Category: Base Metals

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Base Metals Energy Exclusive Interviews Junior Mining

Hot Chili Limited – Developing a Tier 1 Asset- Attracting a Tier 1 Investor

Maurice Jackson

Joining us for a conversation is Christian Easterday, the CEO of Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH | OTCQB: HHLKF).  It’s a pleasure to be speaking with you sir, Hot Chili Limited is having, simply put, a banner year, as throughout the year it’s been one success after another as Hot Chili has released a string of successful press releases to advance the massive Cortadera Copper-Gold Project. Before we delve into the exciting news you have for current and prospective shareholders, Mr. Easterday, please introduce us to Hot Chili Limited and the opportunity the company presents to the market.

Christian Easterday:

Well, it’s been a very exciting time, not just in the copper space, but for Hot Chili, as we really transform ourselves from a corporate exploration company on the coastline of Chile to a full-fledged very significant copper developer and now very pleased to be welcoming Glencore as our largest shareholder through their participation in our recent $40 million capital raising, which was just announced during the week.

Christian Easterday:

None of this has been possible without the string of successes that we’ve had at a world-class Cortadera porphyry discovery on the coastline, which has allowed us to consolidate a major copper development hub sitting on the Pan-American highway right next to a port 600 kilometers north of Santiago in Chile. We are certainly hitting our straps after announcing our maiden resource last year, where I did my last interview with you Maurice, we now have some three-quarters of a billion tonnes at about half a percent copper equivalent in open-pit and underground resource space.

Christian Easterday:

And that Cortadera discovery, which is one of only two major copper discoveries that the world has seen since 2014 is seeing some significant growth in our drilling. And we’ve been able to put out some further world-class intercepts as we expand that resource base, and look to take our combined asset to over a billion tons. And hopefully, we’ll be looking to put that out later in the year.

Maurice Jackson:

Sounds exciting, sir. You referenced the $40 million funding. Can you go through the details for us on this landmark transaction, along with your new strategic partner Glencore Resources?

Christian Easterday:

We have been very busy in staging the next steps for Hot Chili, as we seek to align ourselves with the rest of the copper porphyry developers in the America’s. Currently, we’re the only major copper porphyry player that is not listed on the TSX and TSX.V and we’re looking to, dual list, the company in the coming months over on the TSX.V in Canada. So, a very exciting time as we transform the company and look to align to a set of copper developers, which are seeing market capitalizations in the range of $500 million to $1.4 billion with some of the leaders over there in Canada being Filo Mining, Solaris, SolGold and several resources that they control, obviously Hot Chili’s resource bases is comparing extremely favorably.

Christian Easterday:

We see a real value gap that exists with the only non-TSX/TSX.V player in our peer space.  The $40 million capital raising that we’ve just completed was well supported out of Australia and also overseas with significant support seen from North America. But most importantly, when we put that capital raising together, that was all about taking our last real key milestone, which is the purchase of Cortadera itself. We had one remaining payment that was due in one year of $15 million U.S. or roughly $20 million Australian. And the asset has grown so rapidly and was really sitting on a world-class discovery here that there was significant interest in taking out that final ownership payment, which we’ll be making immediately, and once we close this raising in the coming week or two. So that’s some color on the reason for the raising outside of the purchase of Cortadera, the rest of the money is going in to continue our aggressive resource growth drilling program.

Christian Easterday:

And also now to start stepping out and start testing some very exciting growth potential in what looks like an opportunity to unlock a cluster of high-grade porphyry targets in and around our two key assets at Productora and Cortadera.  Part of this raising as you well said, we’ve now attracted the support of one of the largest mining companies in the world in Glencore. And they’re, as is being announced, they’re coming in now as a 9.99% shareholder in Hot Chili, which will make them the largest shareholder in Hot Chili. And we’ll be shortly welcoming their support with a board member coming on to Hot Chili’s board technical steering committee. This will allow us to tap in and utilize that strong capability and experience of Glencore in developing large-scale copper assets in jurisdictions, such as Chile.

Christian Easterday:

And I’m looking forward to the new relationship and our new large shareholder in Glencore. They’ve certainly given the company a significant endorsement of our assets. Effectively, the due diligence by the world has just been completed by one of the largest copper producers in the world, one of the largest mining companies in the world, and a really key aspect of that is where we’re looking forward to negotiating over the coming months, which is an off-take arrangement for the first eight years of our targeted 25 to 30-year mine life that we’re trying to build out on the coastline. That will be for about 60% of the off-take out of our combined Costa Fuego project. And we really look at that as a significant de-risker for the company in terms of actually having a partner there to take a benchmark component on the pricing of our offtake. We view this a strong hedging position. The company is putting in place with the largest global trader of copper concentrates. And now our largest shareholder.

Maurice Jackson:

Having Glencore as a strategic partner is a big, big feather in your cap and puts Hot Chili in the driver’s seat. I would say on the Autobahn, you’ve really, you’ve done several things here for shareholders. That, and again, just this off-take, it’s something that may be minor when you look at all the successes here, but that off-take agreement as well is just another strategic step. And it just demonstrates the business acumen and the leadership here. And I have to just give you a big kudos, sir. Switching gears, let’s look at some numbers. Please provide us the capital structure for Hot Chili Limited.

Christian Easterday:

Look at the moment. Our pre-capital structure was about 3.1 billion shares. We’ll come over the 4 billion mark after this raise, where we have about 1.1 billion shares that we’ll be issuing to Glencore and to other institutional investors. We’ve also been able to give the shareholders a Hot Chili, a slice of the capital rising at 3.2 cents. And I suppose that’s sort of something really important from the board that we wanted all of the shareholders to be able to participate at the same level of investment that Glencore and the institutional investors are coming in at. And that’s certainly seen a very good response day one, day two, day three in the market over here in Australia. We’ve not just a raising that an 11% discount to our closing price pre capital rising, but we’ve been able to get the stock to have a very positive lift after that announcement.

Christian Easterday:

We’re trading at around 40% or 50% higher than the issue price for the rising. We are very pleased to be able to allow all of our shareholders to participate in a share purchase plan. We now have a firm opportunity to rewrite Hot Chili into the billion-dollar-plus market capitalization space. And we believe that we can do that in short order, particularly with our realignment now, and being able to take Hot Chili into the North American market with a dual listing on the TSX/TSX.V and to be able to compare ourselves very favorably with some of the names I’ve mentioned, the Oracles, the Filos, the Solaris’, which have seen spectacular increases in their share prices in association with the lifting copper price environment.

Christian Easterday:

When you have a copper price environment over $4 per pound, and you have an upper-tier copper asset that is rapidly approaching a tier-one asset, and there’s very few of those available in the world to be able to leverage that value and to be able to come into a dual listing and now with Glencore on our register. We believe that we have a significant rewrite ahead of the company. And now the ability in the market’s eyes to be able to execute and transition Hot Chili into a large scale or major copper producer.

Maurice Jackson:

In closing, sir, what would you like to say to shareholders?

