Mining Breaks

Global natural resource producer and marketer Glencore has announced the retirement of CEO Ivan Glasenberg. The South African billionaire businessman will step down as an executive and director in the first half of 2021 from the company he has led for almost 20 years.
His replacement as CEO and board member will be Gary Nagle, 45, who is currently the Sydney-based head of Glencore’s global coal business. Nagle will relocate to Switzerland in early 2021 for the transition.
Glasenberg says he’s proud of Glencore’s success in creating one of the world’s largest diversified miners and marketers of commodities with a diversified portfolio that uniquely positions it to play an essential role in the global transition to a low-carbon economy.

West Australian explorer KalNorth Gold Mines has found a buyer for its 100%-owned Lindsays project 65km NE of Kalgoorlie, which has been held under care and maintenance since it completed a brief mining campaign in 2013.
KalNorth says unlisted Eastern Goldfields specialist Nu Fortune Gold has agreed through subsidiary Lindsays Find to acquire the project for $A5M in staged payments. The transaction is conditional on consents of third parties who hold interests in the tenements.
KalNorth says the sale proceeds will allow it to discharge about $1.1M loan liabilities and fund exploration at its flagship Kurnalpi project.

Trials with a non-toxic leaching process at Australian explorer Cyclone Metals’ copper-gold-cobalt assets in the Mount Isa region of NW Qld could mark a significant shift to an environmentally friendly processing route for copper and other valuable metals.
The trial at Cyclone’s Lady Ethleen project will use the GlyLeach alkaline leach processing process being commercialised globally by Perth-based Mining and Process Solutions.
Cyclone (previously Cape Lambert Resources) says the growing copper demand for electric vehicles makes it an opportune time to invest in processing technology that avoids the traditional use of acid as a lixiviant.

Caldas Gold has completed its $C85M non-brokered private placement, primarily for the modernization/expansion of its Marmoto gold operations in Caldas, Colombia.
Fellow Canadian gold miner Gran Colombia took 7.55M subscription receipts for $17M, which on conversion, will give it 61M shares, 44.3%, on an undiluted basis, from its pre-raising 53.4M shares, 53.3%.
Caldas is currently advancing a major expansion/modernization of underground mining operations at Marmato. It also owns 100% of the Juby project, an advanced exploration stage gold project within the Shining Tree area, 100km SSE of the Timmins gold camp, Ontario, Canada.

Wiluna Mining is raising $A24.5M to fund an increased drilling program to expand reserves/resources/feasibility work at its Wiluna gold operations in Western Australia to lift Stage-2 expansion gold production to 250,000oz pa.
The capital raising comprises a $22.5M placement at $1.43cps and a share purchase plan for up to a further $2M at the same price. The company owns 100% of the Wiluna Gold Operation, the 7th largest gold district under single ownership in Australia, based on overall JORC mineral resources, with current JORC measured-indicated-inferred resources of 4.24Moz within 26.9Mt @ 4.89g/t.

Calidus Resources has continued to advance its strategy to establish a production hub at its development stage Warrawoona gold project in Western Australia’s East Pilbara district with agreement to earn up to 75% interest from Gondwana Resources of a prospective tenement close to the town of Nullagine.
The new tenement is immediately along strike from the Gold Spec and Blue Spec deposits, being acquired by Calidus from Novo Resources.
All three areas are 70-75km SE of the company’s proposed 658,000oz, 8-year mine development at Warrawoona.
Calidus MD Dave Reeves says the agreement to earn up to 75% of the Gondwana tenement by funding $A1M exploration over 5 years supports the potential to establish a satellite mining operation around Blue Spec.

Northern Dynasty is preparing what it calls a comprehensive and substantive appeal against the refusal of a key US federal permit for its proposed Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum-silver-rhenium mine in SW Alaska.
The US Army Corps of Engineers issued a negative decision last week on the Pebble Partnership’s application for a dredge and fill permit under the Clean Water Act, saying its mitigation plan is non-compliant and the project not in the public interest.
Northern Dynasty has 60 days to appeal the decision. President-CEO Ron Thiessen says it will challenge the decision on procedural, substantive and legal grounds.
He says the proposed major development can meet the high environmental standards including co-existing with the world-class subsistence, commercial and sport fisheries of Bristol Bay.

