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Impact Minerals Limited
Overview
Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) is an exploration and development mining company focused on discovering and developing new resource projects within Australia. Lake Hope, a recent transformational acquisition by the company and its current flagship asset, is a high-purity alumina (HPA) project in Impact’s home territory of Western Australia, a tier-one jurisdiction.
This advanced-stage project allows the company to fast-track the asset toward development, firmly establishing the company on the road to production and increasing shareholder value.
HPA is a high-value product with various uses in several industries that are key to the transition to a low-carbon world. Its main uses are in LED lighting, micro-LED screens, and ceramic-coated separators in lithium-ion batteries. Both these markets are forecast to grow dramatically over the next decade, and a looming supply shortage is predicted for 2026.
HPA is also necessary for producing synthetic sapphire and scratch-resistant glass. With these ever-widening applications for HPA, demand for this resource is expected to grow from US$3.18 billion to US$12.21 billion by 2030 with a compounded annual growth rate of about 20 percent.
Lake Hope is the company’s current focus as it moves towards production, and where a very shallow, high-grade resource of HPA precursor material has been identified in the top two meters of a dry salt lake. The deposit has unique physical and chemical properties that will allow for inexpensive digging and mining, with transportation to a processing facility off-site in an established industrial area. This will accelerate the approvals processes required to get into production.
Impact is currently focused on lodging a mining lease application. The company aims to bring Lake Hope, which contains almost 1 million tons of potential HPA, into production when the forecast average price for 4N HPA (99.99 percent AL203) and related products is about US$20,000 per ton. The ‘4N’ designation indicates the purity grade, making it suitable for high-tech end uses.
Outstanding economics from the latest scoping study released by the company shows Lake Hope’s potential to be the lowest-cost producer of HPA globally by up to 50 percent.
In June 2023, Impact announced a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 3.5 million tons at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3) for a contained 880,000 tons of alumina. The company also received heritage clearances for the entire Lake Hope deposit further de-risking the project and providing another critical component in the company’s application for a mining lease.
Impact completed a bulk sampling and test pits program at the Lake Hope project in December 2023. The company recently announced a key milestone having produced HPA greater than 99.99 percent (4N) purity from the metallurgical processing of lake clays acquired from Lake Hope.
In February 2024, a new proprietary metallurgical process for producing HPA from the lake clays was identified. Impact produced 99.99 percent (4N) Al2O3 from a low-temperature leach (LTL) process. The LTL process may lower the capital and operating costs to produce HPA compared to the sulphate process which underpinned the recent scoping study. The LTL process will be included in the ongoing pre-feasibility study in parallel with the sulphate process at marginal extra cost to determine the best processing route to HPA. The PFS is due to be completed on schedule in late 2024.
A comparison of the LTL process and the sulphate process
The company received a significant research and development refund of $753,000 from its exploration activities completed in the financial year ending June 30th, 2022. The company is well funded to finance the pre-feasibility study at the Lake Hope High Purity Alumina project and exploration activities at the Arkun battery minerals project.
Impact Minerals was also one of the inaugural cohort of seven companies selected to be part of the prestigious BHP Xplor program. BHP Xplor, an accelerator program introduced by BHP in August 2022, is designed to help provide participants with the opportunity to accelerate their growth and the potential to establish a long-term partnership with BHP and its global network of partners.
The BHP Xplor funding was used to identify new target areas for copper and other energy metals around the Broken Hill area in New South Wales, eastern Australia, where Impact has been quietly adding to its ground position for several years.
Additionally, the company is exploring its large Arkun battery metals project, also in Western Australia which covers nearly 2,900 square kilometres. Three new exploration licence applications were submitted recently immediately north of the Arkun project along trend from the recently discovered REE soil geochemistry anomalies at Hyperion, Swordfish and Horseshoe, and the Caligula copper anomaly. These anomalies require drill testing which will occur in 2024 and is an exciting development in the emerging mineral province of southwest WA.
A strong management team with over 50 years of combined industry experience leads the company. With a mining and exploration geology degree, Dr. Mike Jones, managing director, launched a long career consulting and leading mining organizations. Peter Unsworth, the non-executive chairman, has more than 35 years of experience in multiple financial sectors, such as securities industries and wealth management. Paul Ingram, a non-executive director, has led several mining companies since 2003. Impact Minerals has the experience and expertise to lead the company to success.
Company Highlights
- Impact Minerals is an exploration and development mining company focused on rapidly moving its flagship Lake Hope high-purity alumina (HPA) project towards production.