Christian Easterday:

I’d like to thank all of our shareholders for ensuring that Hot Chili was one of the survivors of the last downturn in copper, to support our vision, to build out a new copper player of substance globally with the project that we’re positioning in the plus 100,000 tonne per annum, copper production space. Very few of those available in a world where there’s very few major copper discoveries being made.

Christian Easterday:

Now our shareholders, undoubtedly, will start to reap the rewards of what has been a 13 year vision by myself and our founders to build out something that you don’t see very often. And the last time the Australian stock market had anything in this space was, of course, Equinox resources. And we all know knew that a real key element in the rewrite of that company from a $400 million company to a $7.2 billion takeover was their ability to be able to transition into production. And most importantly was to be able to position Equinox into the north American markets at the right time.

Christian Easterday:

They did that in the last copper cycle, and they were able to extract that significant rewrite in valuation. And we were simply following a very well-worn path that has already been done before.

Maurice Jackson:

Last question, sir, what did I forget to ask?

Christian Easterday:

I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time for further questions down the road, Maurice. We’ve got some pretty exciting drilling results coming out of our expansion program that we’ll now be able to start getting out to market now that I’m out of a blackout period following about four or five weeks of no sleep completing the transaction that we’ve just announced.

Christian Easterday:

But most importantly, we’ve got a lot of very exciting news flow in the lead up to our dual listing in the TSX.V, which is scheduled for around late October, and then shortly to follow that hopefully a significant upgrade at our Cortadera porphyry discovery and Chili.

Maurice Jackson:

Mr. Easterday, it’s been an absolute delight to speak with you today, wishing you and Hot Chili Limited the absolute best, sir.

And as a reminder, I am a licensed representative to buy and sell precious metals through Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments, where we have several options to expand your precious metals portfolio, from physical delivery of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium, to offshore depositories, and precious metals IRA’s. Give me a call at 855.505.1900 or you may email: Maurice@MilesFranklin.com.  Finally, please subscribe to www.provenandprobable.com, where we provide: Mining Insights and Bullion Sales, subscription is free.

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Base Metals Energy Junior Mining

Nevada Copper Announces Filing of Q2 2021 Financial Statements and MD&A, Operational Update and Management Change

YERINGTON, Nev., Aug. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nevada Copper Corp. (TSX: NCU) (OTC: NEVDF) (“Nevada Copper” or the “Company”) today provided an operations update and announced filing of its Q2 2021 financial statements and the related management’s discussion and analysis.

Operations Update

  • Mining of First Stope: During Q2 2021 the Company successfully mined approximately 9,500 tons at a grade of 1.5% Cu out of the first stope mined since the restart of the mine in the East South area. Tons mined and ore breakage was consistent with the plan, indicating that the mining method was appropriate for the ground conditions where the stope is located, although mining of the stope was later than originally planned. Subsequently, the stope was successfully back-filled and the Company is now preparing to mine the next stope in the East South area.
  • Mine Infrastructure: Mine infrastructure works were further advanced during the quarter albeit slower than expected, including the final two sets of underground fans installed and commissioned as planned in Q2 2021, allowing for an increase in development rates. Commissioning of the surface ventilation fans continues to be planned for Q4 2021.
  • Material Hoisting: Following completion of the Main Shaft material handling system in Q4 2020, the Underground Mine achieved a peak daily hoisting rate of over 3,000 tons by February 2021 and has since achieved a hoisting rate equivalent to 5,000 tons per day (“tpd”) on a shift basis, demonstrating capacity of the shaft and associated materials handling system. Due to slower development rates in Q2 2021 through the water-bearing dike structure, the Company now expects to reach sustainable hoisting rates of 3,000 tpd in Q4 2021 and for hoisting rates to continue to ramp-up beyond that.
  • Lateral Development: Lateral development continued on multiple headings, providing access to ore mining zones in the East South orebody and advancing development towards the East North orebody. During the Q2 2021 the Company continued development of the East North area through a dike structure located between the East South and East North orebodies. A second heading crossing the dike is 90 feet below the first heading. Additional ground support was required to complete dike crossing and the Company is almost through the water-bearing dike structure.
  • Processing: The process plant maintained average concentrate grade over 21% along with 81% recoveries. While batch processing ore through the processing plant, the Company achieved a weekly average of 3,271 tpd. 87,211 tons of ore was processed through the concentrator in Q2 2021 with an average feed grade of 0.51%. Approximately 1,514 tons of concentrate was produced at a 21% average copper grade for Q2 2021. During June, Sedgman successfully completed C5 testing of the processing plant for grind size and moisture of concentrate and tailings.
  • Production ramp-up and Mine Planning: The Company continues to advance its mine planning process and has made revisions to the mine plan. The revised mine plan incorporates the recent experiences during mine development, including the geotechnical conditions of the East South area. In light of the impact of the water-bearing dike structure, expected equipment utilization rates and the remaining infrastructure projects to be completed the Company now expects that the Underground Mine will reach a hoisting rate of 3,000 tpd in Q4 2021 and 5,000 tpd in H1 2022.

Property Development Plans

  • Underground: The Company has progressed its life-of-mine planning aimed at operating its underground mine at an ultimate production rate in excess of the originally contemplated 5,000 tons per day rate. Mine planning work further supports the potential for the mine, once ramped-up to steady-state, to operate at higher long-term rates of 6,500 tons per day milled, increasing long-term annual copper production potential.
  • Open Pit: The Company reviewed its longer-term development targets for its Pumpkin Hollow property, including a solar power study, electrification and emissions reduction analysis, follow up work on scaling opportunities to improve economics and plans for infill and extension drilling.
  • Exploration: The Company plans to follow up on new exploration targets added through recent expansion of the Company’s properties to the east and analysis of geophysical surveys.

Corporate

  • Payroll Protection Program Loan (“PPP Loan”) Forgiveness: on August 6, 2021, the Company received confirmation for the approval of the forgiveness of the PPP Loan in the amount of $2.4 million. The loan was received in 2020 as part of a United States government COVID-19 pandemic program to assist companies to retain their employees.
  • KfW Credit Facility Amendment Discussions: On June 30, 2021, the Company received a waiver from KfW IPEX-Bank (“KfW”), the lender under its amended and restated senior credit agreement (the “Amended KfW Facility”), which provided for a 60-day extension to the project completion longstop date (the final date to meet the requirements of the project completion test under the Amended KfW Facility) (the “Project Longstop Date”) from June 30, 2021 to August 31, 2021. The Company has requested and expects to receive a further short-term extension of the Project Longstop Date from KfW. The Company is also in discussions with KfW to achieve a longer-term extension of the Project Longstop Date to a date in 2023, the deferral of debt servicing by twelve months and the temporary deferral of compliance with certain financial covenants under the Amended KfW Facility as the Underground Mine continues to ramp-up. The Company expects to have the short-term extension finalized in the next few weeks and the other proposed amendments finalized in the next few months. However, there can be no assurance that such extension and amendments will be finalized by such times or at all. Failure to finalize the extension or these amendments would result in the Company being in default under the Amended KfW Facility.
  • 2021 Promissory Notes: The Company received a loan of $15 million under a promissory note with Pala Investments Limited (“Pala”), the Company’s largest shareholder, in June 2021 (the “2021 Promissory Note”) providing additional liquidity for the ramp-up of the Underground Mine and addressing the reduced development rates associated with crossing the water-bearing dike structure. The 2021 Promissory Note has a maturity date of June 30, 2022, and bears interest at 8% per annum on amounts drawn. Subsequent to the end of Q2 2021, Pala agreed to provide the Company with additional loans of up to $27 million (of which $19 million has been received) pursuant to a series of amendments and restatements of the 2021 Promissory Note (the “Amended and Restated Promissory Note”) on the same terms and conditions as the original 2021 Promissory Note. Further draws by the Company are subject to agreed use of proceeds and regulatory approval of the Amended and Restated Promissory Note.
  • 2021 Credit Facility: On February 3, 2021, the Company entered a credit facility with Pala, for $15 million to be drawn by the Company (the “2021 Credit Facility”). The 2021 Credit Facility also provided $15 million under an accordion feature. The full $30 million has been drawn by the Company.

