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Blackstone Minerals Limited (“Blackstone” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy (“MONRE”) has approved the Company’s Exploration and Reserve Report for the Ta Khoa Nickel Mine. This is a significant milestone in the permitting and licensing of Blackstone’s projects in northern Vietnam, most importantly allowing the Company to progress the Ban Phuc, Ban Khoa, King Snake and Ban Chang Mining License applications.
The approval, and the inclusion of proposed exploration areas in the National Mineral Master Plan earlier this year (refer ASX announcement 07 August 2023) also enables the Company to advance new nickel sulphide targets and grow the resources and reserves within the Ta Khoa Dome immediately adjacent to the proposed mining operations.
Figure 1: Lon Taranaki, General Director, Ta Khoa Project, delivering a speech to the National Reserve Assessment Council
Background
The Company was granted Mineral Exploration License No. 1366/GP-BTNMT dated 10 July 2014 (area 49.7km2) for a period of four years. During this period the Company undertook an extensive exploration programme over a 49.7km2 area surrounding the existing mine. The programme included:
- Geological mapping at 1/25,000 scale over the exploration license: 49.7km2
- Geological mapping at 1/2000 scale for twelve prospects: 17.3km2
- Topographic survey at 1/2000 scale for four deposits: 4.4km2
- Soil sampling for 12 prospects: 17,028 samples
- Magnetic survey and fixed loop electromagnetic survey: 5,232 stations across 101 loops on Tạ Khoa, Ta Hộc and Hong Ngai
- Trenching: 117 trenches, 2,768m long over 3,753m3 for a total of 880 samples
- Drilling: 131,647m of diamond drilling for a total of 27,411 samples
- Underground bulk sample development drive: 907m long, sampling 4,669t of ore
- Study on hydrogeology and engineering geology for four deposits including geotech mapping
At the completion of the programme, the Company compiled and presented the data in a comprehensive Exploration and Reserve Report (“Report”). The Report included:
- Geographical location characteristics of the exploration area
- Details on the geological exploration works and environmental protection issues
- Quality characteristics and properties of Ni-Cu sulphide ores
- Hydrogeological characteristics
- Engineering geology and mining technical conditions
- Estimation for reserves and resources of deposits
The process as stipulated in the Vietnamese Mining Law requires companies to have their Exploration and Reserve Report assessed and approved by content experts and government officials. The National Reserve Assessment Council, a division under MONRE are responsible for the assessment and ultimate approval of the report.
The Company submitted the Exploration and Reserve report to the National Reserve Assessment Council and the Council reviewed, inspected and discussed the content of the report. On 9 August 2023, the Reserve Council formally met, and under the chair of Tran Quy Kien, undertook a final review and assessment. The chair approved the Report and instructed the Reserve Council to prepare the formal approval notice. On the 21 September 2023, the Company received official notice that the Report was approved.
Blackstone Minerals’ Managing Director, Scott Williamson, commented:
“I would like to congratulate our Vietnamese team on achieving this significant and very critical milestone for the Company. The outcome is the cumulation of many years of hard work and dedication in exploring, discovering and developing the Ta Khoa Dome and we look forward to restarting exploration of the prolific nickel sulphide district around Ban Phuc.
The Company continues to demonstrate our ability to successfully operate in Vietnam through achievements such as this approval process, recently having our projects included in the National Mineral Master Plan and the ability to secure new opportunities such as the recently announced rare earths in Dong Pao.”
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Blackstone Minerals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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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.
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 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.
Canadian North Resources
Overview
Canadian North Resources (TSXV:CNRI, FSE:EO0) is a mineral exploration and development company advancing a critical minerals project in Nunavut, Canada. The Ferguson Lake property has, through the years, gone through more than 200,000 meters of exploratory drilling and has proven critical mineral deposits. Canadian North Resources is a relatively new market player with a tight shareholder structure and 65 percent insider ownership.
Nunavut is an emerging major mining district in Canada that has received minimal attention in the past. Miners have historically focused more on Ontario, Quebec and BC, but Nunavut is now gaining more attention as new discoveries are made. The global transition to clean energy is driving demand for critical minerals and creating the need to secure domestic supply chains in stable jurisdictions. Nunavut is emerging as a new frontier for exploration and mining of these critical minerals.
