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Nordic Nickel
Overview
Nordic Nickel (ASX:NNL) is a nickel sulphide exploration and development company focused on becoming a major supplier of sustainably sourced, traceable, high-purity class 1 nickel through its portfolio of highly prospective assets in Finland. A highly-credentialed team with a solid track record and experience throughout the mining industry leads the company in executing its exploration and development strategy.
Finland is a Tier-1 mining-friendly jurisdiction with a long mining history in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt. Additionally, the country is incentivising battery mineral projects and is positioned to become a major player in the full battery value chain, making it an ideal jurisdiction for exploration and development.
The European Union Critical Minerals Act includes nickel as a critical mineral and will play a vital role in the energy transition and through the electrification of the transportation sector and renewable energy and storage industry.
Nordic’s Nickel’s 100-percent-owned flagship Pulju Project already has a JORC-compliant resource estimate of 133.6 million metric tonnes at 278,520 tonnes of nickel and 12,650 tonnes of cobalt. The Pulju Project’s unique mineralisation is amenable to a dual exploration strategy of both near-surface disseminated nickel and deeper high-grade massive sulphide lenses. The project is located in an area of known mineralisation where there have been a number of major discoveries, including the 304 Mt, open-pit Ni, Cu, Au, Kevitsa Mine, owned by Swedish mining company Boliden together with the world-class 44 Mt Cu, Ni, PGE, Sakatti Deposit discovered by Anglo American. Historical drilling has been shallow with no modern geophysics applied, which Nordic Nickel has now undertaken, and has identified multiple electromagnetic anomalies to target for the current 22,000-meter drilling campaign that is underway.
The current resource estimate for the Pulju Project is based on only 5 square kilometers out of a 250-square-kilometer land package. Nordic Nickel is currently undergoing a 22,000-meter drill campaign to expand the areas of known mineralization and target Sakatti style analogues of deeper high-grade massive sulphides.
In 2023, Nordic Nickel secured an exploration licence (EL) for the Pulju Project. The newly granted EL, known as Holtinvaara, is highly prospective for nickel sulphide mineralisation and is three times the size of the Hotinvaara Prospect, which has been the focus of Nordic’s maiden exploration program and the company's resource development activities to date.
Nordic Nickel’s second project, the Maaninkajoki 3 (MJ3) asset comprises 30 square kilometers of exploration licenses and also situated in a region of known mineralisation or similar mafic/ultramafic lithologies to the near-by Sakatti deposit. The company has an earn-in agreement to acquire 75 percent of the asset as exploration continues.
A management team with a range of expertise throughout the mining industry builds confidence in the company’s goal to explore its assets fully. Expertise includes corporate administration, geology and international finance.
Company Highlights
- Nordic Nickel is an Australian exploration and development company focusing on its district-scale nickel assets in Northern Finland
- Finland is a Tier-1 mining jurisdiction with a deep history in the industry, resulting in mining-friendly regulations.
- The European Union Critical Minerals Act has included nickel as a critical mineral and exploration and development will benefit from future incentives.
- Nordic Nickel’s flagship Pulju Nickel Project already has a near-surface JORC-compliant resource estimate of 133.6 million tonnes, with 278,520 tonnes of Nickel and 12,500 tonnes of cobalt .
- The company’s second Maaninkajoki 3 Project covers 30 kilometers of exploration licenses, and the company has the option to earn up to 75 per cent.
- An experienced management team with a track record and deep expertise in the natural resources industry leads the company.
Key Projects
Pulju Nickel Project
The company’s 100-percent-owned flagship Pulju project covers 250 square kilometers of land in Finland's Central Lapland Greenstone Belt. Nordic Nickel is currently conducting a diamond drilling campaign with ~9,000 meters completed since the beginning of 2023 with initial assay results currently pending.
Project Highlights:
- Prolific Resource Estimate with Expansion Potential: The current JORC-compliant resource estimate indicates 133.6 million tonnes for 275,520 tonnes of contained nickel and 12,560 tonnes of contained cobalt. Nordic Nickel is currently undertaking a 22,000-meter drill campaign to expand areas of known mineralisation and target deeper, high grade massive sulphides.
- Encouraging Historical Drill Results: Past drill results, including 51 drill holes for both near-surface and deeper high-grade sulphides, have produced encouraging results.
- Near-surface:
- 97 meters at 0.33 percent nickel from 102 meters
- 122 meters at 0.25 percent nickel from 33 meters
- 108 meters at 0.26 percent nickel from 98 meters
- Massive sulphide intersections:
- 0.26 meters at 9.61 percent nickel, 0.17 percent copper and 0.36 percent cobalt from 147.37 meters
- 0.90 meters at 4.98 percent nickel, 0.03 percent copper and 0.14 percent cobalt from 190.40 meters
- 0.32 meters at 5.03 percent nickel, 0.06 percent copper and 0.24 percent cobalt from 45.7 meters
- Near-surface:
- Promising Geology: The regional geology of the project is amenable to rich nickel deposits. The presence of ultramafic rocks mirrors the Sakatti and Kevitsa deposits. The project contains a 35-kilometer continuous prospective strike with considerable blue-sky potential as exploration continues.