Senior Management Changes

Mike Ciricillo will be stepping down from the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective August 14, 2021.

Mike Brown will assume the role of Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Brown has been a non-executive director of Nevada Copper since 2013 and has over 35 years of underground and open pit mining experience, including as Chief Operating Officer of De Beers Consolidated Ltd., where he was responsible for five operating mines. Mr. Brown has also managed a number of major projects, including the $750 million Finsch block 4 project, the $1.3 billion Venetia underground feasibility study, and a $200 million construction and commissioning of the Voorspoed mine.

Mr. Ciricillo will continue to provide support at the Pumpkin Hollow site for a transition period.

“The board of directors would like to thank Mr. Ciricillo for his contributions to the Company, including execution on ramp-up of the Underground Mine, and look forward to his ongoing support,” stated Chairman Mr. Gill. “The board of directors is pleased to welcome Mr. Brown as interim President and CEO and look forward to his leadership in that role.”

Q2 2021 Financial Statements

The Company has filed on SEDAR its condensed interim financial statements and the related management’s discussion and analysis for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. These documents are available on the Company’s website at www.nevadacopper.com and the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Qualified Persons

The technical information and data in this news release was reviewed by Greg French, C.P.G., and Norm Bisson, P.Eng., 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.

NEVADA COPPER CORP.
www.nevadacopper.com

Mike Ciricillo, President and CEO

For further information contact:
Rich Matthews, Investor Relations
Integrous Communications
rmatthews@integcom.us
+1 604 757 7179

Cautionary Language

This news release includes certain statements and information that constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information specifically include, but are not limited to statements and information that relate to: Nevada Copper’s plans for the Project; negotiations with KfW regarding amendments to the Amended KfW Facility and waivers thereunder; the Company’s mine development, production and ramp-up plans and the expected timing, costs and results thereof; the need for additional funding; the resolution of hydrogeological issues; the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy and the Company; future ore and concentrate production rates; expected commencement of positive cash flow from operating activities; the ongoing exploration activities and the objectives and results thereof; and the other plans of Nevada Copper with respect to the exploration, development, construction and commercial production at the Underground Mine.

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 the COVID-19 pandemic 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 and penetrate the dike at the Underground Mine; failure to obtain extensions under and amendments to the Amended KfW Facility; 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; 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 Discussion and Analysis in respect of the year ended December 31, 2020 and in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Information Form dated March 18, 2021. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information contained herein are based upon assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including, without limitation: no adverse development in respect of the property 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 the COVID-19 pandemic in the medium-term and long-term; 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. Nevada Copper disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements or information except as required by law. Readers are referred to the additional information regarding Nevada Copper’s business contained in Nevada Copper’s reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada. 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 statements, there may be other factors that could cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. For more information on Nevada Copper and the risks and challenges of its business, investors should review Nevada Copper’s filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

Nevada Copper 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.

Categories
Base Metals Energy Junior Mining Project Generators

Millrock Enters Into Exploration Agreement Concerning Apex Gold Project, Southeast Alaska

August 12, 2021

Highlights

  • Millrock has executed an agreement with Coeur Explorations, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coeur Mining, Inc. concerning claims controlled by Millrock at the Apex gold project, located approximately 70 kilometers from Juneau in Southeast Alaska.
  • Coeur Explorations may exercise an option to earn a 100% interest in the claims through staged payments and exploration expenditures.
  • Upon earning 100% interest, a Net Smelter Returns royalty with an advanced minimum royalty provision and buyback option will be granted to Millrock.
  • Initial exploration is underway; drill permits have been approved.


VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, August 12, 2021 – Millrock Resources Inc. (TSX-V: MRO, OTCQB: MLRKF) (“Millrock” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Coeur Explorations, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coeur Mining, Inc. (“Coeur”), concerning the Apex gold project in Southeast Alaska. The project is located on Chichagoff Island, three kilometers north of the village of Pelican and 70 kilometers southwest of Juneau, Alaska.

 Millrock President & CEO Gregory Beischer commented: “We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Coeur Explorations and will work diligently with their exploration team to explore the claims. From historic documents, we know that high-grade gold ore was previously mined, but there has never been a single exploratory hole drilled. It seems likely that the known high-grade gold-bearing quartz veins will continue along strike and in the down-dip direction. The claims have been completely dormant since the 1980s. We’ll start with surface geochemical sampling and detailed structural mapping this year and look to drill in 2022.” 

The Apex project targets high-grade, mesothermal, gold-bearing quartz vein deposits. The claims cover the former-producing Apex and El Nido gold mines which operated intermittently from the 1920s through to the 1940s and reportedly produced approximately 34,000 ounces of gold by underground mining methods. Nearly 1,200 meters of workings on four levels were used to extract ore (United States Geological Survey Alaska Resource Data File). Ore was hand-cobbed and milled on site. Surface exploration was done by WGM Inc. in the 1980s, but no drilling was done and the property has been dormant since. Millrock secured an option on the core claim group in 2016 from Apex El Nido Gold Mines Inc. Subsequently, Millrock staked surrounding lands, compiled information, and secured drilling permits. At surface, above the caved portal to the Apex Mine, a swarm of quartz veins can be observed over a width of more than 200 meters. Within the swarm, four thicker veins were the subject of the historic mining efforts. Geological and geochemical features suggest the vein system has continuity along strike to the northeast beneath Cann Creek, toward the tidewater of Lisianski Inlet, two kilometers away. The gold-bearing vein system has never been drill tested along strike or below the historic workings.

Figure 1. Apex Gold Project Location Map
Figure 1. Apex Gold Project Location Map

Under the agreement, Millrock will assign its rights under the existing option agreement with Apex El Nido Gold Mines to Coeur Explorations. Coeur Explorations will be responsible for making cash payments and funding exploration expenditures to keep the option agreement with Apex El Nido Gold Mines in good standing. Millrock will execute exploration under a services agreement on behalf of Coeur. Coeur Explorations may determine not to proceed to exercise the option at any time, but if it makes all the payments and expenditures, it will vest with a 100% interest in the underlying claims. Upon exercising the option to purchase the Apex El Nido Gold Mine claims, Millrock will also transfer the claims it owns outright to Coeur Explorations, and the entire project will become subject to a net smelter returns (“NSR”) royalty in favour of Millrock. The royalty payable is a 2.5% NSR with an advanced minimum royalty (“AMR”) provision. Coeur Explorations may reduce the NSR to 1.0% by paying Millrock US$3.0 million. The initial AMR payment will be US$50,000 and will increase by US$50,000 annually until production occurs.  AMR payments are deductible from NSR payments. The property will revert to Millrock in the event that Coeur elects to discontinue AMR payments.

Typical of Southeast Alaska, the terrain is steep and challenging, as pictured in Figure 2. The former producing Apex and El Nido mine entries are at tree level, approximately 360 meters above sea level. A soil sampling crew has been mobilized to the project and is presently working out of accommodations in Pelican, using boat access. The goal of the program is to trace the mineralized structure and refine vein locations in anticipation of a 2022 drilling program.

Figure 2. Apex Gold Project Terrain
Figure 2. Apex Gold Project Terrain

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 Resolution Minerals 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: Coeur Explorations, EMX Royalty, Centerra Gold, First Quantum, Teck, Kinross, Vale, Inmet and, Altius as well as junior explorers Resolution, Riverside, PolarX, and Felix Gold.

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 mount further exploration including drilling in 2022. 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.

Categories
Base Metals Energy Junior Mining Project Generators

Skyharbour Receives $1.2 Million from Warrant Exercise and Partner Company Valor Announces Radiometrics Reveal New Anomalies at Hook Lake Project with On-Ground Work Underway


VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SYH) (OTCQB: SYHBF) (Frankfurt: SC1P) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that partner company Valor Resources Limited (“Valor”) has provided an update on results from the recently completed high-resolution airborne radiometric survey and the commencement of on-ground work at the Hook Lake Project (previously the North Falcon Point Project). The radiometric survey was completed in late July and covered the northeastern third of the Hook Lake Project including the Hook Lake/Zone S historical high-grade uranium occurrence. Numerous anomalies have been identified from the survey (see Figure 1 below). Total count radiometric anomalies were ranked with the highest priority anomalies being strongly correlated with the uranium channel count.

Hook Lake (Formally North Falcon Point) Project:
https://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/projects/Falcon-Point-Project.jpg

The survey was flown by Special Projects Inc. (“SPI”) from Calgary, Alberta who are considered an industry-leading provider of high-resolution airborne radiometric surveying. SPI flew the radiometric survey that delineated Fission Uranium’s PLS boulder field which eventually led to the discovery of the high-grade uranium Triple R deposit.

The Hook Lake Project consists of 16 contiguous mining claims covering 25,846 hectares, located 60 km east of the Key Lake Uranium Mine in northern Saskatchewan. Skyharbour signed a Definitive Agreement with Valor Resources on the Hook Lake Uranium Project whereby Valor can earn-in 80% of the Project through $3,500,000 in total exploration expenditures, $475,000 in total cash payments over three years and an initial share issuance of 233,333,333 shares of Valor.

Highlights:

Airborne Radiometric survey highlights several new targets:

North-western area identified as new area of interest with a cluster of Priority 1 and 2 anomalies

Several other Priority 1 and 2 anomalies identified away from known historical occurrences

Hook Lake/Zone S historical high-grade uranium occurrence confirmed as Priority 1 target

On-ground work underway to:

Follow up and confirm historical uranium occurrences

Follow up areas of interest from the recent Airborne magnetic and VLF-EM survey

Follow up anomalies identified in recently completed Radiometric Survey

Figure 1: Hook Lake Airborne Radiometrics Ternary Plot – Priority Anomalies
https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/20210805-Figure1.jpg

Of note is the cluster of Priority 1 and 2 anomalies identified in the northwest of the Project area where no uranium occurrences have previously been identified. The historical high-grade uranium occurrence at the Hook Lake (or Zone S) prospect was confirmed as a Priority 1 radiometric anomaly, with a Priority 2 anomaly located approximately 3km to the northeast along strike. There are additional Priority 1 and 2 anomalies away from known occurrences that require on-ground follow- up.

On-ground follow-up work has commenced which is being conducted by Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd. This work is focused on validating and developing the geological understanding of the historic uranium occurrences, such as the Hook Lake (or Zone S) prospect. The field crew will also follow-up on the new targets generated from the magnetic/VLF-EM survey completed in April and the priority anomalies identified from the recently completed airborne radiometric survey. A field crew supported by a helicopter is carrying out the field program over a period of 2-3 weeks.

About Hook Lake (previously North Falcon Point) Project:

Valor has the right to earn an 80% working interest in the Hook Lake Uranium Project located 60 km east of the Key Lake Uranium Mine in northern Saskatchewan. Covering 25,846 hectares, the 16 contiguous mineral claims host several prospective areas of uranium mineralization including:

Hook Lake / Zone S – High grade surface outcrop with reported grades in grab samples up to 68% U3O8; a bio-geochemical survey carried out over the trenches in 2015 responded positively with along-strike anomalies 2 km to the northeast

Nob Hill – Fracture-controlled vein-type uranium mineralization on surface outcrop with up to 0.130% – 0.141% U3O8 in grab samples; diamond drilling intersected anomalous uranium in several drill holes with values up to 422 ppm U over 0.5 m

West Way – Vein type U mineralization within a NE-trending shear zone; grab samples taken from the surface showing contained variable uranium values including up to 0.475% U3O8 and drilling of the structure intersected the altered shear zone at depth, along with anomalous Cu, Ni, Co, As, V, U, & Pb

Grid T – Fracture-hosted secondary uranium mineralization in sheared calc-silicates and marbles in a 100 m x 20 m zone of anomalous radioactivity with grab samples having up to 800 ppm U

Alexander Lake Boulder Field – 30 biotite-quartz-k-feldspar pegmatite boulders NE of Alexander Lake; the best results include 360 ppm U, 1,400 ppm U and 1,600 ppm U respectively

Thompson Lake Boulder Field – Numerous radioactive boulders and blocks of pegmatized meta-arkose, pegmatite, and granite; the best value obtained was 738 ppm U from a granite boulder

NE Alexander Lake – Several calc-silicate, plagioclase-quartz granulite, quartzite, and meta-arkose boulders with up to 4,800 ppm U, 7,600 ppm Mo and 1,220 ppm Ni

The Project area is in close proximity to two all-weather northern highways and grid power. Historical exploration has consisted of airborne and ground geophysics, multi-phased diamond drill campaigns, detailed geochemical sampling and surveys, and ground-based prospecting culminating in an extensive geological database for the Project area.

