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Corazon takes full control of the Miriam Nickel Sulphide Project
Corazon Mining Limited (ASX: CZN) (Corazon or Company) is pleased to announce it has further progressed its rights to acquire 100% of the Miriam Nickel Sulphide Project (Miriam or Project) near Coolgardie in Western Australia’s Goldfields minerals district.
Previously, the Company announced it had entered into an agreement with Limelight Industries Pty Ltd (Vendor) to acquire 100% of the Miriam Project (ASX announcements 26 July and 15 October 2021); the Company is now pleased to advise it has successfully completed Stage 2 of the acquisition. Corazon will acquire a 100% interest in the Project (and take control and management of the Project) in consideration of the payment to the Vendors of $400,000 and a 2% net smelter return royalty, pursuant to the Option Agreement, details of which are included in this ASX announcement.
The completion of Stage 2 sees Corazon being entitled to 100% of the Project and taking sole control and management of the Project, on behalf of all parties, with the Vendor retaining the right to mine mullock dumps (for gold mineralisation) and to metal detect on the area for the first three (3) years post grant of the relevant tenure.
Miriam is a highly prospective nickel exploration project that represents a strategic addition to Corazon’s portfolio of nickel sulphide assets. The Project is located approximately 10 kilometres south-southwest of Coolgardie on an ultramafic trend, which also hosts Auroch Minerals’ (ASX: AOU) Nepean Nickel Deposit.
Corazon is enthusiastic about the Project’s exploration potential. Drilling undertaken predominantly in the 1960s and 1970s at the Miriam Nickel Deposit intersected ‘high nickel tenor’ massive and disseminated sulphides. Corazon has highlighted extensions to areas of known mineralisation as the initial priority exploration focus.
Highlights
- Stage 2 in the acquisiton process for the Miriam Nickel Sulphide Project has been completed
- Corazon has assumed sole management of the Project and is progressing the grant of tenure as a priority
- Work programs under development will focus on modern, high-powered geophysics to test areas of known mineralisation for follow-up drilling
About the Miriam Project
The Miriam Project is located approximately 10 kilometres south-southwest of Coolgardie on a trend of ultramafics best identified by the Miriam and Nepean nickel deposits (Auroch Minerals, ASX: AOU).
The Miriam Project covers an area of about 6 kilometres by 1.5 kilometers and comprises five Prospecting Licence applications (P15/6135 to P15/6139 inclusive).
In 1969, Anaconda Australia Limited discovered the Miriam Deposit, located within the Project, and conducted most of the known nickel exploration during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This work defined the core of the Miriam Deposit over a strike of about 150 meters and to a depth of at least 150 metres below surface. In places, subsequent drilling extended the drilled depth to about 300 metres below surface.
Referenced open-file documents (ASX announcement, 26 July 2021) detailing historical work defines a nickel-copper endowment for the Miriam Deposit. This work is not compliant with current JORC standards, and further drilling is required for the definition of a JORC resource estimate at Miriam.
Much of the historical drilling, which tested the ultramafic sequence north and south of the Miriam Deposit, was shallow percussion drilling that did not penetrate the overlying oxidised zone, and many of the holes did not reached the ultramafic footwall target. There is extensive untested opportunity to target nickel sulphide mineralisation at depth and along strike from previous drilling.
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This article includes content from OCorazon Mining Limited , licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
CZN
Lynn Lake Nickel Sulphide Project Update
Key Highlights
- Exploration drilling continuing at Fraser Lake Complex testing geophysical anomalies within the Motriuk ultramafic intrusion - encouraging nickel and copper sulphide mineralisation intersected
- New detailed geological modelling underway at the Lynn Lake Mining Centre to identify additional near surface resource potential not included in previous resource estimates or mining studies
- Metallurgical testwork on lower-grade mineralisation from the mining centre is underway – incorporating innovative “ore-sorting” technology as an upgrading option
Corazon’s ongoing focus is the pursuit of the potential redevelopment of Lynn Lake’s historical nickel sulphide Mining Centre towards production, and the targeted exploration for new nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide deposits within the Project area.
