YERINGTON, Nev., May 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nevada Copper (TSX: NCU) (OTC: NEVDF) (FSE: ZYTA) (“Nevada Copper” or the “Company”) today announced its first quarter 2022 financial and operating results as well as recent milestone achievements and updates on key development initiatives for its Pumpkin Hollow underground mine (the “Underground Mine”) and open pit project (the “Open Pit Project”). The Company has filed its interim financial statements and the related management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”) for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, which documents can be accessed under the Company’s profile on www.SEDAR.com.
Recent Developments
Underground Mine Ramp Up Continues: Underground production continues to ramp up with hoisting rates of a combination of stope ore and development material expected to increase to approximately 3,000 tons per day (“tpd”) in Q2 2022 and then further increasing to 4,000 to 4,500 tpd during Q3 2022.
Paste Plant Commissioning: The Underground Mine paste plant began wet commissioning and filling of the first stope with paste backfill in April 2022. Paste plant commissioning activities are ongoing with initial throughput capacity expected to be realized by the end of June 2022. It is expected that the implementation of paste backfilling will result in quicker stope turnover leading to improvements in hoisting and production rates going forward.
Surface Vent Installation and Third Ore Pass Construction: The dry commissioning of the surface ventilation fans was completed in early April. Initial excavation of the third ore pass is complete with construction activities scheduled for completion in Q3 2022.
Open Pit Drill Program Commenced: The 2022/23 drill program commenced with one drill arriving on site in late April and a second drill planned to arrive during the second quarter. The primary goals of the planned approximate 25,000-foot (“ft”) drill program are upgrading in-pit inferred mineral resources that are currently considered as waste in the 2019 Technical Report1, to a minimum of an indicated resource, and expanding mineral resources previously inaccessible for drilling. Drilling will also be used to advance the geotechnical and metallurgical understanding of the deposit. Condemnation drilling will be completed in areas planned for major infrastructure. Several holes are also planned to follow up geophysical and surface work and test the nearby Tedeboy porphyry target.
Open Pit Project Prefeasibility Study (“PFS”) Update on Track: The Open Pit Project PFS update is progressing well and is expected to be completed in Q3 2022, as planned. The PFS will include updated mineral reserves and resources and economics based on current metals prices, costs, project development strategy and the contemplated solar project, which is expected to have a positive impact on the long-term price expectations for power. The results of the drill program currently underway will not be included in the PFS, however, they are expected to be included in an open pit feasibility study planned for the second half of 2023. The Open Pit Project has all the material permits required at this time for mine construction and operations and proven and probable mineral reserves, as estimated in the 2019 Technical Report, were 3,590 million pounds of copper (385.7 million tons grading 0.47% copper).
Key Team Additions: Continued strengthening of the team with the hiring of experienced individuals in the following roles: VP Technical Services; VP Human Resources; VP Finance; VP Investor Relations and Community Relations; Director Safety & Health; Director Supply Chain; Chief Reliability Engineer; Underground Production Manager; Process Manager; IT Manager; and several critical hires in Process Maintenance.
Randy Buffington, President & CEO stated, “I am very pleased with the progress we are making on several fronts at Pumpkin Hollow. We have completed a number of key projects at site that are aimed at improving productivity, stope availability and equipment reliability for the Underground Mine. The prefeasibility study update for the fully permitted Open Pit Project is well underway and will include important sustainable initiatives such as the solar project. In addition, the commencement of our exploration program is an important step towards our longer-term growth strategy. We are laying the groundwork necessary to demonstrate the potential for this significant copper operation and assembling the right team to execute on these plans for the long-term benefit of our stakeholders.”
Q1 2022 Highlights
Underground Mine Operations
Underground Mining Operations – During Q1 2022, the Company hoisted approximately 97,518 tons of material, a 66% improvement over Q4 2021. Included in the material hoisted was approximately 32,025 tons at an average grade of 1.3% copper mined from 3 stopes including ore mined from stopes in the Sugar Cube zone.
Lateral Development – Lateral development rates improved 31% in Q1 2022 compared with Q4 2021, with 3,126 ft developed. Two additional loaders were lowered underground in April 2022 further increasing mucking capacity and an additional haul truck is scheduled to be hoisted in May 2022. Ore tons mined from development during Q1 2022 were 65,493 tons, at an average grade of 0.7% copper. As previously disclosed, the Company continues to advance across a water-bearing dike structure with the first crossing being completed and grouting activities underway on the second crossing to be followed by advancing development under steel sets through the dike. While there have been some challenges due to highly variable ground and water conditions, the Company is advancing development from Ramp 01 on the other side of the dike to maintain the production schedule. The Company expects to complete the second crossing in Q2 2022.
Processing Plant – During Q1 2022, 96,414 tons of ore were processed, a 76% increase over Q4 2021. Processing plant recovery improved by 5% to 84% from Q4 2021. Copper concentrate sales increased by 50% to approximately 2,099 tons of concentrate at an average copper grade of 23%, compared to 1,403 tons of concentrate at an average copper grade of 23% in Q4 2021. The Company continued to batch process ore during Q1 2022, however the number of operating days improved by 112% from 17 days in Q4 2021 to 36 days in Q1 2022.
Q1 2022 Financial Statements and MD&A
The Company has filed on SEDAR its condensed consolidated interim financial statements and the related management’s discussion and analysis for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. These documents are available on the Company’s website at www.nevadacopper.com and the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
Management Team Changes
In April 2022, Tracey Thom joined the Company as Vice President, Investor Relations and Community Relations. Tracey’s primary roles include implementing and managing the ongoing investor and community relations strategy that aligns all stakeholder engagement with the Company’s vision and goals.
Tracey brings over 25 years of senior management and investor relations experience in the mining industry and joins Nevada Copper from Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation where she was Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communication for over 13 years. Prior to that she held senior executive roles in single and dually listed companies ranging from exploration and development to multi-national operations including Andina Minerals, Kinross Gold Corporation, and TVX Gold Inc.
Effective May 23, 2022, Kris Sims will assume the role of Interim Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) following the departure of Andre van Niekerk as Executive Vice President and CFO, who is leaving for personal reasons. Kris is a seasoned financial professional with over 30 years of experience in the mining industry in executive leadership roles with large operating and development companies in the precious and base metals sectors including Phelps Dodge Mining Company, Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold and Kinross Gold Corporation. He focuses on establishing fiscal transparency and accountability, operational excellence, profitability, and sustainability for the companies he works with. He has also been an advocate for mining in Nevada and led the Nevada Mining Association as Chairman in 2015. Kris was previously employed with Nevada Copper as Project Manager and has a strong base of institutional knowledge that will be key to moving forward and transitioning the CFO role.
“On behalf of the Board and Nevada Copper team, our sincere appreciation for the strong leadership and commitment Andre provided during his tenure,” said Randy Buffington. “He has been an incredible asset and we wish him well in his future endeavors. I am glad we are able to seamlessly integrate Kris into this leadership role as his experience and institutional knowledge will be valuable during our ongoing ramp up.”
Qualified Persons
The technical information and data in this news release has been reviewed by Greg French, C.P.G., Vice President, Exploration and Steven Newman, Registered Member – SME, Vice President, Technical Services for Nevada Copper, who are non-independent Qualified Persons within the meaning of NI 43-101.
About Nevada Copper
Nevada Copper (TSX: NCU) is a copper producer and owner of the Pumpkin Hollow copper project. Located in Nevada, USA, Pumpkin Hollow has substantial reserves and resources including copper, gold and silver. Its two fully permitted projects include the high-grade underground mine and processing facility, which is now in the production stage, and a large-scale open pit project, which is advancing towards feasibility status.
Randy Buffington President & CEO
For additional information, please see the Company’s website at www.nevadacopper.com, or contact:
Tracey Thom | Vice President, IR and Community Relations tthom@nevadacopper.com +1 775 391 9029
____________ 1 Technical Report, entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report: Nevada Copper Corp. Pumpkin Hollow Project, Open Pit and Underground Mine Prefeasibility Study”, with an effective date of January 21st, 2019.
Cautionary Language on Forward Looking Statements This news release contains “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements specifically include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to Underground Mine development, production and ramp-up expectations and objectives, future hoisting and production rates, equipment installation, expectations regarding the prefeasibility study update and the expected completion thereof and the other plans of the Company with respect to exploration, development, construction and commercial production.
Forward-looking statements and information include statements regarding the expectations and beliefs of management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “potential”, “is expected”, “anticipated”, “is targeted”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information should not be read as guarantees of future performance and results. They are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results and events to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information.
Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those relating to: the ability of the Company to complete the ramp-up of the Underground Mine within the expected cost estimates and timeframe; requirements for additional capital and no assurance can be given regarding the availability thereof; the impact of COVID-19 on the business and operations of the Company; the state of financial markets; history of losses; dilution; adverse events relating to milling operations, construction, development and ramp-up, including the ability of the Company to address underground development and process plant issues; ground conditions; cost overruns relating to development, construction and ramp-up of the Underground Mine; loss of material properties; interest rates increase; global economy; limited history of production; future metals price fluctuations; speculative nature of exploration activities; periodic interruptions to exploration, development and mining activities; environmental hazards and liability; industrial accidents; failure of processing and mining equipment to perform as expected; labour disputes; supply problems; uncertainty of production and cost estimates; the interpretation of drill results and the estimation of mineral resources and reserves; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; possible variations in ore reserves, grade of mineralization or recovery rates from management’s expectations and the difference may be material; legal and regulatory proceedings and community actions; accidents; title matters; regulatory approvals and restrictions; increased costs and physical risks relating to climate change, including extreme weather events, and new or revised regulations relating to climate change; permitting and licensing; dependence on management information systems and cyber security risks; volatility of the market price of the Company’s securities; insurance; competition; hedging activities; currency fluctuations; loss of key employees; other risks of the mining industry as well as those risks discussed in the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis in respect of the year ended December 31, 2021 and the quarter ended March 31, 2022 and in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2022. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release are based upon assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including, without limitation: no adverse developments in respect of the property or operations at the project; no material changes to applicable laws; the ramp-up of operations at the underground mine in accordance with management’s plans and expectations; no worsening of the current COVID-19 related work restrictions; reduced impacts of COVID-19 going forward; the Company will be able to obtain sufficient additional funding to complete the ramp-up, no material adverse change to the price of copper from current levels; and the absence of any other factors that could cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.
The forward-looking information and statements are stated as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements or information except as required by law. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information and statements, there may be other factors that could cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Specific reference is made to “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis in respect of the year ended December 31, 2021 and the quarter ended March 31, 2022 and “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2022, for a discussion of factors that may affect forward-looking statements and information. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, should other risks or uncertainties materialize or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and events may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements and information. For more information on the Company and the risks and challenges of its business, investors should review the Company’s filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
The Company provides no assurance that forward-looking statements and information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 12, 2022 / Sandy MacDougall, CEO of Noram Lithium Corp. (“Noram” or the “Company“) (TSXV:NRM)(OTCQB:NRVTF)(Frankfurt:N7R) is pleased to announce” that the Company has successfully completed the Phase VI infill drill program on the Zeus Lithium Project in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The Zeus Project contains a current NI 43-101 measured and indicated resource estimate* of 363 million tonnes grading 923 ppm lithium, and an inferred resource of 827 million tonnes grading 884 ppm lithium utilizing a 400 ppm Li cut-off. In December 2021, a robust PEA** indicated an After-Tax NPV(8) of US$1.3 Billion and IRR of 31% using US$9,500/tonne Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE). Using the LCE long term forecast of US$14,000/tonne, the PEA indicates an NPV (8%) of approximately US$2.6 Billion and an IRR of 52% at US$14,000/tonne LCE.
