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Pivotal Metals’ (ASX:PVT) two-rig, 8,000-metre drill program at Horden Lake could capture investors’ attention on the “extreme value and potential upside” of Pivotal shares, according to a report by Hong Kong-based equity research firm Orior Capital.
First assay results from Horden Lake, expected in the first quarter of 2024, has the potential to substantially enlarge and improve the quality of the project’s current resource of 27.8 million tons at 1.49 percent copper equivalent (CuEq), wrote Orior Capital analyst Simon Francis.
Francis noted that the current resource only modelled gold in the central part of the deposit. “Cobalt, platinum, and silver, although assayed in some historical drilling, are not included at all. Based on historical intercepts and current metals prices, including these elements could lift the CuEq resource by as much as 20 percent.”
Valuing Horden Lake in line with peers and Belleterre-Angliers at just AU$10 million suggests a valuation of AU$0.12 cents per share, approximately seven times the current share price, the analyst report added.
Pivotal is expected to deliver consistent newsflow through 2024 beginning with the first assays from the Horden Lake drill program. Results of the Horden Lake mineralogy studies are also expected in the first quarter of 2024. The company is gearing up for an updated mineral resource for Horden Lake and metallurgical test work results are expected in the first half of this year.
Highlights from the Orior Capital report:
- Drilling underway at Horden Lake: First assays are expected in the first quarter of 2024.
- Pivotal is one of the cheapest copper explorers globally.
- Belleterre-Angliers MT survey results expected in the first quarter of 2024.
For the full analyst report, click here.
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Pivotal Metals
Overview
Countries across the globe are setting energy transition goals to meet emissions targets, leading to increasing global competition for critical minerals. Canada and the US have developed their own clean energy strategies, yet both countries are also heavily reliant on imports. A common denominator among the critical mineral strategies is the need to develop domestic and/or IRA supply chains that will require significant government investment. All of these factors add up to a steadily growing global demand for minerals and fierce competition to win the attention of mining companies necessary to shore up supply of critical metals.
Pivotal Metals (ASX:PVT) is a global developer and explorer of world-class mineral deposits critical to an ever-increasing, technology-driven world economy. With copper and nickel assets in Canada, Pivotal Metals is committed to developing its projects in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
The Horden Lake copper-nickel-PGM development project in Quebec, Canada has a JORC mineral resource estimate of 27.8 million tons (Mt) at 1.49 percent copper equivalent (CuEq) containing 414 kilotons (kt) of contained CuEq. The deposit starts at surface and is well located just 10 km from a national highway. In addition to defined resources, the deposit is open at depth and is considered highly prospective for discovery of additional resources. The project benefits from being in Quebec, a mature and supportive mining jurisdiction, and has access to low-cost, carbon-neutral La Grange hydropower.
The company’s Belleterre-Angliers Greenstone Belt (BAGB) exploration project has known high-grade nickel-copper-PGM deposits at Midrim, Lorraine and Alotta across a 157 square kilometre consolidated land holding. The company is targeting the mineralised feeder system that acted as the source for the numerous discoveries to date.
As of January 2024, exploration activities are on track across the company’s projects. Pivotal Metals is commencing an 8,000-metre drill program at the Horden Lake project, with the objective of potential size and grade increases of the deposit, and collection of metallurgical sample for optimisation test work. Downhole geophysics will be completed to target extensions of the mineralisation. At the BAGB property, results are pending on a magnetotelluric survey to aimed to highlight controlling structures and target future drilling to test substantial massive and semi-massive sulphide accumulations
Pivotal Metals has $5.3 million in cash and completed a $2.5 million placement. Consistent news flow is expected as work programs across its properties are being implemented.
An experienced management team and board of directors lead the company. Ivan Fairhall, managing director and mechanical engineer, brings 20 years of experience in the resource sector focused on development stage companies. Eddy Canova, executive operations, Canada, is a professional senior geologist with extensive experience in advancing exploration projects in Quebec and internationally.
Company Highlights
- Pivotal Metals is an exploration and development mining company with assets in Canada, enabling it to become a significant contributor to IRA-compliant supply chains of critical minerals.
- The company’s Horden Lake copper-nickel-PGM project in Quebec is an advanced project with a JORC mineral resource estimate of 27.8 million tons (Mt) at 1.49 percent copper equivalent (CuEq) containing 414 kt of contained CuEq.
- The Belleterre-Anglier Greenstone Belt (BAGB) Project, also in Quebec, is an exploration stage asset with known, very high-grade nickel-copper-PGM discoveries.
