Could the Haneti project host large-scale nickel and platinum group metal mineralisation?

That’s the question on the lips of Power Metal Resources’ (LSE:POW) investors everywhere as the long anticipated inaugural diamond drilling kicks off at the Tanzania-based project.

Haneti’s potential was first discovered all the way back in the 1930s by private prospectors. However, technical limitations of the time meant the project largely fell by the wayside for many decades, save for some sampling in the early 1960s by the Tanzanian government.

Fast forward to today, and Power Metal, along with partner Katoro Gold (LSE:KAT)­, are using modern technology to reassess Haneti’s potential for the first time.

What’s intriguing them in particular is a geological feature known as the Haneti-Itiso Ultramafic Complex, or the HIUC, which crops out over an impressive strike length of 80km.

Samples from the HIUC have already graded up to 13.6% nickel and 2.33 g/t platinum/palladium. And, as a result, the project partners believe it could be highly prospective for “chonolith-type” mineralisation that is associated with many leading nickel sulphide discoveries worldwide.

Given the HIUC’s scale, Power Metal and Katoro Gold (who own 35% and 65% of the Haneti project respectively) are currently focusing on two highly prospective targets in particular. These are known as Mihanza Hill and Mwaka Hill, which were first identified as being drill ready by airborne surveying and subsequent analysis between 2012 and 2015.

The pair began by further establishing the potential of both targets for nickel-rich sulphides and PGM mineralisation with a large round Rotary Air Blast drilling in early 2021. And now, they are launching into a three-hole, 1,000m drill programme to target this mineralisation at depth for the very first time.

Mihanza Hill

Beginning with Mihanza Hill: As the image below shows, the target includes a sizeable, bullseye shaped magnetic high delineated from an airborne geophysical survey. Such highs generally correspond with mafic and ultramafic rocks, which are often the source of nickel-rich sulphides.

Interestingly, in this case, the magnetic high at Mihanza Hill is already established as being coincident with a strong nickel in soil anomaly as well as rock results that returned up to 13.6% nickel. And it is this anomaly, which can be seen in 3D in the model below, that Power Metal and Katoro plan to test with a single 495m deep drillhole during their ongoing programme.

As Power Metal’s exploration manager Oliver Friesen explains, the lessons learned here stand to be highly significant in the progression of Haneti as a whole:

“We are really excited about drilling this target. It’s never been drilled before, and based on what we are seeing at surface with the magnetics, the coincident nickel in soil anomaly, and rocks, we think that this is a very compelling drill target.”

Mwaka Hill

Moving on to Mwaka Hill, and Power Metal and Katoro plan to drill two diamond core holes at planned depths of 264m and 241m. These holes are designed to test two discrete, high-priority conductors, which were identified during ground-based electromagnetic surveying and are represented by the red dots in the image below.

Mwaka Hill is already presenting nickel sulphides at surface without the aid of any deep drilling. So, Friesen believes the opportunity to test these anomalies represents another “very exciting proposition” for Power Metal and Katoro as they work to establish Haneti’s true potential.

Pushing forward

As Power Metal’s chief executive Paul Johnson highlighted in a release this week, the commencement of drilling at Haneti has been “years in the making”.

Much more work will need to take place beyond these three holes in order to really establish a true understanding as to what this project might hold. However, the bottom line is that Haneti represents a district-scale opportunity with two extremely prospective drill targets which will finally be tested within the coming weeks.

With so many work programmes on the go at any one time, Power Metal can never be accused of putting all of its eggs in one basket.

That being said, given Haneti’s vast scale and highly promising exploration potential, positive results from the ongoing drilling campaign stand to have a significant positive impact on the company’s valuation from here.

Published in: Blog, on: 28 January 2022

Power Metal Resources (LSE:POW) crossed another significant milestone in its lightning quick progression of the highly prospective Tati gold-nickel project last Wednesday.

In an announcement, the globally-focused metal explorer revealed that the two licences comprising the asset have now been successfully transferred into its name­. Excitingly, this development makes Tati the company’s first 100% owned project in Botswana–an African nation widely heralded for its accommodating approach to mining legislation and foreign investment.

Tati itself represents a particularly unique opportunity, sitting within the site of southern Africa’s first-ever gold rush close to the Zimbabwe border. Specifically, the project is located within what is known as the Tati Greenstone Belt, a prolific area within Botswana that boasts multiple historical and currently active nickel and gold mines.

