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Base Metals Energy Junior Mining Precious Metals Stillwater Critical Minerals

Group Ten Metals Signs Definitive Agreement with Heritage Mining on the Black Lake-Drayton Gold Project in Ontario, Canada

November 29, 2021 – Vancouver, BC – Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX.V: PGE | OTCQB: PGEZF; FSE: 5D32) (the “Company” or “>Group Ten”) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Definitive Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Heritage Mining Ltd. (“Heritage”) per the binding Letter of Intent (the “LOI”) announced August 26, 2021. By the terms of the Agreement, and subject to the earn-in requirements specified therein, Heritage can acquire up to a 90% interest in Group Ten’s Black Lake-Drayton gold project (the “Property”) in Ontario, Canada.

Group Ten also announces that it has initiated the exploration program required by the Agreement, with a focus on advancing and refining existing targets identified in past campaigns, as well as advancing new targets. To this end, the 2021 program includes re-sampling of core from 1996-2002 drill campaigns programs at the Moretti, Dragfold, and Bonanza targets, focused prospecting in areas of interest identified by the 2017 geophysical modelling and interpretation report, and a basal till sampling program intended to expand upon successful 2018 and 2020 programs.

Group Ten President and CEO, Michael Rowley stated, “We are pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the first in what we expect will ultimately become a series of deals whereby Group Ten begins to realize value for our non-core assets. Black Lake-Drayton, like our Kluane Ni-Cu-PGE project, is a high-quality brownfields project that is district-scale in size and 100%-owned by the Company. The Agreement with Heritage Mining provides Group Ten with significant exposure to the gold market while allowing us to focus on our 100%-owned Stillwater West project in Montana, where we see terrific potential to expand our recent inaugural resource estimates of first-world nickel, copper, palladium, platinum, rhodium, gold and cobalt. Core from 2021 resource expansion drilling at Stillwater West is progressing through the assay lab and we look forward to a series of news releases announcing results starting in the coming weeks, as well as updates on other initiatives including our work in carbon sequestration.”

Heritage Mining’s CEO, Peter Schloo stated, “It is rare that a project of this size and quality becomes available, and we appreciate Group Ten’s faith in our ability to add significant shareholder value in a timely manner. We are very excited about the Black Lake-Drayton project and look forward to developing the property in a systematic manner. This is a pivotal point in Heritage Mining’s path, and we look forward to the future. We anticipate a go-public listing shortly, pending market conditions.”

Upcoming Events

Live Webinar – Amvest Capital

Group Ten Metals President and CEO, Michael Rowley, will provide an overview and update on the Company and our flagship Stillwater West battery metals and platinum group elements project during a live webinar event hosted by Amvest Capital on Monday, November 29th at 13:05 PT / 16:05 ET. To register, click here.

Virtual Investor Conference – OTC Markets Group

Group Ten has been invited to present at the upcoming Mining & Metals Virtual Investor Conference hosted by OTC Markets Group on Wednesday, December 8th at 12:00 PM PT / 3:00 PM ET. Topics of discussion will include the Company’s recently announced NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate, the 2021 expansion drill campaign, and upcoming, near-term catalysts. To register, click here.

Terms of the Heritage Mining Definitive Agreement

Under the terms of the Agreement, Heritage may acquire a 90% undivided interest in the Property by making payments totaling 7.2 million shares and CAD $300,000 in cash to Group Ten, completing exploration and development work totaling CAD $5 million on the Property, granting Group Ten a 10% carried interest in the Property through completion of a feasibility study, and completing other requirements including potential success-based discovery payments, as detailed below:

  • Heritage shall issue 2,800,000 shares to Group Ten within ten (10) business days of obtaining a public listing on a specified exchange.
  • Heritage may earn a 51% interest (the “First Option”) in the Property by completing the following on or before the third anniversary of the “Agreement:
    • Issuing an additional 3.3 million shares to Group Ten;
    • Completing cash payments totaling CAD $300,000; and
    • Completing exploration work totaling CAD $2.5 million.
  • Upon completion of the First Option, Heritage may earn an additional 39% ownership interest in the Property (the “Second Option”) for a cumulative 90% interest by completion of the following on or before the fourth anniversary of the Agreement:
    • Issuing an additional 1.1 million shares to Group Ten; and
    • Completing additional exploration work totaling CAD $2.5 million.

In addition, the LOI provides the following:

  • A discovery payment of $1.00 per ounce of gold or gold equivalent shall be made on mineral resource estimates as filed from time-to-time on the Property and shall, in Heritage’s discretion, be paid in cash or shares (or a combination thereof), capped at a maximum of $10 million.
  • Upon completion of the Second Option, Group Ten will retain a 10% free carried interest in the Project, with Heritage being responsible for all Property costs until completion by Heritage of a positive feasibility study supported by a technical report prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 on the Property (the “FS”).
  • The Agreement provides for the formation of a Joint Venture (“JV”) based on the then legal and beneficial ownership levels in the Property following completion of the FS. A JV may also be formed in the event Heritage does not complete the requirements of the Second Option.
  • Heritage will be required to maintain minimum exploration and development expenditures of CAD $500,000 per annum until the completion of the FS in order to maintain status as operator of the JV. Group Ten maintains certain back-in rights in the event Heritage does not meet minimum expenditure requirements.
  • Group Ten is required to complete CAD $300,000 of exploration work on the Property within the first year of the Agreement.

Black Lake – Drayton Gold Project Overview

The 100%-owned Black Lake–Drayton project consists of 137 square kilometers in the Abrams‐Minnitaki Lake Archean greenstone belt, along the northern margin of the Wabigoon sub-province in Ontario, Canada. The Property has significant exploration potential with demonstrated high-grade gold in drill results and bulk samples across more than 30 kilometers of underexplored strike in a geologic setting that is shared with Treasury Metals’ development-stage Goliath Gold Complex project in a highly active gold belt that also hosts Rainy River’s New Gold mine and other deposits. The geological models and exploration methods that have successfully proven up over 14 million ounces of gold at Treasury, New Gold, and other projects in the region since the 1990s have yet to be systematically applied at Black Lake – Drayton. Access and infrastructure are excellent on the Property, which features direct road access, and proximity to rail and power.

About Heritage Mining

Heritage Mining Ltd. is a private, well-capitalized company focused on acquiring Tier-1, advanced stage precious and base metal exploration projects and/or the junior/micro-producer project stage. Heritage’s board and management Team have a proven track record of shareholder value creation with over 100 years of combined experience in the mining and exploration sector. For more information, visit the Heritage Mining website.

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 is focused on its 100%-owned, flagship Stillwater West battery metals and platinum group elements project in Montana, USA, adjacent to the high-grade PGE mines operated by Sibanye-Stillwater. In October 2021, the Company announced its inaugural NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate, with an update expected in Q1 2022 subject to results from an expansion drill campaign in 2021 from which assays are pending.

Group Ten also holds two additional district-scale brownfields assets including the high-grade Black Lake-Drayton Gold project adjacent to Treasury Metals’ development-stage Goliath Gold Complex in northwest Ontario (now subject to an earn-in by Heritage Mining), and the Kluane PGE-Ni-Cu-Co project on trend with Nickel Creek Platinum‘s Wellgreen deposit in Canada‘s Yukon Territory.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Michael Rowley, President, CEO & Director
Email: info@grouptenmetals.com             Phone: (604) 357 4790
Web: http://grouptenmetals.com             Toll Free: (888) 432 0075

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 the execution of a definitive agreement, the completion of the proposed transaction and the receipt of any cash or share payments therefrom, future exploration and development expenditures, the sale of non-core assets, potential mineralization, the realization of mineral resource estimates, the timing and success of exploration activities generally or the completion of a feasibility study, the timing and results of future resource estimates, future driling activities, 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 (including board and stock exchange approvals), the failure to negotiate and execute the Agreement on the terms currently contemplated or at all, 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 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.

Categories
Base Metals Energy Junior Mining Nevada Copper

Nevada Copper Announcrs Closing of Public Offering

YERINGTON, Nev., Nov. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nevada Copper Corp. (TSX: NCU) (OTC: NEVDF) (FSE: ZYTA) (“Nevada Copper” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced public offering of units of the Company (the “Units”), which included the partial exercise of the over-allotment option (the “Over-Allotment Option”) by a syndicate of underwriters that included Scotiabank, Jett Capital LLC, RBC Capital Markets, Haywood Securities Inc. and Research Capital Corporation. As announced on November 11, 2021, the public offering (the “Offering”) was upsized due to strong demand, including from new and existing institutional investors and mining sector corporates.

The Company issued an aggregate of 162,644,300 Units and 2,000,000 Warrants (as defined below), including 14,544,300 Units and 2,000,000 Warrants pursuant to the partial exercise of the Over-Allotment Option, at a price of C$0.77 per Unit (the “Offering Price”) and C$0.08 per Warrant, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$125.4 million. Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (each a “Common Share”) and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each full warrant, a “Warrant”). Each Warrant is exercisable for one Common Share (each a “Warrant Share”) at a price of C$1.00 per Warrant Share until May 29, 2023.

The proceeds of the Offering will be sufficient to satisfy the condition to the effectiveness of the previously announced amendments to the Company’s amended and restated credit facility with its senior project lender, KfW-IPEX Bank (the “KfW Facility”), for a significant deferral and extension of its debt facilities. See the Company’s October 12, 2021 news release for additional details on the amendments to the KfW Facility.

In connection with the closing of the Offering, the Company’s largest shareholder, Pala Investments Limited (“Pala”), has maintained its current shareholding percentage in the Company by completing the purchase, on a private placement basis, of 98,104,584 Units, at the Offering Price in the aggregate amount of approximately C$75.5 million (the “Concurrent Private Placement”). The consideration for the Concurrent Private Placement was the full repayment of the promissory note entered into between the Company and Pala on June 10, 2021, as amended and restated, and the partial repayment of debt owing by the Company to Pala under the credit facility entered into between the Company and Pala on February 3, 2021 (the “Credit Facility”).

As previously announced, in connection with the Offering and the Concurrent Private Placement, Pala and the Company have agreed to amend and restate the Credit Facility on the terms set forth in the binding term sheet entered into between the Company and Pala on November 10, 2021 (the “Amended Credit Facility”). The Amended Credit Facility will have a principal amount of approximately US$32 million and an extended maturity date to January 31, 2026. The Amended Credit Facility will contain an accordion feature allowing the Company to draw up to an additional US$15 million under the Amended Credit Facility, subject to the agreement of Pala and the prior acceptance by the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”). The Company expects to enter into the Amended Credit Facility on or about November 30, 2021. In connection with entering into the Amended Credit Facility, the Company will issue 15,000,000 Common Share purchase warrants (the “Credit Facility Warrants”) to Pala. Each Credit Facility Warrant will entitle Pala to purchase, on or before January 31, 2026, one Common Share at an exercise price equal to a 25% premium to the 5-day volume weighted average price of the Common Shares as of the trading day immediately prior to the entering into of the Amended Credit Facility. Pursuant to the requirements of the TSX, the approval of disinterested shareholders of the Company will be required to be obtained before the Credit Facility Warrants become exercisable.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

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 (the “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

Randy Buffington, 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 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 statements and forward-looking information specifically include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to the entering into of the Amended Credit Facility and the timing in respect thereof, and the issuance and approval of the Credit Facility Warrants.

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; failure to enter into the Amended Credit 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; labor 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’s 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 or information. The forward-looking information or 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
Junior Mining Precious Metals Silver Hammer

Silver Hammer Mining Reports High Grade Silver Samples up to 692 g/t Ag from Rock Chip Sampling at its Silverton Silver-Gold Project in Nevada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Silver Hammer Mining Corp. (CSE: HAMR/ OTC: HAMRF) (“Silver Hammer” or the “Company”) is pleased to report results from sampling, mapping and detailed hyperspectral satellite imaging programs at the Company’s past-producing Silverton Project (the “Project“), located 129 kilometres (“km“) northeast of the 174-million-ounce* Tonopah silver district in Nevada.

A total of 35 rock chip samples and 111 soil samples were collected from the Project area with highlighted samples assaying up to 692 g/t silver (“Ag“). Soil sampling focused on areas of anomalous gold and silver rock samples collected from a pediment area on the Project. Based on assay results and geological mapping, the Project appears to cover a volcanics-hosted gold system as well as a separate silver-dominated mineral system hosted by silicified limestone.

“We are excited by these results as they are the first clear indication of two mineralized precious metal systems existing on the Silverton Project—one marked by high-grade silver as was recovered from the historical Silverton Mine and the other consisting of disseminated lower-grade gold mineralization,” stated President & CEO Morgan Lekstrom. “Furthermore, we are obtaining surface samples grading up to 692 g/t Ag and numerous additional samples with encouraging silver grades outside of our initial target area. We look forward to refining our target concepts and initiating a first phase of drilling at Silverton in 2022.”

The Silverton Project was acquired along with the Eliza Silver Project (see press release August 9, 2021), which is also located in Nevada along strike from the historic Hamilton mining district. In addition to the new sampling results from Silverton (summarized below), initial exploration and rock chip sample results from Eliza will also be reported during Q4/2021.

Table 1. Highlighted Silver Rock Samples at Silverton
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2ff76b62-d6a1-4f43-89bc-faad3f774b26

Assays from the 19 rock chip samples from the west limestone-hosted area ranged from 0.32 g/t Ag to 692 g/t Ag and averaged 63.27 g/t Ag (see Figure 1 below). The 15 rock chip samples from the eastern part of the Project ranged from 0.009 to 15.0 and averaged 3.17 g/t Ag. Previously released samples from the eastern section of the Project believed to host the gold system indicate ranges from 0.06 g/t to 6.1 g/t gold Au.

Table 2: Showing good correlations to limestone for silver
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d9869f81-3a60-45da-a776-e203265aa38b

A review of 19 samples on the west side, or limestone-hosted area, showed good correlation between Ag, lead (Pb) and antimony (Sb). This area contained the highest Ag results, and the best correlations to pathfinder elements such as Pb and Sb.

Since acquiring the Silverton property in September, the Company has moved quickly to expand its geological understanding through sampling and geochemistry programs. The rock sampling program has outlined two potential systems suitable for further targeted exploration: the expansion of the historic silver mine and potential high-grade surrounding area and a new potential gold system.

Figure 1. Silverton Silver Samples
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5ae7d52a-497c-4209-8d48-f5c015146211

Qualified Person
Technical aspects of this press release have been reviewed and approved under the supervision of Philip Mulholland, P.Geo. Mr. Mulholland is a Qualified Person (QP) under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Silver Hammer Mining Corp.
Silver Hammer Mining Corp. is a junior resource company advancing the past-producing Silver Strand Mine in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District in Idaho, USA, both the Eliza Silver Project and the Silverton Silver Mine in one of the world’s most prolific mining jurisdictions in Nevada and the Lacy Gold Project in British Columbia, Canada. The Company has commenced an initial drill program at Silver Strand that will test for silver and gold mineralization immediately below the mine’s lowest level extending only 90 metres below surface. Silver Hammer strives to become a multimine silver producer and will focus near-term exploration and drilling plans at the Company’s Idaho and Nevada silver-gold assets.

*Mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company’s property.

On Behalf of the Board of Silver Hammer Mining Corp.

Morgan Lekstrom, President and CEO

Corporate Office: 551 Howe Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 2C2, Canada
For further information contact: Kristina Pillon, President, High Tide Consulting Corp.
T: 604.908.1695
E: investors@silverhammermining.com

For media inquiries, contact: Adam Bello, Primoris Group Inc.
T: 416.489.0092
E: media@primorisgroup.com

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

*All historic production information from Nevada Bureau of Mines & Geology, Bulletin 51.

Categories
Base Metals Emx Royalty Energy Junior Mining Project Generators Uncategorized

EMX Receives Scheduled US$2.25 Million Payment for the Berenguela Silver-Copper Project in Peru

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – November 29, 2021) – EMX Royalty Corporation (NYSE American: EMX) (TSXV: EMX) (FSE: 6E9) (the “Company“, or “EMX“) is pleased to announce receipt of a US $2.25 million payment for the Berenguela silver-copper project (“Berenguela” or the “Project”) in Peru from Aftermath Silver Ltd. (TSXV: AAG) (OTCQB: AAGFF) (“Aftermath Silver”). EMX’s interest in Berenguela resulted from the Company’s acquisition of a portfolio of royalty interests and payments from SSR Mining Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries (“SSR Mining”) (see EMX news releases dated July 29, and October 21, 2021).