- Lake Hope project has a high-grade maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 3.5 million tonnes at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3), for a contained 880,000 tonnes of alumina that can be converted to HPA.
- HPA is used throughout multiple industries, and the overall HPA market is projected to grow by a CAGR of 18.4 percent by 2030.
- A pre-feasibility study is currently in progress, and Impact plans to lodge a mining lease application by Q3 2024 after results of its scoping study indicated that Lake Hope could potentially be one of, if not the lowest-cost producer of HPA globally, possibly by a significant margin of up to 50 percent.
- The company’s project portfolio also includes assets with high-grade mineral deposits of a range of base, critical and precious metals.
- Impact Mineral’s 2,000-square-mile Arkun nickel-copper-PGE project in Western Australia has produced encouraging assays motivating further exploration with maiden drill programmes planned for 2024.
- The company is also exploring its Broken Hill copper project in New South Wales under the auspices of the BHP Xplor program.
- A strong management team leads the company with experience in geology, mining and corporate finance.
Key Projects
Lake Hope HPA Project
Impact Minerals’ Lake Hope HPA project is in Western Australia, a tier-one mining jurisdiction. HPA is a crucial component in many new and emerging technologies, creating ongoing demand for high-grade sources. The Lake Hope project has become the company’s flagship as it moves toward production.
Project Highlights:
- Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate: A maiden mineral resource of 3.5 million tonnes at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3) for a contained 880,000 tonnes of alumina has been defined at the Lake Hope HPA Project. About 88 percent of the resource, or 775,000 tonnes of alumina, is in the higher confidence indicated resource category.
- Amenable to Open-pit Mining: The Lake Hope project is a unique HPA asset amenable to shallow, open-pit mining. The deposit is soft and shallow, allowing for cheap digging and minimal infrastructure requirements. This type of deposit also lowers the environmental footprint of the operation.
- Fast-tracked to Production: The company is currently awaiting its Mining Lease Application. Once granted, the company will begin working towards a pre-feasibility study and mini pilot plant. Impact Minerals plans to reach a complete pilot plant by 2026.
- Impressive Results of the 2023 Scoping Study: Outstanding economics show Lake Hope to potentially be the lowest-cost producer of High Purity Alumina (HPA) globally by up to 50 percent. Key outcomes from the scoping study include:
- Annual production of 10,000 tpa of 4N HPA with an initial 25-year mine life
- Annual EBITDA of A$174 million.
- 2 years construction period with 5,000 tonnes of production during the first year, 8,000 tonnes in the second year and 10,000 tonnes of production thereafter.
- US$934 million post-tax NPV8 at an IRR of 55 percent.
The scoping study was underpinned by a sulphuric acid process allowing the company to achieve a new milestone by producing HPA with purity of more than than 99.99 percent (4N) from the metallurgical processing of lake clays acquired from Lake Hope. The company further identified a new proprietary metallurgical process for producing HPA from the lake clays. Known as the low-temperature leach (LTL) process, this also produced 99.99 percent (4N) Al2O3 and has the potential to lower even further the capital and operating costs to produce HPA compared to the sulphate process. The LTL process will be included in the ongoing pre-feasibility study along with the sulphate process to determine the best processing route to HPA. The PFS is due to be completed in late 2024.
Broken Hill Copper Project
The Broken Hill project has a significant land position of 815 square kilometers and hosts multiple targets with the potential for high-grade copper. Broken Hill is located in New South Wales, Australia, an area known for its prolific silver-lead-zinc mining operations and the giant Broken Hill deposit.
Project Highlights:
- Participant in the BHP Xplor Program: Impact was selected for the BHP Xplor program based on its Broken Hill project. The program is designed to allow participants to accelerate growth and establish a long-term partnership with BHP.
- Potential for Additional Minerals and Deposits: As well as copper, the project has significant exploration potential for magmatic nickel-copper-PGE sulphides, and at the time the host rocks were formed, Broken Hill was located close to the world-class nickel-copper-PGE deposit of Jinchuan and the significant Lengquisheng deposit. The project area also has the potential to contain zinc-lead-silver deposits, providing even more value.
Arkun Nickel-Copper-Gold-Lithium-REE Project
The Arkun project is a 2,900-square-kilometer nickel, copper and gold project located in the emerging Ni-Cu-PGE province near the world-class Julimar Ni-Cu-PGE deposit and surrounded by Anglo American Corporation, which secured its ground holding shortly after Impact secured its asset. Anglo-American is one of the world’s top ten mining companies, and their presence in the region brings confidence in the project’s potential.
