European Metals processing Cinovec bulk sample for mini-plat testing

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: European Metals (ASX: EMH) has had a bulk sample collected from the company’s Cinovec lithium-tin-tungsten project in the Czech Republic, which is to be used in lithium mini-plant testing at Strategic Metallurgy’s facility in Perth.

A bulk sample of 1.5 tonnes was collected and transported for initial processing to process engineers UVR-FIA in Freiberg, Germany, which has been instructed to prepare the sample and float at least 400 kilograms of zinnwaldite concentrate.

European Metals said the work has commenced, with concentrate preparation and transport expected to have the concentrate landing in Perth early in the fourth quarter of 2015.

“I am delighted to report that processing of the Cinovec bulk sample for lithium mini-plant testing has commenced,” European Metals CEO Keith Coughlan said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“These are exciting times for the company, as successful mini-plant testing in a continuous feed scenario is a giant leap along the path to validating the concept for lithium carbonate production at Cinovec.”

The mini-plant run is to be managed by Lithium Australia (ASX: CXB) following that company’s successful trial of the concept on concentrate from its Lepidolite Hill project earlier this year.

On receipt of the concentrate sample the mini-plant run will commence and last for approximately 10 days.

The mini-plant is designed to produce lithium carbonate and by-products on a continuous basis to further refine the process inputs and produce samples for market evaluation.

Website: www.europeanmet.com

Rox Resources takes 100% ownership at Fisher East

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Rox Resources (ASX: RXL) has exercised its option to acquire 100 per cent, the mineral tenements covering the Camelwood, Musket and Cannonball nickel sulphide mineral resources at the company’s Fisher East nickel project, located north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

The Mineral Resource at Fisher East currently sits at 3.6 million tonnes at 2 per cent nickel for 72,100 tonnes (159 million pounds) of contained nickel.

The company anticipates providing an update to this Resource soon.

This acquisition brings the total area 100 per cent-owned by Rox at Mt Fisher to 600 square kilometres.

The company completed a Scoping Study earlier this year, which demonstrated the project to be technically low-risk with a cost base similar to other nickel sulphide projects currently operating in WA.

A Pre-Feasibility Study involving new resource modelling, geotechnical assessment, mine planning and scheduling, metallurgical testwork and environmental studies is currently underway.

Rox Resources managing director Ian Mulholland said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“The acquisition of these tenements gives Rox 100 per cent ownership of all of the nickel resources identified in the area to date for less than 1.5 cents per pound of nickel.

That, together with our discovery cost to date of less than 5 cents per pound of nickel highlights the attractiveness of the project and why we continue to focus on the area.

“Having recently moved to pre-feasibility at the Fisher East nickel sulphide project it was imperative that we secured absolute ownership of the tenements.

“Not only have we acquired the nickel resources for a very attractive price and increased the area we control to 600 square kilometres, but we also have an option to acquire an additional 75 square kilometres of very prospective acreage that has a further 15 kilometres of strike of the nickel rich ultramafic belt and which contains the recently discovered Sabre and Tomahawk mineralisation.

Mulholland explained the tenements acquired also include a number of gold prospective areas, including the historic Mt Fisher gold mine where more than 25,000 ounces of gold has been mined at grades above 4g/t gold.
 
“We continue to focus on the Fisher East nickel sulphide project, but there is also still considerable gold potential on the tenements,” he said.

“We haven’t lost sight of that potential.”

Email: admin@roxresources.com.au

Website: www.roxresources.com.au

Kibaran Resources BFS confirms viability of Epanko graphite project

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Kibaran Resources (ASX: KNL) has received the results of a Bankable Feasibility Study recently completed at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Epanko graphite project, located in Tanzania.

Kibaran said the BFS has confirmed the viability of a conventional open cut mine and conventional flotation processing plant.

Key results from the BFS include:

Pre-tax NPV of US$197.4 million;

Pre-tax IRR of 41.2 per cent;

Capital Expenditure of US$77.5 million;

Annual EBITDA of US$33.6 million for 15 years;

Mine life of 25 years;

Maiden Proved and Probable Ore reserves of 10.9 million tonnes at 8.6 per cent toalt graphitic carbon (TGC); and

Annual production of 40,000 tonnes per annum of high-grade graphite flake concentrate for first 15 years.

“The study is based on a realistic development strategy and supported by strategic partnerships in European markets. Kibaran Resources managing director Andrew Spinks said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The positive BFS result enables the company to advance Epanko to production and in parallel further progress its second 100 per cent-owned graphite project at Merelani East and advance the strategic downstream value add opportunities we have announced to date.”

Kibara believes getting Epanko to production and moving Merelani East along will place the company in a good position by providing access to further strategic partnerships in the European, Japan and US markets.

“The emerging battery market will have a significant positive impact on our future graphite sales, given our current sales agreements are solely based on the traditional refractory and expandable markets,” Spinks explained.

“The next few months is an exciting time as we deliver on our specific milestones for the broader development strategy for the company.”