All 12 of the Phase VI proposed holes were completed to, or beyond, their anticipated depths for a total of 5246 ft (1599 m) of drilling. Most of the holes were drilled with HQ-size core with a diameter of 2.5 inches (63.5 mm). However, 4 of the holes were drilled with PQ-size (3.35 inches, 85 mm diameter) to be used for the ongoing metallurgical test work. The samples from the core have been hand-delivered to ALS Laboratory in Reno, Nevada for processing. QA/QC samples have been inserted into the sample stream to confirm sample results.
Noram Lithium Corp., Thursday, May 12, 2022, Press release picture
Figure 1 – The last batch of Phase VI drilling samples as they were delivered to ALS in Reno, Nevada.
“This is a significant milestone for Noram” stated CEO and Director, Sandy MacDougall “with the completion of this drilling, the inferred resource calculation will be confidently upgraded to the indicated category. This marks one of the final steps required to complete the Prefeasibility Study (“PFS”) in the near term. While we have only received results from 2 of the 12 holes, the results supersede our expectations, and we can confidently say that a PFS superior to the PEA would not be surprising. All assays are being processed on a rush basis and we expect to receive the balance of the results shortly. Noram is on track to complete the PFS in the fall of 2022 while simultaneously working on new and innovative solutions to become a leader in the green technology space.”
Noram Lithium Corp., Thursday, May 12, 2022, Press release picture
Figure 2 – Location of all past drill holes (Phase I to Phase V) previously completed in addition to the 12 holes completed under the Phase VI Program. Phase VI holes are shown as purple squares.https://embed.fireplace.yahoo.com/embed?ctrl=Monalixa&m_id=monalixa&m_mode=document&site=sports&os=android&pageContext=%257B%2522ctopid%2522%253A%25221542500%253B1480989%253B1481489%2522%252C%2522hashtag%2522%253A%25221542500%253B1480989%253B1481489%2522%252C%2522wiki_topics%2522%253A%2522Lithium_carbonate%253BNor-Am_Cup%253BClayton_Valley_Charter_High_School%253BMineral_resource_classification%253BNevada%253BCompany%253BPea%2522%252C%2522lmsid%2522%253A%2522a077000000LnOyOAAV%2522%252C%2522revsp%2522%253A%2522accesswire.ca%2522%252C%2522lpstaid%2522%253A%2522ca745aaf-aa7e-3d2b-b9ed-9909e7380b49%2522%252C%2522pageContentType%2522%253A%2522story%2522%257D
The Company has also begun initial preparation for the completion of a Plan of Operations (PoO) with the Tonopah, Nevada field office of the Bureau of Land Management. Results from the Phase VI drilling will be needed to determine whether additional drilling, bulk sampling, etc. will be required to carry the project through the PFS and DFS stages. These elements are essential to determine what goes into the PoO. The DFS is expected to follow closely on the heels of this fall’s PFS.
The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Brad Peek., M.Sc., CPG, who is a Qualified Person with respect to Noram’s Clayton Valley Lithium Project as defined under National Instrument 43-101.
About Noram Lithium Corp. Noram Lithium Corp. (TSXV:NRM)(OTCQB:NRVTF)(Frankfurt:N7R) is a well-financed Canadian based advanced Lithium development stage company with less than 90 million shares issued. Noram is aggressively advancing its Zeus Lithium Project in Nevada from the development-stage level through the completion of a Pre-Feasibility Study in 2022. The Company’s flagship asset is the Zeus Lithium Project (“Zeus”), located in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The Zeus Project contains a current 43-101 measured and indicated resource estimate* of 363 million tonnes grading 923 ppm lithium, and an inferred resource of 827 million tonnes grading 884 ppm lithium utilizing a 400 ppm Li cut-off. In December 2021, a robust PEA** indicated an After-Tax NPV(8) of US$1.299 Billion and IRR of 31% using US$9,500/tonne Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE). Using the LCE long term forecast of US$14,000/tonne, the PEA indicates an NPV (8%) of approximately US$2.6 Billion and an IRR of 52% at US$14,000/tonne LCE.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sandy MacDougall CEO and Director C: 778.999.2159
For additional information please contact: Peter A. Ball President and Chief Operating Officer peter@noramlithiumcorp.com C: 778.344.4653
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding, among other things, the completion of the engagement of Bridgeview and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, regulatory approval processes. Although Noram believes that the assumptions used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, including that all necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained in a timely manner, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Noram disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. *Updated Lithium Mineral Resource Estimate, Zeus Project, Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada, USA (August 2021) **Preliminary Economic Assessment Zeus Project, ABH Engineering (December 2021).
Joining us for a conversation or legendary Rick Rule of Rule Investment Media and David Cole of EMX Royalty as will discover why mineral royalties are powerful financial instruments.
About EMX Royalty: EMX Royalty Corporation has a long-standing track record of success in exploration discovery, royalty generation, royalty acquisition, and strategic investments. Our diversified, three-pronged business approach provides exposure to multiple upside opportunities while minimizing the impact on EMX’s treasury.
EMX’s business model is designed to efficiently manage the risks inherent to the minerals exploration and mining industry. Key elements and resulting advantages of our unique approach are: We organically generate royalties through low-cost property acquisition and early-stage exploration to build value, and then develop partnerships with quality companies to advance the projects, with EMX retaining a royalty interest and receiving pre-production payments. Our organic royalty growth is supplemented by purchases of royalties from other parties, as well as strategic investments. Cash flow from royalties, advance royalties, and other property payments are supplemented by returns from strategic investments and provide “self-funding” operating capital for our ongoing business initiatives. Using this model, we sustainably grow the royalty portfolio, with minimal dilution to our shareholders. EMX’s royalty and property portfolio spanning five continents and consists of a balanced mix of precious metal, base metal, and other assets.
Joining us for a conversation are two of the most prolific names in the natural resource space, both legends in their own right, as we are joined today with Rick Rule of Rule Investment Media and David Cole of EMX Royalty.
Maurice Jackson:
I must say it’s an absolute delight to be speaking with you both today, as I hold you both in the highest regard personally and professionally, as we plan to discover why mineral royalties are powerful financial instruments. We have a lot of ground to cover today, gentlemen, so let’s get to it.
Maurice Jackson:
Mr. Rule, you have a proven track record of nearly 50 years as a wealth builder for you and your clients through resource stocks. What are you seeing right now that gives you the courage and conviction that resource stocks may present a once in a lifetime opportunity?
Rick Rule:
First of all, you’re always not wise to contradict your host, but I’ve had a couple of these opportunities in my lifetime. So I don’t think it is a once in lifetime opportunity. But I, as you point out, have been lucky enough to see the opportunity before that’s in front of me now. And it was extremely pleasant to participate in. Natural resource bull markets are wonderful financial events if you participate in them early enough.
Rick Rule:
And my own belief, is that right now we are in the latter stage of the beginning of a precious metals bull market. And we’re probably in an earlier stage in a broader natural resource bull market. And the idea to participate in two real bull markets where the outcome is a probability, not a possibility, is extraordinary.
Rick Rule:
It is seldom before in my life have the fundamental factors that are in front of me come together simultaneously that has given me the courage of my convictions with regards to the probabilities of the outcome, is what I’m talking about. And that’s what feels good to me now.
Maurice Jackson:
Given the reasons you just convey to us, investors and speculators alike are seeking prudent ways to preserve their capital, and if possible, sweeten the deal with the delivery of some nice returns. About a decade ago, you introduced me a business model that offers investors both of these virtues, and I’m referring to the concept of mineral royalties. For someone new to the conversation, would you please share what are mineral royalties and why are mineral royalty companies a strategic part of your portfolio?
Rick Rule:
What I’ve learned over time is that having an economic interest in a revenue stream where my gross is my net is a very good thing. What a royalty is, is a part of the revenue stream of a mine or an oil well or something else. But you don’t bear any establishing capital risk, any sustaining capital risk or any operating cost risk.
Rick Rule:
So to the extent, as an example, that you disagree with a management team over some of their expenses, it doesn’t matter. You just get the check. Your gross is your net. A mineral royalty too is a timeless interest pretty much. And that means that most of the surprises that you can have are pleasant surprises.
Rick Rule:
If you are lucky enough to own a royalty on a tier one mineral discovery, my experience has always been that big discoveries yield surprises and small deposits yield surprises too. But big discoveries yield pleasant surprises, and small discoveries yield unpleasant surprises.
Rick Rule:
So a mineral royalty, which is established on a, let’s say, a 1 to 1.5 million ounce gold deposit, which feels attractive over 30 years might end up producing two, two and a half million dollars. The additional exploration expense that goes into establishing the lengthening of your royalty, the operating costs, the sustaining capital costs, the taxes, all that stuff doesn’t matter. Remember on a royalty for the most part, your gross is your net, which is very pleasant.
David Cole:
With regards to mineral royalties, what also comes to mind is the concept of optionality. Mineral royalties are phenomenal financial instruments, particularly in an inflationary environment, for the very reasons that you laid out and that discovery optionality and advancement of engineering techniques, all of which are multiplicative, make royalties fantastic instruments to hold.
Maurice Jackson:
And David, if you would expand on that word optionality, that may be a new term for readers.
David Cole:
Sure. So that’s the chance that things might go super well or super bad. And the couple of guys, Black Scholes got a Nobel prize for defining a formula, how to calculate what optionality is worth and options trade in the marketplace. And with respect to royalties, what we’re talking about is the chance that things can go well.
David Cole:
And as Rick pointed out, the cost that goes into the exploration and discovery work, development work, production work et cetera, et cetera, is born by the counterparty, not by the royalty holders. So we’re exposed to all that upside optionality. And that’s one of the things that makes a portfolio of royalty so powerful.
Maurice:
Mr. Cole, you’re the CEO of the royalty generator and I’m referring to EMX Royalty. Please introduce us to the value proposition that EMX Royalty presents for investors along with your current share price.
David Cole:
Well, I’m more than happy to talk about that. And first of all, it all revolves around this concept the royalties are fantastic instruments, and different royalty companies accumulate royalties in different ways. There’s royalty financings to advance mine projects. There’s purchasing of existing royalties. And then there’s royalty generation.
David Cole:
We love to generate royalties through the prospect generation business model, acquiring prospected mineral rights around the world, adding value by doing good geology and coalescing data, selling that onto an industry, hungry for discovery opportunity. And as Rick said, I’ve never seen an industry more hungry for discovery opportunity than we have today across the periodic table.
David Cole:
And we love doing that. We love selling them on for cash shares and of course, a royalty. We also buy royalties to augment that portfolio, to create that portfolio effect and to further advance the optionality.
Maurice Jackson:
And you do that organically. That’s what I find very intriguing about your business model.
David Cole:
That is our defining factor. That’s our hedgehog, and we’ve sold by example, Maurice, 83 projects in the last four years. We have track record of just selling projects right and left. And when I’m talking about selling projects, what I mean is we stake mining claims, or we acquire mining licenses from governments, add value, and then move them onto a counterparty, junior companies, and major companies.
David Cole:
And in the junior company deals, it’s commonly cash payments and share payments. We’ve done exceedingly well with the share payments over our nearly 20-year history and always a production royalty at the end. With major companies, which we also love to do business with, we’ve done six deals with Rio Tinto, the largest mining company in the world the last four years, as one example. And there, it’s more focused on the inground expenditures, cash payments, and of course the royalty at the back end.
David Cole:
And we’re just delighted to have the capital across our portfolio being expended by our counterparties, but also their expertise employed across that portfolio, which is enhancing this concept of discovery optionality, which is where the big win comes from. Of course, there’s commodity price optionality as well, which is a hot topic in an inflationary environment.