Warrant Exercises:

Skyharbour also announces that it has received an aggregate $1,204,713 from the exercise of share purchase warrants recently. A total of 4,461,900 warrants have been exercised since late June with a strike price of 27 cents with this batch of warrants expiring on August 10th. Skyharbour is fully funded for its ongoing and expanded drill program at its flagship Moore Lake Uranium Project with a total of over CAD $8.5 million in cash and in shares of partner companies. Partner companies Azincourt, Orano and Valor Resources are funding the bulk of the exploration programs at the Preston, East Preston and Hook Lake (previously North Falcon Point) Projects, respectively.

Qualified Person:

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Richard Kusmirski, P.Geo., M.Sc., Skyharbour’s Head Technical Advisor and a Director, as well as a Qualified Person.

About Valor Resources Ltd:

Valor Resources Limited (ASX: VAL) is an exploration company focused on creating shareholder value through acquisitions and exploration activities.

About Skyharbour Resources Ltd.:

Skyharbour holds an extensive portfolio of uranium exploration Projects in Canada’s Athabasca Basin and is well positioned to benefit from improving uranium market fundamentals with six drill-ready Projects covering over 240,000 hectares of land. Skyharbour has acquired from Denison Mines, a large strategic shareholder of the Company, a 100% interest in the Moore Uranium Project which is located 15 kilometres east of Denison’s Wheeler River Project and 39 kilometres south of Cameco’s McArthur River uranium mine. Moore is an advanced stage uranium exploration property with high grade uranium mineralization at the Maverick Zone that returned drill results of up to 6.0% U3O8 over 5.9 metres including 20.8% U3O8 over 1.5 metres at a vertical depth of 265 metres. The Company is actively advancing the Project through drill programs.

Skyharbour has a joint-venture with industry-leader Orano Canada Inc. at the Preston Project whereby Orano has earned a 51% interest in the Project through exploration expenditures and cash payments. Skyharbour now owns a 24.5% interest in the Project. Skyharbour also has a joint-venture with Azincourt Energy at the East Preston Project whereby Azincourt has earned a 70% interest in the Project through exploration expenditures, cash payments and share issuance. Skyharbour now owns a 15% interest in the Project. Preston and East Preston are large, geologically prospective properties proximal to Fission Uranium’s Triple R deposit as well as NexGen Energy’s Arrow deposit.

The Company also owns a 100% interest in the South Falcon Uranium Project on the eastern perimeter of the Basin, which contains a NI 43-101 inferred resource totaling 7.0 million pounds of U3O8 at 0.03% and 5.3 million pounds of ThO2 at 0.023%. Skyharbour has signed a Definitive Agreement with ASX-listed Valor Resources on the Hooke Lake (previously North Falcon Point) Uranium Project whereby Valor can earn-in 80% of the Project through $3,500,000 in total exploration expenditures, $475,000 in total cash payments over three years and an initial share issuance.

Skyharbour’s goal is to maximize shareholder value through new mineral discoveries, committed long-term partnerships, and the advancement of exploration Projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions.

Skyharbour’s Uranium Project Map in the Athabasca Basin:
http://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/SYH-Athabasca-Map.jpg

To find out more about Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SYH) visit the Company’s website at www.skyharbourltd.com.

SKYHARBOUR RESOURCES LTD.

“Jordan Trimble”

Jordan Trimble
President and CEO

For further information contact myself or:
Riley Trimble
Corporate Development and Communications
Skyharbour Resources Ltd.
Telephone: 604-687-3376
Toll Free: 800-567-8181
Facsimile: 604-687-3119
Email: info@skyharbourltd.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management 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. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.

Categories
Base Metals Breaking Energy Precious Metals

Millrock Provides Exploration Update For Alaska Gold Projects

August 5, 20212021

Highlights

Resolution Minerals Partnership – 64North Gold Project.

  • Resolution Minerals reported that it had received assay results from a recently completed, shallow, reverse circulation drilling program conducted at prospects within the East Pogo block of the 64North Gold Project near Pogo Mine.
  • No significant gold intersections were realized, but Resolution Minerals reports strong gold pathfinder element signatures in a target area measuring 1,600 meters by 2000 meters.
  • Resolution states that pathfinder results from drill hole 21EP008 indicate potential for gold at depth and that a follow-up deeper drilling program is warranted.

Felix Gold Partnership

  • Major soil sampling program continues: 2,000 samples collected to date.
  • Drill plans are being formulated.


VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, August 5, 2021 – Millrock Resources Inc. (TSX-V: MRO, OTCQB: MLRKF) (“Millrock” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on its exploration activities at its Goodpaster and Fairbanks gold district projects (Figure 1). 

Figure 1. Millrock gold project locations within the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska.
Figure 1. Millrock gold project locations within the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska.

Goodpaster District Projects

Millrock owns a 70% interest in a very large claim block surrounding the Pogo Mine in Alaska. Pogo is a high-grade gold mine operated by Northern Star Resources Ltd. The 64North claims, which are subdivided into eight different blocks, are the subject of an option agreement with Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX: RML, “Resolution”). Recently, a 30% interest was earned by Resolution by virtue of exploration expenditures plus cash and share payments made to Millrock in the first year of the project.

 

64North Gold Project – East Pogo block: Millrock partner Resolution has recently completed a drilling program at gold prospects located on the East Pogo block (Figure 2). A reverse circulation drill was used to test shallow, gently-dipping conductive zones detected in 2020 by ZTEM and CSAMT geophysical surveys. A total of 1,663 meters was drilled over 12 holes. Gently-dipping altered, graphitic zones with quartz and sulfides were reported in several holes. Assay results indicate only anomalous gold values. However, gold pathfinder elements detected indicate possible proximity to a gold-bearing vein system. At the nearby Pogo Mine, rocks close to the gold-bearing veins are enriched in the pathfinder elements bismuth, tellurium, sulfur, and arsenic. From the recent drilling at East Pogo, Resolution has identified a target area measuring 1,600 meters by 2,000 meters for follow-up, with a CSAMT conductive zone beneath. Drill hole 21EP008 intersected sericite and biotite alteration including minor quartz veining with strongly elevated geochemical pathfinder elements. The hole had a trend of increasing gold and alteration intensity over the last 50 meters drilled with sericite alteration present in the last few meters. This signifies potential for gold mineralization at greater depth, perhaps at the level of the CSAMT conductor. The hole unfortunately had to be terminated prior to reaching target depth. Resolution indicates it is considering drilling deeper with a core rig to test the CSAMT target below the geochemical anomaly detected through the shallow reverse circulation drilling program (Figure 3).

Figure 2. Reverse circulation drill rig in operation on the East Pogo block, 64North Gold Project,
Figure 2. Reverse circulation drill rig in operation on the East Pogo block, 64North Gold Project,
Figure 3. CSAMT Line 2 Cross Section on the East Pogo block, 64North Gold Project, Goodpaster District, Alaska.
Figure 3. CSAMT Line 2 Cross Section on the East Pogo block, 64North Gold Project, Goodpaster District, Alaska.

