The Conversation (0)
Impact Minerals Limited Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects
GET YOUR FREE INVESTOR KIT
Impact Minerals Limited
Overview
Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) is an exploration and development mining company focusing 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 and puts the company firmly 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 reach $4.79 billion in 2027 at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.4 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, enabling the acceleration of production.
Impact is currently focused on lodging a Mining Lease Application. The company aims to bring Lake Hope, which contains almost 1 million tonnes 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 tonne. The ‘4N’ designation indicates the purity grade, making it suitable for high-tech end uses.
In June 2023, Impact announced a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 3.5 million tonnes at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3) for a contained 880,000 tonnes 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 released the results of a scoping study based on realistic production and capital expenditure estimates for the company’s Lake Hope High Purity Alumina (HPA) Project. The study indicated Lake Hope's potential to be one of, if not the lowest-cost producer of HPA globally, possibly by a significant margin of up to 50 percent.
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 refund brought Impact’s cash balance to more than $4 million after a successful capital raising which was strongly supported by the company’s two major German shareholders. 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.
In addition to funding, the BHP Xplor program allows Impact to gain access to a network of internal and external experts to help guide development in the company's technical, business and operational aspects.
The BHP Xplor funding has been 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. The company has completed a significant exploration campaign at its Arkun project, reporting encouraging results of nickel, copper, PGMs and lithium-caesium-tantalum. Targets are currently being defined with the aim of drill testing in early 2024.
“In trying to reduce the risk, it’s the case nowadays where you need to take a scientific approach to what you’re doing. One of the big changes in the industry over the past ten years is that it’s now a lot easier and cheaper to generate a great amount of data. So, we’ve been recognized for our technical excellence,” said Dr. Mike Jones, Managing Director at Impact Minerals, in an interview.
A strong management team with over 50 years of combined industry experience leads the company. With a mining and exploration geology degree, Jones 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 which 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 2027.
- A Pre-Feasibility Study is currently in progress and Impact plans to lodge a Mining Lease Application after results of its scoping study indicated how the Lake Hope Project 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.
- 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 US$17 million and annual revenue of US$258 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.
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 2,000-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.
- Encouraging Targets: Impact Minerals’ early geochemical survey campaigns indicated the presence of nickel, copper and gold anomalies, as well as lithium and rare earth element anomalies throughout the project area, which has never been explored before.
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:
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 Co Ltd, 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 Ltd. 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.
Bernard Crawford - Company Secretary
Bernard Crawford is a finance and governance professional with over 25 years of experience in the resources industry in Australia and overseas. He has held various finance, governance and management positions with NYSE, TSX and ASX-listed companies. Crawford holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and a Master of Business Administration from London Business School. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Governance Institute of Australia.
Siren Gold
Overview
Siren Gold (ASX:SNG) is an exploration and development company focusing on gold assets at its 1,100-square-kilometer tenement package located on the historic, high-grade Reefton, Lyell and Sams Creek goldfields in New Zealand.
Reefton Goldfield was first discovered in 1866 with total current recorded production of 11 million ounces (Moz) of gold, consisting of 2 Moz @ 16 grams per ton (g/t) gold from underground, 0.7 Moz from open pit and ~8 Moz gold from alluvial mining.
Mining and the local communities thrived in the region during the early 1900s, but most of the 94 underground mines closed by 1942 during WWII, and the Blackwater mine, which produced 740 koz @ 19 g/t down to more than 700 meters below the surface, finally shut down in 1951 bringing the entire field to a close. The gold price in 1951 was US$35 per ounce.
Fast forward to 2023, mining analysts believe current gold prices are only the beginning of a large upward trend, with gold prices reaching the $2,000 mark in the last quarter of 2023. What we know is clear: Gold has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 20 years, as production from gold mines runs low without enough new projects to replace them.
Siren’s gold projects present an opportunity for new supply sources to emerge. The Reefton Goldfield is a high-grade mining district located on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Siren’s global mineral resource currently sits at 1.33 million ounces at 3.3 grams per ton (g/t) AuEq (gold equivalent), from Sams Creek, Alexander River, Big River, Supreme and Auld Creek.
The district is widely known for producing gold, antimony and coal. A crucial aspect of the Reefton Goldfield is the significant occurrence of antimony, a rare thermal-resistant metal and a poor conductor of electricity. These attributes make it ideal for flame retardants, paints and various industrial applications to improve thermal tolerance. Additionally, antimony is a critical element in lithium-ion batteries and next-generation liquid metal batteries utilized for energy storage systems. The presence of antimony in the goldfield creates additional value for Siren’s projects as exploration continues.