Maurice Jackson:
Now, before we delve into specific projects, multi-pronged question. Mr. Cole, how many projects are in the EMX property bank and how many of those projects are now in the harvest mode of generating royalties?
David Cole:
So when you use the word bank, that’s probably a good word to use. So we have approximately 300 mineral property positions globally, more than a dozen countries. We’ve always taken a broad approach. We’ve cast a broad net to find value, and that’s a very strong base of pyramid.
David Cole:
And then EMX does have half dozen producing assets or assets that are just about to become producing at the top of the pyramid. And we’re at the transitionary point where we’re going from a junior company that’s been building a portfolio of mineral property positions and royalties to one that has strong cash flow. And we’re right at that tipping point this year.
Maurice Jackson:
And we’re going to highlight five of those here in just a minute. Rick, in the resource space, precious metals seemed to dominate the conversation. But I’d like to get your thought on base metals and in particular, the outlook for copper.
Rick Rule:
I think the two easiest things to think about is that the driver for copper is the ascent of humankind to the extent that there are almost eight billion people on earth and more people every day. And to the extent that humankind has a responsibility, I believe, to take the poorest half of humanity and increase their wellbeing, that automatically comes to copper.
Rick Rule:
Many readers may not know that 1.2 billion people on earth have no access to electricity. And another 2 billion people on earth have access to intermittent or unaffordable electricity. We’ve done a great job as humankind the last 30 years in increasing the material a lot of the poorest of the poor. But we have a lot more to do, and an important transition from a subsistence lifestyle to a more fulfilling lifestyle, at least part of the material translation is electricity, and electricity is copper.
Rick Rule:
At the same time that we need to continue to increase access to electricity for the poorest half of humanity, the other half of humanity wants to increase their electrical consumption too electric vehicles, power, gadgets, all those types of things. All requires copper. While this happens, in other words, while demand for copper is inexorably higher and where the rate of increase is probably increasing, we have under-invested as an industry in copper exploration production for 30 or 35 years.
Rick Rule:
The truth is most of the world’s great copper mines are a bit like me. They’re old, they’re past their prime. Bingham Canyon has been producing for 120 years. Chuquicamata has been producing for 105 years. Grasberg has producing for my whole lifetime, which is to say 69 years. You don’t stand at the top of a pit, throw in fertilizer and water and have it grow more copper. That’s not the way it works.
Source: https://wikitravel.org/en/Chuquicamata
Rick Rule:
So five years from now, what you see is that these old behemoths become longer and longer and longer of tooth. While as a consequence of three decades of under investment and exploration production, there’s nothing to take their place. And if there is something to take their place, increasingly, there are political and economic roadblocks put in front of them. There’s a wonderful copper deposit here in the United States called Resolution that the world’s been talking about for 20 years. And it’s probably 10 years away from permitting and production, not in time to make any difference in a supply outlook.
Rick Rule:
So, to the extent that one is able to make a copper discovery, the appetite among the major copper producers to buy these projects, to replace the old behemoths, which are long of tooth. And the incredible interest that governments and consumers have about increasing the material wellbeing of their citizens, which is a fancy way of saying increasing demand for copper, means that an intelligently constructed copper exploration royalty development program, I say intelligently crafted. Part of the problem in the last 30 years has been that not only haven’t we invested enough money, we’ve invested most of the money that we’ve invested stupidly.
Rick Rule:
So we’ve been both unwitting and unscrupulous in the mining business with regards to copper. But the result of that is that successful efforts in the copper business pay absolutely tremendous rewards and will continue to, I think. Most people in the west when they think about copper, they think about Tesla or something like that. And that’s fine. That’s wonderful.
Maurice, I’ll point out if you don’t mind that Dr. Richard Schodde is our consulting and advisor on the mineral economic side out of Australia, MinEx Consulting. He believes that conservatively, the planet will consume as much copper in the forthcoming 20 to 25 years as has been consumed by humanity throughout all the history cumulatively.
David Cole:
And when you think about that with respect to the under-capitalized situation in the copper industry, it’s very, very dynamic situation. It’s very difficult not to be extraordinarily bullish copper. And Rick mentioned that Bingham Canyon Mine, one of the largest open pit mines in the world is where open pit mining was first invented. The globe currently consumes the entire endowment of that deposit annually. So it’s an interesting situation for the copper business.
Maurice Jackson:
Sticking with copper, Mr. Cole, let’s visit the EMX property banking, and get acquainted with some of your royalties beginning in Chile at the Caserones Mine where EMX recently increased its position there. Tell us about the royalty and why the increase.
David Cole:
So well, first of all, as said, we’re very bullish copper, have always believed in having a diversified portfolio and copper has been a key component to that. Scott Close who heads our investor relations team, likes to call Caserones, Casherones. This is a very long live asset. Officially, it’s a 17-year-mine life, but as geologists, we’ve looked at it. We see 25-plus years of production here just from the existing deposit as it is open ended at depth, and copper cutoff grades have a long history of decreasing over time because of these various factors that we’re pointing out.
David Cole:
So this is a very long lived assets. It’s like having a 30-year bond that pays in pounds of copper. And we do see a little bit of upside with respect to production coming from that, but we’re very bullish copper prices. And we did have the opportunity to buy at a fair valuation, a 0.4% royalty on that deposit. And then the opportunity came along for us to augment that as additional family members who owned this royalty wanted to sell and liquidate.
“We have under-invested as an industry in copper exploration production for 30 or 35 years”. ~ Rick Rule
David Cole:
And so we had the chance to increase that, and we did it as that next bite was larger than we could afford by ourselves. We brought in Franco-Nevada as a partner, and we have a huge amount of respect for Franco-Nevada. They’re the leader in the mining royalty space. And if you would’ve asked me who’s the best company to be a strategic investor in EMX, I would’ve said Franco-Nevada.
David Cole:
Very happy to get them across the line and become a shareholder in EMX, part and parcel to us taking that further bite and increasing our exposure to Caserones. And that’s not our only copper exposure in the world. Of course, we have a royalty on the Timok Project, which is one of the largest ongoing copper-gold discoveries on the planet.
Maurice Jackson:
Why would Franco Nevada the biggest, most successful company in the mineral royalty sector want shares in EMX?
“I think there is going to be an increasing demand for electrification for well to do people. But the real opportunity is increasing the material living standards for the bottom half of humanity. We have an obligation to do it. We’ve done a good job of it over the last three decades, it’s going to continue. And the driver is going to be copper”. ~ Rick Rule
David Cole:
And we’re delighted to have them on board. They’ve been giving us accolades for the royalty generation work for many years. We know these folks well from our history. I used to work with some of them at Newmont Mining Corporation, and they would come up to me. David Harquail once said, “Dave, we believe that your royalty generation work is topnotch and hats off to you for doing that.”
David Cole:
And ultimately, it was that that carried him across the line and got them to invest in the company. But ironically, it was associated with a royalty purchase. But Franco Nevada recognized the power and the integration of buying royalties as well as growing them organically to build your portfolio.
Maurice:
All right, I’ve thrown you some softballs here. Here’s a tough one. EMX has recently deployed a substantial amount of capital lately acquiring cash flowing and/or soon to be cash flowing royalties and taking on debt to do so. Does this really make sense in the long-term health of the company? I mean, is this really in the best interest of the shareholders?
David Cole:
Absolutely, absolutely. So, our calculated risk adjusted internal rate of return on the monies that we’ve invested into purchasing these portfolio of royalties vastly exceeds the cost of that capital. And speaking of cost of capital, one of the important goals here is to populate the top of the pyramid, increasing our cash flow, and enabling us to move across that border from a junior company to a mid-tier company with strong cash flows, which will significantly reduce our cost of capital as we able to form a relationship with major senior banks. And we’re in those discussions now.
David Cole:
So this is all part of our strategy to prudently grow our portfolio. And particularly in an inflationary environment, paying a 7% coupon rate to borrow some money to buy things that have double digit internal rates of return is smart business.
Maurice:
Rick, as a shareholder, how significant is it when you see Franco-Nevada paying a premium to own a 3.5% stake in EMX?
Rick Rule:
I like good partners. I’ve been a Franco-Nevada shareholder on and off because of course they disappeared for a while since 1982, and I hold them in very high regard. Dave has done a good job, I think, of attracting other sophisticated shareholders in EMX.
Rick Rule:
But certainly, I’m attracted to EMX as a shareholder. What price they paid is really a matter of their own concern, the fact that they paid a premium. I think if you look at the nature of the royalty transaction, the premium was explained.
“That’s what separates us from the crowd. And that’s why we’re the only junior or mid-tier royalty company that Franco Nevada has ever bought stock in and hold stock in currently“. ~ David Cole
Rick Rule:
But the truth is that in Franco-Nevada, EMX has a partner that should they have an opportunity that is time sensitive and attractive, they have a partner that could stroke a $250 million check or a $350 million check overnight without blinking an eye. And a partner that has the sophistication and the courage to be able to do that, that’s what’s important.
Maurice:
Rick, we just highlighted copper. What is your outlook on the opportunity before us in nickel?
Rick Rule:
Well, nickel, you could also say is also an electric metal. It’s in tighter supply than copper. Most of the marginal nickel production that we’ve seen in the world in the last 30 years is lateritic nickel, which is nickel that occurs in tropical environments, often Indonesia and the Philippines. And the production of lateritic nickel is extremely environmentally degrading and also extremely energy intensive. So you need to break down nickel between lateritic nickel and primary sulfide deposits.
Rick Rule:
Primary nickel sulfide deposits are very rare and extraordinarily valuable. A primary nickel mine, even at today’s nickel, makes an awful lot of money. In the very near term, the nickel price looks inexorably higher because the world’s most important nickel producer is Russia. The political difficulties between Russia and the rest of the world, including the fact that because Russia has been kicked out of the SWIFT banking systems means that even if they sell nickel, they can’t get paid for it in any currency that they can spend.
Rick Rule:
But looking beyond that, the uses of nickel in batteries, in stainless steel, in metallurgical applications, nickel is tied very, very directly like copper to the ascent of humankind. But primary nickel deposits are even rarer than high-quality primary copper deposits.
Maurice Jackson:
David, about two weeks ago, EMX announced that it had made a strategic investment in privately held Premium Nickel Resources, which holds a trio of defunct nickel, copper and cobalt mines in Botswana of all places. Now, this seems to be a big deviation from the EMX business model. What’s going on there?
David Cole:
Well, it’s actually a key part of our business model to make strategic investments. And so it’s quite synergistic with our royalty generation work. We’ve got smart economic challenges around the world, identifying properties to acquire. And occasionally, they come across an opportunity to invest in a company where we cannot, not buy the stock.
David Cole:
And you may recall the investment that we had in Russia of all places, that we liquidated at a substantial profit. That was a strategic investment in an ongoing copper and gold development story. We did exceedingly well on and happy to have our money out of Russia back in 2018 and have not gone back, I’ll point out.
David Cole:
But that’s an example of us making strategic investments. Our track record over a nearly 20-year pathway here has been quite good. We’ve netted out over 50 million USD from our strategic investments. And we’ve had a couple bumps on the chin. We’re comfortable with taking risk and the wins have far outweighed the losses.
David Cole:
This is our next major strategic investment, absolutely delighted for the very reasons that Rick pointed out to have that nickel exposure. And we think that the premium nickel asset in Botswana is going to be in the top five nickel sulfide systems on the planet. We’re very bullish about that opportunity.
Maurice Jackson:
Multimillion dollar question here, can you provide us with an update on the situation with Zijin Mining in Serbia at the giant Timok copper-gold mine?