Australian developer Element 25 could move within months to double or treble production at its under-construction, 100%-owned Butcherbird manganese project in WA’s Pilbara region.
Element 25 is on track for first production in the March 2021 qtr from its fast-tracked $A15M first stage development 130km S of Newman, a base-case 1.3Mtpa openpit mining and beneficiation operation delivering 341,000tpa manganese concentrate over a 40-year mine life.
Updated prefeasibility and expansion studies outline mining rate increases to 2.6Mtpa or 3.9Mtpa, proposing a development decision and construction start in the Sept 2021 qtr.
They calculate Mn concentrate production would rise under a 2X expansion to 590,000tpa for 20 years and 3X expansion to 852,000tpa for 14 years.

West Australian developer Fenix Resources has followed up the acquisition of shiploading infrastructure with binding access and lease agreements for up to 1.25Mtpa iron ore from its flagship Iron Ridge project in WA’s Mid West region.
Fenix is targeting first production this month and first exports early in 2021 from the $A12M development of Iron Ridge’s ore reserve of 7.76Mt @ 63.9% as a direct shipping ore operation with a mine life of about 6.5 years.
After mining, crushing and screening on site to separate lump and fines product, the ore will be transported by road the 490km to Geraldton from the mine 70km N of Cue.
The 4-year port lease may be extended for a further 2 years by Fenix.

Ironbark Zinc has recruited UK investment bank Bacchus Capital Advisers to help it reach a final investment decision in 2021 on development of its 100%-owned Citronen zinc-lead project in Greenland.
The 12-month mandate covers potential debt and equity raisings, corporate, partnership and major commercial opportunities.
MD Michael Jardine says the appointment, alongside its push to deliver a revised BFS in early 2021, will elevate one of the world’s largest undeveloped zinc-lead projects to a wider international audience.
BCA’s experience and expertise, and its access to northern hemisphere capital markets, will be the prelude to securing a development finance package.

Above-guidance production from retreatment of tailings in the first month after its change of ownership will help Firefinch achieve its target of resuming openpit mining within months at the Morila gold mine in SW Mali.
Firefinch, which acquired 80% of the mothballed mine from Barrick Gold and AngloGold Ashanti for $US29M last month, produced 4,130oz gold from treatment of 544,714t tailings at AISC of about $1,000-1,100/oz in Nov.
The Australian-based company expects another 4,000-4,100oz in Dec, with the cash-flow supporting studies, refurbishment and other works to restart openpit mining.
The mine’s current resource estimate is 32Mt @ 1.26g/t for 1.3Moz gold, but Firefinch aims to update it in early 2021.

Platina Resources’ switch of focus back to its Australian homeland continues with its withdrawal from its Blue Moon zinc-copper-gold JV about 200km SE of San Francisco in California, USA.
Platina entered the agreement with Canada’s Blue Moon Zinc Corp in August 2019 to earn up to 70% of the project by spending $C7M on exploration, but field activities have been suspended for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MD Corey Nolan says its withdrawal, and earlier $A15M sale of its Skaergaard palladium project in Greenland, represent a strategic move away from overseas territories and their international restrictions.
It was now focused on proven Australian provinces, including the Challa gold project and Munni Munni PGM project in WA and Platina scandium project in NSW.

An independent expert report has strongly backed Australian-based Nickel Mines’ proposed $US490M acquisition of a 70% stake in the Angel nickel pig iron development project in North Maluku province, Indonesia.
Specialist valuation firm Lonergan Edwards, in a report for the company’s independent shareholders, outlines several advantages and no disadvantages in the transaction.
The deal with Chinese stainless steel producer Tsingshan will more than double Nickel Mines’ attributable NPI output, adding 25,200tpa from Angel to its existing 24,000tpa from the Hengjaya and Ranger projects.
Shareholders are due to vote on the transaction in January.

KGL Resources is going to FS after the PFS flags an economically robust, 100%-owned Jervois copper project in Australia’s Northern Territory with average copper-in-conc production of 30,000tpa, 893,000oz pa silver and 8,600oz pa gold over an initial 7.5 year LoM.
The study ascribes the project a pre-tax NPV8% of $A177M and 23.1% pre-tax IRR, with pre-production capital of $200M and a capital payback of 38 months. Processing is estimated at 1.6Mtpa at 2.2% Cu (mean Cu head grade) at LoM direct cash costs of operations of $US$1.60/lb Cu and AISC $2.25/lb.
The current Jervois focus is copper-silver-gold production from indicated resources, rather than to expand or develop known lead/zinc resources. The mine plan is currently based on 11.3 Mt of mineralised material representing only 56% from a total resource of 20.1Mt @ 2.03% for 426,200t copper, 31.9g/t for 21.4Moz silver and 0.29g/t for 175,700oz gold; the JORC probable reserve being 9.4Mt at 2.41% Cu, 32.9g/t Ag and 0.39 g/t Au.