Aftermath Silver’s payment is per a definitive acquisition agreement, originally executed with SSR Mining, that outlined a series of staged cash payments (initially totaling US$13 million) and other consideration to acquire 100% interest in the Project, and upon commercial production that will pay a sliding-scale net smelter returns (“NSR”) royalty (see Aftermath Silver news releases dated October 1, and November 23, 2020). The payments are scheduled according to anniversaries of the transaction’s closing date of November 23, 2020 (the “Initial Closing Date”). Aftermath Silver’s cash payment and NSR royalty commitments to EMX for the Berenguela Project are outlined below.

  • US$2.25 million cash to be paid on the first anniversary of the Initial Closing Date. This payment has now been received by EMX;
  • US$2.5 million cash to be paid on the second anniversary of the Initial Closing Date (i.e., November 23, 2022);
  • US$3 million cash to be paid on the fourth anniversary of the Initial Closing Date (i.e., November 23, 2024);
  • Completion of a preliminary feasibility study (“PFS”) and filing on SEDAR of a National Instrument 43-101 technical report summarizing the PFS, within 48 months of the Initial Closing Date (i.e., on or before November 23, 2024);
  • US$3.25 million cash to be paid on the sixth anniversary of the Initial Closing Date (i.e., November 23, 2026); and
  • A sliding-scale NSR royalty on all mineral production from the Berenguela Project for the life of mine commencing at the declaration of commercial production, and based on the following:
    • 1% NSR royalty on all mineral production when the silver market price is up to and including US$25 per ounce;
    • 1.25% NSR royalty on all mineral production when the silver market price is over US$25 per ounce and when the copper market price is above US$2 per pound.

EMX’s interest in Berenguela provides a source of immediate cash flow to the Company, as well as upside potential from future NSR royalty payments on silver-copper production from the Project. Berenguela, which is located in the Puno mining region of southern Peru, serves as a good example of the type of cash flowing mineral property asset that EMX is focused on adding to its growing royalty portfolio.

Michael P. Sheehan, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and an 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”, as well as on the Frankfurt exchange under the symbol “6E9”. Please see www.EMXroyalty.com for more information.

For further information contact:

David M. Cole
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (303) 973-8585
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-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX-V) 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 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 September 30, 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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105290

Categories
Base Metals Energy Exclusive Interviews Junior Mining Metallic Group Metallic Minerals

Metallic Minerals – Advancing the Ultra High-Grade Keno Silver Project in Canada

Maurice:

Joining us for a conversation is Greg Johnson, the CEO of Metallic Minerals. It’s a great time to be speaking with you as Metallic Minerals has some exciting news for shareholders. Before we begin, Mr. Johnson, please introduce us to Metallic Minerals and the opportunity the company presents to shareholders.

Greg Johnson:

Metallic Minerals is a silver-focused, exploration development stage company. The flagship asset is in the Keno silver district, one of the world’s highest-grade producing silver districts. A second asset in the high-grade silver-gold La Plata district, and our last asset, which is our Klondike alluvial gold project. We are headed up by a group of experienced explorer developers with a track record of successful discovery and project advancement.

Maurice:

Mr. Johnson, Metallic Minerals has some great news to provide shareholders on three fronts. First on the flagship Keno silver project, as well as updates from the La Plata and the Klondike alluvial projects. Beginning in the Yukon, sir, take us onsite to the high-grade Keno silver project, which has just announced the completion of what was the most expansive exploration program to date. First off, congratulations, sir.

Greg Johnson:

The Keno silver project is our flagship. We’re a couple of years into the acquisitions and initial development of the targets, and this was one of our biggest programs to date in 2021.

Maurice:

Mr. Johnson, the Keno silver project has three main areas within the west, central, and eastern parts of the high-grade silver producing district. Beginning at the central Keno, Mr. Johnson, walk us through the 2021 exploration program, which is a multiphase program of RC and diamond core drilling. What is Metallic Minerals looking for and what are you seeing?

Greg Johnson:

Allow me to me set the stage here. The district itself is about 35 kilometers wide, and we break it into three sectors or target areas, as you said, the west, central, and eastern parts. And each one of them is about 10 to 12 kilometers long. It’s a really big area, and we see the continuity of similar styles of mineralization from one side of the district to the other. Most of the production historically has been on that western half of the district where we’ve seen over 300 million ounces of past production plus current resources. And it’s one of the world’s highest grade 43-101 resources.

Greg Johnson:

Starting in the central part of the district this year, we kicked off a program looking at our advanced target areas. This is specifically in the Caribou and Homestake areas where we targeted stepping out along the already defined structures there, where we’ve hit ore grades over minable widths. We’re stepping out, we’re building tonnage. The drilling indicates that we’ve had some really good successful hits there, some big step by outs that we’re waiting to see results come back from the assay lab, but we’re quite pleased with the ability to be able to extend those advanced stage targets in the central part district.

Maurice:

Moving on to the west Keno, what can you share with us?

Greg Johnson:

So west Keno is focused in that area of significant historic production. This is nearby Alexco, who’s going back, has just recently gone back into production, and where they’ve got several major discoveries. So our targets there, west Keno, are right on these known very high-production areas. The Formo, Silver Queen are the two main targets here. Core drilling, to again step out along areas of known mineralization that have already been intercepted and being able to continue to build on those towards a first mineral resource, both central and the western parts of the district for Metallic Minerals.

Maurice:

Let’s move on to the emerging heavyweight, which is the east Keno, where it appears to have both the Keno style mineralization of ultra high-grade veins and bulk tonnage silver mineralization, which is now new in the district. To set the stage on this unique value proposition, in 2020 Metallic Minerals previously released significant bulk tonnage style intercepts on the east Keno. Do you mind sharing those numbers with us and how it fits in with your neighbor, Alexco, which has recently gone into full production?

Greg Johnson:

Yeah, this is pretty exciting. Metallic Minerals came into the district recognizing that you’ve got all this production on the western half of the district. The geology doesn’t stop at the claim boundary. It continues onto our ground, the same geologic setting. We started to collect samples, geophysics, and soils, and rocks, and mapping and started putting this together. Last year we’d identified 12 separate multi-kilometer-scale targets. These are big targets, both soil anomalies, and geophysical anomalies. And we put the first reconnaissance holes in 2020. We hit in 26 out of 30 holes. That’s an amazing track record for a first-phase reconnaissance drill program.  A big part of this year’s program was coming back in and starting to step off from those hits last year, moving laterally, moving down dip, and we’re starting to put together an understanding of the scale of mineralization in this area.

Greg Johnson:

We also drilled the first core holes in this area this year. Deeper holes targeted at both geophysics and offsetting the reverse circulation drilling. So we’re pretty excited about what’s coming together here. The significance of what we’re seeing in the east is that not only are we seeing classic high-grade Keno style veins, which is what Alexco and most of the historic production has been based on, but we’re seeing zones up to a hundred meters or more of continuous disseminated silver mineralization. And this holds out the potential for bulk tonnage for something that could be much larger than anything that’s been seen in the district before.

Maurice:

Now along with the drilling, Metallic Minerals also completed an extensive Induced Polarization survey, and I noticed in the latest press release that Metallic Minerals made the following reference about six times: “Regional thrust vaults and associated epithermal style mineralization”. Now, as a shareholder, I’m keen to find out more. Any nuggets that you can share with us regarding the IP survey?

Greg Johnson:

Yeah, so this is an example of our effort to try to take a known productive district to extrapolate into the areas that have been less explored, and then to bring in new exploration targets, target types, models, and new modern exploration techniques. This is the first time we’ve ever applied what’s called induced polarization geophysics. This is where you put a charge in the ground, these were multi-kilometer-long lines, they allow you to sense as deep as 800 or a 1,000 meters from the surface, and this allows us to be able to start to map the subsurface even before we start drilling.

Greg Johnson:

And what’s exciting about this, is that that work over the east Keno targets was demonstrating that we’re getting conductors in the subsurface rocks that are correlating spatially with these big soil and magnetic features. The significant reason is if we’re hitting silver mineralization in the shallow drilling, and we’ve got a geophysical target that continues to 800 meters or more, and we’ve got multiple targets in the kilometric scale, it’s starting to suggest we’ve got a very strong plumbing system and that this could be a target that could really have the scale to it and potentially build this out to something significant.

Maurice:

Now that the exploration is complete this year at the Keno silver project, when can we expect to see results, and what determines success?

Greg Johnson:

We started in the central part of the district, that’ll be the first area that we’ll start to see numbers. Then on the Eastern side of the district with both RC and Diamon Core. And then last we wrapped up with the western part of the district with core drilling. We’re right now finalizing our interpretation on the IPE geophysics, so that’ll be integrated, and I could see us seeing numbers starting here really any time and continuing early into the new year. It’s going to be an exciting period. We’re starting to see a turnaround in the market and the interest over in gold, again, after more than a year of corrupt consolidation and correction. So this will be a great time in terms of catalyst from the news coming from the Keno silver project.

Maurice:

Let’s move south to Colorado, to the La Plata silver gold-copper project, where the season is just about wrapped up, and this is an emerging asset for Metallic Minerals. It has all the merits and hallmarks of a flagship project in its own right. Now Metallic Minerals just completed its first drilling in decades on the La Plata to bring up the La Plata up to NI 43-101 standards. It’s a project that was recognized and worked on by some of the majors in the past. Please tell us a bit about the project and the 2021 program and when we might expect to see results.

Greg Johnson:

I’m excited about the La Plata Project. This was an opportunity that came in through our network. It’s a project area that, very similar to Keno Hill, had a history of high-grade silver and gold production from these high-grade veins, much like Keno. Located in the Southwestern part of the US, in Southwestern Colorado. That mining on the high-grade veins occurred from the 1800s to the 1940s. Then after World War II, we didn’t see the small miners come back, but we saw first Rio Tinto’s exploration group come into the district, recognizing that not only was there this high-grade production and occurrences, but that there was potential for bulk tonnage silver, gold, and copper. And they drilled several holes that really started to define that there was a porphyry system that sent in the center of this epithermal vein district.

Greg Johnson:

Following on that work, we had Phelps Dodge, which is now Freeport McMoRan coming to the district, and they continued to drill through the early 70s. And then Phelps Dodge sat on the project until 2002. The low in the last commodity price cycle, the group that we opted it from has held it for over 20 years. We’re the first to have an opportunity to take a look at this exciting project. We’re taking a very holistic approach. We’re going to be focused on both the bulk tonnage part of the system that’s related to these porphyries, as well as the high-grade silver and gold component. We’re bringing all the layers of modern geology and techniques for exploration to the table.

Greg Johnson:

This year’s program was focused on continuing to collect geophysics and soils and a very first confirmatory drilling and sampling that’s been done on the project in decades. We are just wrapping up that program now. I would expect to see results starting to come out fairly soon to move this quite rapidly to take the historic resource on the project and advance it with sufficient work to a modern 43-101. Again, this is going to be a project that’s going to have a series of news events in the relatively near future that are quite significant in advancing that into 2022.

Maurice:

Finally, let’s discuss the big year that Metallic Minerals has had on the Klondike alluvial gold royalty portfolio.

Greg Johnson:

This is an interesting one. It’s not the main focus of the company, but we had an opportunity a couple of years ago to pick up a portfolio of unmined Klondike alluvial ground. This is upstream from some of the biggest open-pit operations in the Klondike, in the Yukon, that produce over 50% of the Yukon’s gold from those mines each year. We’ve invited experienced operators on the ground. We’ve got three license areas currently that is fully permitted for production, two operators that have done significant work drilling, bulk sample testing. They are rapidly advancing this towards first production, and Metallic Minerals would take a production royalty. Anywhere from a 10% to a 15% royalty, depending on the stage of those license areas. We’re excited to see this advancement over this year’s work, and we’re anticipating very high potential that we’ll see these move into first production in 2022 for next season, and that’ll move to cash flow for Metallic Minerals on those properties.

Maurice:

Leaving the property bank, let’s look at some numbers. Sir, please provide the capital structure for Metallic Minerals.

Greg Johnson:

Metallic Minerals has about 136 million shares out, roughly a $65 million market cap. So we’re now out of that micro-cap area where we’re starting to get attention from some of the big investors. We’re well funded well into 2022 with the current treasury. We have no debt, so we’re in great shape to have been able to have an aggressive program on all three projects this year and moving into next year to continue our business model, which is one to define resources, grow resources, and advance those and de-risk them, creating value along the way. Very similar to what the team did with Novagold in the last metal price cycle.

Maurice:

Speaking of big investors, you have a great shareholder list. Could you comment on that, and the recent ownership by Eric Sprott?

Greg Johnson:

Yeah, we’re in this period now where the company is moving from a very early stage, exploration stage, to resource stage. And with that, we’re seeing interest from some of the bigger investors. We’ve got US Global, we’ve got Crescat, we’ve got OTP Funds. These are all specialist funds that understand this part of the business for mining exploration and have taken significant stakes. In addition, Eric Sprott is our largest individual shareholder. He’s one of the largest holders in Novagold as well, so we’re really happy to have him in as an investor. And he just increased his ownership by exercising all of his warrants in the company, bringing in over CAD $1.5 million dollars.  We’re pleased with that continued support from Eric. He is very bullish long-term on silver, and his investment in the company was focused on our exposure to silver in the Keno silver district, and a potential upside from our other assets.

Maurice:

Now I’m no Eric Sprott, but I am proud to share that I did exercise my warrants as well.

Greg Johnson:

I believe all those that participated in the financing exercised their warrants as well. Metallic Minerals is pleased to see that continued support from shareholders, and I’m pleased to see the market starting to come back alive for silver and gold. It’s been a bit of a painful 14 month plus period here with the market last peaking back in August of 2020. But I think we’ve turned the corner, and I’m quite bullish that we’ve put this consolidation behind us. It’s a great time for investors to be looking at high-quality names and silver in particular. And I think we’ve got real promise with a strong fundamental backing for Metallic Minerals in terms of the work we’re going to be undertaking to create value, and I think with our leverage to silver, gold, and potentially to copper as well here shortly.

Maurice:

I was going to ask you if you have any comments for shareholders, but I think that may just suffice. How about this, sir, any question that I forgot to ask you today, sir?

Greg Johnson:

No, I think we covered the gamut here, Maurice. It was great to be able to speak with you. I think that it’s an exciting time for investors and for those who are new to Metallic Minerals, we would invite people to contact us through our website.

Maurice:

Please share that website for Metallic Minerals.

Greg Johnson:

The website is MMGsilver.com.  

Maurice:

sir. Mr. Johnson, it’s been a pleasure speaking with you. Wishing you and Metallic Minerals the absolute best, sir.

Before you make your next bullion purchase, contact me at 855.505.1900 or email maurice@milesfranklin.com. I’m a licensed representative for Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments, where we provide a number of options to expand your precious metals portfolio from physical delivery to offshore depositories and precious metal IRAs. Finally, we invite you to subscribe to www.ProvenandProbable.com, where we provide Mining Insights and Bullion Sales.

The information presented on Proven and Probable is provided for educational and informational purposes only, without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose. The information is not intended to be and does not constitute financial investment or trading advice, or any other advice. You should not make any financial investment or trading decision based on any of the information presented without first undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with a professional broker or competent financial advisor.

Categories
Base Metals Energy Junior Mining Noram Lithium

Noram Provides Positive Update on Preliminary Economic Assessment

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 23, 2021 / Noram Lithium Corp. (“Noram” or the “Company”) (TSX – Venture:NRM) (Frankfurt:N7R) (OTCQB:NRVTF) is pleased to announce that it continues to advance the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) for its wholly-owned Zeus Lithium Project (“Zeus” or the “Project”), and is on schedule for release in Q4, 2021 in collaboration with ABH Engineering (“ABH”). After releasing its updated resource estimate on September 21, 2021 the Company and its team of technical experts were able to interpret and develop additional data on the Project to be included in the PEA now in the final stages of completion.

About Noram Lithium Corp.

Noram Lithium Corp (TSX – Venture:NRM / Frankfurt:N7R / OTCQB:NRVTF) is a Canadian-based junior exploration company, with a goal of developing lithium deposits and becoming a low-cost supplier. The Company’s primary business is the Zeus Lithium Project (“Zeus”) in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The Zeus Project has a recently updated resource estimate of 363 million tonnes at 923 ppm lithium measured + indicated resources, and 827 million tonnes lithium at 884 ppm lithium inferred resources (400 ppm Li cut-off).

Noram’s long-term strategy is to build a multi-national lithium minerals company to produce and sell lithium into the markets of Europe, North America and Asia.

Please visit our website for further information: www.noramlithiumcorp.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sandy MacDougall,
CEO, President, and Director

Investor Relations Contact:

Rich Matthews
Managing Partner
Integrous Communications
rmatthews@integcom.us
+1 604 757 7179

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.Story continues

Categories
Junior Mining Rover Metals

ROVER METALS | Phase 2 Exploration Drilling Now Complete at Up Town Gold Project, NWT, Canada

Vancouver, British Columbia – (November 22, 2021) – Rover Metals Corp. (TSXV: ROVR) (OTCQB: ROVMF) (FRA:4X0) (“Rover” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that Phase 2 Exploration Drilling is now complete at the Up Town Gold project, NWT, Canada (60th parallel). The Company optioned a 75% interest (“Option Agreement”) in the project to Arctic Fox Minerals Corp. (“Arctic Fox”) (formerly Melius Capital Corp). Arctic Fox is seeking a public listing of its shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the “CSE”).

Up Town Gold Project
The Up Town Gold project is located on the outskirts of city limits of the city of Yellowknife. The Up Town Gold project is an Archean lode-gold prospect adjoining the historic 7.2 million ounces1 (0.564 ounces per tonne Au or 16 g/t Au) Giant Mine gold deposit in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and Gold Terra Resources’ (TSXV: YGT) Yellowknife City Gold Project. The 3,227 hectare property hosts ten high-grade gold occurrences. Most work to date has been conducted at the Rod Zone and Fox South Zone. The Rod Zone was drilled to a shallow depth in the 1960’s and mined on a small scale in 1979 by previous owners. Recent historic surface sampling at the Rod Vein returned grab samples up to 318 g/t Au and channel samples up to 1.20 m @ 17.27 g/t Au2. Drilling by Rover in 2017 at the Rod Zone returned significant gold intersections in all of three holes drilled with best results of 5.4 m @ 4.28 g/t Au including 0.9 m @ 22.10 g/t Au (Rover Metals Press Release dated October 4, 2017).  At the Fox South Zone, a different style of wide, disseminated, shear zone hosted mineralization returned historic surface samples up to 30.3 g/t Au. Rover drilled the Fox South Zone in 2017 with best results of 7.1 m @ 0.62 g/t Au including 0.3 m @ 5.12 g/t Au.

  1. Silke, R. 2009. The Operational History of Mines in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Tables 3,4,5,and 6 from pages 266, 269, and 270.
  2. The Up Town Gold property contains eight principal showings documented in the NWT mineral showing database (NORMIN).

Phase 2 Exploration Drill Program
Artic Fox returned to the Fox South Zone, drilling multiple holes collared along the existing defined strike of the shear zone (that was the focus of the drilling completed in Q3-2017 by Rover). Successful results from these holes would increase the Fox South Zone by an additional 125 meters along strike to the south. Two new targets were also drilled during the program. The R45 Target, which is located south of Baker Lake and is a silicified shear that was historically trenched for 60 meters. Also, the Baker West Target, a 300-meter-long shear located near the western shore of Baker Lake.

Drilling was also completed at the historic No.22 Vein, located south of the Rod Zone. Surface sampling complete in 1965 returned 2.74 oz./T over 2.5 feet (94 g/t Au over 0.76 meters)3. In 2015, a chip sample collected near the vein returned 37.2 g/t Au over 0.2 meters4.

  1. Schiller, E.A. and Hornbrook, EH., (1965), Mineral Industry of the District of Mackenzie 1963. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 64‐22.
  2. Power, M., (2016), Exploration Program at the Up Town Gold Project; Assessment Report submitted for Claims UTG 1-6 (K15961-K15966)

Historic property scale geochemical and geophysical surveys defined several structural corridors localizing the principal gold showings.   Mineralization at the Up Town Gold property is granitoid-hosted and belongs to the class of Archean granitoid-hosted lode gold deposits.  Prominent examples include Woodcutters Goldfields in Australia; Buzwagi in Tanzania; Renabie, Cote Lake, Hammond Reef and Hasaga in Ontario; and several mines in the Bourlamarque Batholith in Quebec.

Judson Culter, CEO at Rover Metals, states “We are expecting results from the Phase 2 Drill Program at Up Town Gold in Q1-2022, and we are wishing Arctic Fox the best of luck with their proposed listing on CSE.”

Technical information in this news release has been approved by David White, P.Geo., Technical Advisor of Rover and Arctic Fox and a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

Advisor Agreements
The Company has received approval from the TSXV to issue common shares to two of its advisors as payment settlement for their services. Robert Schafer’s advisory services of $7,500, for the period of July 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021, will be paid through the issuance of 113,242 common shares as full payment settlement. The shares will bear a four-month regulatory hold period from the date of issuance. Abingdon Capital’s advisory services of $7,500, for the period of July 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021, will be paid through the issuance of 113,242 common shares as full payment settlement. The shares will bear a four-month regulatory hold period from the date of issuance.


About Rover Metals
Rover is a precious metals exploration company specialized in North American precious metal resources, that is currently advancing the gold potential of its existing projects in the Northwest Territories of Canada (60th parallel). The Company commenced Phase 2 Exploration at its 100% owned Cabin Gold Project in the summer of 2021, and exploration work continues at Cabin Gold through to the date of this release.


You can follow Rover on its social media channels:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rovermetals
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rover-metals/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoverMetals/
for daily company updates and industry news, and
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJsHsfag1GFyp4aLW5Ye-YQ?view_as=subscriber
for corporate videos.
Website:https://www.rovermetals.com/

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Judson Culter”
Chief Executive Officer and Director

For further information, please contact:
Email: info@rovermetals.com
Phone: +1 (778) 754-2617

Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements.” Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Rover’s actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “projects,” “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will,” “would,” “may,” “could” or “should” occur. There can be no assurance that such statements be prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Any factor could cause actual results to differ materially from Rover’s expectations. Rover undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS NEWS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMPANY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS NEWS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE THE COMPANY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Categories
Junior Mining Metallic Group Metallic Minerals Precious Metals

Metallic Minerals Announces Completion of Exploration Programs at Keno Silver Project and $1.56 Million Warrant Exercise by Resource Investor Eric Sprott

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 22, 2021 / Metallic Minerals (TSX.V:MMG | OTCQB:MMNGF) (“Metallic Minerals“, or the “Company“) is pleased to announce the successful completion of its 2021 exploration programs at the Company’s 100%-owned Keno Silver project, adjoining Alexco Resource’s high-grade silver mines in the Keno Hill silver district of Yukon, Canada. The multi-phase program consisted of Reverse Circulation (“RC”) and diamond core drilling, Induced Polarization (“IP”) geophysics, surface sampling, and district-wide stratigraphic and structural mapping across the 35-kilometer-wide district. The program, which began in June, was the Company’s most extensive exploration campaign on the project to date, with 53 holes totalling nearly 6,200 meters (“m”) along with 20.3 line-kilometers of deep-penetrating IP geophysical surveys.

The 2021 Keno Silver work program was designed to achieve a number of important objectives:

  • Expand the extent of drill-defined mineralization at the advanced target areas in the central and western parts of the Keno Hill silver district, namely Caribou, Homestake, and Formo towards initial resource estimates;
  • Conduct follow-up drilling at the new discovery areas identified at East Keno in 2020 in order to begin to define the scale of mineralization along trend and to depth within these multi-kilometer-scale soil and geophysical targets;
  • Complete first-pass reconnaissance drilling on additional untested multi-kilometer-scale targets in the eastern and central parts of the district; and
  • Use new deep-penetrating IP geophysics, in conjunction with detailed surface mapping, to more accurately determine the potential scale of these newly identified mineralized systems.

Metallic Minerals’ 166 square kilometer Keno Silver project is the second-largest land position in one of the world’s highest-grade silver districts, directly adjoining the operations of Alexco Resource Corp. The Keno Hill silver district has nearly 300 million ounces of silver in past production1 and current M&I resources2, with excellent existing infrastructure, including grid power, road access and nearby community services. The restart of mining operations at Keno Hill was the third mining operation to start producing in the Yukon Territory over the past two years.https://s.yimg.com/rq/darla/4-10-0/html/r-sf-flx.html

Greg Johnson, Chairman and CEO, stated: “We are very pleased with what we were able to achieve from the largest program to date at our flagship Keno Silver project. Our team made significant progress at the advanced-stage target areas in Central and West Keno and completed ground-breaking work that significantly enhanced our understanding of the geologic controls related to the new discovery areas at East Keno. The combination of the new insight that has come from the recognition of the much greater importance of regional-scale thrust faults with epithermal style silver mineralization and the very compelling data from the deep-sensing IP survey demonstrates that we have a highly effective tool kit for exploration in the under-explored parts of this prolific, high-grade silver district.”

“After an extraordinarily active period for the Company, the 2021 field season, which included significant campaigns on three separate projects, has concluded at our flagship Keno Silver Project, and will soon be wrapping up at our La Plata silver-gold-copper and Klondike alluvial gold projects. Significant and substantive news flow is expected to follow, including IP and drill results from Keno Silver, drill results from La Plata and updates with respect to activity on our holdings in the Klondike goldfields. In addition, we are seeing a recognition in the marketplace of the importance of our metals of focus as important for the transition towards non-carbon-based energy and as hard-asset stores of value and natural inflation hedges.”

“We would also like to acknowledge that Mr. Eric Sprott has exercised all of his Metallic Minerals common share purchase warrants from the Company’s October 2019 private placement financing for total proceeds to the Company of $1,562,500 CDN. Following the completion of the warrants exercise, Mr. Sprott (through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation which is beneficially owned by him) holds and controls 21.5 million shares, representing over 16% of the issued and outstanding shares on a non-diluted basis. We appreciate the continued support of Mr. Sprott, our largest shareholder, and this recent warrant exercise will aid the continued advancement of our exciting projects.”

2021 Exploration Program Overview

The 2021 Keno Silver drill program was designed to follow up on the successes of the 2020 program by building on the discoveries at East Keno and continuing to expand drill-defined mineralization at advanced-stage targets in the central and western parts of the Keno Hill silver district. In 2020, RC drilling intercepted significant silver mineralization in 26 of 30 reconnaissance holes, which effectively expanded the known extent of drill-defined mineralization by 10 kilometers to the east and demonstrated the potential for major new discoveries in this underexplored part of the district.

Drilling in 2021 was comprised of a two-phase program, beginning with a first phase of RC drilling focused on reconnaissance drilling of untested soil and geophysical targets, along with follow-up drilling along strike and down dip on the new East Keno discoveries. The phase one program included 4,300 m of RC drilling in 45 holes focused on the East Keno and Central Keno target areas. This was followed by a second phase of deeper diamond core drilling program totalling 1,900 m in 8 holes in the East Keno and West Keno target areas.

In addition to the focused drill program, Metallic Minerals undertook a comprehensive effort to expand the coverage of its detailed geologic and geophysical data coverage, particularly over the less-explored eastern half of the Keno Hill silver district where the Company has identified 12 separate multi-kilometer-long high-level soil and magnetic anomalies. This effort included district-wide stratigraphic and structural mapping focused in these important target areas for exploration and led to the identification of previously unrecognized regional scale thrust fault structures and associated styles of epithermal mineralization which have major implications for bulk tonnage potential that has not been previously investigated in the Keno Hill silver district.

In conjunction with the detailed geologic mapping program, Metallic Minerals completed the first-ever application of deep-sensing IP geophysics using Simcoe Geoscience’s Alpha IPTM system. This system has been used with great success on other Metallic Group projects and has the capability to image down to more than 800 meters depth from surface. Five separate multi-kilometer IP profiles were collected over the discovery areas at East Keno, as well as other targets in the central part of the Keno district, covering significant soil and magnetic anomalies. The 2021 survey was successful in identifying major conductive features that are spatially associated with areas with kilometer-scale soil and magnetic anomalies and with newly mapped regional thrust faults. The surveys yielded 35 high-priority targets that will be investigated in the upcoming 2022 program. Additional review and interpretation of this data is underway and a detailed discussion of the IP survey results, including relevant structure images, is expected in a subsequent news release.

The following provides a snapshot of the activities completed at each of the major target areas on the Keno Silver project and are presented in the order that assay results are anticipated to be received and reported:

Central Keno

Drilling activity in 2021 began in the Central Keno target area, which covers the central 12 km of the 35 km wide Keno Hill silver district and includes 90 million ounces of past production1 and current M&I resources2 from 8 separate deposits, including the namesake Keno Hill mine. A total of 37 RC holes were completed in the Central Keno target area which focused on expansion of drill defined mineralization at the advanced stage Caribou and Homestake targets, along with step-out drilling along trend and within several newly identified soil anomalies that remain open along trend from historically drilled areas. Two deep IP lines were also completed across the area which identified significant conductive features that spatially correspond with regional scale thrust fault structures and associated epithermal style silver mineralization.

Assay results remain pending, and additional drilling is already planned at Caribou and Homestake in 2022 to advance both areas towards an initial resource estimate.

East Keno

Drilling in the East Keno target area included 12 RC and diamond core holes and focused on step-out drilling along trend and down-dip of the discovery zones intersected in 2020 at Fox, Zone 2 and UKHM, in addition to reconnaissance drilling at the previously untested North Fox and West Cobalt targets. Metallic Minerals’ drilling at East Keno has confirmed the presence of significant high-grade and bulk tonnage silver mineralization in this underexplored part of the Keno Hill silver district.

Two 6-kilometer-long IP lines were completed over East Keno with one survey over the greater Fox target area (Fox to UKHM) and a second over the West Cobalt to Cobalt target area. The IP lines identify a number of major conductive anomalies that are open to depth and that spatially overlap with multi-kilometer soil anomalies, mapped regional scale thrust structures and epithermal style mineralization.

Drilling at East Keno in 2021 has confirmed the presence of significant structural zones with epithermal style mineralization with continuous structural zones exceeding 100 meters in thickness that correspond spatially with conductive anomalies in the IP geophysics. Follow-up 3D modelling will be completed on the 2020 and 2021 drilling at East Keno to better determine the geometries of this major new discovery area and to vector towards areas with the highest silver grades and thickness. Assay results remain pending.

West Keno

In April, the Company announced the first results from modern drilling at the advanced-stage Formo target, where diamond drill holes intercepted very high-grade Keno-style silver mineralization, which remains open to expansion in all directions. Formo is the site of an historical high-grade open-pit mine that saw production from the 1920s and 30s. Metallic Minerals drilled four additional diamond core drill holes this fall at Formo to test the extension of drill-defined high-grade mineralization along strike and down dip. Two new targets have been also identified along the same structural corridor within parallel greenstone sills and will be the target of drilling in 2022. Assay results remain pending, and additional drilling is planned at Formo in 2022 to advance this area towards an initial resource estimate.

Detailed mapping at the Silver Queen target has demonstrated a close relationship between regional thrust faults and epithermal-style silver mineralization at West Keno. The adjacent Silver King deposit, which was one of the highest-grade mines in the Keno Hill silver district, is also dominantly epithermal-style mineralization. These findings will be incorporated into new modelling and drill targets for West Keno in 2022.

About the Keno Silver Project

Exploration by Metallic Minerals at the Keno Silver project continues to systematically build on the Company’s 3D geologic database covering the east, central and western portions of the prolific Keno Hill silver district. The project includes eight high-grade, shallow past-producing mines that have yet to be subjected to modern exploration due to previously unconsolidated land ownership. Along the known, historically productive trends in the central and western parts of the district, the Company has advanced three targets to step-out drilling stage and several additional targets to drill-ready status. In addition, recent exploration has defined 12 new priority multi-kilometer-scale early-stage targets for reconnaissance drilling in the under-explored eastern and southern parts of the district where initial drilling has returned significant high-grade Keno-style mineralization as well as identified the potential for bulk-tonnage style silver mineralization.