At the Mining Centre, the Company is assessing the potential to benefit from the extensive low-grade sulphide mineralisation surrounding known deposits and identifying relatively untested extensions to the current resources (within the upper levels of the mine surrounds).
Metallurgical testwork on lower grade material is currently underway and new 3D models of structure, rock type and geophysical surveys for the A-Plug Mining Centre (Figure 1) are being utilised to define potential areas for exploration and resource definition drilling.
Exploration drilling is ongoing at the Fraser Lake Complex (FLC) (Figure 1), testing geophysical targets (ASX announcement 11 April 2022). Encouraging nickel and copper sulphide mineralisation has been intersected at the Motriuk intrusion (ASX announcement 7 June 2022). The existence of visible pentlandite (nickel sulphide) in blebs and the potential for these sulphides to accumulate at depth, provide a compelling target for the drilling currently in progress.
Figure 1 – Lynn Lake Project - MobileMT survey magnetic susceptibility inversion depth slice at 50m below surface - over a GeoTem total-field regional aeromagnetic image, with the area of the gravity high target outlined.
Fraser Lake Complex Exploration Drilling
Exploration drilling at the Fraser Lake Complex is continuing, following early encouraging results from drilling at the Motriuk Ultramafic (ASX announcement 7 June 2022).
Progress of the drilling has been slow, with the drilling contractor needing to revert to one shift per day, due to the limited availability of personnel. This is an industry-wide issue due to both the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the seasonal demands for exploration personnel.
Currently, there is a 10-day scheduled break in drilling, which is due to recommence on the 22nd of July 2022. With an all-inclusive per-metre rate for this drilling program, Corazon bears no additional cost for drilling down-time or slow meterage.
In mid-June 2022, senior Company personnel traveled to site to review the progress of the drilling, including the sulphides intersected at Motriuk (ASX announcement 7 June 2022). While the amount of sulphide mineralisation reported was low (typically 1-5% of volume) and as such the expectations for the nickel content is also low, the existence of visible pentlandite is very encouraging. The Motriuk Complex historically has been considered nickel-deficient compared to the average for such ultramafic rock (pyroxenites and peridotites). It is assumed the nickel was extracted from the melt as sulphide (pentlandite) during the magma’s transportation to Motriuk, or in-situ.
The Motriuk Ultramafic body is “keel-like” in shape, with a base that has been defined by geophysics. The current drilling is targeting the base of this intrusion, which has a dense and magnetic geophysical signature.
Updates regarding this drilling will be provided in due course.
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This article includes content from Corazon Mining, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Porphyry Copper Target Identified at Mt Gilmore Project
Key Highlights
- Initial mineral vectoring geochemical studies have been completed by CODES at the University of Tasmania on rock and drill core samples collected from the Mt Gilmore Project
- The studies show the Mt Gilmore Cu-Au-Co trend has a complex hydrothermal history and geochemical characteristics particular to known large porphyry Cu deposits
- Results are extremely encouraging – additional mineral studies and geophysics will assist the definition of targets expected to be easily testable with drilling.
The new porphyry copper target area has been generated from initial results of a mineral chemistry vectoring study conducted by the University of Tasmania. Based on the positive results of this work, Corazon plans to undertake a new phase of targeted fieldwork at the Mt Gilmore Project.
Corazon's Mt Gilmore Project is located within the New England Orogen of northeastern NSW (Figure 1). Geochemical and geophysical surveys completed by Corazon at Mt Gilmore have indicated the potential for concealed intrusion related or porphyry copper-gold hydrothermal systems. However, identifying precise drill targets has been difficult due to the size of the geochemical anomalies (i.e. main target area of ~8km x 2km – Figure 2), poor surface exposure and lack of historical drilling.