David Cole:
Everybody wants to know the answer to that. Of course, I can selectively disclose information, but I can say that we are in negotiations with Zijin. They’ve been quite professional and communicative to work with, and I’m confident that we’ll come to a mutual agreement.
Maurice Jackson:
All right. The Balya silver-lead-zinc mine in Turkey, it’s been ramping up for a while now. What’s the latest there?
David Cole:
So the exploration results have been phenomenal. The deposit continues to grow. They’ve decided that they will build a second mill, which we’re delighted that will substantially enhance our cash flow long-term. And they are entering into commercial production now. I expect the first royalty check to come in within the next couple of months, actually. And I do expect production to ramp up from multiple underground headings over the course of the next five years. Five years from now, it’s going to be a substantial annual royalty for us.
Maurice Jackson:
Can you give us an update on the Gediktepe gold oxide and polymetallic mine? And when will this royalty start cash flowing?
David Cole:
That one’s also just a couple months away, Maurice. And so that’s an interesting royalty in that the royalty on the upper oxide zone, which is gold and silver enriched, is 10%. That was part of the sales price when the predecessor to SSR sold that on to the current operator, Lidya, and that 10% kicks in after 10,000 ounces have been poured. And we’re right at 4,000 ounces right now. They are in production, they’re placing ore on the pad. They did have a tough winter season, so that slowed them down a little bit, but they’re only a few weeks behind.
David Cole:
And we’re seeing greater in production as they head into summer. As soon as they cross the 10,000th ounce, which will be just a few months out, probably June or July, then we’ll start to receive royalty payments on that, and that is a 10% royalty. And that’s on the upper oxide zone, which we believe will have about a five-year mine life. And then it goes into the polymetallic sulfide zone, which is dominated by zinc and copper, two commodities we love. And that’s a 2% royalty in perpetuity on that zone.
David Cole:
So that’s another key asset within the portfolio that starts to cash flow in a few months.
Maurice Jackson:
Now that 10% is just remarkable. With all the new royalty cash flow and pending royalties poised to begin paying, what will the cash flow look like for EMX for the remainder of 2022?
David Cole:
Yep. So we will be coming out with guidance in two quarters, and we’re diligently working on that. And our bankers are talking to us about that. And that’s part of our shelf filing that we’re also in the process of, and this is all part of our maturing from a junior company that’s been building a portfolio to a mid-tier company with strong cash flows. And so, as soon as we provide that guidance, Maurice, you’ll be one of the first to know.
Maurice Jackson:
Right, looking forward to it. Leaving the property bank, Rick, I know you have a very stringent, selective criteria for companies that make the grade, if you will, before you will commit your capital. Now, we just heard Mr. Cole referenced that EMX has five attractive royalties and more on the way along with an attractive share price, in my opinion.
Maurice Jackson:
That all sounds compelling, but you taught me years ago that the competitive advantage for a shareholder is found in the board of directors, management, and technical team. Why are the people equally, if not more, important to you as a shareholder than the given project, and specifically the team that comprises EMX royalty?
Rick Rule:
Bad people can screw up good rocks. If the wrong team controls the cash flow, they get it and the shareholders don’t, simple as that. The second thing of course, is that luck favors the trained observer. And you need luck in exploration. Dave has done a great job over 20 years. He’s a geologist himself, but I would say his true talent is hiring and motivating and keeping very good geologists.
Rick Rule:
So, what has always attracted me to EMX has been the technical IQ per dollar of market cap. The fact that although the team has done a decent job of buying royalties, what I think the real secret sauce is the fact that they have generated royalties by generating 300 exploration concepts that other people have bought into. It can take a decade for prospect generation to work for you. But prospect generation, in my own portfolio, has been by far the most capital efficient exploration speculation that I have done. What the EMX team did is they figured out a better payments mechanism.
Rick Rule:
For most of my life, I invested in teams that had great intellectual capital that generated projects, and they ended up getting a carried interest in the project. The problem with that is that they sometimes didn’t have the ability to carry the load as the project went into production. And well, they had a lot of exploration expertise, they maybe didn’t have construction or development expertise.
Rick Rule:
What David did is he really simplified the way they got paid. Rather than get paid in the ability to own on a subsidized basis, a minority interested in operation that they may not know how to operate, he developed a circumstance where they got paid a carried interest by way of a royalty, which is ultimately a safer and probably a more valuable instrument.
Rick Rule:
The same intellectual capital that he has hired and deploys in the exploration business can be used to both source and evaluate either merchant banking opportunities, which is to say those companies that he invests in strategically or royalties. So I think it’s important that the exploration IQ that has been assembled within EMX turns out to be a strategic advantage in moving their asset base forward.
Maurice Jackson:
Now, Rick, we’ve heard you convey the merits of owning mineral royalties, and we’ve heard the virtues that EMX royalty presents to the market. Before we close, what did I forget to ask?
Rick Rule:
Well, I think, the important question to ask any company that’s beginning to mature is how are the capital allocation decisions made. What would be as, an example, the capital cost assumptions around the debt that they took on and what sort of pro forma delta would occur between cost of capital to return on capital employed? How strategically will the decision be made internally as to whether to emphasize the merchant banking business, the royalty generation business, or the royalty acquisition business?
Rick Rule:
And then finally, I think, the royalty acquisition business is extremely competitive. I would ask Dave to describe the competitive advantage that he may feel against the 30-some odd other players in the mineral royalty space.
Maurice Jackson:
All right, Mr. Cole. So, you know what’s up for our next interview.
David Cole:
It boils down to our alpha, which is on the technical side. And we believe that astute business decisions are rooted in solid technical understanding. And we’ve always had a strong technical team here at EMX to drive those business decisions so that we can have that astute allocation of capital.
Maurice Jackson:
Last question for you, Rick, tell us about the Rule Symposium, which will be held this year at the beautiful Boca Raton Resort in Boca Raton, Florida, July 26th through the 29th.
And I thought you’d never ask, Maurice. As both of you know, or all of you, frankly, to have put on natural resource investing conferences, the majority of those, the live ones took place in Vancouver, BC. A couple years ago because of COVID, we had to discontinue that one for a while. And we’d like to bring it back to BC, but the truth is with the COVID circumstance and public health administrations and two countries doing their level best to thwart my franchise, we decided to bring the conference down to the United States because most of the attendees are, in fact, American.
Rick Rule:
We searched around the country for a resort that was of the same quality that we expected, and one that had the facilities that we needed. And we found one in Boca Raton. The Boca Resort has a long and fabled history. It’s just undergone a spectacular renovation. They put hundreds of millions of dollars in it. They’re renting rooms to our attendees for $295 a night. Their rack rate is about a thousand, truly spectacular location.
Rick Rule:
The conference itself has a long and storied history. We’ve always had great speakers. We have Jim Rickards, Danielle DiMartino Booth, Doug Casey, the normal sort of gurus. But what’s always made our conference set apart is really two things. One, we have always had what I call the living legends, which is to say, we’ve always had the speakers, people who have built multi-billion dollar businesses in natural resources from scratch. It isn’t all gurus. There’s a lot of jockeys there and they are great jockeys. We’ll have that this year.
Rick Rule:
In addition to that, every exhibitor at our conference is owned either in Sprott managed accounts or in my own account. That doesn’t mean sadly that every stock I own goes up. What it does mean is that my attendees can rest assure that every exhibitor has been vetted. We know them well enough that we in fact, own them.
Rick Rule:
The important part of a live conference is that you get to see the interaction between the exhibitors and the speakers. I remember four years ago, I guess in Vancouver, following at a discreet different distance, Robert Friedland, one of the best resource entrepreneurs in history. And I watched him walk around the exhibit hall. I watched him speak to exhibitors. I took note of which exhibitors he talked to and which exhibitors made him smile and which exhibitors made him frown. I think the opportunity to follow Robert Friedland on a resource stock shopping trip is worth the price of admission.
Rick Rule:
By the way, with regards to the price of admission, every investment product, every investment education product that Rule Investment Media has ever offered over the last 30 years has come with a complete money back guarantee. If you come to the conference, you pay the tuition, and you don’t think it was worth your money? Email me. I’ll give you your money back.
Maurice:
One important factor that maybe you forgot to highlight there is the intellectual capital that you get from other investors. And the lifelong relationships that I’ve had an opportunity to forge has just been, I can’t put a price tag on that.
Rick Rule:
Oh, that’s a very good point. There’s going to be 500 high net worth investors there. And the idea that all the IQ in the room flows from the dais to the room is stupid. Watching fellow investors, listening to the questions that they ask the exhibitors, listening to the questions and the conversations they have amongst each other, listening to the conversations in the workshop, absolutely invaluable. And as I say, if you aren’t prepared to make money on it, there’s a money back guarantee.
Maurice:
Now I know the next question everyone has is how do I register? We’ve got that taken care of for you CLICK HERE. Check the description box below. Also, just visit www.provenandprobable.com. And the link will be on the right side of our homepage just below the weekly precious metal special through Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments. Mr. Cole, before we close, what would you like to say to shareholders?
David Cole:
Buy the depths, yeah. As Rick likes to say, you want to use the cycles to your advantage rather than be used by the cycles.
Maurice:
Mr. Cole, for someone that wants to learn more about EMX royalty, please share the website address.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 4, 2022 / Metallic Minerals (TSX.V:MMG)(OTCQB:MMNGF) (“Metallic Minerals“, or the “Company“) is pleased to announce the creation of a dedicated Community & First Nations Relations team for the Metallic Group of Companies and the appointment of Lindsay Wilson to the role of Manager, Community and Investor Relations. Ms. Wilson will be working alongside Lauren Blackburn, the Company’s Yukon-based Regulatory & Permitting Manager, in further strengthening our relationships with First Nations, local communities and governments.
The Metallic Group is well established in the Yukon with multiple projects under development by member companies. The Group employs dedicated personnel in Whitehorse, who are long-time residents of the Yukon and, as such, have an affinity for and understanding of its people, its history and its robust mineral endowment. Ms. Blackburn has been with Metallic Minerals and the Metallic Group since its founding and has taken a leading role in the Company’s community, permitting and regulatory initiatives. The addition of Ms. Wilson greatly increases our capacity to build meaningful and long-lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships in keeping with our strong commitment to environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) aspects of the resource sector. The Metallic Group is committed to applying best industry practices to exploration and to make positive contributions in the Territory and the specific communities in which we work.
Lauren Blackburn – Manager, Regulatory and Permitting
Ms. Blackburn has over 15 years of Yukon-based experience in the mineral exploration sector focused on the exploration and development of early to advanced-stage silver, gold, and base metal deposits. Her primary concentration has been in northern Canada where she has garnered a dynamic skill set that includes expertise in the exploration process, permitting, lands management, regulatory lobbying, land-use planning and community engagement. Ms. Blackburn is highly involved in Territorial legislation and policy review, permitting activities and assists in evaluation of potential project acquisitions and strategic development.
Lindsay Wilson – Manager, Community & Investor Relations
A member of the Snuneymuxw First Nation on Vancouver Island, Ms. Wilson is focused on incorporating traditional ways of being into her work within the resource sector and seeking to develop sustainable and credible partnerships within the communities that she works. Ms. Wilson has a comprehensive background in indigenous studies and public relations, alongside practical experience in the mineral resource sector. Having worked previously in the Yukon with the Yukon Mining Alliance, Ms. Wilson is excited about the opportunity to return to work in the Yukon and looking forward to reconnecting with the communities there.