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 nearly 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 OTC, and Frankfurt stock exchanges.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Phone: 604-629-7800
Toll-Free: 1-888-570-4420
Website: mmgsilver.com
Email: cackerman@mmgsilver.com

Footnotes

1) Cathro, R. J., Great Mining Camps of Canada 1. The History and Geology of the Keno Hill Silver Camp, Yukon Territory. Geoscience Canada, Sept. 2006. ISSN 1911-4850. 2) Alexco Resource Corp Technical Report, titled “NI 43-101 Technical Report on Updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate of the Keno Hill Silver District” with an effective date of April 1, 2021 and issue date of May 26, 2021.

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.

Qualified Person

The disclosure in this news release of scientific and technical information regarding exploration projects on Metallic Minerals’ mineral properties has been reviewed and approved by Scott Petsel, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration, who is Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”).

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 timelines, 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. 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.

SOURCE: Metallic Minerals Corp.

Categories
Junior Mining Lion One Metals

Buying Lion One is Like Stealing

Archives
Nov 15, 2021

I make it crystal clear in my investment books Nobody Knows Anything and Basic Investing in Resource Stocks that there is no magic to investing if you follow a reasonable set of rules. As I have so accurately pointed out just recently, predicting the future of any price movement can be fraught with problems. However looking at a map to see just where you are today is easy and important.

We had a low in gold, silver and the resource stocks right at the end of September. Since then the DSI has gone higher, the XAU over gold is higher and the Gold Miners Percentage Index is higher. All indicated a turn about six weeks ago. We can’t know when the metals and shares will top but those indicators will show us sentiment with great accuracy. That is just as true at tops as it is at bottoms. There is a lot of free information available that anyone can use to navigate their way through shoal waters.

(Click on images to enlarge)

There are other factors to the value of a particular stock than just the price of the commodity. We have entered the annual tax loss silly season where pissed off investors dump the shares they own that have gone down the most in order to claim the tax loss credit. It’s a lot like stealing because in their quest to unload unloved investments they often dump good stocks that will regain their prior price by February or March of the next year. Tax loss silly season begins now and will run until almost Christmas.

In addition, when markets are at new lows, volume dries up and often you have to make an appointment to give shares away. And there is the issue of stocks that investors have simply given up on because the companies made the cardinal mistake of boring shareholders.

Lion One Metals (LIO-V) made the mistake of doing all of those. Think of it as a trifecta of mining. Our saga really began in March of 2019 when Chairman and CEO Wally Berukoff appointed Quinton Hennigh as a technical advisor to Lion One. The shares were bouncing along at $.35 after years of quiet but slow progress on the 100% company owned gold project in Fiji.

Quinton started off with a surprising announcement. What they thought of as an epithermal gold system of limited potential in spite of the already defined 43-101 of over 900,000 ounces of gold wasn’t that at all. It wasn’t epithermal limited in size and grade; it was a far richer and more valuable alkaline gold system. All the company needed to do was to drill deeper.

Lion One did and in 2020 came up with results of 55 g/t Au over 12.7 meters in hole DDH 500 and 85.7 g/t Au over 3.3 meters driving the price of shares up to $2.67. Wisely, Wally went to the financing markets and raised over $65 million to begin construction of the mill and for further resource definition. But Covid began to take its toll even if we now realize what we call Covid is no more than a bad flu.

The managing director for Lion was operating out of Perth in Western Australia. Since the country had a long experience with being a prison colony they slammed the cell doors and imprisoned their entire population in order to fight a bad flu. He couldn’t leave Australia and no one could enter Fiji.

Of all of the bad events that can transpire with a junior resource company the worst is to bore shareholders. Even though the company bought new drills and had them shipped to Fiji they have no professional mining engineers or exploration geologists on site to supervise the local crews. And to be kind, Fiji is not Ontario or Nevada or even Mexico or Peru in terms of mining expertise.

On a regular but slow basis Lion One would announce drill results. In January of 2021 they announced 2.24 meters of 13.31 g/t Au along with 3.47 meters of 20.71 g/t gold. A month later on February 3rd they released results of 12.45 meters of 21.31 g/t Au and 3 meters of 114 g/t gold. March brought an announcement of two additional drill rigs being delivered. May brought excellent results from three more holes including 1.2 meters of 13.74 g/t Au near surface, 6 meters of 9.11 g/t Au and 6.47 meters of 17.9 g/t gold.

By now the company was up to a total of six drill rigs operational but was beginning to run out of the bandwidth of trying to operate remotely from Perth. Wisely, Wally made the decision to bring in some professional staff to be on site to move the company forward to production as the plan had been all along. That plan ran into the Covid stupidity. It took until August of 2021 to get Patrick Hickey into Fiji as COO and Sergio Cattalani in place as SVP for Exploration.

I’d like to say everything went smoothly but if I did, I would be lying. It took months for Fiji to open up and then the pair had to remain in quarantine for two weeks. Literally they only started cleaning up what was basically your garden-variety mess in September.

They found a lot of issues. One of the most interesting was that a lot of the core clearly was mineralized but had never been assayed not withstanding the fact that Lion One owns the lab. Lion One had good people on site but trying to plan for construction of a mine and mill takes time and requires professional supervision. It is now in place and they are moving forward.

On November 2nd they came up with another press release showing excellent numbers including 3.9 meters of 33.4 g/t Au and 0.3 meters of 65 g/t Au and 0.3 meters of 112 g/t gold, with 0.6 meters of 48.7 g/t Au and 0.6 meters of 33.06 g/t Au. Clearly Lion One has the gold. It is high grade and there is a lot of it. The lookalike Vatukoula Gold Mine is located only 40 km from Tuvatu. Vatukoula has resources remaining of 4 million ounces of gold and has produced 7 million ounces already. Tuvatu has a similar footprint and every indication of similar grade and quantity of gold.

Wally’s plan all along has been to construction a 350 TPD mill using the existing near surface resource to produce 100,000 ounces of gold a year. As of today the company has a market cap of $151 million CAD with a total of $54 million in cash. Lion One has more than enough money to continue the six-drill rig exploration and development drill program and to move the plan for the mill into high speed.

The government of Fiji wants the mine to go into production. The potential tax revenue is an important part of their financial plan for the future. Investors want to see concrete action on the part of exploration and the start of construction for the long promised mill. Wally has 100% ownership of the project, a boatload of cash that makes the company more of a bank than a mining junior and two highly experienced mining professionals in position to move this puppy to production. It’s time for the company to shit or get off the pot.

I know of no company with a resource as real as Lion One’s and the cash they have on hand that is selling for pennies. Lion One has derisked the project. A move to production would convince investors that instead of what is probably $100 an ounce CAD today, the company would really be worth a whole lot more. Wally is in a position to ride the wave of gold higher to a multi-billion dollar market cap. He’s done it twice before and this is a whole lot better potential.

Lion One is an advertiser. The company is actually my largest share position in spite of having moved to a new low. I was buying shares in the open market as recently as Friday. I would love to see the company in production. I know a lot of investors feel the same way. Once in production the majors are going to be on this like white on rice. There will be a bidding war for the company when they actually begin to put the plan into operation.

Do your own due diligence.

Lion One Metals
LIO-V $.97 (Nov 12, 2021)
LOMLF OTCQX 156 million shares
Lion One website

###

Bob Moriarty
President: 321gold
Archives

321gold Ltd

Categories
Base Metals Energy Exclusive Interviews Junior Mining Nevada Copper Noram Lithium

Andrew Hecht – Green Energy Are Catalysts For Lithium And Copper

  • Battery metal demand is rising, and the trend will continue
  • New properties are in demand- Producers provide leverage to the metal prices, and exploration companies turbocharge the gearing- Location is critical
  • Lithium Americas (LAC) looks to pick up a property
  • Nevada Copper (NEVDF)- The trend is your friend, and increasing demand for EVs supports a continuation of the rally

Noram Lithium (NRVTF)- An undervalued battery metal play in Nevada, a desirable jurisdiction

In real estate, a property’s value always reflects its location. Any real estate professional understands that the three leading value factors are location-location-location. 

Commodity producers face many regional issues. Raw materials can occur in local regions where political or economic forces make extraction challenging. The cost of production reflects local tax, royalty, logistical, and other factors.