- Newly Granted Exploration License: The new Holtinvaara exploration licence is highly prospective for nickel sulphide mineralisation and is three times the size of the Hotinvaara Prospect, which has been the focus of Nordic’s maiden exploration program and the company's resource development activities to date.
Maaninkajoki 3 (MJ3) Nickel Project
Nordic Nickel’s MJ3 Project covers 30 kilometers of exploration licenses. The asset is subject to an earn-in agreement, which gives the company the right to acquire up to 75 percent of the project over two stages. The project is highly prospective for both intrusive-hosted and komatiite-hosted nickel sulphide mineralization.
Management Team
Todd Ross - Managing Director and CEO
Todd Ross has over 23 years’ experience in finance, derivatives and corporate advisory within the natural resources sector. He is the former managing director and head of Western Australia for BNP Paribas. Ross is a specialist in project and acquisition financings across a range of commodities across multiple jurisdictions. His previous roles include senior positions at BNP Paribas, Westpac, Royal Bank of Canada, CBA and Oakvale Capital. Ross holds a Bachelor of Business from Edith Cowan University and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment from FINSIA.
Marcello Cardaci - Non-executive Chairman
Marcello Cardaci is the former partner of Gilbert & Tobin’s Corporate Advisory Group. He has 25 years’ experience advising public and private equity fund raisings, M&A and divestment. Cardaci has extensive experience on capital raisings, takeovers, schemes of arrangements and joint ventures. His current directorships include ASX-listed Altamin Limited and Manhattan Corporation Ltd. Cardaci holds degrees in law (BJuris, LLB) and commerce (BCom).
Robert Wrixon - Executive Director
Robert has over 20 years’ experience in corporate strategy, mining M&A and mineral exploration. He is the director of Starboard Global Ltd, private equity and incubation of projects in the metals and mining sector. His current directorships include Rafaella Resources Ltd, Emmerson PLC. Wrixon holds a PhD in mineral engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Juho Haverinen - Non-executive Director
Juho Haverinen has over ten years’ experience in planning and overseeing mineral exploration in Finland and is currently head of exploration for Magnus Minerals Oy. He has significant experience in Finland with exploration joint ventures with major multinational mining companies and is a member of the board of the Finnish Mining Association (FinnMin) and a board member of Magnus Minerals Oy. Haverinen holds both BSc and MSc degrees in geology from the University of Helsinki.
Aaron Bertolatti - Company Secretary and CFO
Aaron Bertolatti is a qualified chartered accountant and company secretary with over 15 years’ experience. He has significant experience in the administration of ASX-listed companies, corporate governance and corporate finance. He was previously CFO of Highfield Resources Ltd and American Pacific Borates Ltd.
Successful HPA Demonstration Plant Campaign
Highlights
- 62 kg >99.99% High Purity Alumina (“4N HPA”) produced from Lava Blue Demonstration Plant.
- Average purity across blends approaching 5N (99.999%), far exceeding the 4N threshold.
- 6 x ~10 kg 4N HPA blends have been transported to the United States to provide to potential offtakers.
- Initial target offtakers are from the LED market
Demonstration Plant
QPM and Lava Blue have recently completed the first campaign of HPA Demonstration Plant operation, which successfully produced 62 kg of 4N HPA. The two primary objectives of this technical work have been well and truly met, being:
- Confirmation of HPA flowsheet for the TECH Project; and
- Production of samples for offtake marketing purposes.
HPA produced from the Demonstration Plant has been split into six ~10 kg blends and have been transported to the USA. The blends have been assayed and results have far exceeded 4N purity.
Figure: Blend assay results
QPM’s technical and marketing team have been working closely with a specialised US consultant in identifying potential offtakers. The initial focus has been on the LED market (sapphire glass). The blends will be provided to potential offtakers for testing.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Queensland Pacific 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
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.
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 addition to Ta Khoa, the company also maintains the Gold Bridge cobalt and gold project near Vancouver, Canada.
In December 2023, Blackstone entered into an option agreement with CaNickel Mining to acquire the Wabowden nickel project located in the world-class Thompson Nickel Belt in Manitoba, Canada.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 Projects
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.
In addition to the early development of the King Snake and Ban Chang Massive Sulphide deposits, Blackstone plans to produce crystal nickel and cobalt sulphide intermediate products. Staged development of the refinery, meanwhile, predicts an initial train capacity of 200,000 tonnes annually in the first year, with a planned expansion to 400,000 by the second.
The mine is expected to begin production in 2025 and then ramp up to 8 million tons per annum (Mtpa) of nickel sulphide by 2027. Pilot Plant testing and definitive feasibility studies are also underway. Five groups visited the project in 2022 as part of the partnership due diligence process, accompanied by meetings with government representatives, Austrade, Australian department of foreign affairs and trade, financial institutions and other important stakeholders
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.