Arctic Indigenous Investment Conference (AIIC)
The Metallic Group Community and First Nations Team will be attending the AIIC on May 4th & 5th in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Connecting globally – through a hybrid (in-person & virtual) experience – AIIC 2022 will highlight and promote indigenous development corporations and businesses in the northern economy, alongside the north’s business community and colleagues across sectors. The goals of AIIC 2022 are to support economic reconciliation and growth, and youth entrepreneurship by forging new and stronger relationships, advancing meaningful partnerships, and connecting people across the arctic. Indigenous development corporations and businesses play a key role across northern Canada. These efforts are supported when we stand together with a collaborative voice for business, northern investment and our citizens, to ensure a diverse and prosperous economy, community and future.
About Metallic Minerals
Metallic Minerals Corp. is an exploration and development stage company, focused on silver, gold and copper in the high-grade Keno Hill and La Plata mining districts of North America. Our objective is to create shareholder value through a systematic, entrepreneurial approach to making exploration discoveries, growing resources and advancing projects toward development. Metallic Minerals has consolidated the second-largest land position in the historic Keno Hill silver district of Canada’s Yukon Territory, directly adjacent to Alexco Resource Corp’s operations, with more than 300 million ounces of high-grade silver in past production and current M&I resources. In addition, the Company recently announced the inaugural resource estimate for the La Plata silver-gold-copper project in southwestern Colorado. All of the districts in which the Company works have seen significant mineral production and have existing infrastructure, including power and road access. Metallic Minerals is led by a team with a track record of discovery and exploration success on several major precious and base metal deposits, as well as having large-scale development, permitting and project financing expertise.
About the Metallic Group of Companies
The Metallic Group is a collaboration of leading precious and base metals exploration and development companies, with a portfolio of large, brownfields assets in established mining districts adjacent to some of the industry’s highest-grade producers of silver and gold, platinum and palladium, and copper. Member companies include Metallic Minerals in the Yukon’s high-grade Keno Hill silver district and La Plata silver-gold-copper district of Colorado, Granite Creek Copper in the Yukon’s Minto copper district, and Group Ten Metals in the Stillwater PGM-nickel-copper district of Montana and Kluane district in the Yukon. The founders and team members of the Metallic Group include highly successful explorationists formerly with some of the industry’s leading explorer/developers and major producers. With this expertise, the companies are undertaking a systematic approach to exploration and development using new models and technologies to facilitate discoveries in these proven, but under-explored, mining districts. Members of the Metallic Group have been recognized as recipients of awards for excellence in environmental stewardship demonstrating commitment to responsible resource development and appropriate ESG practices. The Metallic Group is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and its member companies are listed on the Toronto Venture, US OTCQB and Frankfurt stock exchanges.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 4, 2022 / Granite Creek Copper Ltd. (TSXV:GCX)(OTCQB:GCXXF) (“Granite Creek” or the “Company“) is pleased to announce the creation of a dedicated Community & First Nations Relations Team for the Metallic Group of Companies and the appointment of Lindsay Wilson to the role of Manager, Community and Investor Relations. Ms. Wilson will be working alongside Lauren Blackburn, the Company’s Yukon-based Regulatory & Permitting Manager, in further strengthening our relationships with First Nations, local communities and governments.
The Metallic Group is well established in the Yukon with multiple projects under development by member companies. The Group employs dedicated personnel in Whitehorse, who are long-time residents of the Yukon and, as such, have an affinity for and understanding of its people, its history and its robust mineral endowment. Ms. Blackburn has been with Metallic Minerals and the Metallic Group since its founding and has taken a leading role in the Company’s community, permitting and regulatory initiatives. The addition of Ms. Wilson greatly increases our capacity to build meaningful and long-lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships in keeping with our strong commitment to environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) aspects of the resource sector. The Metallic Group is committed to applying best industry practices to exploration and to make positive contributions in the Territory and the specific communities in which we work.
Lauren Blackburn – Manager, Regulatory and Permitting
Ms. Blackburn has over 15 years of Yukon-based experience in the mineral exploration sector focused on the exploration and development of early to advanced-stage silver, gold, and base metal deposits. Her primary concentration has been in northern Canada where she has garnered a dynamic skill set that includes expertise in the exploration process, permitting, lands management, regulatory lobbying, land-use planning and community engagement. Ms. Blackburn is highly involved in Territorial legislation and policy review, permitting activities and assists in evaluation of potential project acquisitions and strategic development.
Lindsay Wilson – Manager, Community & Investor Relations
A member of the Snuneymuxw First Nation on Vancouver Island, Ms. Wilson is focused on incorporating traditional ways of being into her work within the resource sector and seeking to develop sustainable and credible partnerships within the communities that she works. Ms. Wilson has a comprehensive background in indigenous studies and public relations, alongside practical experience in the mineral resource sector. Having worked previously in the Yukon with the Yukon Mining Alliance, Ms. Wilson is excited about the opportunity to return to work in the Yukon and looking forward to reconnecting with the communities there.
Arctic Indigenous Investment Conference (AIIC)
The Metallic Group Community and First Nations Team will be attending the AIIC on May 4th & 5th in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Connecting globally – through a hybrid (in-person & virtual) experience – AIIC 2022 will highlight and promote indigenous development corporations and businesses in the northern economy, alongside the north’s business community and colleagues across sectors. The goals of AIIC 2022 are to support economic reconciliation and growth, and youth entrepreneurship by forging new and stronger relationships, advancing meaningful partnerships, and connecting people across the arctic. Indigenous development corporations and businesses play a key role across northern Canada. These efforts are supported when we stand together with a collaborative voice for business, northern investment and our citizens, to ensure a diverse and prosperous economy, community and future.
About the Metallic Group of Companies
The Metallic Group is a collaboration of leading precious and base metals exploration and development companies, with a portfolio of large, brownfields assets in established mining districts adjacent to some of the industry’s highest-grade producers of silver and gold, platinum and palladium, and copper. Member companies include Granite Creek Copper in the Yukon’s Minto copper district, Metallic Minerals in the Yukon’s high-grade Keno Hill silver district and La Plata silver-gold-copper district of Colorado, and Group Ten Metals in the Stillwater PGM-nickel-copper district of Montana and Kluane district in the Yukon. The founders and team members of the Metallic Group include highly successful explorationists formerly with some of the industry’s leading explorer/developers and major producers. With this expertise, the companies are undertaking a systematic approach to exploration and development using new models and technologies to facilitate discoveries in these proven, but under-explored, mining districts. Members of the Metallic Group have been recognized as recipients of awards for excellence in environmental stewardship demonstrating commitment to responsible resource development and appropriate ESG practices. The Metallic Group is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and its member companies are listed on the Toronto Venture, US OTCQB, and Frankfurt stock exchanges.
About Granite Creek Copper
Granite Creek, a member of the Metallic Group of Companies, is a Canadian exploration company focused on the 176 square kilometer Carmacks project in the Minto copper district of Canada’s Yukon Territory. The project is south of the high-grade Minto copper-gold mine, operated by Minto Metals Corp., and features a high-grade copper, gold and silver resource with excellent access to road, power and port infrastructure. More information about Granite Creek Copper can be viewed on the Company’s website at www.gcxcopper.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, May 3, 2022 – Millrock Resources Inc. (TSX-V: MRO, OTCQB: MLRKF) (“Millrock” or the “Company”) reports that Felix Gold (ASX: FXG, “Felix Gold” or “Felix”) has commenced drilling on the Treasure Creek gold project, which lies just north of the City of Fairbanks.
Felix indicates that it plans to drill 7,000 meters with a small reverse circulation drill rig. Millrock has assigned its Treasure Creek mineral rights to Felix Gold in return for cash, shares, and production royalties featuring advanced minimum royalty streams. Millrock owns 9,957,157 Felix Gold shares that today have a market value of approximately AUD$1,643,000 (CDN$1,495,000).
Millrock President & CEO Gregory Beischer commented: “The targets to be drilled by Felix Gold have a strong chance of successfully identifying a gold deposit. A new discovery here would propel the value of Millrock’s shareholding in Felix Gold and in return increase the value of Millrock shares. The project is certainly well-situated, about 20 kilometers north and west of Kinross’ Fort Knox gold mine, and 10 kilometers west of Freegold’s new discovery at Golden Summit. Alluvial gold deposits in gravels of Treasure Creek point to a bedrock source on the Felix Gold claims where large, strong soil geochemical anomalies are known from historical work and a major soil sampling program done in 2021. We will look forward to assay results from the current drilling program with great anticipation. Felix Gold has built an excellent exploration team and is well-capitalized. The team has a great chance of making discoveries and revealing the substantial potential for more major gold deposit discoveries in the Fairbanks gold mining camp. In my view, the potential in Fairbanks has been generally under-recognized by the industry. This has allowed Felix, through Millrock, to consolidate a tremendous land position. As a result of the agreement with Felix, Millrock is entitled to production royalties at Treasure Creek and throughout the Fairbanks district.”
Qualified Person The scientific and technical information disclosed within this document has been prepared, reviewed, and approved by Gregory A. Beischer, President, CEO, and a director of Millrock Resources. Mr. Beischer is a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101.
About Millrock Resources Inc. Millrock Resources Inc. is a premier project generator to the mining industry. Millrock identifies, packages, and operates large-scale projects for joint venture, thereby exposing its shareholders to the benefits of mineral discovery without the usual financial risk taken on by most exploration companies. The company is recognized as the premier generative explorer in Alaska, holds royalty interests in British Columbia, Canada, and Sonora State, Mexico, is a significant shareholder of junior explorer ArcWest Exploration Inc., and owns a large shareholding in each of Resolution Minerals Limited and Felix Gold Limited. Funding for drilling at Millrock’s exploration projects is primarily provided by its joint venture partners. Business partners of Millrock have included some of the leading names in the mining industry: EMX Royalty, Coeur Explorations, Centerra Gold, First Quantum, Teck, Kinross, Vale, Inmet, and Altius, as well as junior explorers Resolution, Riverside, PolarX, Felix Gold and Tocvan.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD “Gregory Beischer” Gregory Beischer, President & CEO
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Melanee Henderson, Investor Relations Toll-Free: 877-217-8978 | Local: 604-638-3164 Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
Some statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation) including without limitation the intention to perform further exploration on the Treasure Creek project. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 3, 2022 / Granite Creek Copper Ltd. (TSXV:GCX)(OTCQB:GCXXF) (“Granite Creek” or the “Company“) is pleased to announce that it has retained SGS to complete an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) on the Carmacks project. The PEA will use the 2022 Resource Estimate (Table 1), consisting of 36.2 million tonnes (Mt) in Measured and Indicated categories (M&I), grading 1.07% CuEq (0.81% Cu, 0.26g/t Au, 3.23g/t Ag and 0.011% Mo) for a total of 651 million pounds (Mlbs) of contained M&I copper and an additional 38 Mlbs Cu Inferred as the main input. Building off a 2017 PEA(1), the updated study will encompass the following:
Significant Increase in Contained Copper – The 2022 resource estimate marked a 43% increase in contained copper over the previous estimate referenced(2)
Inclusion of Sulphide Processing – As of the publication of the 2022 resource estimate the Carmacks project consists of roughly 50/50 sulfide and oxide resources by contained metal. The Company sees the inclusion of sulphide resources as a significant potential value driver having a positive impact on the economics of the project; and
High Proportion of Resources Modeled in Three Conceptual Open Pits – 96% of the 2022 resources are contained within the conceptual pits (Figure 1). With a high percentage of current resources reporting in conceptual pits the cash cost per pound of copper is expected to be significantly lower when compared to a similar sized underground operation.
Timothy Johnson, Granite Creek President & CEO, stated, “The launch of the updated Preliminary Economic Assessment study marks a major milestone in the development of the Carmacks deposit at a time when commodities demand is seeing rapid growth. The Carmacks project is well-positioned by its location, access to infrastructure, and proximity to the operating, high-grade Minto mine just to the north. Both copper and molybdenum have been deemed by the Canadian government to be ‘critical minerals‘ based on their role in the transition to a low-carbon economy which we expect will provide prolonged price strength well into the future. We look forward to continuing to bring positive news as we develop this high-grade copper project.”