In recent years, significant research has been devoted to mineral chemistry studies to assist in the exploration for blind mineral deposits. Work by the Centre for Ore Deposit and Earth Sciences (CODES) at the University of Tasmania has included porphyry vectoring and fertility tools (PVFTs), which use the chemical compositions of hydrothermal minerals to predict the likely direction and distance to mineralised centres, and the potential metal endowment of a mineral district.
Such studies completed by CODES on samples from Mt Gilmore have delivered exceptional early results, supporting the Project’s prospectivity and strong porphyry copper potential.
Figure 1 – Mt Gilmore Project Location
Rationale for Mineral Chemistry Vectoring Studies
Exploration by Corazon at the Mt Gilmore Project has identified a very large copper-cobalt-gold-silver soil geochemical anomaly over the full 22-kilometre strike of exposed basement rocks (Figure 2). This soil geochemical anomalism is supported by high-grade rock-chip samples from outcrops throughout the Project (ASX announcement 5 February 2019).
Reconnaissance induced polarisation (IP) geophysical surveys over the three main anomalies at Gordonbrook Hill, Lantana and May Queen (Figure 2) (ASX announcement 23 July 2019) identified chargeability anomalism at all prospects. Subsequent drilling of the Gordonbrook Hill IP anomaly (ASX announcement 16 June 2021) supported that, despite no strong sulphide mineralisation being identified, the IP method was a very good mapper of alteration. The detail provided by the drilling contributed to conflicting models for the potential style of mineralisation at Gordonbrook Hill.
Advances in the understanding of using mineral chemistry to identify and vector towards porphyry related hydrothermal deposits, including successful case studies, provided the opportunity for Corazon to potentially:
- Define the type of hydrothermal system(s) present at Mt Gilmore and their occurrence in time (relative to other geological features);
- Define the possible size and fertility of any the mineralised system(s); and
- Identify the location(s) in three-dimensions of the heat source that caused the hydrothermal mineralisation.
Rock chip and drill core samples from the May Queen, Gordonbrook Hill and Cobalt Ridge prospects (Figure 2) were submitted to CODES for testwork, sampling a variety of mineralisation/alteration styles over a strike of ~16km within the Mt Gilmore Trend.
Figure 2 – Mt Gilmore Project interpreted geology with a copper in soils geochemical image over the sedimentary/volcaniclastic basement rocks, with mineral occurrences and prospect locations.
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This article includes content from Corazon Mining, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Drilling Delivers 10.2m @ 2.3% CuEq, and DHEM Expands Further Potential in all Three Directions at Horden Lake
Highlights
- Shallow drilling delivers 10.2m @ 2.3% CuEq1 in HN-24-103
- Sits within wider 28.6m @ 1.05% CuEq from 74m.
- Expands the width of expected mineralisation in the open pit zone of the deposit.
- Assays confirm 270m down-plunge continuity from surface, linking with previously reported HN-24-100
- 14.6m @ 0.84% CuEq from 272m, incl 5.7m at 1.41% CuEq in HN-24-104.
- 7.3m @ 0.78% CuEq from 165m, and 13.2m @ 0.77% CuEq from 180.1m in HN-24-102.
- Up to 600m SW extended zone now defined by both DHEM and drilling as having strong potential for down-plunge extensions
- HN-24-104 off-hole conductor extends 170m down-dip, for a potential 400m total depth extent, which may remain open.
- Plates continue to extend the mineralised zones and connect with previously reported drilling and plates in HN-24-96,-97 and -98, highlighting the potential for southern zone mineralisation continuity from the central zone.
- Infill delivers continuity of mineralisation within the 2022 resource open pit shell
- 15.6m @ 0.88% CuEq from 121m, incl 5.7m @ 1.41% CuEq in HN-24-101.
- All intersections show mineralisation in Au, Ag, PGM and Co by-products never previously assayed in this area, and represent important upside to the metal endowment reported in the 2022 mineral resource estimate.