Fairbanks Gold District Projects

Millrock is in a strategic alliance agreement with Felix Gold Ltd. (“Felix Gold”), a private Australian company that intends to become a public company listed on the Australia Stock Exchange (“ASX”). Millrock is assigning its existing mineral rights in return for Felix Gold shares and royalty interests. Felix Gold is funding exploration work and paying the costs of acquiring claims by staking and by agreements with claim holders. All new properties within the strategic alliance Area of Interest become subject to royalties in favor of Millrock (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Blue shading indicates Millrock / Felix Gold mineral land holdings in the Fairbanks Gold District, Alaska.
Figure 4. Blue shading indicates Millrock / Felix Gold mineral land holdings in the Fairbanks Gold District, Alaska.

A major soil sampling program is well underway. To date, 2,000 soil samples have been collected across the claim holdings. The planned work will be completed at the end of August. Samples are being collected using a small auger Figure 5). The goal is to get uniform, modern soil sample coverage across the claims. Once the soil data is merged with all historic data which has been compiled in a database, drill targeting will be done.

Figure 5. Soil sampling team in action, Fairbanks Gold District, Alaska.
Figure 5. Soil sampling team in action, Fairbanks Gold District, Alaska.

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 Resolution Minerals 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, Centerra Gold, First Quantum, Teck, Kinross, Vale, Inmet and, Altius as well as junior explorers Resolution, Riverside, PolarX, and Felix Gold.

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 mount further exploration including drilling in 2021. 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.

Categories
Base Metals Breaking Emx Royalty Project Generators

EMX Royalty Files Amended and Restated Timok Project Technical Report on SEDAR

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – August 3, 2021) – EMX Royalty Corporation (NYSE American: EMX) (TSXV: EMX) (FSE: 6E9) (the “Company” or “EMX”) is pleased to announce the filing on SEDAR of an amended and restated Timok Project Technical Report entitled: “NI 43-101 Technical Report – Timok Copper-Gold Project Royalty, Serbia” dated July 21, 2021 and with an effective date of December 31, 2020 prepared by Mineral Resource Management LLC (“MRM”). The amended and restated Technical Report can be found under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com. EMX holds an uncapped 0.5% net smelter return (“NSR”) royalty on Timok’s Brestovać license, which covers the Čukaru Peki copper-gold development project. The Timok Project is controlled and being developed by Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd (“Zijin”).

The amended and restated Timok Technical Report: a) restates the Timok Project resources and reserves for the Upper Zone and the resources for the Lower Zone as adopted from public disclosures by Zijin, which is the current owner and operator of the Timok Project. Zijin’s Timok Project resources and reserves, disclosed in its 2020 Annual Report, have been conformed to the requirements of NI 43-101 and are materially identical to those of the previous operator Nevsun, which were referenced in the original Report; and b) removes the discussion of EMX’s Brestovać West and Durlan Potok royalty properties from the section of the original Report entitled “Adjacent Properties” to comply with the requirements of NI 43-101. The discussion of these two royalty properties has been moved to the “Property Description and Location” section of this amended and restated Technical Report to accompany the discussion of the Brestovać royalty property.

Zijin is on a fast-track schedule for Timok’s Čukaru Peki high sulfidation epithermal copper-gold development project. Recently, Zijin stated in a news release dated June 16, 2021, that it “recently obtained the trial production permit for the processing facilities issued by the Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy, and have entered the trial production stage. At present, the construction of the processing facilities of the project has been completed, and trial production and operation, construction conclusion and greening, etc. are being conducted at full speed. It is planned that all work of the trial production stage shall be completed for submission to the Ministry of Mining for acceptance check before September of this year. This will achieve a smooth transition from mine infrastructure construction to production and operation“. In addition to the Upper Zone, Čukaru Peki also hosts the underlying Lower Zone porphyry copper-gold resource project, which provides substantial exploration upside to EMX’s Brestovać royalty asset.

The start of trial production and the imminent commencement of commercial production this year at the Upper Zone represents an important milestone for EMX which purchased its key 0.5% NSR royalty on the Timok Project in 2013, shortly after the discovery of the Čukaru Peki copper-gold deposit (see EMX News Release dated February 4, 2014). This acquisition serves as an example of how EMX leveraged its in-country expertise through early recognition of the potential value of the Čukaru Peki discovery, but also through the understanding of where key royalty interests were held by third parties that were available for acquisition.

EMX congratulates Zijin on its ongoing progress in developing the Timok Project, and looks forward to new advancements as the work programs progress.

Dr. Eric P. Jensen, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and employee of the Company, has reviewed, verified and approved the disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release.

About EMX. EMX is a precious, base, and battery metals royalty company. EMX’s investors are provided with discovery, development, and commodity price optionality, while limiting exposure to risks inherent to operating companies. The Company’s common shares are listed on the NYSE American Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol EMX. Please see www.EMXroyalty.com for more information.

For further information contact:

David M. Cole
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (303) 979-6666
Dave@EMXroyalty.com

Scott Close
Director of Investor Relations
Phone: (303) 973-8585
SClose@EMXroyalty.com

Isabel Belger
Investor Relations (Europe)
Phone: +49 178 4909039
IBelger@EMXroyalty.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain “forward looking statements” that reflect the Company’s current expectations and projections about its future results. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding perceived merit of properties, exploration results and budgets, mineral reserves and resource estimates, work programs, capital expenditures, timelines, strategic plans, market prices for precious and base metal, or other statements that are not statements of fact. When used in this news release, words such as “estimate,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “will”, “believe”, “potential”, “upside” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which, by their very nature, are not guarantees of the Company’s future operational or financial performance, and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company’s actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and factors may include, but are not limited to: unavailability of financing, failure to identify commercially viable mineral reserves, fluctuations in the market valuation for commodities, difficulties in obtaining required approvals for the development of a mineral project, increased regulatory compliance costs, expectations of project funding by joint venture partners and other factors.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date otherwise specifically indicated herein. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified in this news release, and other risk factors and forward-looking statements listed in the Company’s MD&A for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 (the “MD&A”), and the most recently filed Annual Information Form (the “AIF”) for the year ended December 31, 2020, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. More information about the Company, including the MD&A, the AIF and financial statements of the Company, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the SEC’s EDGAR website at www.sec.gov.

Categories
Base Metals Energy Junior Mining

Taiga Gold Commences Exploration at Mari Lake Gold/Copper Project, Northern Saskatchewan

August 3, 2021

Cranbrook, B.C.; August 3rd, 2021: Taiga Gold Corp (CSE:“TGC”) (“Taiga” or the “Company”) has mobilized crew to commence exploration activity at the Company’s 100% owned Mari Lake property, located in Saskatchewan, approximately 20 km northwest of Flin-Flon, Manitoba. The property is located within the Trans-Hudson Corridor, a geological belt which has historically been significantly under-explored in Saskatchewan.