Upcoming Events
OTC Markets Mining and Metals Virtual Conference – Tim Johnson, President & CEO, will present live at VirtualInvestorConferences.com on May 5th, 2022 at 10am PT | 1pm ET. To register, click here.
Vancouver Resource Investment Conference – Granite Creek Copper will join fellow members of the Metallic Group of Companies at the 2022 VRIC event at the Vancouver Convention Centre on May 17-18. Visit us in Booth 111.
2022 Technical Report Filing
Granite Creek also announces that further to its news release dated March 15, 2022 it has filed on SEDAR a National Instrument 43-101 technical report (the “Technical Report”) for the Carmacks project, located in the Yukon, Canada.
The report, entitled “Technical Report on the Updated Mineral Resource Estimates for the Carmacks Cu-Au-Ag Project Near Carmacks, Yukon, Canada”, has an effective date of February 25, 2022. The Technical Report was authored Allan Armitage Ph.D., P.Geo of SGS Geological Services(“SGS”) an independent Qualified Person and was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
The Technical Report is available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com and will also be available on the Company’s website at www.gcxcopper.com.
Table 1 – 2022 Carmacks Copper Project Mineral Resources
Granite Creek Copper Ltd., Tuesday, May 3, 2022, Press release picture
Cu=copper, Au=gold, Mo=molybdenum, Ag=silver, Mt=millions of tonnes, Mlbs=millions of pounds, klbs=thousands of pounds, koz=thousands of ounces. Mineral Resources are reported using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards. Mineral Resources are reported within a conceptual constraining pit shell that includes the following input parameters: Metal prices of $3.60/lb Cu, $1,750/Au, $22/oz Ag, $14/lb Mo and pit slope angles that vary from 35° for overburden to 55°for granodiorite host. Metal prices are in US$. Metallurgical recoveries reflective of prior test work that averages: 85% Cu, 85% Au, 65% Ag in the oxide domain and 90% Cu, 76% Au, 65% Ag in the sulphide domain. Mo recovery is assumed to be 70% in both oxide and sulphide domain. Tonnes are metric tonnes, with Cu and Mo grades as percentages and Au and Ag grades as gram per tonne units. Cu and Mo metal content is reported in lb and Au and Ag content is reported in troy oz. Totals and Metal content may not sum due to rounding and significant digits used in calculations. Cu Eq calculation is based on 100% recovery of all metals using the same metal prices used in the resource calculation: $3.60/lb Cu, $1,750/Au, $22/oz Ag, $14/lb Mo.
Figure 1 – Oblique view of 2022 resources and proposed pits (total strike length of 2,950 m)
Granite Creek Copper Ltd., Tuesday, May 3, 2022, Press release picture
Qualified Persons
The Carmacks project 2022 Resource Estimate was prepared by Allan Armitage, P.Geo., of SGS Geological Services, an independent Qualified Person, in accordance with the guidelines of the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) with an effective date of February 25, 2022. Armitage conducted a site visit to the property on November 9, 2021.
Ms. Debbie James, P.Geo., a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure not pertaining to the resource estimate contained in this news release. Ms. James is a Senior Geologist with TruePoint Exploration and a Project Manager at Carmacks.
1PEA: “NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report on the Carmacks Project, Yukon, Canada” Effective Date 12 October 2016. Report Date: 25 November 2016. SEDAR Filing Date: 9 February 2017
1News Release: “Copper North Expands Oxide Mineral resources at Carmacks” Published on SEDAR 9 April 2018.
About Granite Creek Copper
Granite Creek, a member of the Metallic Group of Companies, is a Canadian exploration company focused on the 176 square kilometer Carmacks project in the Minto copper district of Canada’s Yukon Territory. The project is on trend with the high-grade Minto copper-gold mine, operated by Minto Metals Corp., to the north, and features excellent access to infrastructure with the nearby paved Yukon Highway 2, along with grid power within 12 km. More information about Granite Creek Copper can be viewed on the Company’s website at www.gcxcopper.com.
This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, historic production, estimation of mineral resources, the realization of mineral resource estimates, interpretation of prior exploration and potential exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, the timing and results of future resource estimates, permitting time lines, metal prices and currency exchange rates, availability of capital, government regulation of exploration operations, environmental risks, reclamation, title, and future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Granite Creek Copper believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the companies with securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Granite Creek Copper and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review their annual filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 28, 2022 / Sandy MacDougall, CEO of Noram Lithium Corp. (“Noram” or the “Company“) (TSXV:NRM)(OTCQB:NRVTF)(Frankfurt:N7R) is pleased to report that the Company has completed hole CVZ-74 (PH-07) on its Zeus lithium clay deposit in Nevada to a total depth of 558.0ft (170.1 m). Visual inspection of the core confirmed that clays previously shown to be high in lithium grades appeared at approximately 126.0 ft (38.4 m) and extended down to total depth of 478.0 ft (145.7 m) for a total intersection of approximately 352.0 ft (107.3 m). Variously colored mudstones, which may also contain high lithium levels were logged down to the hole’s total depth of 558.0 ft (170.1 m).
Noram Lithium Corp., Thursday, April 28, 2022, Press release picture
Figure 1 – A photograph of the Titan Drilling Co. LF-70 drill rig onsite while drilling CVZ-74.
Noram Lithium Corp., Thursday, April 28, 2022, Press release picture
Figure 2 – Location of all past drill holes (Phase I to Phase V) previously completed in addition to the 12 proposed holes for Phase V1 currently underway. Phase VI holes are indicated in purple.
“The interval of potentially rich lithium clays in CVZ-74 appears to be one of the thickest we have encountered in all of our Clayton Valley drilling. Only the final assays will determine its true thickness and grade, but it is certainly in line lithologically with other nearby holes and is likely to be positive for the PFS” commented Brad Peek M.Sc. CPG., VP of Exploration and Qualified Person for this and all 5 of the previous drilling phases of Noram’s Zeus lithium property.
Noram Lithium Corp., Thursday, April 28, 2022, Press release picture
Figure 3. Comparative lithology for drill hole CVZ-74 as compared to CVZ-61 and CVZ-68, which were drilled as part of the Phase V program. CVZ-61 and CVZ-68 had long intercepts of high grade lithium. All of the lithology units except the brown mudstones have relatively high lithium concentrations in previous drill holes on the property. The histogram on the sides of CVZ-61 and CVZ-68 are the 5m composited lithium grades in ppm Li. The section has a 4X vertical exaggeration.
CVZ-74 is the fourth of the 12-hole Phase VI drilling program which is expected to upgrade approximately 175 million tonnes of the current 827 million tonne Inferred Resource to the Indicated category. Core samples from CVZ-74 have been shipped to ALS Laboratory in Reno, Nevada for assay processing. QA/QC samples have accompanied the samples as checks on the laboratory’s analyses. Assay results are pending.https://embed.fireplace.yahoo.com/embed?ctrl=Monalixa&m_id=monalixa&m_mode=document&site=sports&os=android&pageContext=%257B%2522ctopid%2522%253A%25221542500%253B1480989%253B1481489%2522%252C%2522hashtag%2522%253A%25221542500%253B1480989%253B1481489%2522%252C%2522wiki_topics%2522%253A%2522Nor-Am_Cup%253BClayton_Valley_Charter_High_School%253BLithium_carbonate%253BNevada%253BCompany%253BLithium%2522%252C%2522lmsid%2522%253A%2522a077000000LnOyOAAV%2522%252C%2522revsp%2522%253A%2522accesswire.ca%2522%252C%2522lpstaid%2522%253A%2522307fc2d9-29b6-3129-bc8e-8a860b04100f%2522%252C%2522pageContentType%2522%253A%2522story%2522%257D
The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Brad Peek., M.Sc., CPG, who is a Qualified Person with respect to Noram’s Clayton Valley Lithium Project as defined under National Instrument 43-101.
About Noram Lithium Corp.
Noram Lithium Corp. (TSXV:NRM | OTCQB:NRVTF | Frankfurt:N7R) is a well-financed Canadian based advanced Lithium development stage company with less than 90 million shares issued and a fully funded treasury. Noram is aggressively advancing its Zeus Lithium Project in Nevada from the development-stage level through the completion of a Pre-Feasibility Study in 2022.
The Company’s flagship asset is the Zeus Lithium Project (“Zeus”), located in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The Zeus Project contains a current 43-101 measured and indicated resource estimate* of 363 million tonnes grading 923 ppm lithium, and an inferred resource of 827 million tonnes grading 884 ppm lithium utilizing a 400 ppm Li cut-off. In December 2021, a robust PEA** indicated an After-Tax NPV(8) of US$1.3 Billion and IRR of 31% using US$9,500/tonne Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE). Using the LCE long term forecast of US$14,000/tonne, the PEA indicates an NPV (8%) of approximately US$2.6 Billion and an IRR of 52% at US$14,250/tonne LCE.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding, among other things, the completion transactions completed in the Agreement. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, regulatory approval processes. Although Noram believes that the assumptions used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, including that all necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained in a timely manner, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Noram disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. *Updated Lithium Mineral Resource Estimate, Zeus Project, Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada, USA (August 2021) **Preliminary Economic Assessment Zeus Project, ABH Engineering (December 2021).
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 27, 2022 / Group Ten Metals, Inc. (TSXV:PGE) (OTCQB:PGEZF) (FSE:5D32) (the “Company” or “Group Ten”) is very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Danie Grobler to the role of Vice-President, Exploration and Mr. Albie Brits to the role of Senior Geologist, as of May 1st, 2022. Dr. Grobler and Mr. Brits both have extensive senior level experience from more than two decades of advancing major deposits on the northern limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa including, most recently, at Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef PGE-Ni-Cu-Au mine, which is now in construction.
The addition of Dr. Grobler and Mr. Brits to the Group Ten Metals team is an important step in the advancement of the Company’s Stillwater West project as a major U.S.-based source of critical minerals – nickel, palladium, copper, cobalt, platinum, and rhodium – in Montana’s productive and famously metal-rich Stilllwater Igneous Complex. Their expertise in similar geologic models from the giant mines of South Africa’s Bushveld Igneous Complex is expected to drive expansion of Group Ten’s inaugural NI 43-101 resource estimates, announced October 2021, which delineated five deposits totaling 1.1 billion pounds of nickel, copper and cobalt and 2.4 million ounces of palladium, platinum, rhodium and gold in Platreef-style mineralization in the lower Stillwater Igneous Complex. All deposits are open for expansion at depth and along trend within the 12-kilometer core project area, and more broadly within earlier stage targets across the 32-kilometer span of the Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project.
Dr. Danie Grobler has more than 25 years of industry experience as an exploration and mine geologist including most recently as Head of Geology and Exploration for Ivanplats Pty Ltd (an Ivanhoe Mines company) where since 2011 he led the delineation and advancement of Ivanhoe’s world-class Platreef PGE-Ni-Cu mine on the northern limb of the Bushveld complex. Including previous experience as Project Manager at Platinum Group Metals’ at their project on the Bushveld’s northern limb, Dr. Grobler brings decades of senior level experience focused on the discovery and mining of battery and platinum group metals in ultramafic magmatic systems and has published numerous papers on Ivanhoe’s Flatreef deposit.