Ferguson Lake is a historical asset dating back to 1952, with C$160 million already invested in the project since its inception. These investments include infrastructure, metallurgy, drilling and exploration. The asset contains known deposits of critical minerals, including copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum and palladium.
Canadian North Resources updated Ferguson Lake’s historical 43-101 resource estimate in June 2022. The company successfully surpassed its 20,000-meter drill program, completing 21,126-meters in 2023.
With data from the last three years of drilling campaign, Canadian North Resources plans to further update the 43-101 and take the inferred resources to the indicated category, all while moving toward a pre-feasibility study (PFS).
A seasoned management team with expertise throughout the natural resources industry leads the company, with experience in geology, metallurgy and international business administration.
Company Highlights
- Canadian North Resources is an exploration and development company with a prolific critical minerals asset in Nunavut, Canada.
- The company has a tight shareholder structure with 65 percent insider ownership.
- Canadian North’s Ferguson Lake asset has undergone more than 200,000 meters of drilling since its discovery in the 1950s.
- Nunavut is an emerging mining district due to its critical mineral deposits that are rapidly growing in demand as the world transitions to clean energy.
- Canadian North Resources updated the historical 43-101 resource estimate in 2022 with an indicated 24.3 million tonnes and inferred 47.2 million tonnes of ore.
- The company has commissioned SRK to conduct a new mineral resource estimation following National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for its Ferguson Lake nickel, copper, cobalt, palladium and platinum project to incorporate the results of 39,270 meters of new diamond drilling in 145 holes completed by the company.
- Canadian North Resources plans to proceed with a PFS as it moves toward development.
- The Ferguson Lake project contains known deposits of several high-demand critical minerals, such as cobalt, platinum, copper, nickel and palladium.
- An experienced management team with a track record of success leads the company.
Key Project
Ferguson Lake Project
The company’s critical minerals project covers 253.8 square kilometers and includes known deposits of nickel, copper and PGM. Canadian North Resources is currently working towards additional drilling and testing as it moves toward a PFS and, subsequently, a preliminary economic assessment. Once complete, the company will work towards bringing the asset to production.
Project Highlights:
- Prolific 43-101 Resource Estimate: Ferguson Lake’s 43-101 compliant resource estimate describes prolific deposits throughout the asset.
- Indicated 24.3 million tonnes of ore, including:
- 455.36 million pounds of copper
- 321.43 million pounds of nickel
- 37.5 million pounds of cobalt
- Inferred 47.2 million tonnes of ore, including:
- 946.92 million pounds of copper
- 551.5 million pounds of nickel
- 62.43 million pounds of cobalt
- Indicated 24.3 million tonnes of ore, including:
The company has commissioned a new mineral resource estimation following National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for its Ferguson Lake nickel, copper, cobalt, palladium and platinum project to incorporate the results of 39,270 meters of new diamond drilling in 145 holes completed by the company.
- Significant Historical and Recent Work Completed: The asset has undergone decades of exploration and drilling and is now nearing production:
- Ferguson Lake was initially claimed in the 1950s and received 173 drill holes totaling 30,000 meters in the following decades.
- Between 1999 and 2012, an additional 158,528 meters were drilled in addition to significant exploration surveys and metallurgical test work.
- Canadian North acquired the asset in 2013 and completed 18,144 meters of drilling in 2022, updated the resource estimate, conducted additional exploration campaigns and commissioned NI 43-101 Technical Reports.
- Potential to Expand Known Deposits: Results from a newly completed drill campaign indicate that known resource deposits can be expanded, with 68 new holes hitting mineralized zones. These new results will be included in the new data set for the updated mineral resource estimate.
- 2023 Diamond Drill Program Assay Results: Sixty-nine out of 78 holes intersected semi-massive to massive sulphides containing nickel, copper, cobalt, palladium and platinum, and more than 3,200 samples from the remaining 57 drill holes were submitted to ALS labs. Results include up to 10 percent copper, 1.81 percent nickel, 8.65 grams per ton (g/t) palladium, 4.43 g/t platinum, 0.186 g/t rhodium, 2.19 g/t gold and 49 g/t silver.It also confirmed near-surface massive sulfide zones of up to 31 meters and underneath PGM-enriched low sulfide zones of up to 36 meters. The 2023 drill program expanded the mineralized zone along the strike for 1,500 meters covering 800 meters in the West Zone and 700 meters in the East Zone.
Massive sulfide ore at the surface of the West Zone
Management Team
Lee Q. Shim - Chairman and Director
Lee Q. Shim is a Canadian entrepreneur and investor with over 36 years of experience in businesses operating in Canada and overseas. In 1984, Lee founded the Lee Li Group in Toronto, operating as a food distributor and wholesaler of premium meats. He later built state-of-the-art food processing and beverage manufacturing plants to provide high-quality healthy products. With his dedication and vision, he continuously reinvested in the companies by automating facilities to maximize efficiency where possible, enhance service and support long-term stability and sustainable growth. His success has yielded long-term relationships with established companies and brands such as Walmart, Coca-Cola, Loblaws, KFC, Wendy’s, Sobeys, Metro, Costco, Minute Maid, Earth’s Own, Sysco Canada and Gordon Food Service.
Throughout his career, Lee has diversified his portfolio with long-term investments in Canada, the United States, China, and Southeast Asia. His portfolio includes high- and low-rise residential developments and commercial shopping centers, medical infrastructure and facilities, medicare services, food and beverages manufacturing, cold storage warehousing and distribution logistic centers, and wood veneer manufacturing. He is a partner in a private equity firm and has served as a director (often as a significant shareholder) in private and publicly listed companies, capital funds as well as in many successful ventures. As a venture capitalist, he has raised significant capital to fund projects around the world. In July 2020, he was appointed a director of Enercam Exploration, a subsidiary of Angkor Resources.
Kaihui Yang - President, CEO, and Director
Dr. Kaihui Yang has over 30 years of experience as an exploration geologist developing resources within discovery, resource definition, feasibility and mining stages. Early in his career, he was a research scientist in the department of geology at the University of Toronto and also served as a senior consultant for Canadian mining companies (Barrick, Inco, Falconbridge, etc.) and the World Bank Group.
Yang has been an independent consultant and director for several major Chinese gold companies and many Canadian mining and investment companies. He previously served as executive vice-president of exploration and international operations for the Zijin Mining Group, a diversified mining conglomerate listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges (more than C$540 billion market cap). He also served as the chairman for the Sprott-Zijin Joint-Venture Mining Fund, an offshore gold mining fund focused primarily on equity and debt funding for precious metal and copper mining companies.
Yang was also a founder and president of a Canadian public company that conducted mineral exploration in China and won the Prospection and Exploration Outstanding Achievement Award from the China Mining Conference in 2011. He also served as the chairman and general manager for several Chinese-foreign joint ventures.
Yang studied geosciences at the University of Toronto, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, and obtained his PhD in Geology in 1990 from the China University of Geosciences (Beijing). He has published numerous articles and conference papers, many focused on massive sulphides, metal-rich-magmatics, and regional precious metal potential and exploration. He is active in associations such as the Society of Economic Geologists (Fellow), Australian Institute of Geoscientists (Fellow), and Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (Core Member).
Trevor Boyd - Vice-president, Exploration
Dr. Trevor Boyd is a professional geologist with over 30 years of experience in the mining industry working worldwide as a consultant, qualified person, officer and director with both private and public companies. Since 1987, Trevor has worked with numerous mining companies for a variety of commodities on projects in North America, Asia and Europe. His experience includes base and precious metals, uranium, nickel-copper-PGM, and specialty metals projects including tungsten, tin and indium. He is a member of the Association of Professional Geologists of Ontario and the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Boyd has a PhD in geology from the University of Toronto (1996) and an MSc (applied) MINEX degree from McGill University (1988).
Carmelo Marrelli - Chief Financial Officer
Carmelo Marrelli brings more than 20 years of financial reporting experience, specializing in management advisory services, accounting, and financial disclosure. Marrelli is the principal of The Marrelli Group of Companies that provides corporate, financial accounting and reporting services in the Canadian capital markets. Over his career, Marrelli has been director and held senior financial roles in private and publicly listed companies across many industries including mining. He takes a value-based approach as a chartered professional accountant with his expertise spanning all phases of capitalization and growth. Since 1999, Marrelli has been a member of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and has been a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators since 2000. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto.