Project Highlights:
- Additional Exploration Underway: Impact plans follow-up work programs, including drilling, at its priority targets.
- Significant Targets Identified: Recent soil sampling identified two new prospects:
- Hyperion prospect - Located in the northwestern part of the project area returned with rare earth element anomalism of up to 5,880 ppm (0.59 percent) total rare earth oxide (TREO+Y) and neodymium and praseodymium (Nd+Pr) of up to 21 percent.
- Caligula prospect - Initially identified on the roadside, the Caligula prospect is a large and significant target for porphyry copper mineralisation.
- Three New Exploration Licences: Impact applied for three new exploration licences expanding Arkun project along trend from the recently discovered REE soil geochemistry anomalies at Hyperion, Swordfish and Horseshoe as well as the Caligula copper anomaly.
Management Team
Peter Unsworth - Non-executive Chairman
Peter Unsworth, formerly a chartered accountant, has over 35 years of experience in the corporate finance, investment and securities industries and a wealth of management experience with public and private companies. A former executive director with a leading Western Australian stockbroking company, Unsworth has been a director of several public exploration and mining companies. He recently completed a long time serving as chairman of the Western Australian Government-owned Gold Corporation (operator of The Perth Mint). Unsworth is the founding chairman of Impact Minerals.
Dr. Mike Jones - Managing Director
Dr. Mike Jones is the founding managing director of Impact Minerals Limited, which was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in November 2006. Reporting to the board of directors, he is responsible for the company's performance as it moves towards production at its Lake Hope High Purity Alumina Project and also for implementing strategies to explore and maximize the value of the company's other extensive tenement holdings.
Since listing, he has helped raise more than $60 million to help fund the exploration of Impact’s projects and managed the company through significant adverse events, including the global financial crisis and the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which affected Impact’s considerable investment in the uranium sector, a five-year global downturn in the mining sector and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paul Ingram - Non-executive Director
Paul Ingram is a geologist with extensive experience managing major mineral exploration programs for several publicly listed companies and has been involved in the mining sector for over thirty years. He has designed and implemented innovative techniques for exploration in remote areas and has managed projects in countries throughout Australia and East Asia. Ingram has been a director of the following listed companies in the past three years: Polo Resources from January 2008 to January 2011; A-Cap Resources since June 2009; Consolidated Global Investments since September 2006; Caledon Resources from February 2003 to March 2008; and Australian Pacific Coal since March 2011.
Dr Frank Bierlein - Non-executive Director
Dr. Frank Bierlein is a geologist with 30 years of experience as a consultant, researcher, lecturer and industry professional. Bierlein has held exploration and generative geology management positions with QMSD Mining, Qatar Mining, Afmeco Australia and Areva NC, and consulted for, among others, Newmont Gold, Resolute Mining, Goldfields International, Freeport McMoRan, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is currently a non-executive director of PNX Metals. He was previously a non-executive director of Gold Australia NL and chaired the advisory board of a Luxembourg-based private equity fund between 2014 and 2021.
EIS Funding of $180,000 Awarded for Drilling at Caligula, a Significant Copper Target at the Arkun Project, WA
- Co-funding of up to $180,000 awarded under the WA Government’s EIS scheme to drill the large and significant Caligula copper target identified in soil geochemistry data and Mobile Magneto-Telluric (MMT) data.
- Caligula comprises a 5 km by 1 km soil geochemistry anomaly containing copper-silver-cobalt+/- tellurium-bismuth-molybdenum associated with numerous conductors identified in the MMT data that may represent disseminated or massive sulphides.
- Infill and extensional soil geochemistry surveys have been completed to help define specific drill targets with assays due this Quarter.
- The statutory approvals process for a drill programme has now commenced.
- The aircore drill programme at the Hyperion Prospect, which forms part of IPT’s broader Arkun Project, has been completed. Hand-held XRF data is being interpreted to help select samples for assaying, with results expected later this Quarter.
The Caligula prospect comprises a large soil geochemistry anomaly that is coincident with several significant conductors identified in helicopter-borne Mobile Magneto-Telluric (MMT) data that may represent disseminated or massive sulphides (ASX Releases 9th August 2023 and January 24th 2024).
Caligula is 15 km west of the Hyperion Rare Earth Element prospect anomaly, where an aircore drill programme was recently completed (ASX Releases January 4th 2024 and April 19th 2024). The Arkun project was also recently expanded with three new tenement applications (Figure 1 and ASX Release March 14th 2024).