Dr. Danie Grobler commented, “The geological parallels between Stillwater West and the Platreef/Flatreef-type mineralized ore bodies in South Africa are truly exceptional. I am very enthusiastic to be joining the highly experienced Group Ten Metals team and am excited to be able to apply my extensive Bushveld and Platreef experience at Stillwater West, with a focus on expanding the recently announced mineral resource. Utilizing the wealth of exploration data available, our immediate goal will be to continue to identify and grow shallow, continuous high-grade Platreef-style PGE-Ni-Cu mineralization within the lower part of the Stillwater Igneous Complex.”
Mr. Albie Brits has more than 28 years focused on the advancement of projects from grassroots stage to advanced exploration and full-scale mining operations, starting at Gold Fields of South Africa and including, most recently, the role of Senior Geologist and Manager Project Geology for Ivanplats Pty Ltd (an Ivanhoe Mines company). Focused on exploration for platinum group and base metals on the northern limb of the Bushveld complex since 2001, Mr. Brits was part of the team that discovered Ivanhoe’s Flatreef deposit. He has extensive experience in the exploration of mafic-ultramafic magmatic systems and has presented and co-authored numerous papers on the Flatreef deposit.
Mr. Brits commented, “I am very excited to be joining Group Ten’s excellent Stillwater West team and looking forward to applying my experience developing geological and structural models for the feasibility study of the Platreef project to drive new success in Montana. The Stillwater district is truly world class and Stillwater West shows remarkable expansion potential based on the geologic similarities with the Bushveld complex.”https://embed.fireplace.yahoo.com/embed?ctrl=Monalixa&m_id=monalixa&m_mode=document&site=sports&os=android&pageContext=%257B%2522ctopid%2522%253A%25221542500%253B1577000%253B1480989%2522%252C%2522hashtag%2522%253A%25221542500%253B1577000%253B1480989%2522%252C%2522wiki_topics%2522%253A%2522Platinum_group%253BBushveld_Igneous_Complex%253BIvanhoe_Mines%253BStillwater_igneous_complex%253BMontana%253BExploration%253BSouth_Africa%253BNatural_resource%2522%252C%2522lmsid%2522%253A%2522a077000000LnOyOAAV%2522%252C%2522revsp%2522%253A%2522accesswire.ca%2522%252C%2522lpstaid%2522%253A%252231c0ceeb-bd8e-34f0-832d-e67ffef5ff62%2522%252C%2522pageContentType%2522%253A%2522story%2522%257D
Michael Rowley, President and CEO, commented, “Developments at the Stillwater Igneous Complex have generally paralleled those at the Bushveld Igneous Complex, highlighting their significant geologic similarities. For example, the discovery and large-scale production of platinum group metals from the high-grade Merensky reef deposit in the Bushveld preceded the discovery and mining of the high-grade J-M Reef deposit at Stillwater by many decades. The more recent development of the Platreef deposits, starting with Anglo American’s bulk mineable PGE-Ni-Cu Mogalakwena mines in 1993 and continuing today with Ivanhoe’s Platreef mine, have demonstrated the world-class nature of these bulk-tonnage, critical mineral systems within the Bushveld complex. Our recent discoveries of comparable bulk-tonnage Platreef-style systems at Stillwater West demonstrate the continuation of the geologic parallels between the systems and highlight the incredible potential value creation for Group Ten Metals.”
Mr. Rowley continued “The addition of two such renowned experts, literally among the very top globally in large-scale critical mineral systems, is a watershed moment in the advancement of the Stillwater West project. Their unique expertise and perspective, earned from decades of work on world-class systems in the Bushveld, will directly complement the knowledge of our existing team which has decades of experience in the Stillwater district. We look forward to further announcements including our 2022 exploration plans and further assay results from our 2021 resource expansion drill campaign in the very near term.”
Upcoming News and Events
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Live Webinar with Q&A
Group Ten will be hosting a live webinar on Wednesday, May 4th at 10am PT (1PM ET). To register click here or the thumbnail.
OTC Markets Metals and Mining Conference Virtual Conference
Michael Rowley will present on Thursday, May 5 at 10:30am PT (1:30PM ET). To register, click here.
About Stillwater West
Group Ten is advancing the Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project towards becoming a world-class source of low-carbon, sulphide-hosted nickel, copper, and cobalt, critical to the electrification movement, as well as platinum, palladium and rhodium used in catalytic converters, fuel cells, and the production of green hydrogen. Stillwater West positions Group Ten as the second-largest landholder in the Stillwater Complex, with a 100%-owned position adjoining and adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater’s PGE mines in south-central Montana, USA1. The Stillwater Complex is recognized as one of the top regions in the world for PGE-Ni-Cu-Co mineralization, alongside the Bushveld Complex and Great Dyke in southern Africa, which are similar layered intrusions. The J-M Reef, and other PGE-enriched sulphide horizons in the Stillwater Complex, share many similarities with the highly prolific Merensky and UG2 Reefs in the Bushveld Complex. Group Ten’s work in the lower Stillwater Complex has demonstrated the presence of large-scale disseminated and high-sulphide battery metals and PGE mineralization, similar to the Platreef in the Bushveld Complex2. Drill campaigns by the Company, complemented by a substantial historic drill database, have delineated five deposits of Platreef-style mineralization across a core 12-kilometer span of the project, all of which are open for expansion into adjacent targets. Multiple earlier-stage Platreef-style and reef-type targets are also being advanced across the remainder of the 32-kilometer length of the project based on strong correlations seen in soil and rock geochemistry, geophysical surveys, geologic mapping, and drilling.
About Group Ten Metals Inc.
Group Ten Metals Inc. is a TSX-V-listed Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the development of high-quality platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, cobalt, and gold exploration assets in top North American mining jurisdictions. The Company’s core asset is the Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater’s high-grade PGE mines in Montana, USA. Group Ten also holds the high-grade Black Lake-Drayton Gold project adjacent to Treasury Metals’ development-stage Goliath Gold Complex in northwest Ontario, and the Kluane PGE-Ni-Cu-Co project on trend with Nickel Creek Platinum‘s Wellgreen deposit in Canada‘s Yukon Territory.
About the Metallic Group of Companies
The Metallic Group is a collaboration of leading precious and base metals exploration companies, with a portfolio of large, brownfield assets in established mining districts adjacent to some of the industry’s highest-grade producers of silver and gold, platinum and palladium, and copper. Member companies include Metallic Minerals in the Yukon’s high-grade Keno Hill silver district and La Plata silver-gold-copper district of Colorado, Group Ten Metals in the Stillwater PGM-nickel-copper district of Montana, and Granite Creek Copper in the Yukon’s Minto copper district. The founders and team members of the Metallic Group include highly successful explorationists formerly with some of the industry’s leading explorers/developers and major producers. With this expertise, the companies are undertaking a systematic approach to exploration using new models and technologies to facilitate discoveries in these proven, but under-explored, mining districts. The Metallic Group is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and its member companies are listed on the Toronto Venture, US OTC, and Frankfurt stock exchanges.
Note 1: References to adjoining properties are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of the exploration potential, extent or nature of mineralization or potential future results of the Company’s projects.
Note 2: Magmatic Ore Deposits in Layered Intrusions-Descriptive Model for Reef-Type PGE and Contact-Type Cu-Ni-PGE Deposits, Michael Zientek, USGS Open-File Report 2012-1010.
Forward Looking Statements: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, historic production, estimation of mineral resources, the realization of mineral resource estimates, interpretation of prior exploration and potential exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, the timing and results of future resource estimates, permitting time lines, metal prices and currency exchange rates, availability of capital, government regulation of exploration operations, environmental risks, reclamation, title, and future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Group Ten believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the companies with securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Group Ten and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review their annual filings that are available on the company’s profile at www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 26, 2022 / Metallic Minerals (TSXV:MMG)(OTCQB:MMNGF) (“Metallic Minerals“, , or the “Company“) is pleased to announce the first National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) mineral resource estimate (the “2022 Resource Estimate”) on the Company’s La Plata project, which focuses on the central Allard copper-silver porphyry deposit. The Company acquired the project in 2019 and with confirmatory drilling and sampling has quickly generated a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate consisting of 115.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.39% copper equivalent (“Cu Eq”) (0.35% Cu and 4.02 g/t Ag) using a 0.25% Cu Eq cut-off grade.
The Allard deposit remains open to significant expansion within the resource area. In addition, the greater La Plata silver-gold-copper project remains underexplored and open to new discoveries of both additional copper porphyry centers as well as high-grade epithermal silver and gold systems. A robust campaign of follow-up drilling and geophysical surveys is planned for the project in 2022 with the objective of expanding the 2022 Resource and advancing new targets.
Metallic Minerals Corp., Tuesday, April 26, 2022, Press release picture
Metallic Minerals will host a live webinar on Wednesday April 27th at 10am PT (1pm ET) to discuss the 2022 Resource, current activities, and upcoming plans for the La Plata and Keno Silver projects. To register, click here or the thumbnail.
Highlights
Inferred mineral resources at the Allard deposit total 889 million pounds of copper and 14.975 million ounces of silver in a constrained model with 115.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.39% Cu Eq (0.35% Cu and 4.02 g/t Ag) using a 0.25% Cu Eq cut-off grade (see Table 1).
The 2022 Resource Estimate area incorporates a single porphyry intrusive-hosted sulphide system that is drill defined over a kilometer (“km”) in length, 400 meters (m) in width and to a kilometer of vertical extent and remains open to expansion in all directions. The resource area shows strong spatial correlation with large-scale anomalies in geophysics and metal in soil values, providing a compelling basis for expansion of the 2022 Resource Estimate and for potential new discoveries in future drill campaigns.
The 2022 Resource Estimate was completed by SGS Geological Services (“SGS”) and is based on 56 diamond core drill holes, totalling 15,200 meters completed by Rio Tinto, Freeport and others along with new drilling and underground sampling by Metallic Minerals.
Exploration activities by Metallic Minerals in 2020 and 2021 included 1,980 meters of core drilling, resampling of historical drill core, underground sampling from the Allard deposit, airborne and ground-based geophysics and surface sampling across the broader property.
Drilling highlights at the Allard porphyry system include 395 m grading 0.57% copper equivalent (0.51% Cu, 6.3 g/t Ag and 0.017 g/t Au) in LP-03, and 854 m at 0.26% Cu, including 254 m grading 0.41% Cu, in drill hole LP-01. Both drill holes started and ended in mineralization (see Figure 1).
In addition to the 2022 Resource Estimate, which remains fully open to expansion at depth and along strike, 16 untested potential porphyry centers have been identified on the greater La Plata project area, as well as target areas with potential for significant high-grade epithermal silver and gold.
Scott Petsel, Metallic Minerals’ President, states, “This inaugural resource is a major milestone for Metallic Minerals and the La Plata project and puts us on the map in the U.S. with a new resource containing important base and precious metals, that fall under the US government’s critical minerals strategy, in a past-producing yet underexplored district in the southwestern U.S. With 15 million ounces of silver and nearly a billion pounds of copper, at recent metal prices of over $25/oz silver and $4.50/lb copper, the Company has demonstrated the exceptional value opportunity of the La Plata project for Metallic Minerals shareholders.”
Mr. Petsel continued, “We feel this is just the start for us at La Plata and it validates our strategy of identifying and acquiring high-quality district-scale assets during lows in the metal price cycle and applying modern, systematic exploration techniques as a means of value creation. This is also the process we are seeing to fruition at our high-grade Keno Silver property in the Yukon, Canada. Work at La Plata in 2022 will focus on expanding this new resource and testing new priority target areas for porphyry and high-grade silver and gold mineralization.”
The 2022 Resource Estimate will be incorporated into an NI 43-101-compliant technical report for the La Plata project which will be available within 45 days.
Table 1 – La Plata Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate at a Base Case Cut-off Grade of 0.25% CuEq with Grade and Contained Metal Sensitivity Analysis at Various CuEq Cut-off Grades.