Email: info@kibaranresources.com

Website: www.kibaranresources.com

Rox Resources moves into Pre-Feasibility at Fisher East

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Rox Resources (ASX: RXL) has kicked off a Pre-Feasibility Study on the company’s Fisher East nickel sulphide project, located north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

The Pre-Feasibility Study follows the Scoping Study Rox completed at the Fisher East project earlier in the year, which demonstrated the project to be technical low-risk and financially robust.

“Undertaking a Pre-Feasibility Study on the project is an important milestone, with the main aims to update the resource base and to confirm and optimise the mine schedule, which is a critical component of the economic viability of the project,” Rox Resources managing director Ian Mulholland said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Undertaking the Pre-Feasibility studies now, at relatively low cost, will allow us to be in a position to move the project forward rapidly when nickel prices improve as expected.

“We plan to have the study completed by the end of this year.”

Email: admin@roxresources.com.au

Website: www.roxresources.com.au

Name change to Lithium Australia reflects new company focus

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Cobre Montana (ASX: CXB) has received shareholder approval for a change of company name to Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT).

The name change has come about to reflect the company’s focus on its emerging lithium mica technology, which it expects will see it become a developer of disruptive lithium exploration, mining and processing technology.

“Lithium Australia NL is in the process of assessing mica-to-lithium opportunities in Europe, Africa and Australia and will be building a management team commensurate with its aim to control a substantial lithium inventory,” the company said in its ASX announcement.

Lithium Australia recently completed successful mini-plant continuous lithium carbonate production from ore sourced from Lepidolite Hill, located 55 kilometres south-west of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

The company anticipates further mini-plant testing in the current quarter, using mica concentrates from one of the deposits under investigation in Europe.

The company explained the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) will amend its ticker code to LIT in due course, at which time a further announcement will be made to ensure a smooth trading transition.

Email: info@cobremontana.com.au

Website: www.cobremontana.com.au

Orinoco Gold tenement pickup increases Faina Greenstone belt control

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Orinoco Gold (ASX: OGX) has gained a further foothold in the Faina Greenstone belt in central Brazil.

The company has entered into an agreement with private Brazilian company Mineração Goias Velho (MGV) to acquire an 80 per cent interest in a portfolio of exploration acreage in close proximity to the company’s Cascavel gold mine.

The new land package covers a total area of approximately 100 square kilometres and increases Orinoco’s total ground holding in the region by approximately 50 per cent.

The company explained that of the 12 exploration concessions, 10 are located in the central portion of the Faina Greenstone Belt between Cascavel and Sertão (mined historically by Troy Resources, producing produced 250,000 ounces of gold at a head-grade of 24.9g/t).

The remaining two tenements are located in the south of the Goiás Velho Greenstone Belt.

The company declared it expects the new acquisition to provide a pipeline of exploration and growth opportunities once the Cascavel gold mine has been commissioned, which it anticipates to happen by early next year.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the company to consolidate its ground holding in the Faina Greenstone belt,” Orinoco Gold managing director Mark Papendieck said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Importantly, the key ground package between Cascavel and Sertão is now under our control, and our geologists believe that the mineralised system is likely to extend south from Cascavel and north from Sertão into this exciting and underexplored package.”

Email: info@orinocogold.com

Website: www.orinocogold.com

Valence Industries signs three-year graphite sales contract

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Valence Industries (ASX: VXL) has signed a binding three year multi-product graphite sales contract with an un-named Asia Pacific-based customer.

Valence said the contract was one of significant for the company saying it provides for sales in excess of US$50 million ($67.6 million) over the next three years.

The company explained the customer will be purchasing its graphite for use in industries including Aluminium, Steel, Metallurgical, Chemical, Refractory, Ceramics, Construction, Plastics and Rubber and Expandable Graphite Products.

The contract will be focusing on Valence’s coarser flake graphite production with benchmark pricing exceeding the company’s previously announced weighted average price of US$1,335 per tonne and includes take or pay provisions on the volumes ordered.

“This sales contract is in addition to the Heads of Agreement and adds to the multiple existing sales contracts entered into by Valence Industries,” The company explained in its ASX announcement.

“The delivery profile in the contract is timed to match production from the company’s existing Uley graphite facilities.

“This customer will be supplied initially from the existing 14,000 tonnes per annum plant and then from the expanded production facilities.”

Valence Industries advised it is ramping up the level of current production from its existing facilities to reach full production capacity by the end of September 2015.

Shipments are expected to progressively increase over this period in line with customer orders as production rates increase and volumes for specific orders (in purity and sizing) are produced.

Email: info@valenceindustries.com

Website: www.valenceindustries.com

Impact welcomes new $7.3M cornerstone investor

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Impact Minerals (ASX: IPT) has reached an agreement for funding of up to $7.3 million from Squadron Resources, the private mining investment vehicle of the Minderoo Group.

The transaction is subject to formal documentation and shareholder approval of some aspects of the investment.

Once all that has been achieved, Squadron’s investment will occur in two tranches:

Tranche 1 will involve the issue of $2 million in secured convertible notes and 45 million unlisted call options on the completion of formal documentation, which Impact expects will happen within two weeks; and

Tranche 2 will result in the issue of approximately 47.6 million ordinary shares to raise $1 million and around 26.4 million attaching unlisted call options, subject to shareholder approval.