The Mari Lake property is host to 2 documented gold mineralized occurrences hosted by complexly folded rocks associated with iron sulphides and minor copper in stringer veins and micro-fracture infillings. The two showing are located approximately 2.8 kilometers apart and occur within the same stratigraphic unit. Historical grab samples taken by BHP Minerals Canada Ltd. returned values of up to 12.69 g/t Au from the Aga Showing and 14.4 g/t Au from the Naza Showing. Humus samples collected by BHP suggest near-surface gold anomalies for at least 1km to the north of the Aga showing. Rock grab samples are selective samples by nature and as such are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted across the property.

The Mari Lake area was first mapped by the Saskatchewan Government between 1949-51. The first recorded industry work was by Hudson’s Bay Exploration and Development who completed a ground electromagnetic geophysical survey in the vicinity in 1964. Work in the area by BHP Minerals Canada Ltd. between 1989 and 1992 included airborne and ground geophysical surveys, followed-up with geological mapping, rock, lake sediment, and humus sampling. The follow-up work resulted in the discovery of the Aga and Naza occurrences. 

The property has been tested with two diamond drill holes located 1.4 kilometers north of the Naza Showing and 1.3 kilometers west of the Aga Showing. Neither drill hole tested the target stratigraphy that hosts the gold mineralization. The above results and information were taken directly from the SMDI descriptions and assessment reports filed with the Saskatchewan government.  Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person, but form a basis for ongoing work in the Mari Lake property area.
 
Fieldwork will be carried out by TerraLogic Exploration Services of Cranbrook, BC

Charles C. Downie, P.Geo., a “qualified person” for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and a Director of Taiga Gold Corp., has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in the news release.
 
About Taiga Gold Corp

Taiga Gold Corp was created through a plan of arrangement with Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. and owns 6 projects targeting gold located within the Trans Hudson Corridor in the area near the Seabee Gold Operation, owned and operated by SSR Mining.  Taiga’s flagship “Fisher” property is currently being explored by the Fisher Joint Venture between SSR Mining and Taiga. Taiga’s 100%-owned Leland, Chico and SAM properties are currently under option to partners SKRR Exploration, Aben Resources and DJ1 Capital, respectively.  Taiga continues to advance its 100%-owned Orchid and Mari Lake projects.
 
Taiga’s objective is to focus on the exploration and development of its gold projects located adjacent to the Seabee Gold Operation and along the Tabbernor Fault structure in eastern Saskatchewan, a highly prospective mining jurisdiction which was recently recognized by the Fraser Institute as one of the best places in the world in terms of Investment Attractiveness.  Throughout the exploration and development process, our mission is to help maintain prosperous communities by exploring for and discovering resource opportunities while building lasting relationships through honest and respectful business practices. 

On behalf of the Board of Directors

“Tim J. Termuende”
President and CEO

For further information on TGC, please contact Mike Labach at 1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673)
Email: info@taigagold.com(link sends e-mail) or visit our website at www.taigagold.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Neither the CSE Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

Categories
Base Metals Breaking Emx Royalty Energy Exclusive Interviews Junior Mining Precious Metals

EMX Royalty – Adds 18 New Royalty Properties from SSR Mining

Maurice Jackson:

Joining us for a conversation is David Cole, the CEO of EMX Royalty (NYSE: EMX | TSX.V: EMX), the Royalty Generator.

Maurice Jackson:

Honored to have you with us today sir, as you have some breaking news for shareholders, as EMX Royalty has just consummated a watershed moment with the announcement of the Royalty Portfolio purchase agreement with SSR Mining (Press Release). Mr. Cole, thank you for allowing me to be the first to say congratulations’ sir on a significant milestone on what may be the biggest company event in the history of EMX Royalty.

David Cole:

We are very pleased with this transaction, pleased to have SSR Mining as a shareholder in the company, and it’s been a pleasure to work with them.

Maurice Jackson:

Let’s get right into the press release, the EMX Royalty acquisition consists of 18 geographically diverse royalties with 4 royalty assets at advanced stages of project development. Please provide us with the details of the Royalty Purchase Agreement with SSR Mining.

David Cole:

Well, we’re paying $66 million upfront for this portfolio, $33 million in share capital, and $33 million in cash, which are deferred payments depending upon the performance of the Yenipazar net profit interest royalty in Turkey. Those deferred payments accumulate up to $34 million, but that’s not until that asset cashflows $20 million. We’re pleased with respect to how this is designed. This gives SSR Mining a nice chunk of equity in the EMX which is one of the key things that they were looking for when they chose us to sell the Royalty Portfolio.

Maurice Jackson:

What type of value creation will EMX derive from this transaction and how will it impact the synergies with the existing EMX initiatives around the world?

David Cole:

One of the key things here is immediate large cash flow. The Gediktepe mine which is at the final stages of construction and should be in production within a month or two has a high-grade oxide cap that’s gold enriched with a 10% NSR and we’ll see immediate gold royalty income over double-digit millions of dollars per annum from that royalty right out of the gate. We’re very, very pleased with that so this really propels at the top of our pyramid forward, which is something that we’ve been working on for some time as we’ve discussed previously, with respect to Synergies with our existing portfolio, and one of the reasons why we were able to grab this is because of our relationships in Turkey and our comfort with Lydia as an operator there. And that gave us an edge with respect to working with SSR to accomplish this deal.

Maurice Jackson:

One of the key aspects of this transaction along with all of EMX Royalties is something you’ve covered with us and that is the value proposition of embedded optionality, which is just icing on the cake for each of your royalty properties. Can you please elaborate on the virtues of embedded optionality within royalties?

 David Cole:

It’s one of my favorite topics and it’s the reason why royalties traded such premium valuations is because of all the embedded optionality, commodity price optionality, discovery optionality, engineering advancement optionality, et cetera, et cetera. And mining districts have a history of giving and giving and it’s always to the benefit of the royalty holder and no cost to the royalty holder. So that’s why royalties are so dear and I will point out that royalty companies that have large numbers of royalties trade at a much higher valuation per royalty than royalty companies, so the lower number of royalties, this is a phenomenon that’s existed in the royalty sector now for some time. Where the portfolio effect impacts the overall valuation of that portfolio and that’s because of this multiplicative optionality of the entire portfolio. You never know where the big success is going to come from years out.

David Cole:

As you know our goal here is to continue to grow this portfolio through organic methods which we’re good at and have had a track record for 18 years of doing, but also through acquisition. And we’ve been challenged quite honestly, to accomplish big creative acquisitions because it’s a competitive space. That we’ve been very patient. We stood at the plate and they kept throwing more pitches at us and we found one to hit and hit it out of the park.

Maurice Jackson:

Great way to put it, sir. I referenced a watershed moment. Where does today’s press release rank with the relation to the Malmyzh and/or the Timok?

David Cole:

Well, that’s interesting certainly the value proposition of the Timok acquisition is unbeatable because we paid $200,000 Canadian dollars for a royalty that’s going to pay hundreds of millions. So that one’s astonishing, but that had to do with the fact that we were in that district and understood what was going on there very early in the history of the discovery and were able to acquire that royalty early on thanks to our geologic understanding of the region. That’s a tough one to compare. With respect to the Malmyzh transaction that was a fantastic deal that cashed-up EMX and put us in a position where we could do this deal.