Gold Bridge
The Gold Bridge Project is located approximately 200 kilometers northwest of Vancouver, BC. It comprises 365 square kilometers of 100 percent Blackstone-owned mining claims located in the Cordilleran Terranes of BC. It includes several, high-grade hydrothermal gold, cobalt, nickel and copper deposits and targets the historic Little Gem and Jewel mines.
Project Highlights:
- Significant Potential: Blackstone's geological model for the Jewel mine suggests it may have a similar geological setting to the world-class Bou-Azzer primary cobalt district in Morocco. There is potential for multiple similar deposits throughout the project.
- Favorably Located Anomalies: Having completed an extensive maiden exploration program, Blackstone has identified multiple large-scale IP anomalies at Little Gem, Erebor, Jewel and Roxey.
- A Nascent Venture: Blackstone is currently actively seeking joint venture partners for the Gold Bridge project.
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.
Dr. Stuart Owen - Executive
Dr. Stuart Owen holds a Bsc and PhD in geology with over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration. He was senior geologist in the team that discovered the Paulsens Mine (+1Moz) and as an exploration manager at Adamus discovered the Southern Ashanti Gold deposits (+2Moz). Finally, at Venture, he discovered the Mt Lindsay Tin-Tungsten-Magnetite deposits.
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.
Blackstone Secures Option to Acquire Major Nickel Asset
HIGHLIGHTS
- Blackstone has executed an option agreement to acquire 100% of the Wabowden nickel sulphide project located in the world-class Thompson Nickel Belt in Manitoba, Canada.
- Attractive opportunity for Blackstone given large scale resource base, established infrastructure, low- cost hydro power and synergies with Blackstone’s other strategic nickel interests in Manitoba.
- Wabowden is well matched to Blackstone’s expertise and integrated nickel strategy.
- Large scale resource base of 230Mt at 0.56% nickel for 1.3Mt of contained nickel1, with significant growth potential. 1 The Mineral Resource Estimate is a Foreign Resource Estimate and has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian National Instrument 43-101. A competent person has not done sufficient work to classify the foreign estimate as a mineral resource in accordance with the JORC Code 2012, and is uncertain whether further evaluation and exploration will result in an estimate reportable under the JORC Code 2012.
- Includes the well-maintained Bucko mine and processing facility which retains key operating permits.
- The acquisition of Wabowden would provide Blackstone significant optionality and can remove
- Blackstone’s need to secure third-party feed to fill its Ta Khoa Refinery for multiple decades.
- Ability to benefit from Manitoba’s Critical Minerals Strategy and USA’s Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”).
- Strategic 12-month option for cash payment of C$1.1 million.
- Option period provides Blackstone the ability to optimise various development and funding pathways including joint venture partnerships, government funding, royalty, debt and equity opportunities.
- Effective total acquisition cost of only A$0.03 per pound of nickel provides significant value opportunity for a re-rate in value.
- Blackstone undertaking an accelerated non-renounceable pro rata entitlement offer to raise up to approximately A$10.2 million.
- Proceeds to support Wabowden option opportunity, complete the Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) for Blackstone’s Ta Khoa Refinery and progress Blackstone’s strategic partnerships process.
For a video summary of the announcement head to the Blackstone Investor Hub by clicking here
Figure 1: Wabowden Project – Bucko Mine and Processing Facility
Blackstone Minerals’ Managing Director, Scott Williamson, commented:
“Wabowden is one of the most advanced nickel sulphide projects in North America today and is highly complementary to our plans for the Ta Khoa Refinery in Vietnam, making it a transformative and compelling growth opportunity for Blackstone.
With a resource of 1.3 million tonnes of contained nickel, Wabowden would substantially increase our global mineral resource and could secure all the feed required for the Ta Khoa Refinery, removing our dependency on sourcing third-party feedstock. It could also establish a key central point of operations in Manitoba for Blackstone to potentially consolidate its existing nickel interests in Manitoba, as well as other nickel assets in the region.
In addition, it’s location in the tier-one jurisdiction of Manitoba, with access to 100% renewable power, aligns with our goals to produce Green Nickel™, meaning that Wabowden ticks all the boxes that are important to our goals and the project would be complementary to the strategy we are executing. Wabowden’s location in Manitoba also could secure a nickel feedstock that is compliant with the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act, which is also attractive as demand for battery-grade nickel continues to increase.
Blackstone’s strategy is to progress a much larger scale operation better suited to the large-scale resource and by changing mining methods and leverage existing infrastructure develop a potentially globally significant nickel mine, capable of completely filling the nickel concentrate requirements at Ta Khoa.
We are also delighted by the attractive acquisition option structure and terms we have secured which provides Blackstone considerable operational leverage and value.
Securing long term low carbon IRA compliant nickel feed for the Ta Khoa Refinery has been a key question from potential JV Partners. This option agreement provides greater certainty over the nickel feed sourcing strategy for Ta Khoa, which is an important factor in the selection of a JV Partner, and the Company will provide an update on this soon.”
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Blackstone Minerals, 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.
Nordic Nickel Investor Kit
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