- Assays from 21 holes remain pending, including multiple step-out and DHEM results across zones of open mineralisation.
Managing Director, Mr Fairhall said:
“Horden Lake continues to deliver - from both step-out, and infill from historical drilling. In the shallow areas, results indicate excellent continuity, in places widening, of expected mineralisation, along with a suite of valuable by-products which were overlooked in previous drilling.
Excitingly, deeper drilling and DHEM again combine to show excellent down plunge continuity of the deposit, and the huge potential for it to continue at depth. We now have a zone over 600m extending the mineralisation strike length that exhibits strong potential for expansive down-plunge extension with further drilling, potentially similar to that observed in the central zone which extends to over 490m vertical (and remains open).
Overview
Horden Lake is a copper dominant Cu-Ni-Au-PGM-Co Project located 131km north-northwest of Matagami, in Quebec Canada. The Project hosts an indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate of 28mt at 1.5% CuEq, as a result of over 52,464m of drilling previously completed on the property. Pivotal has recently completed a 7,097m / 34 hole diamond drilling campaign of which 1,800m / 9 holes have been reported prior to this announcement.
The objectives of the drilling program were to infill missing by-product multi-element assay information, target resource expansion potential (which remains open at depth across its full extent) and collect a distribution of metallurgical sample for a complete test work program. Downhole EM surveys have also been completed to dimension future exploration potential and targeting.
Figure 1: Drill plan map with significant 2024 results, Horden Lake Cu-Ni-Au-PGM Project
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This article includes content from Pivotal Metals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Blackstone Minerals
Investor Insights
Blackstone Minerals is well-positioned to leverage a projected nickel supply deficit as it strives to become a vertically integrated producer of low-cost, low-carbon, battery-grade nickel. Key to this is Blackstone’s Ta Khoa project in Vietnam, an emerging hub for the electric vehicle market.
Overview
As the world moves closer to a sustainable net-zero future, the need for battery metals continues to mount and nickel may soon be among the metals to see a supply crunch. Though its roots are in the stainless steel sector, it's also a critical component of lithium-ion batteries.
Given that many nations are aiming to replace combustion vehicles with electric cars by 2030, the metal is already experiencing a massive spike in demand. Benchmark Minerals expects the need for battery-grade nickel will increase about 950 percent by 2040.
It's imperative to ramp up global nickel production but the resource sector, for its part, must do so with a much-reduced carbon footprint to influence the sustainability of the entire value chain. Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX,OTC:BLSTF,FRA:B9S) recognizes this. As a vertically integrated producer of low-cost, low-carbon nickel, the company aims to become a leading source of low CO2 emission nickel sulphide. Its flagship Ta Khoa project in Vietnam is representative of that goal.
Blackstone Minerals business structure schematic
With over 20 active mines and a burgeoning technology sector, Vietnam is on the road to becoming a hub of electric vehicle production and innovation, with low labor costs and regulated electricity pricing further driving its growth. Steadily increasing foreign direct investment in the region is indicative of this as the country seeks to attract $50 billion in new foreign investment by 2030.
Blackstone is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this, thanks to two factors. US President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which came into force in August 2022, represents the largest investment into climate action in United States history. A similar initiative is rolling out in the European Union (EU), which maintains a Free Trade Agreement with Vietnam — something multiple partners of the company have expressed interest in.
Blackstone's Ta Khoa Project consists of two streams, the Ta Khoa Nickel Mine and the Ta Khoa Refinery. Recent milestones point to Blackstone’s commitment to advancing this game-changing project.
These milestones include a memorandum of understanding with Cavico Laos Mining to collaborate in a number of areas associated with CLM’s nickel mine in Lao People's Democratic Republic and supply of nickel products for Blackstone’s Ta Khoa Refinery in Vietnam.
Blackstone also partnered with Arca Climate Technologies to further investigate the carbon capture potential at the Ta Khoa Project through carbon mineralisation, and explore opportunities to utilise Arca’s carbon capture technologies within the project.