Siren currently has seven projects, many of which were active sites that were closed during WWII despite encouraging exploration or production. Now, the company has built an expansive portfolio of projects and will undergo systematic exploration of its assets using leading-edge technologies and techniques.
With seven projects under its belt, Siren is primarily focused on Sams Creek, Alexander River, Big River and Auld Creek. These four projects are slated for future exploration and potential development to improve the assets’ value.
A skilled management team leads the company towards fully exploring its promising portfolio, with diverse expertise in geology, corporate administration and finance.
Company Highlights
- Siren Gold is an exploration and development company focusing on gold assets in the high-grade, historic Reefton Goldfield and Sams Creek in New Zealand.
- Siren owns seven highly prospective projects throughout the region, each with the potential for gold and antimony, a rare metal used in various thermal-resistant applications.
- The company’s global mineral resource is currently at 1.33 million ounces at 3.3 g/t AuEq (gold equivalent), with significant potential to increase as exploration continues.
- The Reefton Goldfield historically produced over 11 million ounces of gold before the entire field closed after WWII.
- Siren’s assets within the Reefton Goldfield are highly prospective but have yet to be fully explored through modern exploration techniques, creating significant blue-sky potential.
- A management team with a range of expertise in the natural resources industry leads the company towards fully realizing the potential of its highly prospective portfolio.
Key Projects
Sams Creek Gold Project
The Sams Creek Gold Project is located 140 kilometers northeast of Reefton and 100 kilometers northeast of Lyell.
The Sams Creek porphyry dyke-style gold deposit is equivalent in geology deposits to the Australian Eastern Lachlan fold belt that contains very large porphyry copper-gold and porphyry gold-style deposits like at Cadia and Ridgeway in New South Wales.
Siren believes there is significant potential at Sams Creek for a very large underground mining operation as the orebody is over 60 meters thick, has a vertical extent of 1 kilometer and has been traced for more than 7 kilometers along strike.
To date, around 127 diamond holes have been drilled at Sams Creek and the blue-sky project already contains an impressive resource estimate, with much of the asset remaining unexplored.
Project Highlights:
- Prolific Resource Estimate: The asset’s newly updated JORC (2012) mineral resource estimate (MRE) describes 8.9 million tonnes at 2.82 g/t gold for 808 koz of contained gold. However, there is still tremendous potential for expansion as work continues.
- The main mineralization at Sams Creek is open at depth and will be further drill-tested as the deposit is open in all directions and has significant potential for increased gold resources from additional exploration drilling.
- Siren has an access agreement with the Department of Conservation that allows up to 100 drill sites within EP40338.
- Additional drilling will also be focused on infilling any new mineralized zones discovered, so an updated MRE can be completed, feasibility studies can be commenced, and a mining permit application can be advanced in 2024
Alexander River Gold Project
The Alexander River project covers 16.75 square kilometers and is 100 percent owned by Siren Gold. The asset is located 15 kilometers away from the prolific Blackwater Mine, a vital sign of what’s possible at Alexander River.
Project Highlights:
- Encouraging Resource Estimate: The project’s inferred mineral resource estimate is currently 1.07 million tonnes at 5 g/t gold for 170 koz at a 1.5 g/t cut-off. Encouragingly, this is a substantial increase of 30 percent and a grade increase of 22 percent from previous estimates.
- Past-producing Project: Operations at the project closed in 1942; before shuttering, they had historical production of 41 koz at 24.6 g/t gold at a cut-off grade of 15 g/t gold. Now, Siren is using modern techniques to explore and develop the project further.
- Exploration Targets: Currently, the company focuses on a 1.2-kilometer-long outcropping quartz reef with mineralization defined by surface trenching over 800 meters long and 4 meters wide at 8g/t gold. The width of the outcropping is well-suited for efficient mechanized mining.
Big River Gold Project
The Big River project covers 44.87 square kilometers and is considered a highly prospective exploration target of 100 to 125 koz at 7 to 9 g/t gold. The company will continue exploring to determine the asset's depth and gold grade.
Project Highlights:
- 4-kilometer Anomalous Strike Length: The Big River project contains a significant 4-kilometer strike length. Sampling along this strike hosts massive stibnite veins with high-grade gold deposits, with results up to 82 g/t gold.
- Encouraging Drill Results: Completed drill campaigns have produced high-grade near-surface assays, with the best drill holes including:
- 6.6 meters at 21.4 g/t gold
- 3 meters at 18.5 g/t gold
- 6 meters at 5.1 g/t gold
- 5.2 meters at 6.3 g/t gold
- Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate: Siren recently announced the asset’s Maiden JORC (2012) mineral resource estimate with a total indicated and inferred estimate of 11 million tonnes at 3.11 g/t with a cut-off of 1.5 g/t.