Despite the plethora of current mining activity within the Tati Greenstone Belt, Power Metal believes that select areas remain significantly underexplored by modern standards. As stated in Wednesday’s release:

“The Company believes [that the area is] underexplored by modern standards and systematic exploration focussing on areas with sand cover and geophysics targeting greater depths are likely to yield further gold and nickel discoveries.”

This is why Power Metal–which also boasts exploration interests in the US and Australia­–jumped at the chance to enter an option to acquire 100% of the project in May of last year, which it exercised just two months later.

Since taking ownership of Tati, Power Metal has grasped every opportunity available to advance the Project. In particular, it has focused on assessing the potential of the asset’s orogenic gold and magmatic nickel mineralisation. After all, the ground that Tati covers is believed to represent the southern extent of the intrusions hosting the historically significant Phoenix, Selkirk, and Tekwane nickel mines.

The company began by launching a due diligence work programme, which identified a number of “kilometre-scale” nickel and gold-in-soil anomalies that were confirmed with subsequent ground exploration work. Then, in October last year, the company launched a maiden drilling campaign to target these anomalies far ahead of schedule. This comprised 23 reverse circulation drillholes for a total of 1,092m, testing multiple nickel and gold targets.

Power Metal is currently awaiting assays from this work, which will guide future exploration and drilling campaigns across Tati. And now, with the project entirely under its ownership, the company is positioned perfectly to continue moving exploration forward at the quickest rate possible as results come in.

As chief executive Paul Johnson put it in Wednesday’s release:

“We have been highly proactive at the Tati Project, with multiple 2021 exploration programmes implemented which have identified multiple large-scale gold and nickel-in-soil anomalies, some of which we targeted during the recent reverse circulation drilling programme.

We very much look forward to the receipt of the assay results from the drilling programme and further steps with this exciting 100% owned opportunity.”

As exciting as the opportunity at Tati is, it’s just one spoke in a wide wheel of opportunities for Power Metal. 

A full breakdown of the company’s exploration portfolio can be found here, but perhaps the most significant update of late was the highly anticipated launch of inaugural drilling at Haneti.

Haneti is an enormously prospective nickel, copper, and platinum group metal exploration project located in Tanzania, which Power Metal is advancing alongside its London-listed peer Katoro Gold (LSE:KAT). And in a release last week, the company noted that drilling has launched with the aim drill testing multiple exciting geophysical anomalies. Of particular note, is a hole planned at a target known as Mihanza Hill, where previous work has confirmed the presence of significant mineralisation at surface to the tune of 13.6% Nickel.

At the time, Johnson noted his excitement, saying:

"The Haneti Project, targeting magmatic sulphide hosted nickel, copper and platinum group metals, represents a unique district-scale opportunity for Power Metal and our JV partner Katoro.    

The preparatory work leading up to this campaign has been extensive, though ultimately, it is deep diamond drilling that is now needed in order to broaden our understanding of the geological environments and to unlock the potential for a commercial discovery.

With some considerable enthusiasm we launch the programme and very much look forward to updates from the field, and ultimately the results of the assay testing of drill core samples which will be collected during the 2022 campaign."

The bottom line is, with Tati and Haneti representing just two of many irons currently in the fire for Power Metal, investors can expect a highly exciting ride over the next 12 month.

Published in: Blog, on: 18 January 2022

There’s a revolution underway at Power Metal Resources (LON: POW), with transformational spin-offs just waiting in the wings. 

Each entity Power Metal nurtures and separately lists helps to make it that much more appealing, maximising value for shareholders by supporting the funding and development of the company’s own projects. 

With this in mind, we spoke to Power Metal’s chief executive Paul Johnson to get an in-depth look at his plans for two spin-offs in particular: Golden Metal Resources and FDR UK.

Golden Metal’s “considerably scalable” Pilot Mountain project

Key to the upcoming listing of spin-off Golden Metal Resources is Pilot Mountain – a recently acquired tungsten-copper-silver-zinc project.

The JORC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) for the Nevada-based project is 12.53 million tonnes at 0.27% tungsten trioxide, equivalent to 34.3kt of contained tungsten metal, about $1.1 billion of in-situ metal value. The MRE also includes significant silver, copper and zinc.

Right now is an ideal time to have exposure to tungsten in particular, with the current lack of primary US domestic production even putting the metal on the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) list of 50 “critical minerals”.

As Johnson explains:

“Pilot Mountain has traditionally been seen as a tungsten opportunity because the tungsten is by far the largest component of the JORC compliant resource.”