Impact indicated it would be seeking shareholder approval of the placement, and the issue of ordinary shares on the conversion of the notes, warrants and options at the company’s annual general meeting, which is expected to be held in late September.

Once all the dust has settled Aaron Hood, chief investment officer of the Minderoo Group and corporate development director of Squadron, will be appointed to the Board of Impact.

In addition Dr John Clout, Squadron’s chief geologist, will be employed as a technical advisor to Impact.

“Securing Squadron as a new cornerstone investor is a milestone development for Impact and its shareholders,” Impact Minerals managing director Dr Mike Jones said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“In this current downturn in the resources industry, well-funded private investment groups such as Squadron are faced with an almost unlimited number of opportunities to review and so this investment in Impact is a clear statement of the potential of our projects to deliver major discoveries.

“Impact’s immediate focus is to progress exploration on all of our projects, in particular at Broken Hill where Impact recently announced some of the highest grades of platinum group metals in Australia as well as at the high-grade gold-silver-zinc-lead Commonwealth project.”

The agreement also allows the option for Squadron, at its sole discretion, to invest a further $1 million into either or both of the Commonwealth gold-silver-zinc-lead and Broken Hill platinum projects in NSW, to earn a 19.9 per cent interest after Impact has spent a combined total of $2.5 million on the two projects.

Email: info@impactminerals.com.au

Website: www.impactminerals.com.au

Malachite Resources to develop Lorena Gold Mine

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Malachite Resources (ASX: MAR) has executed a Letter of Offer with MKS Switzerland (MKS), which the company said will allow it to proceed with the development of the Lorena gold project, located east of Cloncurry in northwest Queensland.

In developing the Lorena project, Malachite indicated it will use plant and equipment partially that had been constructed by BCD Resources, under a previous agreement which was terminated in May 2015.

As it turns out MKS is the ultimate secured lender to BCD and was appointed Receivers and Managers to that company in January 2015.

Malachite owns 100 per cent of the Lorena mining leases, which means it can develop of the project in its own right.

Once it has commissioned the project, Malachite will then, in accordance with a Project Development Plan to be agreed with MKS, earn 100 per cent ownership of the Lorena plant and equipment which had previously been funded by BCD.

“It is proposed that Malachite will sell the gold concentrate that it produces from the Stage 1 open cut at Lorena to MKS at the mine gate for 57 per cent of the agreed gold contained in the concentrate,” Malachite Resources said in its ASX announcement.

“MKS will in turn sell the concentrate to BCD on a separate contractual agreement such that BCD effectively receives 43 per cent of the agreed gold contained in concentrate from the Lorena Stage 1 open cut.

“Following completion of the Stage 1 open cut mine plan, Malachite will be entitled to 100 per cent of all gold produced subject only to a royalty in favour of BCD of 3.5 per cent of all gold produced at Lorena capped at 1,250 ounces of gold.”

Email: info@malachite.com.au

Website: www.malachite.com.au

Neometals and Minerals Resources score Chinese lithium offtake deal

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Neometals (ASX: NMT) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the company’s sub-subsidiary and a Chinese lithium producer.

This gets confusing, but stick around.

Neometals and Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) (via its wholly-owned subsidiary Process Minerals International (PMI)) jointly announced their jointly-owned subsidiary, Reed Industrial Minerals (RIM) entered into said MoU with China’s second largest lithium producer, Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co.,Ltd.

The MoU is in regard to offtake for spodumene produced from the JV’s Mt Marion lithium project in Western Australia.

“This MoU is an exciting milestone achievement for Neometals and RIM, and we look forward to working with our project partners to progress the Mt Marion project to the next stage of its development,” Neometals managing director Chris Reed said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

The company explained the MoU sets out the key commercial terms for:

Ganfeng to acquire an up-front 25 per cent shareholding in RIM by way of share sale and equity subscription leaving Neometals with 45 per cent of RIM and MIN with 30 per cent of RIM. Neometals will net approximately US$19.5 million from this initial transaction;

PMI and Gangeng to be granted options by Neometals pursuant to which they can elect to increase their respective shareholdings in RIM to 43.1 per cent by around Q4 of 2016 by way of share purchase from Neometals. If these options are fully exercised, Neometals will be left holding 13.8 per cent of RIM;

MIN building, owning and operating the Mount Marion mining, crushing and beneficiation infrastructure and equipment pursuant to a fixed price mining services contract;

Ganfeng entering into a long-term offtake for 100 per cent of the spodumene produced from the Mt Marion lithium project at benchmarked market prices subject to an agreed price floor. Under the agreement, from year four onwards RIM reserves the right to take 51 per cent of the total production if greater commercial benefit can be derived from such product; and

Prudential corporate governance arrangements for RIM between Ganfeng and RIM’s existing shareholders with equal board representation for all shareholders.

According to the announcement MIN is well-advanced with development planning and procurement, with commissioning and production of lithium concentrate product anticipated by mid-2016.

Email: info@neometals.com.au

Website: www.neometals.com.au