Nova gains rights to loyalties on Antofa gasta’s Twin Metals Plans

Nova gains rights to loyalties on Antofagasta’s Twin Metals Plans

Nova Royalty (TSXV: NOVR) has entered into a royalty acquisition arrangement with Boart Longyear's (ASX: BLY) affiliate to buy an established 2.4% net smelter return royalty on a portion of the Antofagasta PLC (LSE: ANTO) owned Twin Metals project. Twin Metals is a project of the copper, nickel and platinum metals group based in the northeastern Minnesota mining camp of the Duluth Complex.

"The Duluth Complex is one of the great metal districts in the world and accounts for 34 percent of all copper reserves and 95 percent of all nickel reserves in the United States," commented Alex Tsukernik, president and CEO of Nova, on the new royalty buy, which will be the first in the United States for the group.

Nova will offer up to $6 million in cash and common stock, plus an initial cost of $2 million, for consideration. Upon the issuance of all major federal and state licenses needed to build the mine, an extra $2 million would be charged. The $2 million left is dependent on the commercial output of the Twin Metals mine. In the Maturi and Maturi Southwest deposits, the royalty field comprises nearly 18 percent of the total resources that form the entire mine proposal, as pointed out in a 2014 pre-feasibility report. A 30-year mining venture, focused on 527 million tonnes of confirmed and probable reserves, is disclosed in the technical study. It is projected that combined output would exceed 5.8 billion pounds of copper, 1.2 billion pounds of nickel, 4 million ounces of palladium, 1.5 million ounces of platinum, 1 million ounces of gold and 25 million ounces of silver. Complete resources were reported at approximately 1.8 billion tonnes for the Maturi and Maturi Southwest deposits.

Because of the public outrage about its environmental threats, the planned mine has been under intense review for years, including its proximity to the Border Waters Canoe Region Wilderness. "In its early stages, our idea is advancing. We built it in an environmentally sustainable manner,” Antofagasta leader Ivan Arriagada recently said during a virtual case, adding that it would take a few years for the due process to qualify for this greenfield initiative.

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Analysts forecast that a multi-year boon for EV metals such as copper and nickel would be ignited by a Biden administration, which may improve Antofagasta's chances of obtaining the main federal permits.

"We will allow this project in a manner that would enable the environmentally protected region to stay that way, and at the same time, we can get the metals that are needed for a greener economy out of the earth," Arriagada said. An initial permit to build the Twin Metals mine project has already been applied for by the firm.

"The shift to fossil fuel power has become a concerted goal for the global community," said Alex Tsukernik, CEO of Nova.

"Twin Metals is a natural strategic supply of these... building blocks of renewable energy for North America, with more than 25 billion pounds of contained copper and 9 billion pounds of contained nickel,"

Tsukernik said.