However, this could just be the start for Pilot Mountain, with its MRE currently being based on just two of four known deposits across the property known as Desert Scheelite and Garnet. This means there’s significant upside potential within the remaining prospects, Gun Metal and Good Hope. 

Johnson also notes that the area in the centre of the four Pilot Mountain deposits “has never been really tested”, adding:

“We think the resource is considerably scalable from the roughly $1.5 billion in in-situ metal currently on the project – with significant expansion potential at the relatively untested copper rich-zones. We also think that, with current metal prices being higher than they were when the scoping study was undertaken in 2018, we could redo the scoping study with the new pricing of the metals.”

His conclusion from all of this potential, then, is that:

“We could end up with a much longer mine life than the current eight years outlined in the previous scoping study, and potentially a much more valuable project without even having to step foot on the Property. Every which way, exploration or development, the project is scalable.”

Newly acquired from Thor Mining (LON: THR), Pilot Mountain has plenty to offer investors and planning for phase one exploration is already underway.

Not only that, but Pilot Mountain sits alongside Golden Metal’s other projects in the mining-friendly Nevada, which include the Golconda Summit gold project, Stonewall gold-silver project, and Garfield gold-copper project.

High-impact exploration programs, including trenching and drilling, are planned for all four Golden Metal properties once the spin-off completes its IPO.

Uranium and rare earths join FDR UK’s already enticing copper-gold portfolio

Another of Power Metal’s exciting planned spin-offs is First Development Resources (“FDR”), which boasts a portfolio of gold-copper exploration interests in Western Australia’s Paterson Province.

Paterson is the site of some of the largest copper-gold deposits on the planet – including the world-renowned Telfer gold and Nifty copper mines.

Nifty, currently owned by Cyprium Metals (ASX: CYM), has produced in excess of 700,000 tonnes of copper in its lifetime. Newcrest Mining’s (ASX: NCM) 20-million-ounce Telfer project produced 416,000 ounces of gold alone in fiscal 2021 and 13,000 tonnes of copper.

Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) and Greatland Gold (LSE: GGP) have also made major Paterson discoveries in recent years, including Rio Tinto’s 503 million tonne copper-equivalent North Winu. Newcrest, meanwhile, has teamed up with Greatland on the Havieron joint venture.

Power Metal’s plan is to list the ultimate holding company for First Development Resources, FDR UK, on the London capital markets, where it can begin to advance its three highly prospective prospects– Wallal, Braeside West, and Ripon Hills.

Wallal also shares an extended licence border with Rio Tinto Exploration. Braeside West, meanwhile, is enhanced by the recent base metal discovery out of Rumble Resources (ASX: RTR), hosted in a similar geological environment.

Following an initial deal in January, Power Metal’s interest in FDR has continued to grow – ultimately leading to a 100% acquisition.

As Johnson says:

“As we did more work, we got more attracted to it and there were some more licences that we brought into the package in April. We increased the size and changed the structure so we owned 75%, because we wanted to list it in London, and we wanted to bring our partners in Australia on board.

“Then we did even more work, and we've gone ‘this is really getting interesting now.’ So, we increased the amount of consideration and we bought 100% of it.”

FDR UK has also acquired private Australian company URE Metals, owner of the Selta uranium-rare earth elements project in the Northern Territory.

This boosts FDR UK’s profile even more, especially when considering the sharp rise in the price of uranium of late. Futures for the radioactive element hit a nine-year high in September, as many are convinced that the nuclear energy it facilitates is essential when it comes to ending the world’s reliance on fossil fuels.

There’s also a growing interest in sourcing rare earth elements outside of China, which generated 80% of rare earth imports in 2019. Taking on additional interests in this area could well prove to be yet another catalyst for investment.

Ultimately, Power Metal’s aim is to undertake a pre-IPO to seek institutional support and then list FDR UK on London’s AIM market.

Upcoming spin-offs central to Power Metal’s uniquely appealing strategy

Spin-offs like FDR UK and Golden Metal are important to the Power Metal strategy. This strategy, as Johnson has explained in previous interviews, entails handing over responsibility for projects in exchange for shares and warrants in spin-off companies.

This means the company can opt to sell shares in these spin-offs over time in order to increase Power Metal’s own working capital, which can subsequently be used to fund the development of its own projects.

It’s a challenge to the typical model, which usually involves developing individual projects and depending solely on these for success. This added diversification is a major selling point for Power Metal.