In a bid to collaborate on the supply of renewable wind energy to the Ta Khoa Project, Blackstone signed a direct power purchase agreement with Limes Renewables Energy.
Blackstone received AU$2.8 million as an advance from a research & development (R&D) lending fund backed by Asymmetric Innovation Finance and Fiftyone Capital. The advanced payment reflects the significant investment by Blackstone to develop the Ta Khoa Refinery process and Blackstone’s unique strategy to convert nickel concentrate blends into battery products in the form of precursor cathode active material (pCAM).
In December 2023, Blackstone entered into an option agreement with CaNickel Mining to acquire the Wabowden nickel projectlocated in the world-class Thompson Nickel Belt in Manitoba, Canada.
The Wabowden project will have the potential to fill the Ta Khoa Refinery, removing dependence on third party feed sources.
The company has signed a non-binding MOU with the Development for Resources Environmental Technology joint stock company (DRET) to investigate opportunities to repurpose and trade waste material (or residue) from the Ta Khoa Refinery into construction material products. Moreover, it has also progressed the Ta Khoa Refinery byproduct offtake strategy with Vietnam Chemical Group (VinaChem), PV Chemical and Equipment Corporation (PVChem) and Nam Phong Green Joint Stock Company (Nam Phong) to sell Ta Khoa Refinery byproducts, being manganese sulphate (or epsomite) and sodium sulphate.
As the company plans to build a global nickel business, Blackstone signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Yulho Co. Ltd (Yulho) and EN Plus Co. Ltd (EN Plus) to establish a collaboration across the businesses including EN Plus and Yulho who are in joint venture on the Ntaka Hill nickel sulphide project in Tanzania, and the Dinagat Island nickel laterite project in the Philippines.
Company Highlights
- The global nickel market is currently entering a structural deficit, with demand expected to grow 950 percent by 2040.
- Blackstone Minerals is well-positioned to address this deficit as a vertically integrated producer of low-cost, low-carbon nickel.
- Blackstone's flagship project Ta Khoa is a brownfield project situated in Vietnam, one of the lowest capital cost countries in the world and an emerging hub for the electric vehicle market with vast reserves of nickel.
- Vietnam is an increasingly attractive region for investment with direct foreign investments that grew from $1.3 billion in 2000 to $15.6 billion in 2020.
- The Ta Khoa project also has infrastructure advantages, via the existing Ban Phuc mine, and processing facilities, access to low-cost and underutilized hydroelectricity, a trained labor force and support from the local government.
- Blackstone Minerals’ downstream pre-feasibility study confirms a technically and economically robust hydrometallurgical refining process to upgrade nickel sulphide concentrate to produce battery-grade nickel.
- Blackstone’s key nickel and cobalt feedstocks for the Ta Khoa Refinery Pilot program were delivered to the metallurgical laboratory in Western Australia as of April 2022.
Key Project
Ta Khoa
Blackstone holds a 90 percent interest in the Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Project, located 160 kilometers west of Hanoi in the Son La Province of Vietnam. It includes an existing modern nickel mine built to Australian Standards, which is currently under care and maintenance. The Ban Phuc nickel mine successfully operated as a mechanized underground nickel mine from 2013 to 2016.
Blackstone intends to complement the existing mine through the installation of a large concentrator, refinery and precursor facility, supporting integrated on-site production of nickel, cobalt and manganese precursor products for the Asia-Pacific market. One of Blackstone's key Research and Development objectives with Ta Khoa is to develop a flowsheet that will support this production.
To fulfill this goal, Blackstone is focusing on a partnership model, collaborating with groups committed to sustainable mining. It is also working to minimize its carbon footprint and implement a vertically integrated supply chain.
