The Northern Miner July 22 2019 Issue 15

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NICARAGUA: B2GOLD SELLS ASSETS TO CALIBRE MINING IN US$100M DEAL / 3 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM

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CANADA’S TOP 10 Looking at the biggest players from coast to coast / 7–16

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Generation options Sibanye-Stillwater’s Marathon | Palladium peaked at US$1,600 per oz. in March

ONTARIO PGMS

BY TRISH SAYWELL tsaywell@northernminer.com

At Rockcliff Metals’ Bucko mill near Wabowden, Manitoba, from left: Bruce Durham, advisor; Greg Robinson, senior geologist; Ken Lapierre, vice-president of exploration; and Alistair Ross, president and CEO. ROCKCLIFF METALS

Rockcliff gears up to drill in Snow Lake MANITOBA

| Cashed-up junior to drill 100,000 metres

BY STAN SUDOL Special to The Northern Miner

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t the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto in March 2018, Rockcliff Metals (CSE: RCLF) was a struggling junior with a large land package in the lesser known but geologically rich Flin Flon–Snow Lake (FF–SL) greenstone belt, with eight highgrade, base-metal volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits and five gold properties. It began as a tough year for Rockcliff, and it turned even rougher the week before the PDAC convention, when Kenneth Lapierre, Rockcliff’s president and CEO at the time, slipped on freshly fallen snow when taking out the garbage at home. Not thinking much about his sore ankle, the six-foot-three-inch, former hockey-playing, karate-

practising jock then started shovelling the driveway. Twelve hours later, the swelling and pain in his ankle demanded a trip to the doctor, where he learned that it was broken, and that he had torn all the soft tissue. For the entire PDAC, Lapierre used a knee walker that resembled a scooter to get around, plus painkillers. To add to his misery, a failed financing with B.C. investors was confirmed during the convention. A smaller-than-expected, mid2018 financing that allowed exploration work and a three-to-one stock consolidation further highlighted Rockcliff’s struggles. One of the few bright spots was that Rockcliff’s former Tower highgrade copper-zinc deposit — which had been sold to merchant bank Norvista Capital for a 1.5% net smelter return royalty — was being investigated for production by the bank’s Akuna subsidiary. Norvista

has equity positions in a portfolio of four base and precious metals exploration and development projects in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. “The first half of 2018 was turning into one of our toughest periods, ever,” Lapierre says in an interview. “But the Flin Flon–Snow Lake camp has such enormous potential. With a hundred years of mining activity, I believe our strategically consolidated properties in that camp will favourably position our company. There are many more Tower deposits to be found, as well as our promising gold properties — two of which caught the interest of Kinross.” Founded by Lapierre in 2005, Rockcliff Metals has followed the model of the since-acquired, Sudbury-based miner FNX Mining, which got non-core assets from the dominant producer in an established mining district. Whereas FNX picked up nickel See ROCKCLIFF / 2

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inancier Jamie Levy and mine builder Kerry Knoll have kept busy since selling Pine Point Mining and its zinc project in the Northwest Territories last year to Osisko Metals (TSXV: OM) for $35 million. Through their company Generation Mining (CSE: GENM), the pair have just completed an option deal to acquire a 51% interest in Sibanye-Stillwater’s (NYSE: SBGL) Marathon platinum group metals (PGM) deposit, 10 km north of Marathon, Ontario. Generation Mining will secure a majority stake in the deposit, form a joint venture with SibanyeStillwater, and become the project’s operator. “We are thrilled to be able to acquire the largest undeveloped palladium project in North America at a time when the fundamentals for the commodity have never been better,” Levy, the company’s president and CEO, tells The Northern Miner in an interview from his office in Toronto. The palladium price has moved from US$530 per oz. in 2010 to US$1,571 per oz. at press time, after hitting a peak of over US$1,600 per oz. in March, and could continue its upward trajectory as demand for the metal rises, with no immediate supply increases available, the mining executives say. They point to a Johnson Matthey report, released in May, which notes that 2018 marks the seventh year of deficit in the palladium market, and warned that the deficit this year “looks set to widen dramatically,” as “stricter emissions legislation” for

automobiles is “forecast to trigger a step change in demand from Chinese automakers.” The consulting firm says the palladium deficit this year could exceed 1 million oz., up from 2018’s deficit of 120,000 ounces. Eighty-five percent of the world’s palladium is used in catalytic converters, which are designed to stem emissions from gasoline-fuelled cars. A typical automobile uses between 3 and 7 grams of palladium, and the loads are increasing globally — especially in Europe — to lower emissions. “It’s a fascinating area to be in, because there literally isn’t enough palladium,” says Knoll, Generation Mining’s chairman. “We are very pleased to obtain this project for a fraction of the amount previously spent on it, and at a time when palladium prices are near record highs.” Under the option agreement, Generation Mining can earn an See GENERATION / 6 PM40069240

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COMMENTARY: WE NEED MORE ‘CRAZY’ IDEAS / 4

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2019-07-16 8:58 PM


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