Given the tough conditions in the exploration space right now, the shares are still affordable – an affordability that might not last.

Johnson concludes:

“Power Metal is not in the business of being like the majority. Our differentiated model including spin-offs gives us an edge that others don’t have, but will strengthen our company markedly for the exciting times that lie ahead." 

If the company’s spin-offs deliver on their potential, and their success feeds back into Power Metal itself as a major share and warrant holder, the potential on offer could be significant.

Author: Anna Farley

The Author holds a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, owns a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

Published in: Blog, on: 01 December 2021

Power Metal Resources (LON:POW) welcomed news of a deal last week that stands to accelerate exploration considerably at one of its highly prospective Botswana-based projects.

On Friday, Kavango Resources (LSE:KAV) announced that it had signed a three-month option that, if exercised, would see it acquire 51.15% of the Molopo Farms Complex (“MFC”) project in an all-share transaction. Under the terms of the deal, Power Metal would continue to hold on to a 40% stake in the asset, which it secured earlier this year, while London peer Evrima (LSE:EVA) would hold on to the remaining 8.85%.           

Covering 1,723km² in south Botswana, the MFC project is highly prospective for nickel, copper, and platinum group elements (“PGEs”)–all metals that are currently enjoying strong demand in the face of limited supply. As the map below shows, the asset also sits firmly in a key area of mining activity, in the vicinity of projects being explored by peers such as Rio Tinto Exploration, Premier Gold Resources, and Kumo Resources.

Last year, Kalahari Key drilled three holes at the MFC project, with all three encountering ultramafic rocks that stand to be prospective for nickel, copper, and PGEs. One even identified magmatic nickel sulphides, which form the basis of globally important mining projects such as the Norilsk mining centre in Siberia. 

However, as Power Metal’s chief executive Paul Johnson highlighted in a release last week, the exploration work needed to follow up on these encouraging results has not yet taken place:

“It has been clear for some time that the ownership structure of Kalahari Key needed to be streamlined and that we needed to ensure a heightened level of operational efficiency on the ground in Botswana.”

This could now be set to change, however, as Kavango will immediately begin a work programme over the MFC project as part of its technical due diligence instead of paying an option fee.

Alongside fieldwork across the MFC project and a thorough data review, this will see it further investigate all three of last year’s holes using techniques developed at its flagship Kalahari Suture Zone project in Botswana.

Specifically, at Target 1, Kavango will complete what is known as a “moving loop” survey alongside its surveying partner Spectral Geophysics. The goal of this work is to produce a more defined model of a conductive target that last year’s drilling appears to have narrowly missed.

Meanwhile, at Target 2, the company has designed a soil sampling programme to test how deep mineralisation could stretch in preparation for future drilling after core retrieved last year identified visible nickel sulphides. Finally, the firm plans to cut core from Target 3 and send it to the lab for further analysis.

Pointing to this work, Johnson highlighted that the immediate work programme has the potential to move the MFC project forward considerably and quickly from a technical perspective:

“We believe that the MFC Project is a considerable opportunity based on real-world evidence already secured from project exploration to date. Now is the time to accelerate the MFC Project and we look forward to getting on with that."

Kavango’s CEO Ben Turney, meanwhile, said an all-share transaction will allow the company to preserve cash that will help it to continue pushing the MFC project forward at pace if it decides to exercise its option. Describing the asset as a “perfect fit” for Kavango’s vision of building a world-class minerals exploration firm in Botswana, he added:

“The structure of the work programme option means we can immediately start moving the project forward, while also performing detailed due diligence. I look forward to reporting on our progress.”

Friday’s deal builds on an existing and well-established exploration relationship between Power Metal and Kavango in Botswana.

The pair also operate a joint venture known as Kanye Resources, which is focused on making discoveries across an underexplored geological feature known as the Kalahari Copper Belt in the African nation. Several major discoveries have been made here in recent years, including Cupric Canyon’s Zone 5 deposit, which hosts a 9.17 million tonne copper/silver resource and Sandfire’s T3 project which currently hosts a 60.2 million tonne mineral resource.

Beyond Botswana, Power Metal is continuing to complete work programmes across a wide variety of global exploration projects in countries such as the USA, Canada, and Australia. 

Most recently, the company revealed that it had begun a much-anticipated test pitting programme at the Alamo gold project in America, where it has the right to earn into a 75% interest. The asset is thought to be highly prospective following the discovery of native nuggets of yellow metal near the surface in several locations.