Project Highlights:
- Multiple Massive Sulphide Deposits: The Ta Khoa project features several incredibly promising deposits including King Snake (up to 4.3 percent nickel and 18.2 grams per ton (g/t) PGE), Sui Phong (2.95 meters @ 2.42 percent nickel, 0.52 percent copper, 0.06 percent cobalt and 0.05 g/t PGE), and Ban Chang. The project is also the site of the Ban Phuc nickel mine, which was operated from 2013 to 2016 by Asia Mineral Resources, along with several exploration targets that have yet to be tested.
- Experienced Leadership: Internally, Blackstone’s owners’ team brings over 50 years of experience in leadership roles at major nickel mines and refineries globally. This experience has been complemented by ALS Group, Wood, Future Battery Industries CRC, Curtin University and the Electric Mining Consortium.
- Large Reserve and Mining Inventory: The entirety of Ta Khoa is estimated to contain probable reserves of 48.7 Mt at 0.43 percent nickel for 210 kilotons (kt) of nickel and a mining inventory of 64.5 Mt at 0.41 percent nickel for 265 kt nickel. This excludes Ban Khoa and other developing prospects.
- A Long-lived Project: The Ta Khoa mine is expected to produce a yearly average of 18 kt of annual nickel concentrate over its ten-year lifespan. Blackstone believes the refinery can potentially extend its life past ten years.
- An Established Mining Operation: Existing infrastructure onsite includes a 450 ktpa Mill and mining camp. The mine will also benefit from a highly supportive community and favorable government legislation — Blackstone is committed to collaborating with community stakeholders in the project's development.
- Feed Flexibility: Ta Khoa's refinery will offer multiple feed options, including nickel concentrate, mixed hydroxide precipitate, nickel matte and black mass. This flexibility greatly improves the security and greatly reduces the risk of the project overall.
- Valued Partnerships: Blackstone is collaborating with multiple industry leaders and groups in the development of Ta Khoa
- Compelling Pre-feasibility Study: The financial outcomes of a base case pre-feasibility study on the project are promising. Based on a conservative NCM811 precursor price forecast, Ta Khoa displays an exceptional internal return rate on capital invested.
- Integrated Vertical Strategy: Blackstone is constructing both the Ta Khoa mine and refinery against a highly supportive ESG, macroeconomic and fiscal backdrop. This along with Ta Khoa's low capital intensity gives the company a significant advantage over competitors. Said low intensity is the result of multiple factors, including competitive labor costs, favorable regulations and low-cost renewable hydroelectric power.
- A Leader in Low Emissions: Independent assessments from Digbee, Minviro and Circulor, alongside an audit from the Nickel Institute, have confirmed that Ta Khoa will be the lowest-emitting flowsheet in the industry, at 9.8 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram of precursor with opportunities for even further reduction.
- Promising Pilots: With the support of ALS and process engineering partner Wood, Blackstone recently completed a 12-month programme of work that developed a scaled version of its concentrate to sulphate flowsheet. The refinery, which processed more than 9 tonnes of concentrate and MHP, successfully achieved battery-grade nickel sulphate of 99.95 percent, with a nickel recovery rate of 97 percent.
- Current Roadmap: Blackstone's next priority is to complete a series of definitive feasibility studies. Once those are complete, it will focus on fully integrating the mine into the electric vehicle consumer supply chain and finalizing its refining partnership structure.
Management Team
Hamish Halliday - Non-executive Chairman
Hamish Halliday is a geologist with over 20 years of corporate and technical experience. He is also the founder of Adamus Resources Limited, an AU$3 million float that became a multimillion-ounce emerging gold producer.
Scott Williamson - Managing Director
Scott Williamson is a mining engineer with a commerce degree from the West Australian School of Mines and Curtin University. He has over 10 years of experience in technical and corporate roles in the mining and finance sectors.
Dr. Frank Bierlein - Non-executive Director
Dr. Frank Bierlein is a geologist with 30 years of technical and corporate experience, focusing on grassroots to mine-stage mineral exploration, target generation, project management and oversight, due diligence studies, mineral prospectivity analysis, metallogenic framework studies and mineral resources market and investment analysis.