Auld Creek
The Auld Creek project contains an epizonal mineralization that extends over 2 kilometers and contains high-grade gold and massive stibnite veins. Nearby mines have produced over 400 koz of high-grade gold, which indicates what’s possible at the company’s asset.
Five diamond holes have been completed at Auld Creek with all five holes intersecting significant mineralisation in the Bonanza East Shoot.
The company provided a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Auld Creek Prospect which includes 132 koz @ 7.1 g/t gold equivalent (AuEq) containing @ 3.5 g/t gold and 8,700 tons of antimony @ 1.5 percent antimony. The MRE includes the following significant intersections;
- 35 meters @ 4.1 g/t gold, 2.9 percent antimony or 35 meters @ 11 g/t AuEq
- 6 meters @ 4.1 g/t gold, 4.1 percent antimony or 6 meters @ 13.8 g/t AuEq
- 34 meters @ 1.6 g/t gold, 0.7 percent antimony or 34 meters @ 3.3 g/t AuEq
- 20.7 meters @ 5.9 g/t gold, 2.6 percent antimony or 20.7 meters @ 12 g/t AuEq
With a global MRE of above 1.3 Moz, Siren is on track to achieve its vision of being a multiple-million-ounce, high-grade gold and antimony producer.
Additional Projects
Siren owns additional gold assets that are being systematically explored to increase shareholder value further.
Project Highlights:
- Lyell Goldfield: The 100-percent owned project spans 54.25 square kilometers north of the Alpine United Mine. The project has historical production of 91 koz at 1.84 g/t gold with a cut-off grade of 15 g/t gold. Early trenching indicates grades up to 13.8 g/t gold.
- Cumberland: The company’s Cumberland tenement package is in the center of a 35-kilometer-long structure corridor that hosts some of the most significant projects in the Reefton Goldfield. The project has historical production of 45 koz at 14.2 g/t.
- Reefton South: The Reefton South asset covers 333 square kilometers and is considered a 20-kilometer extension of the Reefton Goldfield. The underground nature of possible deposits hid them from past explorers but created significant potential for applying modern technologies.
Management Team
Brian Rodan – Chairman
Brian Rodan is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy with 45 years of experience. He is the managing director and owner of Australian Contract Mining, a mid-tier contracting company that successfully completed $1.5 billion worth of work over 20 years. ACM was sold to an ASX-listed gold mining company in 2017. Rodan is the founding director of Dacian Gold, which purchased the Mt Morgans Gold Mine from the Administrator of Range River Gold. After listing on the ASX in 2012, Rodan became Dacian’s largest shareholder. He had a 15-year tenure with Australia’s largest full-service ASX-listed contract mining company with an annual turnover of more than $850 million.
Paul Angus - Executive Technical Director
Paul Angus is a New Zealand-based exploration geologist with more than 30 years of mining and geology experience in New Zealand. He graduated from Otago University and has held senior management roles with OceanaGold. While he was an exploration manager, Angus discovered more than 3 Moz at Macraes, Reefton and Sams Creek.
Keith Murray - Non-executive Director
Keith Murray is a chartered accountant with 40 years of experience at the general manager level in audit, accounting, tax, finance, treasury and corporate governance. During the 1990s, Murray was group accounting manager, corporate and taxation joint company secretary for Eltin Limited, a leading Australian-based international mining services company. Murray is currently general manager corporate and company secretary for the Heytesbury Group.
Victor Rajasooriar - Non-executive Director
Victor Rajasooriar is a highly experienced Australian mining executive and board director who has more than 25 years of operational and technical experience across both underground and open pit mining operations. Rajasooriar’s distinguished career has seen him hold senior roles with major resource companies, including managing director and CEO of Echo Resources (ASX:EAR) until the completion of a takeover by Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST). Prior to joining Echo, Rajasooriar held the role of chief operating officer for leading underground mining contractor Barminco and has held senior technical roles with Gold Fields and Newmont Mining. At Newmont, this included operational responsibility for the Waihi Gold Operation in the North Island of New Zealand between 2006 – 2008. He holds a bachelor of engineering (mining) from the WA School of Mines and is a member of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Sebastian Andre - Company Secretary
Sebastian Andre is a chartered secretary with over 10 years of experience in corporate advisory, governance and risk services. He has previously acted as an adviser at the ASX and has a thorough understanding of the ASX Listing Rules, specializing in providing advice to companies and their boards for capital raisings, IPOs, backdoor listings, corporate compliance and governance matters. Andre holds accounting, finance, and corporate governance qualifications and is a member of the Governance Institute of Australia.
Impact Minerals Limited Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects