Corazon Mining Moves to 100% Ownership of Lynn Lake Area

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Corazon Mining (ASX: CZN) has acquired 100 per cent of the Lynn Lake nickel copper cobalt sulphide project area in Canada, having exercised an option to do so.

Corazon Mining had already consolidated the entire Lynn Lake nickel-sulphide mining centre, historically one of Canada’s largest nickel producing operations, under its sole ownership, which includes ground 100 per cent owned by Corazon following its acquisition of the Victory nickel-copper project, and the Dunlop project area, where Corazon has the rights to acquire 100 per cent ownership.

Corazon has now satisfied its obligations for settlement to exercise its option to acquire the Dunlop project area, which covers a large portion of the wider Lynn Lake Project.

Corazon considers the Dunlop project area to represent a critical component of the wider Lynn Lake project that covers the high-grade EL Mine and the Fraser Lake Complex (FLC) intrusion, located five kilometres south of the Lynn Lake mining centre and currently the subject of a targeted drilling program.

“Boasting large JORC compliant resources and beneficial infrastructure, Lynn Lake presents Corazon with a major development opportunity – one which is becoming increasingly prospective as a result of recent increases in the value of both nickel and cobalt metals,” Corazon Mining said in its ASX announcement.

“Both metals are forecast to have strong demand outlooks associated with their core use in the emerging global electric vehicle (EV) industry.”

 

Email: info@corazon.com.au

Web: www.corazon.com.au

 

Blackstone Minerals Acquires Ta Khoa Nickel-PGE Project

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Blackstone Minerals (ASX: BSX) announced it has exercised an option to acquire a 90 per cent interest in the Ta Khoa nickel-PGE project in northern Vietnam.

Blackstone Minerals executed the binding option agreement to purchase AMR Nickel Limited’s 90 per cent interest in the project and will subsequently issue 8.6 million shares to Ta Khoa Mining Limited as per the terms of a binding term sheet agreement of $1 million of BSX shares.

Exercising the option to acquire a 90 per cent interest in the Ta Khoa project means Blackstone has now completed a condition of the recently announced binding share purchase agreement with EcoPro.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of the Ta Khoa nickel-PGE project and welcome Steve Ennor and all of the team in Vietnam to the Blackstone group, we now look forward to the future of the Ta Khoa nickel-PGE project with our new partner EcoPro,” Blackstone Minerals managing director Scott Williamson said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

Blackstone indicated it now aims to deliver a maiden resource in Q3, focused initially on the disseminated sulphide (DSS) at Ban Phuc as it continues to investigate the potential to restart the existing Ban Phuc concentrator through focused exploration on both massive sulphide veins (MSV) and DSS deposits.

Blackstone has commenced a scoping study on the downstream processing facility at Ta Khoa that is anticipated to be announced in Q3, providing details for Joint Venture partners to formalise the next stage of investment.

Blackstone Minerals has commenced metallurgical testing on the Ban Phuc DSS deposit with an aim to develop a flow sheet for a product suitable for the lithium-ion battery industry and intends to investigate the potential to develop downstream processing infrastructure in Vietnam to produce a downstream nickel and cobalt product to supply Asia’s growing lithium-ion battery industry.

 

Email: admin@blackstoneminerals.com.au

Web: www.blackstoneminerals.com.au

 

Blackstone Minerals Welcomes $6.8M Sth Korean Investment

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Blackstone Minerals (ASX: BSX) bounced out of a self-imposed trading halt to announce $6.8 million investment in the company by South Korea-based battery and environment material company, EcoProa.

Blackstone Minerals has signed a binding share purchase agreement with EcoPro Co. Limited, who’s subsidiary company, EcoPro BM, is the world’s second largest and Korea’s largest nickel-rich cathode materials manufacturer.

The placement of 40 million fully paid ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.17 per share represents a healthy 62 per cent premium to Blackstone Minerals’ last traded price before it went into self-exile.

Blackstone Minerals said the binding agreement outlines an alliance structure under which it will work in partnership with EcoPro – by way of an additional investment via a Joint Venture Agreement – to develop a downstream processing facility in association with Blackstone Minerals’ Ta Khoa nickel-PGE project in northern Vietnam.

“We are pleased to announce this investment of $6.8 million at a premium which strengthens our alliance with EcoPro,” Blackstone Minerals managing director Scott Williamson said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Our Ta Khoa nickel-PGE project has the potential to deliver the critical raw materials required for EcoPro’s cathode manufacturing to meet the demand from the imminent electric vehicle (EV) revolution.

“We look forward to working towards the next stage of our partnership to develop the downstream processing facility in northern Vietnam.”

Blackstone Minerals has signalled its intent to deliver a maiden resource in Q3, focused initially on the disseminated sulphide (DSS) at Ban Phuc as it continues to investigate the potential to restart the existing Ban Phuc concentrator through focused exploration on both massive sulphide veins (MSV) and DSS deposits.

Blackstone has already commenced a scoping study on the downstream processing facility at Ta Khoa, which is anticipated to also to be announced in Q3.

This is expected to provide details for JV partners to formalise the next stage of investment.

Metallurgical testing is also underway on the Ban Phuc DSS deposit with an aim to develop a flow sheet for a product suitable for the lithium-ion battery industry.

Blackstone is also investigating the potential to develop downstream processing infrastructure in Vietnam to produce a downstream nickel and cobalt product to supply Asia’s growing lithium-ion battery industry.

The company’s purchase of the Ta Khoa nickel-PGE project came with an existing modern nickel mine that had been placed under care and maintenance since 2016 due to falling nickel prices.

Existing infrastructure includes an internationally designed 450,000 tonnes per annum processing plant.

Previous project owners focused mining and exploration efforts primarily on the MSV at Ban Phuc, where Blackstone plans to explore both MSV and DSS targets throughout the project, initially within a five kilometres radius of the existing processing facility.

EcoPro is a South Korea-based company engaged in the battery and environment material sector, principally in the manufacture and sale of secondary battery materials.

The company manufactures cathode active materials and precursors used for secondary batteries and provides environmental materials including sorbents and catalysts, chemical air filters, and greenhouse gas reduction devices, among others.

 

Email: admin@blackstoneminerals.com.au

Web: www.blackstoneminerals.com.au

 

Red 5 Completes Great Western Acquisition

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Red 5 Limited (ASX: RED), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Darlot Mining Company Pty Ltd, has exercised an Option Agreement to acquire a 100 per cent-interest in Mining Lease M37/54.

The Mining Lease includes the Great Western gold deposit.

Red 5 has executed a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with the tenement holder, Terrain Minerals (ASX: TMX).

The company believes the acquisition supports its stated multi-strand strategy to expand the Darlot Mineral Resource base, which includes regional ‘bolt-on’ acquisitions in addition to aggressive exploration being undertaken as part of its Darlot Mining Hub Strategy.

The Great Western gold deposit is located 80 kilometres trucking distance south of Red 5’s Darlot processing plant, which is currently operating at one million tonnes per annum.

Red 5 considers the acquisition of the Great Western gold deposit and surrounding Mining Lease represented a high-quality strategic addition to its Mineral Resource base within trucking distance of the Darlot mill.

Terrain Minerals had previously completed a JORC 2012-compliant Mineral Resource estimate for the Great Western deposit totalling 709,000 tonnes at an average grade of 2.7 grasm per tonne gold for 62,000 ounces of contained gold.

“Having completed the due diligence drilling, we believe the Great Western deposit represents a highly prospective addition to our Darlot Mining Hub Strategy, with an existing 62,000 ounce Mineral Resource and exploration upside, particularly at depth,” Red 5 managing director Mark Williams said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“With an acquisition cost of $40 per Resource ounce, it boosts our Mineral Resource base within economic trucking distance of the Darlot mill.

“We will continue to seek further such opportunities – both through our exploration programs as well as through strategic acquisitions – with the aim of establishing five to ten years of Ore Reserves either at or within trucking distance of the Darlot mill as part of the company’s Darlot Mining Hub Strategy.”

 

Email: info@red5limited.com

Web: www.red5limited.com

 

Neometals Completes Lithium Battery Recycling Pilot Testing

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Neometals (ASX: NMT) declared the completion of pilot plant test‐work on the company’s proprietary lithium‐ion battery (LIB) recycling technology a success.

Neometals said the pilot testing validated earlier bench scale assumptions with high recoveries of the targeted suite of cathode active elements and refined them into high purity chemicals for re‐use in the battery supply chain.

Neometals has developed a sustainable process for recovering nickel, cobalt and other valuable materials from spent and scrap LIBs that might otherwise be disposed of in land fill or processed in high emission pyrometallurgical recovery circuits.

The technology physically separates and recovers battery steel casings, aluminium and copper foil, plastic separators, and graphite from high‐value battery cathode materials including nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium.

The company considers the successful completion of the pilot work as an important commercial milestone for the recycling technology.

Objectives were met and surpassed, no fatal technical flaws arose, and the company now has the data to commence feasibility‐level studies and proposed demonstration trials in Europe.