Aier Wang - Director
Aire Wang is the founder of Guangdong Grandee Investment Group. and is currently the executive director of the group. Since Wang started her own business in 1991, she has successively founded Dongguan Loyal Woods Industry, Guangdong Hopson Wealth Financial Leasing, Dongguan Golden Valley Credit Investment Consulting, and Guangdong Grandee Real Estate Development.. Grandee Group was founded in 2011 by integrating all the companies founded by Wang. Grandee Group focuses on investment management in real estate, commercial real estate, finance, health and the wood industry.
Wang has been responsible for the management of family businesses including Dongguan Xingye Finance Guarantee and Kanghua Renkang Hospital. Wang has more than 20 years of experience in investment management of real estate, commercial real estate, finance, health and the wood industry. Wang holds an executive master’s degree in business administration from Sun Yat-sen University.
Rick Brown - Director
Rick Brown has spent over 30 years in the financial capital markets in North America where he successfully completed numerous financings, mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Presently, Brown manages the China desk at Sprott Capital Partners in Toronto, where he is responsible for foreign and institutional client investments in the resource sectors across the Americas and Europe.
In 2001, Brown co-founded Osprey Capital Partners, a mid-market firm assisting mid-sized companies in all types of fundraising and M&A activities. Before this, Brown spent time with Scotia Capital Markets in New York, where he worked on some of the largest M&A and financing transactions at that time.
Brown holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in finance.
Michael Weeks - Director
Michael Weeks has over 25 years in the power generation and resource industries. Mike was a founder, president and CEO, and is presently a director and executive VP of operations of Angkor Resources Corp. He has an engineering background and holds a First Class Power Engineering Certificate. Over his career, he has spent more than 14 years negotiating with governments, communities, and stakeholders in developing and implementing natural resource concessions.
In developing countries and communities, Weeks is instrumental in the implementation of training programs for local labor force development, skills and professional accreditation, and has made significant strides in self-sustaining community growth and enhancement. He was a founding director of a petroleum training company as well as two financial service companies.
He has an engineering background and holds a First Class Power Engineering Certificate. He has managed major projects in Canada, Asia, Africa, and Europe, including several major production facilities in North Africa.
Xian Jian Guo - Technical Advisor
Xian Jian Guo has over 35 years of experience in process development, plant operation, optimization, engineering, and project management in the mining and mineral industry.
He has successfully managed a number of large international mining/mineral projects with multi-billion dollar investments covering project evaluation, engineering, construction, and commissioning.
As a Canadian and professional engineer, Guo was a director at Hatch in Ontario and senior scientist at the Noranda Technology Center in Quebec. He has held several international positions, including technical director (for China) at Hatch Ltd.; and chief engineer of Zijin Mining Group.; vice-president of Ramu NiCo Management in Papua New Guinea; and director of the Metallurgical Department at Beijing Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals. He is currently a senior advisor with the Zijin Mining Group.
Guo obtained a PhD in Metallurgy from Kunming University of Science and Technology in China (1989) and completed postdoctoral studies at Mackay School of Mines at the University of Nevada in Reno, USA.
Stephen du Toit - Advisor
Stephen du Toit has over 30 years of experience spanning executive, strategic, tactical, and transformational and operational initiatives for manufacturing, product supply, and facility operations. His roles as EVP, VP, COO and in other executive positions encompass multinational operations in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Russia and other countries.
Before joining Coca-Cola in 1999, du Toit spent over a decade in the consumer goods industry with Diageo, Penguin Foods, SAB Miller, and Lever Brothers (Unilever). He joined Coca-Cola as manager of Country Supply Chain in Saudi Arabia and in 2000 was director, the Middle East Regional Supply Chain. From 2005 to 2011, as VP he headed up the Commonwealth of Independent States Cluster Procurement, Planning & Supply. In 2011, he became VP, of Manufacturing in Canada, lead Minute Maid Canada (2013 to 2015), then became SVP of Product Supply System, and is currently EVP and COO for Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited a newly created, independent bottler.
du Toit holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce specializing in accountancy, statistics and computer science from the University of Pretoria. He is also a certified Chartered Management Accountant (CMA) and a Fellow of the Procurement Institute of Europe.
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