Over the past year, the ascent of metals prices has caused many of the world’s leading producers to scramble to find new mining projects to meet the growing demand. One of the world’s leading diversified commodity producers, BHP is currently in talks with Ivanhoe Mines to acquire part of the Western Foreland exploration area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While DRC is the largest copper producer in Africa with the most substantial reserves, the country has a long history of corruption that has impeded its growth. The DRC is not an ideal location for mining companies, but the growing need for new output has put BHP in a position to consider the project. It takes up to ten years to bring a new copper mine into production, and producers are scouring the earth for projects that will meet the increasing demand.

Goldman Sachs called copper “the new oil” because of its role in decarbonization. Three-month LME copper was trading at the $9,518 per ton level on November 5, with the December COMEX copper futures at the $4.3430 per pound level. Goldman projects that copper prices could rise to the $15,000 per ton level by 2025, putting COMEX copper futures north of the $6.80 per pound level.  

Meanwhile, lithium is another commodity that is experiencing growing demand. The success of addressing climate change through decarbonization relies on ample supplies of battery metals that can replace fossil fuels.

While BHP is looking to the DRC for new copper deposits, other mining and exploration companies are developing battery metal deposits. Friendlier and less challenging jurisdictions are likely to attract significant premiums over the coming months and years.

In the US, Nevada, the silver state, has a long history as one of the most favorable mining jurisdictions on the earth. When it comes to location, it does not get much better than Nevada.

Battery metal demand is rising, and the trend will continue

Climate change is not a US issue; it is a worldwide trend. Addressing climate change involves replacing the hydrocarbons that currently power the world with alternative, renewable energy sources. While batteries power only around one percent of the cars on roads today, the demand for EVs is growing by leaps and bounds. Hertz recently announced they are purchasing 100,000 Tesla model-3 EVs in a $4.2 billion deal. EVs will make up 20% of the Hertz fleet by the end of 2022. Hertz will also install thousands of charging stations in its locations in the US and Europe.

EV’s require twice the copper as internal combustion engines. The batteries require other metals and minerals including, lithium, nickel, cobalt, zinc, aluminum, manganese, graphite, and potassium. Tesla’s batteries currently use lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminum chemistry. However, the company is working on a set of cobalt-free or reduced batteries drawing on lithium-iron-phosphate technology and chemistries that rely more heavily on nickel. The three-month nickel price on the London Metals Exchange closed 2020 at the $16,600 per ton level. As of November 4, the price was over $19,400 after reaching over $20,500 during the year. Copper futures on COMEX may have corrected from the May 2021 all-time high at nearly $4.90 per pound, but they remain appreciably higher than at the end of 2020.

Source: CQG

The monthly chart shows that copper closed 2020 at the $3.52 level. At the $4.3430 per pound level in early November 2021, copper futures were over 23% higher. The price action in the lithium carbonate market has been even more bullish.

Source: Trading Economics

The chart shows the rise from below $33,000 per ton in 2020 to the current price at the $194,500 level, an increase of nearly six times. Lithium’s ascent is more like a cryptocurrency than a commodity as the demand for the metal for EV production grows.

New properties are in demand- Producers provide leverage to the metal prices, and exploration companies turbocharge the gearing- Location is critical

Mining companies make substantial capital investments to extract raw materials from the earth’s crust. The leading mining companies profit handsomely when market prices exceed production costs, creating leverage. Mining companies often outperform the commodities they produce on the upside but underperform when prices decline.

Meanwhile, exploration companies provide even more leverage. Since rewards are always a function of the risks, companies that search for commodities tend to experience incredible gains when they find them and begin production or sell the properties to the more established mining companies that can take projects to the next production and processing levels.

The mining industry reflects economies of scale. The leading companies like BHP, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Glencore, and others have made significant capital investments and spread production risks over a diversified portfolio of mining properties. They tend to allow exploration companies to make the finds and then take the mining properties to the next steps.

When it comes to investing, exploration companies can offer attractive returns that often outpace the underlying commodity and the established miners on a percentage basis. If the BHP’s offer leverage, exploration companies turbocharge that gearing.  

Lithium Americas (LAC) looks to pick up a property

Lithium Americas Corporation (LAC) operates as a resource company in the United States. The company explores for lithium deposits. LAC owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz Project in the Jujuy province of Argentina and the Thacker Pass project in north-western Humboldt County, Nevada. Thacker Pass recently increased its Phase 1 capacity to target 40,000 tpa lithium carbonate.

LAC announced it submitted an unconditional offer to Millennial Lithium Corporation to acquire all of the outstanding shares for approximately $400 million.

Source: Barchart

The chart shows LAC’s ascent from a low of $1.92 per share in March 2020 to its most recent high of $33.42 on November 4. At the $32.67 per share level, LAC’s market cap was over $3.919 billion. An average of over five million shares changes hands each day. Lithium has been a hot commodity that has moved nearly six times since 2020. LAC shares have moved over seventeen times higher over the period as the successful mining company turbocharged the commodity’s percentage gain.

Nevada Copper (NEVDF)- The trend is your friend, and increasing demand for EVs supports a continuation of the rally

Nevada Copper is an exploration company in the silver state of Nevada. The company owns a 100% interest in the Pumpkin Hollow property that contains copper, gold, and silver reserves. The most recent operations update highlighted accelerated stope turnover rates, management team changes that strengthened the company, productivity improvements, and processing of ore averaging approximately 1.5% copper delivered to the mill. Since the May high, copper’s price has dropped at nearly $4.90 per pound on the nearby COMEX futures contract. NEVDF is an exploration company, so its share performance tends to outperform the commodity on the upside and underperform on the downside. Copper rose from $3.52 per pound at the end of 2020 to a high of $4.8985 in May or 39.2%. On November 5, the price was at the $4.3430 level, 11.3% below the May peak. NEVDF shares closed 2020 at the $1.14 level.

Source: Barchart

The chart highlights that NEVDF shares reached a high of $2.71 when copper peaked and traded at 67.00 cents per share on November 5. NEVDF shares rallied by 137.7% and from the end of 2020 to the May 2021 high and were 75.3% lower than the peak as of November 5. Like many exploration companies, NEVDF turbocharged the price action in copper, outperforming the metal on the upside and underperforming on the downside.

As the demand for copper will rise over the coming years, and Goldman Sachs expects the price to increase dramatically, now could be the perfect time to consider this exploration company.

Noram Lithium (NRVTF)- Another battery metal play in Nevada, a desirable jurisdiction

Norman Lithium (NRVTF) is an exploration company that develops mineral properties in the United States.
The company owns interests in the Zeus Lithium Project in Clayton Valley, Nevada. Noram’s property is next door to Albemarle Corporation’s (ALB)  Silver Peak Lithium Mine in Nevada. 

Noram’s latest highlights include:

  • A 70% increase in measured and indicated resources
  • A 369% increase in inferred resources
  • Deposits near the surface, reducing production costs
  • The potential to increase the deposit size via deeper drilling
  • An environmentally friendly footprint
  • A Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in the coming weeks – Advancing the project closer to its’ production target

At the 67.15 cents per share level, NRVTF has a market cap at the $50.701 million level. An average of 56,780 shares changes hands each day.

Source: Barchart

The chart shows NRVTF shares closed at the 40.26 cents level on December 31, 2020. At 66.87 on November 5, they were 66.1% higher. NRVTF shares reached a high of 98.78 cents on January 14, 2021, which is the stock’s current technical target. The shares have traded in a bullish trend since mid-April 2021.

With the spotlight on lithium, Norman could be an excellent exploration company to consider. Success in the Zeus project could attract interest from companies like Lithium Americas Corporation (LAC) that is currently buying Millennial Lithium Corporation’s shares for $400 million, nearly eight times higher than NRVTF’s current market cap.

Exploration companies are risky, but the potential for substantial rewards always involves an elevated risk level. Meanwhile, Nevada Copper and Noram Lithium have location on their sides as Nevada is a highly desirable mining jurisdiction in a world hungry for copper and lithium supplies.

Written By: Andrew Hecht, on behalf of Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable.

Any investment involves substantial risks, including, but not limited to, pricing volatility, inadequate liquidity, and the potential complete loss of principal. This document does not in any way constitute an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any investment, security, or commodity discussed herein, or any security in any jurisdiction in which such an offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.