With the Pilot greatly reducing the technical risk of its proprietary process, Neometals said it can proceed confidently towards the proposed commercialisation JV with SMS Group and advance feed supply and product offtake activities.

“We are delighted to have completed the lithium battery recycling Pilot with such encouraging results,” Neometals managing director Chris Reed said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“We remain convinced that electrification of transport is an unstoppable trend, which by default will generate ever increasing volumes of production scrap and end‐of‐life batteries to responsibly manage.

“We have now proven that we have a solution to meet the lithium‐ion battery supply chains need for a safe, environmentally friendly recycling process which can reduce reliance on imported mineral feedstocks and satisfy increasing regulatory and stakeholder demands for sustainable and ethical raw material supply chains.

“We are looking forward with our partner to commercialise this asset. SMS’s skill set and global presence will further enhance value and lower risk as we prepare to showcase our offering to the market in a Commercial Demonstration Plant in Europe, the region with the fastest growing battery cell production capacity.”

Neometals indicated that SMS Group will complete its review of the final metallurgical test work report and Metsim mass‐energy balance.

The review constitutes the final technical diligence requirements to enable an SMS decision to enter a project commercialisation JV by the end of April 2020.

Both parties are negotiating the JV legal agreements in parallel with Commercial Demonstration Plant design and procurement work packages.

The Pilot learnings have highlighted scope to further improve outcomes in optimisation test‐work that has commenced and will precede the Demonstration Trial.

 

Email: info@neometals.com.au

Web: www.neometals.com.au

 

Red 5 Completes $125M Raising to De-Risk KOTH

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Red 5 Limited (ASX: RED) bucked recent trends by announcing a $125 million share placement to sophisticated and professional investors.

Red 5 made the placement at a price of 18 cents per share, saying that it would underpin the company’s next pivotal phase of its growth pathway to becoming a multi-asset, mid-tier Australian gold producer.

Red 5 declared the Placement de-risks the funding requirements to develop the proposed integrated bulk open pit and underground mining and processing operation for the King Of The Hills (KOTH) gold project in Western Australia, where a Final Feasibility Study is due for completion in the September 2020 Quarter.

“We are delighted with the strong support received from existing and new investors, particularly given the current challenging equity market environment,” Red 5 managing director Mark Williams said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“In particular, I would like to thank our existing shareholders for their ongoing support and welcome a number of new institutional investors to our register.

“This strong outcome reflects the market’s confidence in the growth pathway we have mapped out, which will see Red 5 evolve into a multi-asset, mid-tier gold producer over the next two years.

“The capital raising significantly de-risks our funding requirements at King of the Hills, which is now well established as one of Australia’s premier emerging gold projects.”

 

Email: info@red5limited.com

Web: www. red5limited.com

 

Cardinal Resources Granted Namdini Expansion

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Cardinal Resources (ASX: CDV) received approval to expand the current Mining Licence for the company’s Namdini gold project in Ghana.

Cardinal Resources’ subsidiary Cardinal Namdini Mining Limited was granted a Large‐Scale Mining License covering the Namdini Mining License by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources under the Ghanaian Minerals and Mining Act 2006 (Act 703) in 2017.

The Large‐Scale Mining Licence originally covered 19 square kilometres in the Dakoto area of the Talensi District in the Upper East Region of Ghana that has now been expanded to 63sqkm with the grant covering an initial period of 15 years commencing in 2020 and is renewable.

Cardinal Resources said the expanded Large‐Scale Mining Licence allows it to optimise and de‐risk mine and infrastructure design and optimise financial outcomes as the company continues to progress the FEED program.

“It is most pleasing to have the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and the Minerals Commission of Ghana support our Mining Licence area expansion,” Cardinal Resources chief executive officer / managing director Archie Koimtsidis said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The expansion aligns with the company’s plan to not only significantly optimise the location of key infrastructure such as tailings storage facilities, stockpiles and waste dumps but also to further explore financial benefits during the Front‐End Engineering and Design (FEED) of the Namdini project.

“Further, it allows the company to expand its exploration activities immediately south of Namdini which has great potential along the southern extension of the Namdini shear.”

Cardinal is preparing development of the Namdini gold project, subject to concluding project development financing.

Once developed, the company expects the Namdini gold project to produce over 360,000 ounces per annum for the first two years of operation and over the life of mine is expected to produce an average of 287,000 ounces per annum.