With so many irons in the fire, several projects were potentially already on track to fulfil Power Metal’s goal of making large-scale metal discoveries. Now, as a result of Friday’s deal and imminent work programme, the MFC project in Botswana is the latest name to join this growing list. 

Author: Daniel Flynn

The Author holds a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, owns a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

Published in: Blog, on: 29 November 2021

After a strong update in early November, it’s clear that BlueRock Diamonds (LON: BRD) is once again in a powerful position.

While the diamond miner has faced obstacles during its journey including a recent short period of closure, it is now achieving record production thanks to a majorly expanded plant.

It’s an opportunity that seems to have escaped the notice of the wider market, likely due to the Covid-caused supply chain issues that initially slowed plant expansion and suppressed the firm’s share price.

But with strong demand for diamonds, and BlueRock on track to hit its production target, the future is sparkling for the business.

Here, we speak with executive chair Mike Houston about the latest news and the diamond market’s rapid recovery.

Diamond market quickly returns to pre-Covid levels in 2021

The pandemic caused upheaval in the diamond market, but prices have made a rapid recovery in 2021.

As Houston says:

“I think it’s a combination of a variety of things that seems to be keeping the market fairly buoyant at this stage. And because there’s a little bit of tightness on the supply side, prices are holding up.

“We are seeing an average of about $400, $420 per carat for the year, and that’s pretty similar to what we did in 2019 pre-Covid. It seems the market in balance and, for certain diamond sizes, very strong at this stage.”

This recovery could mean great things for BlueRock, which has seen a rapid increase in production thanks to expanding the plant at its Kareevlei Diamond Mine, located in South Africa’s Kimberley region.

Houston explains that the original plant was built on a temporary, small-scale basis. The company recognised the need to expand and benefit from economies of scale – starting to put plans together in late 2019. Initially, the plan was to expand the then 350,000 tonnes per annum plant to 750,000 but this was upped to 1 million tonnes in mid-2020.

The company is now completing the final stages of the plant expansion, having added and recently started feeding ore to the second line of the new plant enabling it to ramp up to full production by the end of the month.

Plant expansion delays spell opportunity for investors

Unfortunately, as with seemingly every company under the sun, the pandemic threw a spanner in the works, delaying BlueRock’s plans for Kareevlei.

“With the issues that have gone on in 2020, rolling through into early 2021, the project is has run much later than we’d hoped in terms of completion. And obviously with delays come costs,” says Houston.

But that delay presents an opportunity for investors to get in at an affordable price.

After all, amidst a worldwide pandemic, “the plant’s been completely built and the front end of it’s been running for five or six months”.

Not only that, but the company has already commissioned and begun running one of the two planned processing lines.

Despite all the challenges the firm has faced, the plant expansion is already delivering results, with BlueRock reporting record third-quarter production.

No wonder, then, that the company is on track to meet its annual guidance target for between 22,000 and 26,000 carats – with 19,362 carats under its belt already in early November.

Plus, Houston points out, “the market, not only through the year but through this last quarter, has remained very buoyant”.

Meanwhile, amid all the commotion surrounding the new plant, the firm has been unearthing some truly impressive high-carat diamonds.

In August, BlueRock unveiled the sale of a 58.6-carat diamond for $585,000, selling three large diamonds for a combined $1.1 million.

As Houston explains:

“The 58.6 carat stone was more than double the size of any other diamond that we've recovered to date. It set a different benchmark, proving that there are stones that size in the resource. It demonstrates that there’s significant value potential going forward, if you can get stones of this size and quality coming up.”

Covid-19 delays have kept the cost of shares low, meanwhile the company’s actual production is climbing higher than ever. At this very moment, and the firm is sitting on a soon-to-be million tonne plant and high-value precious stones. With all this in place, the chance to invest at this price point could prove very short indeed.

Author: Anna Farley

The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

Published in: Blog, on: 24 November 2021

There was encouraging news from Oriole Resources (AIM: ORR) on Tuesday, with five high priority gold targets now chosen at its Central Licence Package in Cameroon.

The company is hard at work in this highly prospective region, where initial results from the easternmost licences have confirmed the presence of two main mineralisation trends.

Just as the firm’s early work in 2019 suggested, evidence is mounting that this district could contain several targets along these two gold corridors.

Everything is coming together right at this moment to reward Oriole’s faith in this project, with work continuing to uncover the potential on offer.

Oriole expects “multiple targets” from new exploration district

Oriole completed first-pass regional mapping and stream sediment sampling, covering the Central Licence Package’s (“CLP”) five easternmost licences, in the third quarter of 2021.