Gold-copper miner Orvana Minerals has managed to cut its Sept 2020 year (FY 20) net loss to $US1.6M from FY 19’s $5.26M loss on gold production plunging to 53,421oz from 97,259oz
Sales down to 55,344oz from 96,540oz saw revenue fall to $102M from $136.4M, EBITDA halved to $9.5M, operating cash flows down to $11.4M from $14.4M and free cash flow plunging to $278,000 from $8.3M.
Gold production came with all-in costs (by-product) jumping to $1,614oz from $1,288oz and AISC to $1,582oz from $1,253oz. Copper output, however, rose to 5.6M/lbs from 5M/lbs and sales to 5.5M/lbs from 5M/lbs. FY 21 expectations are for gold production to remain at 50,000oz-55,000oz, but copper up to 7M/lbs-8.5M/lbs at AISC $1,500oz-$1,600oz.
The result was on main producer Orovalle, in Spain, gold output down 21% to 51,104oz, hit by a 17% lower head grade and 4% lower throughput, but with copper up 12% to 5.6M/lbs due to 10% higher head grade and 6% higher recoveries.
Orvana finished FY 20 with cash/equivalents up to $15.6M from $12.3M.

Emerging producer Piedmont Lithium is targeting a construction start in mid-2021 on a spodumene concentrate operation that will underpin an integrated lithium hydroxide business in North Carolina, USA.
Piedmont has appointed Primero Group and Marshall Miller & Associates to conduct a DFS on the proposed quarry and spodumene concentrator targeting production of 160,000tpa SC6 plus co-products including quartz and feldspar.
A separate DFS of a lithium chemical plant will begin in the March 2021 qtr.
President-CEO Keith D Phillips says the timing will be ideal for the high demand for lithium hydroxide the company expects in 2022-23.

Chalice Gold Mines has received firm institutional commitments to raise $A100M at $3.75ps to accelerate exploration of its 100%-owned significant greenfield nickel-copper-gold-cobalt-PGE Julimar discovery, 70km NE of the West Australian capital Perth.
The company is also seeking another $10M from a share purchase plan scheduled to open around Dec 8, 2020, at the same offer price. The raisings follow a $30M placement of 28.7M new shares at $1.05ps in May, 2020.
Chalice says the cash sees it fully funded for accelerated exploration/development at Julimar, headed by ~160,000m of resource definition drilling to define a maiden resource primarily in the measured/indicated categories constrained to an open-pit by mid-2021.

SSR Mining has approved the $US18M installation of a supplemental flotation circuit at its 80%-owned Çöpler project in Turkey, with president-CEO Rod Antal outlining the potential path to sustained gold production of about 300,000ozpa for at least 10 years.
The Canadian miner released a Çöpler district master plan outlining its development strategy for the project it acquired through its “merger of equals” this year with Alacer Gold.
The Çöpler mine has produced over 2Moz since 2010, and the plan’s reserve case points to 266,000ozpa at AISC of $865/oz and free cash-flow of $224M over the first five years.
Adding the newly identified Ardich deposit, SRR’s PEA case points to 306,000ozpa at $886/oz and $249M over the five years.

Syrah Resources has begun front end engineering and design of an initial 10,000tpa facility after completing a BFS confirming a strong business case for its natural graphite active anode material production in Louisiana, USA.
Completion of the BFS allows Syrah to progress commercial discussions with potential offtake partners and financiers, keeping it on track to become the first commercial vertically integrated producer of natural graphite AAM outside China.
MD-CEO Shaun Verner says the BFS confirms strong positive economics for commercial-scale production with robust operating margins.
The Vidalia facility can produce 5,000tpa unpurified spherical graphite and 200tpa of purified spherical graphite to battery specification.

Sandfire Resources has stuck with Australian engineer Lycopodium for the engineering and procurement contract for the 3.2Mtpa copper concentrate process plant and associated non-process infrastructure at its T3 Motheo copper-silver project in Botswana’s Kalahari Copper Belt.
After delivering the project’s engineering and associated infrastructure DFS and the front end engineering and design works to support an accelerated development schedule, Lycopodium’s local subsidiary ADP Kukama will provide detailed multi-disciplinary engineering and design and procurement services.
The DFS calculates capital expenditure for the project EPCM at $US11.7M.