A Definitive Feasibility Study completed in late 2019, indicated encouraging economics, including a post‐tax NPV of over US$958 million which is capable of generating over US$1.55 billion in undiscounted project cashflow (assuming a gold price of US$1,550/oz).

 

Web: www.cardinalresources.com.au

 

Bellevue Gold Receives Commitments for $26.5 million Raising

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Bellevue Gold (ASX: BGL) belied current market sentiment with the announcement of a $26.5 million share placement.

Bellevue Gold signalled the placement would enable it to embark on the next phase of its growth strategy at the company’s Bellevue gold project in Western Australia.

The raising was priced at 30 cents per share and was underpinned by leading Australian and overseas institutions, including existing institutional and sophisticated shareholders.

Bellevue Gold indicated the proceeds of the raising will fund further programs of infill and Resource extension drilling at the Bellevue gold project, economic studies in preparation for development and provide general working capital.

The company recently completed the initial infill drilling at Bellevue and has already given notice of being on track to publish its maiden Indicated Resource in the coming quarter.

Bellevue’s Inferred Resource currently stands at 6.1 million tonnes at 11.3 grams per tonne gold for 2.2 million ounces of gold.

The company’s next rounds of infill drilling will be aimed at achieving ongoing growth in the forthcoming Indicated Resource and growing the overall inventory through step-out drilling and exploration drilling at the two high promising conductors identified at the project’s Deacon lode, among other priority targets.

“To complete a raising such as this in any environment is an excellent achievement but to do it in the current market circumstances is exceptional,” Bellevue Gold managing director Steve Parsons said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Under the current budget, we are funded through to mid calendar year 2021.
“The strong support shown by leading institutional investors is a huge endorsement of the Bellevue project and its growth potential.

“The proceeds ensure we have ample cash to continue unlocking the value of this project through infill and resource growth drilling while also undertaking the economic and technical studies which should pave the way for development and production.”

 

Email: admin@bellevuegold.com.au

Web: www.bellevuegold.com.au

 

Encounter Resources Welcomes IGO in $15M Yeneena Earn-In Agreement

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Encounter Resources (ASX: ENR) informed the market that Independence Group (ASX: IGO) has elected to enter an earn-in and Joint Venture agreement.

Encounter Resources explained the deal will result in IGO agreeing to sole fund up to $15 million in exploration expenditure at the Yeneena copper-cobalt project in Western Australia to earn a 70 per cent interest.

The Yeneena project comprises a major land position covering more than 1,400 square kilometres in the highly-prospective Paterson Province of WA where Encounter has been targeting copper-cobalt mineralisation.

Exploration activity in the Paterson Province has been on the rise since Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) declared its Winu copper-gold discovery and Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM) and Greatland Gold plc have been operating their Havieron gold-copper project.

Encounter and IOG were busy on the ground during 2019, applying advanced geophysical and geochemical exploration methods at Yeneena that defined a suite of new, large scale targets.

The JV anticipates these exploration activities to resume at Yeneena in April/May that is expected to include additional ground geophysics and further application of geochemistry, followed by aircore, RC and/or diamond drilling.

“The Paterson Province is a highly fertile district with enormous potential for new copper-cobalt discoveries under thin sand cover,” Encounter Resources managing director Will Robinson said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This partnership with IGO is just what Yeneena needed.

“Deploying a suite of new exploration methodologies in 2019 has provided a whole new perspective on the mineral potential at Yeneena.

“We look forward to continuing this exciting partnership with IGO to refine and test a number of large-scale copper-cobalt targets at Yeneena in 2020.”

 

Email: contact@enrl.com.au

Web: www.enrl.com.au

 

Auroch Minerals Raises Funds for High-Priority Exploration

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Auroch Minerals (ASX: AOU) has received commitments to raise $1.06 million to fund high-grade nickel sulphide exploration activities at the company’s Saints and Leister nickel projects in Western Australia.

Auroch Minerals will issue 19.3 million fully paid ordinary shares at 5.5 cents per share.

Placement shares will attract a 1 for 2 free attaching option with an exercise price of 10 cents and expiry date of 30 November 2021.

Both the Saints and Leister nickel projects contain existing high-grade nickel sulphide resources as well as multiple advanced drill-ready targets.

The company believes they have strong potential to increase the resources with drilling programs funded by this placement.

“We are extremely pleased with the show of support from professional, sophisticated and other investors,” Auroch Minerals managing director Aidan Platel said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“We welcome our new investors to the register, and look forward to progressing our aggressive exploration programs at our Saints and Leister Nickel projects and creating value for our shareholders.”

 

Email: admin@aurochminerals.com

Web: www.aurochminerals.com