- Pivotal Metals is led by an experienced management team and board of directors that create confidence in its ability to reach its goals.
- Pivotal Metals is well financed to execute an exploration and project development work program across its properties in 2024.
Key Projects
Horden Lake Copper-Nickel-PGM
Pivotal Metals acquired the Horden Lake polymetallic deposit in northwestern Quebec in September 2022. Horden Lake is an advanced project located approximately 140 kilometres north of the mining town of Matagami, and 300 kilometres north of the company’s wholly owned Belleterre-Angliers Copper-Nickel-PGM project, also in Quebec. The company has said that the project will be developed as a carbon-neutral operation, by accessing the low-cost La Grange hydroelectric power complex.
Project Highlights:
- JORC Mineral Resource Estimate: 27.8 Mt at 1.49 percent CuEq containing 414 kt of contained CuEq
- Excellent Exploration Upside: the deposit is open at depth across almost its entire strike, and as a structurally controlled system is considered to have good prospectivity for resource extension.
- Potential for Fast-tracking: Significant body of historical technical study work and more than 50,000 metres of drilling database makes for a well-defined resource and a huge potential to accelerate the project to pre-feasibility study
- Stable Infrastructure: Close to existing mines, transportation links and large hydropower facilities
- By-product Potential: Intercepts showed good grades of gold and cobalt, as well as silver and PGMs, not all of which are currently included in the resource.
Belleterre-Anglier Exploration Project
Pivotal Metals strengthened its PGM-nickel-copper sulphide portfolio in Canada by consolidating the Alotta, Lorraine, Midrim and Laforce discoveries, to create the Belleterre-Anglier PGM-nickel-copper exploration project. The package dominates the eastern portion of the Belleterre-Angliers Greenstone Belt located in the Abitibi-Pontiac Greenstone. Exploration to date has discovered Ultra-High grades drilled into gabbroic intrusions by previous operators, and included historical mining of some deposits. The exploration strategy is to target a broader intrusive complex that could host substantial massive and semi-massive sulphide accumulations, and search for anomalies and targets of real scale.
The company now has a total of 137 new and reclassified targets identified across the combined exploration package, 20 of which were identified as ‘priority 1’ for further investigation. A MT geophysical survey has been completed to further highlight deeper controlling structures to improve targeting for future drilling.
Project Highlights:
- Best drill intercept of 9.4 metres of 3.5 percent nickel, 4.3 percent copper and 4.6 grams per ton (g/t) PGM at the Midrim discovery.
- Previous open-pit mining at Lorraine during the 1960s produced recovered grades of 0.38 percent nickel, 0.90 percent copper, 0.62 g/t gold
- Drill results at Alotta are comparable to the historic high-grade polymetallic intersections at Pivotal Metals’ existing Midrim project, located just 1.5 kilometres NE of Alotta.
- Completed assays at Midrim and LaForce serve as proof of concept that the geological formations contain significant deposits. Testing has revealed 5 percent nickel in 10 percent sulfide at the Midrim nickel tenor and 10 percent sulfide at the Laforce nickel tenor
Management Team
Simon Gray - Non-executive Chairman
Simon Gray was previously a director on the boards of Morgans Financial Limited and before that Shaw and Partners Limited, each being among the largest investment and wealth management firms in Australia. Before this, he was at various times Shaw’s deputy CEO and general counsel. Gray has a strong background in law and financial markets, having obtained a bachelor of law and Aster of law in corporate and commercial law, and as a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Ivan Fairhall - Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Ivan Fairhall is a chartered engineer and mine finance professional with nearly 20 years of mining industry experience. He was most recently the CEO of TSX-listed Mawson Gold, prior to which he spent seven years as a senior investment manager with the UK private equity group Greenstone Resources, where he successfully identified, acquired and managed investments in development stage companies through to standalone production. Through his career, Fairhall has obtained an extensive technical grounding in various design, construction and commissioning roles, including considerable experience managing pre-development studies across the commodity and geographic spectrum.
Dr. Robert Wrixon - Non-executive Director
Dr. Robert Wrixon is currently a director of the mining venture capital group Starboard Global Limited and has 20 years of experience in corporate strategy, commodities marketing, mining M&A and mineral exploration management. He has previously run two listed junior resources companies in Australia, and prior to that spent five years in corporate strategy for Xstrata plc based in Sydney and London. Wrixon is an Irish national and holds a Ph.D. in mineral engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Wrixon is not considered to be an independent director.