David Cole:

And step-by-step we’re building this company. Very pleased with these transactions. Malmyzh was super accretive for us. As you know, we booked $67 million US dollars out of that deal and have put those monies to excellent work. This being the top example. You and other folks have asked me many, many, many times, “What are you going to do with the money, Dave, what are you going to do with the money”? We just kept looking and turning down opportunities and losing sales processes because our bids weren’t as high as our competitors until the right one came along. And one of the key aspects that made this deal happen, as I mentioned, is the fact that SSR specifically wants to be a shareholder in EMX. And I’ve said before that the right transaction that’ll really advance this company is going to be one where the major companies selling their royalties understand the value proposition that EMX offers and want to be a contributor, want to be a member of the team.

Maurice Jackson:

Speaking of the Timok, which is a company making event in and of itself, what are the latest developments there?

David Cole:

It’s going into production. I do believe that they had a couple of delays. So they were originally talking about an opening ceremony in June. I believe that’s been pushed back to August at this point, maybe September, but that’s still ahead of the original schedule. The Chinese have been very aggressive. It’s advancing into production.

Maurice Jackson:

Leaving the property bank Mr. Cole, please provide us with the capital structure for EMX royalty.

 David Cole:

Well, we’re sitting here today with $84 million shares issued and outstanding and few over $90 million shares fully diluted. That’s not including the shares that we will issue to SSR, which on a pro forma basis will be approximately 12% of the company. So that’ll push us up towards the 95 issued outstanding and over a hundred million fully diluted at the completion of this transaction, which should hopefully occur within four to five weeks in my opinion. Sitting here today with about $30 million US dollars in cash, of course, those monies get paid to SSR as part of this transaction as well.

David Cole:

We have about $20 million in tradable securities and long-term investments in our portfolio as well and no debt at this time. However, we will be taking on a small $10 million debt from Sprott. We appreciate their support as a capital partner for EMX. They’ve helped us out in the past as well. That puts us in a situation where even though we’re putting out USD $33 million to SSR for this transaction, thanks to Sprott we’ll still have a nice cushion here with respect to money in the treasury to continually advance our organic growth, which is our job one, as you know.

Maurice Jackson:

Just for the record, ladies, and gentlemen, I plan to match my bullion purchases with shares and EMX royalty.  I believe the company has the potential to melt-up. And I’m talking about the stock price of course. The stock price, in my opinion, is at a fire sale. And that is Maurice Jackson’s opinion, but not really just my opinion, Mr. Cole, you and I both know some of the most prominent names in the natural resource space. They share the same sentiment about EMX royalty.

David Cole:

Happy to have those guys on as contributors.

Maurice Jackson:

Yes, sir. In closing, what would you like to say to shareholders?

David Cole:

EMX Royalty is in a situation here today where the Bayla royalty of 4% royalty on the lead, zinc, silver mine in Turkey is coming into production. Zijin is advancing the Timok project towards production, of course, Leeville in the background that pays every month. And we have an immense amount of optionality within our pyramid is bubbling up towards the top. And these names I’m throwing out are just examples of that. We’ve talked about the potential for this to become a cash cow over time. We’ve just poured fuel on the fire. We put gasoline on the fire here with this one and the Gediktepe 10% NSR and the oxide gold cap will just propel our gold income in the company here substantially over the next three years. We’re very excited.

Maurice Jackson:

Mr. Cole, for readers that want to get more information about EMX royalty please share the website address.

David Cole:

www.emxroyalty.com -The contact details for myself, Scott Close, and Isabel Belger managing European investor relations, and Scott here in North America are embedded in the website and on the press release feel free to reach out to us.

Maurice Jackson:

Mr. Cole, it’s been a pleasure speaking with you, wishing you and EMX royalty the absolute best, sir.

 David Cole:

Thank you, Maurice. Always appreciate your support.

Maurice Jackson:

And as a reminder, I am a licensed representative to buy and sell precious metals through Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments, where we have several options to expand your precious metals portfolio, from physical delivery of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium, to offshore depositories, and precious metals IRA’s. Give me a call at 855.505.1900 or you may email: Maurice@MilesFranklin.com.  Finally, please subscribe to www.provenandprobable.com, where we provide: Mining Insights and Bullion Sales, subscription is free.

Categories
Base Metals Breaking Energy Junior Mining

Hot Chili Welcomes Glencore Investment

Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH) (OTCQB: HHLKF) (“Hot Chili” or “Company”) is pleased to announce a strategic investment by Glencore to acquire a 9.99% interest in Hot Chili.

The Glencore investment is a positive endorsement of the Company’s Costa Fuego copper-gold project as it progresses to become a globally significant, low-altitude development.

The Company has entered into a binding agreement with Glencore for a A$14.4 million strategic investment to acquire a 9.99% interest in Hot Chili. Glencore is one of the largest natural resource companies in the world, providing strong support for the completion of a feasibility study and development of Cost Fuego.

Glencore will have the right to appoint a Director to the Board of Hot Chili, and the right to appoint members to a Technical Steering Committee to advise on operational matters. Furthermore, the Company undertakes to grant Glencore offtake agreements over 60% of concentrate produced for a period of 8 years from commercial production on arms-length commercially competitive benchmark terms. These rights are subject to Glencore holding at least 7.5% of the share capital of Hot Chili, except where Glencore did not have the opportunity to participate in a dilution event.

The addition of Glencore as a strategic investor will allow the Company to draw on Glencore’s expertise in project development and production.

Commenting on the strategic investment, the Managing Director of Hot Chili Mr Christian Easterday said:
“Hot Chili welcomes the strategic alignment with Glencore, especially as the Company moves toward a dual listing on the TSX Venture exchange by the end of 2021.”

“We view this as a significant milestone event and a strong endorsement by Glencore.”
“We believe Glencore will make an excellent partner in the development of Costa Fuego and are a testament to Hot Chili’s staff and consultants who are working tirelessly to transition Hot Chili into a Tier-1 copper developer.”

To access the announcement please click on the link below.Download full announcement here

Cortadera Copper Project

Cortadera’s maiden Mineral Resource positions Hot Chili with the largest copper Mineral Resource and one of the largest gold Mineral Resources for an ASX-listed emerging company. 

The Cortadera maiden Mineral Resource of 451Mt at 0.46% copper equivalent (CuEq) takes the total Mineral Resource estimate for Costa Fuego (Cortadera, Productora & El Fuego) to 724Mt at 0.48% CuEq for 2.9Mt copper, 2.7Moz gold, 9.9Moz Silver and 64kt molybdenum. Cortadera also contains a higher grade component of 104Mt at 0.74% CuEq, and this has strong potential to continue growing rapidly with further drilling.View the Cortadera Project

Categories
Base Metals Energy Exclusive Interviews Junior Mining

Hot Chili on CNN Chile

CNN Chile featured Hot Chili in a recent story about the Company’s exploration activity in the country, including their discovery of copper and gold at the Cortadera Project. Learn more about Hot Chili: https://www.hotchili.net.au/ ASX: HCH OTCQB: HHLKF