Impact Minerals’ Managing Director, Dr Mike Jones, said, “This award validates our exploration programmes at Arkun over the past few years. Caligula is one of many geochemical and geophysical targets we have at the project and so the information we will gain from the proposed drill programme will add immensely to our knowledge of this poorly exposed and poorly explored area. We will now start the statutory approvals process for the drilling. We have just completed our maiden drill programme at Hyperion to test for Rare Earth Elements and are interpreting the handheld XRF data to select samples for assaying, and we are looking forward to those results”.
Figure 1. Location and regional geological setting of Impact’s Arkun and other projects shown in blue in the emerging mineral province of southwest Western Australia. Significant nickel deposits are shown in orange, lithium deposits in green and gold deposits in yellow.
Soil Geochemistry Results
The Caligula prospect comprises an area of anomalous copper-in-soils that extends over about 5,000 metres north-south and up to at least 2,000 metres east-west. It is open to the east and the southwest (Figure 2). The copper is associated with anomalous silver and cobalt and, in the southern part of the anomaly, also has a strong association with bismuth, tellurium and lesser molybdenum (Figure 2). Details about the soil geochemistry results were included in the ASX Release of January 24th 2024.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Impact 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.
Quarterly Activities/Appendix 5B Cash Flow Report
ORROROO URANIUM PROJECT
- Maiden drill campaign completed successfully delineating uranium in 10 of 17 holes drilled
- Exploration continuing with land access engagements, geophysics and subsequent drill program(s) planning in progress
- Additional permit EL6948 granted expanding project area to 723km² total of 100% owned exploration tenure
ROGER RIVER GOLD PROJECT
- Soil study completed with successful reanalysis of historical samples
CORPORATE UPDATE (including activities subsequent to quarterly period end)
- Exclusivity and due diligence deed executed for Las Alteras uranium project in Argentina
- Strong financial position with $2.91m cash at March 2024 quarter end which was increased subsequently through a strategic placement of $415,746
Orroroo Uranium Project, South Australia
Norfolk Metals Ltd (Norfolk or the Company) is pleased to advise the maiden drill program was completed with a further 5 holes drilled across EL6552 being drilled in Phase 2 of the program in January 2024, taking the total number of holes completed in the maiden program to seventeen (17) (Figure 1). Phase 2 of the program sought to test the palaeochannel model at the Wongway Creek Target (formerly Target 1) where suitable drill access was available. A total of three (3) holes were drilled along the river traverse of the Wongway Creek Target testing both upstream and downstream regions. One (1) hole was drilled downstream of the No Name Creek Target (formerly Target 3) as well as the Rankin Rd Target (formerly Target 4). The completion of the maiden drill program has successfully delineated uranium in ten (10) of the seventeen (17) holes providing data for the Company to further develop a geological model of the Walloway Basin (Figure 3). Most importantly, the interpreted uranium bearing floodplain intersected upstream of Wongway Creek gives Norfolk confidence in the palaeochannel model and future exploration efforts can be planned accordingly. Peak grade of 796ppm pU308 was intersected in ORMR007.
*peak grade(s) noted are the direct detection of pU308 over a 0.02m interval by Prompt Fission Neutron downhole logging within a composite intersection with a cut-off grade greater than 100ppm pU308.
Figure 1. All drill collars completed in maiden drill program with Section A-A reference for Figure 3
Floodplain Interpretation
The pre-drilling model was targeting the presence of prospective palaeochannels approximately 100 to 150 metres to the south of the modern-day creeks associated with uranium intersected in historical Linc Energy Wells. Drilling results from Phase 1 indicated that the uranium in the Linc Energy Wells appeared to be associated with a secondary permeability created by downward displacement of the sediments resulting from basement faulting or soft sediment deformation. Phase 2 drilling continued to test the targeted prospective palaeochannels located to the south of the modern-day creeks at closer than expected distance of 50m. Younger palaeochannels were seen south of the modern-day creeks in ORMR004 (Walloway Creek Target) and ORMR016 (Rankin Rd Target) at the base of the regolith. This further supports the model of palaeochannels occurring south of the modern-day creeks due to a change in regional slope.
Drillhole ORMR015A was drilled 50m south of the modern-day creek at Wongway Creek Target. Drilling upstream from previous holes enabled easier location of the targeted prospective and potentially wider palaeochannel. This hole encountered what appears to be a silt dominated floodplain with minor gravel and two elevated gamma anomalies signifying uranium towards the top of this unit as well as the base of this unit (Figure 2). This unit appears to be the middle section of a palaeochannel between the sand and gravel dominated incising part of a palaeochannel and the clay dominated edge of a floodplain.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Norfolk 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.
Impact Minerals Limited Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects