ARGONAUT GOLD RAISES OVER $500M IN DEBT AND EQUITY TO COMPLETE MAGINO / 3 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM
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Post Noront takeover, Wyloo gets to work on Ring of Fire assets | Sees opportunity for Ontario to become world leader in EV revolution
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
BY ALISHA HIYATE
W Fireweed Metals plans to deploy muon detectors at its Macmillan Pass zinc-lead-silver project in the Yukon to target stepout holes and help define the geometry of recently discovered zones. HENRY LAZENBY
Fireweed Zinc rebrands in pivot to the broader critical metals market SITE VISIT
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| Assets include zinc, lead and now tungsten
BY HENRY LAZENBY
ukon-focused explorer Fireweed Zinc has rebranded as Fireweed Metals (TSXV: FWZ; US-OTC: FWEDF) to reflect its metamorphosis into a critical minerals-focused company. The name change follows its early June acquisition of the Mactung tungsten project in Yukon and the Northwest Territories for $15 million. The project is close to the company’s flagship Macmillan Pass zinc-lead-silver project, where it is mobilizing crews for a $10-million summer drilling program. Company CEO Brandon Macdonald believes that the Mactung tungsten skarn deposit’s acquisition has transformed Fireweed into one of the leading critical mineral exploration companies. “We are excited to be advancing both projects under the Fireweed umbrella to maximize value for Fireweed’s stakeholders,” Macdonald told The Northern Miner during a June site visit to the Yukon. “Our flagship Macmillan Pass project is one of the world’s most significant undeveloped zinc projects. Nearby, our recently acquired Mactung project is one of the
world’s largest and highest-grade tungsten deposits. We recently acquired the Gayna River zinc-gallium-germanium project to the north. “All our projects are in the safe jurisdiction of Canada. With zinc and tungsten designated as critical minerals by Canada, the U.S., and the EU, Fireweed is positioned to be a significant critical minerals player on the world stage and help enable the transition to a sustainable low-carbon economy,” Macdonald said. The name change took effect on June 30, with trading continuing under the same ticker symbol. The 37.6-sq-km Mactung property is adjacent to Macmillan Pass and about 13 km north of the company’s Tom deposit. It is accessible by Yukon’s North Canol Highway or by the government-maintained Macmillan Pass airstrip near the Tom site. It is located within the traditional territories of the Kaska Dena, the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun First Nation in Yukon, and the Sahtú Settlement Area in N.W.T. About 38,000 metres of drilling across 312 holes since the 1960s have outlined a significant, highgrade tungsten resource, leading to
a positive historical feasibility study in 2009. Historic indicated resources in a 2007 report showed 33 million tonnes grading 0.88% tungsten trioxide with an inferred resource of 11.8 million tonnes grading 0.78%. “While on its own Mactung is a strong project, we believe there are potential capital and operating synergies that could be gained by developing the projects together,” said Macdonald. Those include a bulk discount for the mining fleet, reduced costs of a shared camp, admin and possibly mill facilities, and lower costs for shared infrastructure, which translate to reduced engineering costs and improved owner’s cost efficiencies. There are also numerous potential operational benefits to a combined development. Field crews will be conducting due diligence and validation work at Mactung in the coming months in preparation for the planned mineral resource update and preliminary economic assessment study. Gaining critical mass For now, Macdonald says the best value driver for the company is to See FIREWEED / 6
yloo Metals made a big splash last year with its battle against Australian behemoth BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) for control of Ring of Fire junior Noront Resources. The private, Western Australia-based company, owned by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang investment group, outlined its vision for Noront’s high-grade nickel-copper-PGM Eagle’s Nest project early on. The miner plans to build a net-zero mine that would process the nickel in-province and create a ‘future metals hub’ while awarding $100 million worth of contracts to First Nations-owned businesses and establishing a training and employment centre for northern and Indigenous communities. And most importantly, perhaps, it promised movement on a project that has been stalled by a lack of infrastructure and by disagreement among First Nations on development, invoking Forrest’s experience as founder of major iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG). “Seventeen years ago, people told me Fortescue’s deposits would never be mined because there was no infrastructure to access our projects. We proved those critics totally wrong and we want to do the same in the Ring of Fire,“ said Andrew Forrest in a press release last year during the takeover battle for Noront. After emerging victorious from the “fierce battle” with BHP and closing the acquisition of Noront in April, Wyloo is wasting no time getting to work. Exploration potential In early June, the private Australian company reopened the Esker exploration camp in Ontario’s James Bay Lowlands for the first time in three years. The company then began a 3,000-metre drilling program at Blue Jay — the first of 76 targets it intends to drill in the Ring of Fire. The acquisition includes five existing high-grade orebodies:
RIO TINTO PUTS JV PROJECT WITH STAR DIAMOND ON HOLD / 3
Wyloo Metals CEO Luca Giacovazzi
Eagles nest (nickel-copper-PGMs), McFaulds (copper-zinc) and the Blackbird, Big Daddy and Black Thor chromite deposits. However, Wyloo CEO Luca Giacovazzi says that although those deposits have potential to be mined, the main attraction of See WYLOO / 6
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