Alison Gaines - Non-executive Director
Alison Gaines has over 20 years of experience as a director in Australia and internationally. She has experience in the roles of board chair and board committee chair, particularly remuneration and nomination and governance committees. She is also the managing director of Gaines Advisory P/L and was recently global CEO of international search and board consulting firm Gerard Daniels, with a significant mining and energy practice.
Gaines has a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (hons) from the University of Western Australia, a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from Australian National University and an honorary doctorate of the University and Master of Arts (Public Policy) from Murdoch University. She is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds the INSEAD certificate in corporate governance. She is currently the governor of the College of Law Ltd, and non-executive director of Tura New Music.
Dan Lougher - Non-executive Director
Daniel Lougher’s career spans more than 40 years involving a range of exploration, feasibility, development, operations and corporate roles with Australian and international mining companies including a period of eighteen years spent in Africa with BHP Billiton, Impala Plats, Anglo American and Genmin. He was the managing director and chief executive officer of the successful Australian nickel miner Western Areas Ltd until its takeover by Independence Group.
Lougher also holds a first class mine manager’s certificate of competency (WA) and is a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Lougher is the chair of the company’s technical committee and nomination committee.
Jamie Byrde - CFO and Company Secretary
Jamie Byrde has over 16 year's experience in corporate advisory, public and private company management since commencing his career with big four and mid-tier chartered accounting firms positions. Byrde specializes in financial management, ASX and ASIC compliance and corporate governance of mineral and resource focused public companies. He is also currently company secretary for Venture Minerals Limited.
Tessa Kutscher - Executive
Tessa Kutscher is an executive with more than 20 years of experience in working with C-Level executive teams in the fields of business strategy, business planning/optimisation and change management. After starting her career in Germany, she has worked internationally across different industries, such as mining, finance, tourism and tertiary education.
Kutscher holds a master’s degree in literature, linguistics and political science from the University of Bonn, Germany and a master’s degree in teaching from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
Andrew Strickland - Executive
Andrew Strickland is an experienced study and project manager, a fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, University of WA MBA graduate, with undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and extractive metallurgy from Curtin and WASM.
Before joining Blackstone, Strickland was a senior study manager for GR Engineering Services where he was responsible for delivering a series of scoping, PFS and DFS studies for both Australian and international projects. Over his career, he has held a variety of project development roles across both junior to mid-tier developers (including Straits Resources, Perseus Mining and Tiger Resources) and major multi-operation producers (South32).
Graham Rigo - Executive
Graham Rigo is an experienced study manager with over a decade of on-site production experience, holding undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and finance from Curtin University, WA.
Before joining Blackstone, Rigo was a study manager for Ausenco where he was responsible for delivering a series of scoping, PFS and DFS studies for both Australian and international projects over a range of different commodities.
Rigo has over 11 years of site experience in nickel and cobalt hydromet production experience, in supervisory/superintendent level roles as well as process engineer experience.
Lon Taranaki - Executive
Lon Taranaki is an international mining professional with over 25 years of extensive experience in all aspects of resources and mining, feasibility, development and operations. Taranaki is a qualified process engineer from the University of Queensland Australia. He holds a Master of Business Administration, and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Taranaki has established his career in Asia where he has successfully worked (and lived) across multiple jurisdictions and commodities ranging from technical, mine management and executive management roles.
Prior to joining Blackstone in February 2022, Taranaki was the chief executive officer of Minegenco, a renewable-energy-focused independent power producer. Preceding this, he was managing director of his private consultancy, AMG Mining Global, where he was providing services to the mining industry in Singapore, Guyana, Indonesia and Cambodia. Additionally, Taranaki has held various senior positions with Sakari Resources, PTT Asia Pacific Mining, Straits Resources, Sedgmans and BHP Coal.