Steven Turner - Non-executive Director
Steven Turner brings over 25 years of experience in the resource sector, having held senior roles in both industry and investment banking. During his career, Turner has been based in London, Aberdeen, Singapore, Brisbane and Madrid. Turner has raised significant capital for the development of resource projects, including equity, public bonds and project finance. Most recently he was head of business development at a private mining group, having been instrumental in the successful growth of the company from a junior to mid-tier Australian base metal operator. Turner holds Australian, Canadian and UK citizenship and is a fellow of The Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Daniel Rose- Non-executive Director
Daniel has extensive experience in the investment banking industry, commodity financing, origination and trading. He most recently served as CEO and director of VTB Capital Hong Kong (VTBC), overseeing an SFC-regulated investment banking platform focused on natural resources activities across global markets, structured and corporate finance, M&A and asset management. Rose has spent 18 years in the commodity markets working for Societe Generale (before VTBC) in Sydney, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. Rose holds a Bachelor of Law (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from Bond University.
Eddy Canova – Executive Operations, Canada
Eddy Canova is a professional senior geologist (OGQ (403)-PGeo) with extensive experience of advancing exploration projects both in Quebec and internationally. Canova has successfully advanced exploration projects from inception to mine development, managed mining operations, and has followed through various study stages: preliminary economic evaluation, pre-feasibility, feasibility and environmental impact studies.
Amanda Wilton-Heald - Company Secretary
Amanda is a chartered accountant with over 20 years of accounting, auditing (of both listed and non-listed companies) and company secretarial experience within Australia and the UK. Amanda has been involved in the listing of junior explorer companies on the ASX and has experience in corporate advisory and company secretarial services.
June 2024 Quarterly Report
HIGHLIGHTS
- High impact, low cost regional exploration activities continuing at the Pulju Project.
- Analysis of an important, extensive new Bottom of Till (“BOT”) drilling database (9,632 samples) covering the entire Pulju Project area, recently acquired from the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), is underway.
- Detailed summer mapping program underway focused on better characterising the extensive areas of known nickel/copper mineralisation and outcrop within the regional exploration licences at Pulju to prioritise future drilling targets.
- Positive progress on the metallurgical test work program for the Hotinvaara Resource to confirm potential recoveries and concentrate grades, with final results expected in Q3 2024.
- Discussions with potential strategic partners remains ongoing.
PULJU NICKEL PROJECT
The known nickel mineralisation in the CLGB is typically associated with ultramafic cumulate and komatiitic rocks with high-grade, massive sulphide lenses and veins enveloped by very large, lower grade disseminated nickel sulphide near-surface. The disseminated nickel at Pulju is widespread and indicates the presence of a vast nickel-rich system.
Following the conclusion of the 2023 drilling campaign, in March 2024, Nordic Nickel reported an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Hotinvaara Prospect at the Pulju Project which now comprises 418 million tonnes grading 0.21% Ni, 0.01% Co and 53ppm Cu for 862,800 tonnes of contained Ni, 40,000t of contained Co and 22,100t of contained Cu1.
Pulju is located 195km from Boliden’s Kevitsa Ni-Cu-Au-PGE mine and 9.5Mtpa processing plant in Sodankylä, Finland. Kevitsa provides feed for the 35ktpa Harjavalta smelter, which is located approximately 950km to the south and processes concentrate from Kevitsa’s low-grade disseminated nickel sulphide ore (Mineral Resource Estimate Ni grade ~0.21%). Europe’s only other smelter is Terrafame’s 37ktpa Sotkamo smelter, located 560km south-east of Pulju.
Figure 1: Location of Pulju Nickel Project and Europe’s entire nickel smelting and refining capacity.
Management Comment
Commenting on the June Quarter, Nordic Nickel Managing Director, Todd Ross, said: "We are very pleased with the progress made during this quarter despite continued challenging market conditions.
“The acquisition of the extensive BOT drilling database combined with historical drilling results and geophysics across Pulju provides us with a wealth of data to guide our future exploration efforts. This data, combined with the third summer mapping program now underway is another critical step in identifying new drilling targets and advancing our understanding of the Pulju Project's geology.
“Additionally, the ongoing metallurgical test work at Hotinvaara is crucial for assessing the economic potential of the project and advancing an initial scoping study, and we eagerly anticipate sharing the final results in the coming quarter.
“These activities underscore our commitment to advancing the Pulju Project and our strategic vision of supplying sustainably sourced nickel and battery metals to Europe. With that in mind, discussions with potential strategic partners continue which will allow us to ultimately fully unlock the value of Pulju for our shareholders.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Nordic Nickel, 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
Click here for the full ASX Release
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.
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