$7 million. It has agreed to pay a US$500,000 break fee to Gold Candle. TNM

METALS, MINING AND MONEY MARKETS

PRODUCER AND DEALER PRICES

LME WAREHOUSE LEVELS

Metal stocks (in tonnes) held in London Metal Exchange warehouses at opening on Jan. 26, 2023 (change from Jan. 19, 2023 in brackets):

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

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

Aris Gold Corporation (ARIS.WT.A) - One

Warrant to purchase 0.5 of one Common Share of the Issuer at $2.75 until expiry

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

eCobalt Solutions Inc. J (ECS.WT) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at US$1.95 per share until expiry

Excellon Resources Inc (EXN.WT.A) - One warrant to purchase one common share of the Issuer at $2.80 until expiry

Excellon Resources Inc. (EXN.WT) - One Warrant to purchase one common share of the issuer at $1.40 per share until expiry Excelsior Mining Corp. (MIN.WT) - One

Warrant to purchase one Common Share of the Issuer at $1.25 until expiry.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aurania Resources Ltd. (ARU.RT) - Fourteen (14) Rights exercisable for one common share at $2.70 per common share.

Aurania Resources Ltd. (ARU.WT) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $5.50 per share.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elevation Gold Mining Corporation (ELVT.

WT.A) - One warrant to purchase one common share at $0.70 per share.

Empress Royalty Corp. (EMPR.WT) - One

TSX WARRANTS

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

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

Karora Resources Inc. (KRR.WT) - One

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

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

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

TSX VENTURE WARRANTS

warrant to purchase one common share at $0.75 per share.

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

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

the Issuer at $3.00 until expiry.

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

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

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

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

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

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

$0.12 per share.

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

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

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

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