Class
CuEq (%)
Tonnes
Cu
Ag
CuEq (%)
Cut-off
Grade (%)
Mlbs
Grade (g/t)
Ounces
Grade (%)
Mlbs
Inferred
0.15
151,327,000
0.31
1,040
3.68
17,888,000
0.35
1,154
Inferred
0.2
142,378,000
0.32
1,008
3.77
17,273,000
0.36
1,118
Inferred
0.25
115,731,000
0.35
889
4.02
14,975,000
0.39
985
Inferred
0.3
86,986,000
0.38
733
4.31
12,056,000
0.42
810
Inferred
0.35
60,752,000
0.42
565
4.61
9,000,000
0.46
622
The 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate has been estimated in conformity with CIM Estimation of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Best Practices Guidelines (2019) and current CIM Definition Standards – For Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (2014). The constrained Mineral Resources are reported at a base case cut-off grade of 0.25% CuEq, based on metal prices of $3.60/lb Cu and $22.50/oz Ag, assumed metal recoveries of 90% for Cu and 65% for Ag, a mining cost of US$5.30/t rock and processing and G&A cost of US$11.50/t mineralized material. Cu Eq calculations are based on 100% recovery of all metals using the same metal prices used for the resource calculation. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate.
The current Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources in this Mineral Resource Estimate are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Resources as Indicated or Measured. However, based on the current knowledge of the deposits, it is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration.
Figure 1 – La Plata Cross Section with Significant Drill Intervals and Mineralized Grade Shells
Metallic Minerals Corp., Tuesday, April 26, 2022, Press release picture
Sensitivity Analysis
In addition to the base case scenario at an economic cut-off grade of 0.25% Cu Eq, a sensitivity analysis is provided in Table 1 above, which demonstrates the variation in grade, tonnage and contained metal for the 2022 Resource Estimate at various cut-off grades. Different cut-off grades may be employed depending on variations in prevailing metal prices and mining costs.
Project Review and Exploration Update
The road accessible La Plata project covers 33 km2 approximately 26 km northwest of Durango, Colorado within the historic high-grade La Plata mining district located at the southwest end of the prolific Colorado Mineral Belt. Mineralization is related to a large-scale precious-metals-rich porphyry copper system with associated high-grade silver and gold epithermal vein and replacement deposits.
The La Plata district has a long and rich history of mining with the first silver deposits discovered in the 1700s by Spanish explorers. High-grade silver and gold production has been documented from the 1870s through the early 1940s from vein structures, replacement bodies and breccia zones at over 90 individual mines and prospects1. Historical production from some of these high-grade structures exceeded 1,000 grams per tonne (“g/t”) silver and over 15 g/t gold with some of the richest deposits delivering true bonanza grades for silver and gold.
From the 1950s to 1970s, major miners including Rio Tinto (Bear Creek) and Freeport-McMoRan (Phelps Dodge) explored in the La Plata district focusing on the significant potential for bulk-tonnage disseminated and stockwork hosted mineralization2. Freeport-McMoRan retained ownership of claims in the district until 2002 when they sold their holdings to the current underlying vendors during the lows of the last metal price cycle.
A total of 56 drill holes, totaling 15,200 m, have been drilled on the property since the 1950s which confirms the presence of a large-scale, multi-phase porphyry system with significant silver, gold and copper. This large-scale mineralized system is associated with a 10 km2, strong magnetic signature with intense hydrothermal alteration mapped in satellite based multispectral imaging.
The new 2022 Resource Estimate, at the Allard deposit, covers a relatively small part of the overall 33 km2 property. The deposit is steeply dipping and roughly tabular in shape, occurring over 1 km in length, 400 m in width with over 1 km in vertical extent based on drilling to date. The Allard deposit remains open to expansion in all directions.
The Allard deposit is a significant potential source of copper and silver, both important metals for the modernization and electrification of the economy. In addition, the broader La Plata property is known for Critical Minerals also important for the green energy revolution2. The resampling of hole 95-1 during the 2021 field season returned significant platinum and palladium assays (0.14 g/t platinum and 0.10 g/t palladium) associated with the Copper Hill target area east of the Allard resource area and corroborated historic accounts of its presence. Tellurium, another element on the critical mineral list, was a by-product of historic high-grade gold and silver production in the district. These and other important metals noted in the district will be evaluated as part of ongoing exploration of the project.
Work during the 2021 field season focused on the Allard target area with the completion 1,980 m of confirmation drilling, resampling of historical core and the resampling of the underground adit. Metallic Minerals is the first Company to complete significant exploration on the La Plata project in 50 years. Since acquisition, the Company has systematically explored the project by employing an array of modern exploration techniques. Through this work the Company has identified new high-grade epithermal-style targets and over 16 potential porphyry style mineralized zones across the broader property including at the adjacent Copper Hill target area, 1 km from the Allard deposit.
Planning for exploration work in 2022 is currently underway with a focus on resource expansion drilling, geophysics, and follow-up exploration on newly identified porphyry and high-grade silver and gold targets.
Estimation Methodology and Parameters
Completion of the 2022 Resource Estimate involved the assessment of a drill hole database, which included all data for surface and underground sampling completed through the fall of 2021, as well as a three-dimensional (“3D”) mineral resource model, a topographic surface model, models of the underground workings and underground channel samples, and available written reports. SGS used 56 drillholes and 15,200 m of drill data from 1959 to 2021 to delineate the Allard deposit in the 2022 Resource Estimate. All drill data and underground sampling completed by Metallic Minerals in 2021 were included in the 2022 Resource Estimate.
Inverse Distance squared restricted to a relevant underground mining mineralized domain was used to Interpolate grades for the main elements of interest including Cu (ppm) and Ag (g/t) into a block model. Composites of 3.05 m were used for the resource estimation with a 5 x 5 x 5-meter block size. A fixed specific gravity value of 2.65 g/cm3 is used to estimate the Mineral Resource tonnage from the block model volume and for waste density. While gold is seen associated with copper and silver in the deposit, historic assays for gold were limited and as such were not included in the estimate.
The mineral resources are presented undiluted and in situ (no minimum thickness), constrained by a continuous 3D wireframe model, and are considered to have reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. Based on a review of the project location and size, geometry and continuity of mineralization of the La Plata deposit, and its spatial distribution, it is envisioned that the La Plata deposit may be mined using a large-scale underground bulk mining method.
The base case cut-off grade of 0.25 % Cu Eq has been used to define Inferred underground resources on the La Plata deposits using bulk underground mining costs of US$5.30/tonne, US$11.50/tonne processing and G&A costs and assumed processing recoveries of 90% for Cu, 65% for Ag at long term metal prices of $3.60/lb Cu and $22.50/oz Ag. The constrained 2022 Resource Estimate grade blocks were quantified above the base case cut-off grade. At this base case economic cut-off grade the deposit shows good geologic and grade continuity.
The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Inferred Mineral Resource will be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource as a result of continued exploration.
About SGS Geological Services
SGS Geological Services has an experienced and respected mining team focused on the domestic and international mining industry. The team has considerable experience in estimation and modeling of deposits of all types and practical and theoretical experience having realized hundreds of assessments for clients. The SGS team consists of a multi-disciplinary group of qualified persons with a strong understanding of the disclosure requirements for Mineral Resources set out in the NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (2016), CIM Definition Standards – For Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (2014) and a strong understanding of the CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines 2019.
About Metallic Minerals
Metallic Minerals Corp. is a growth-stage exploration Company, focused on high-grade silver and gold projects in underexplored, brownfields mining districts of North America. Our objective is to create shareholder value through a systematic, entrepreneurial approach to exploration in the Keno Hill silver district, La Plata silver-gold-copper district, and Klondike gold district through new discoveries and advancing resources to development. Metallic Minerals has consolidated the second-largest land position in the historic Keno Hill silver district of Canada’s Yukon Territory, directly adjacent to Alexco Resource Corp’s operations, with more than 300 million ounces of high-grade silver in past production and current M&I resources. In addition, exploration at the recently acquired La Plata silver-gold-copper project in southwestern Colorado is targeting a silver and gold-enriched copper porphyry and adjacent high-grade silver and gold epithermal systems. The Company also continues to add new production royalty leases on its holdings in the Klondike gold district in the Yukon. All three districts have seen significant mineral production and have existing infrastructure, including power and road access. Metallic Minerals is led by a team with a track record of discovery and exploration success on several major precious and base metal deposits, as well as having large-scale development, permitting and project financing expertise.
About the Metallic Group of Companies
The Metallic Group is a collaboration of leading precious and base metals exploration companies, with a portfolio of large, brownfields assets in established mining districts adjacent to some of the industry’s highest-grade producers of silver and gold, platinum and palladium, and copper. Member companies include Metallic Minerals in the Yukon’s high-grade Keno Hill silver district and La Plata silver-gold-copper district of Colorado, Group Ten Metals in the Stillwater PGM-nickel-copper district of Montana, and Granite Creek Copper in the Yukon’s Minto copper district. The founders and team members of the Metallic Group include highly successful explorationists formerly with some of the industry’s leading explorer/developers and major producers. With this expertise, the companies are undertaking a systematic approach to exploration using new models and technologies to facilitate discoveries in these proven, but under-explored, mining districts. The Metallic Group is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and its member companies are listed on the Toronto Venture, US OTCQB, and Frankfurt stock exchanges.
1) Eckel, USGS Prof Paper 219, Geology and Ore Deposits of the La Plata Mining District, 1949; 2) Bear Creek Mining (now Rio Tinto), Humble Oil (now Exxon) and Phelps Dodge (now Freeport-McMoRan) company reports; 3) Christoffersen, Geological report on the Allard Copper-Silver-Gold-PGM deposit, La Plata Mining District, Durango, Colorado, 2005.
2) The US Geological Survey has released a list of 50 critical minerals that the USA economy requires for economic and national security.
Qualified Persons
The La Plata copper-silver project 2022 mineral resource estimate was prepared by Allan Armitage, P. Geo., of SGS Geological Services, an independent Qualified Person, in accordance with the guidelines of the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) with an effective date of October 7, 2021. Armitage conducted a site visit to the property on August 13, 2021. Jeff Cary, CPG, a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure not pertaining to the resource estimate contained in this news release. Mr. Cary is a Senior Geologist and La Plata Project Manager for Metallic Minerals.
Quality Control and Quality Assurance
Quality assurance and quality control procedures for drilling completed by the Company and consultants to the Company in 2021 include the systematic insertion of duplicate, blank and standard samples, making up 12% of the sample stream. Drill core samples were sawn in half, labelled, placed in sealed bags and shipped directly to the Bureau Veritas preparation laboratory in their Sparks, Nevada facility and analyzed at the Burnaby, B.C. facility. All samples were analyzed using a 30 g multi-acid digestion with an ICP-ES/MS analysis. Samples with over limit gold, platinum or palladium were re-analyzed using a 30-gram fire assay fusion with an ICP-ES analysis. Over-limit copper and silver samples were analyzed by multi-acid digestion and atomic absorption spectrometry analysis. All results have passed the QAQC screening by the lab and the Company utilized a quality control and quality assurance protocol for the project, including blank, duplicate and standard reference samples.
Forward-Looking Statements
Forward Looking Statements: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, historic production, estimation of mineral resources, the realization of mineral resource estimates, interpretation of prior exploration and potential exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, the timing and results of future resource estimates, permitting time lines, metal prices and currency exchange rates, availability of capital, government regulation of exploration operations, environmental risks, reclamation, title, and future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Metallic Minerals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the companies with securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Metallic Minerals and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review their annual filings that are available at www.sedar.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