The CLP itself is a district-scale package covering 3,592 square kilometres, with Oriole owning 90%.

Bureau d’Etudes et d’Investigations Géologico-minières, Géotechniques et Géophysiques (“BEIG3”) and associate Roxane Minerals own the other 10% free-carried interest in the licences up until the 50,000oz minimum measured and indicated resource. Beyond that, funding is pro-rata on a contribute or dilute basis.

As announced in August and October, work so far has identified eighteen targets with results above 30 parts per billion of gold, delivering grades as high as 291 parts per billion.

Having now ranked those initial eighteen targets, Oriole has identified five priority 1 zones for follow-up soil sampling.

Already, the company has designed regional-scale soil grids to cover these five priority 1 zones, with 400m by 200m sample spacing. Three of these grides are centred over the Tcholliré-Banyo shear zone (“TBSZ”), trending northeast.

The firm describes the TBSZ as a “splay off the larger-scale Central African Shear Zone” and believes the TBSZ to be “a key control on the gold anomalies identified to date” at CLP.

Based on academic literature, the TBSZ and its associated shears, faults and thrusts make up one of the regions significant structural controls when it comes to gold and other mineralisation.

Chief executive Tim Livesey explains that the initial gold results from the easternmost CLP licence have enabled the firm “to confirm a substantial area of structural complexity, where at least two main trends or corridors of mineralisation are evident”.

Of the two gold corridors, one broadly follows the TBSZ and the other runs perpendicular and trends northwest.

“The multiple gold anomalies identified within a number of coincident drainage basins associated with these trends, gives us great confidence that this new exploration district has the potential to yield multiple targets along these gold corridors, as we expected following our early prospectivity work in 2019,” says Livesey.

Plenty to look forward to from Oriole

Before the year is out, Oriole expects to complete its initial pilot area sampling, with gold results to follow soon after in the first quarter of 2022.

The pilot area covers the east of the Ndom and Mbe permits – with the core area of the pilot including a higher resolution 400m by 100m sampling grid.

The company will be continuing sampling of the remaining grids through to early 2022. Based on results, additional testing over priority 2 gold zones will follow.

As Livesey says:

“We are now able to rapidly move the exploration programme forward to further define areas of interest and we look forward to sharing the results from the initial soil sampling and mapping programmes as we head toward the end of the year and into 2022.”

Alongside this, mapping and sampling will resume in the fourth quarter over a further three licences in the west of CLP. This will follow a “reconnaissance visit” aimed at assessing ground conditions.

CLP is far from Oriole’s only project. It has other early-stage exploration projects in Cameroon - Bibemi, Wapouzé – as well as interests and royalties across Africa and Turkey.

Not only that, the firm also has a more advanced project over in Senegal. This Senegal project, known as Senala, is part of an option earn-in agreement allowing IAMGOLD to earn a 70% interest in the project by spending $8 million.

This advanced project, combined with ongoing success at CLP, makes a solid case for Oriole’s potential. And with share prices among miners suffering in 2021, it brings with it the opportunity to buy at a more affordable level. An opportunity that might not last much longer, especially as further exploration drives newsflow.

Author: Anna Farley

The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

Published in: Blog, on: 05 November 2021

In welcome news for mining companies and their investors on Friday, China Evergrande Group (HKG: 3333) revealed that it has managed to avoid default once again. The Global 500 company is one of the largest real estate developers in China as well as the most indebted, with liabilities of over $300 billion. 

With new regulations and a weakening property market in the country, debt repayment is now a major concern when it comes to Evergrande’s future.

Not only that, but the fate of the firm could have serious repercussions for the miners that produce materials used in real estate development.

Investors in this space, then, have plenty of questions when it comes to the Evergrande saga. Here we examine the situation so far and search for answers.

How do things stand now for Evergrande?

Reports from Reuters, the New York Times, and Bloomberg all cite sources with direct knowledge confirming that Evergrande’s $47.5 million dollar bond coupon is paid at last. This comes just after an $83.5 million interest payment from Evergrande the week before.

So far, the source of funds for these interest payments is unconfirmed and the company itself has yet to make an official disclosure. However, Bloomberg News reports that authorities in China have requested that Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan use his own personal funds to make payments.

It should be noted that both the $47.5 million and $83.5 million payments come at the very last minute. After missing payments back in September, Evergrande is paying the money it owes just before the thirty-day grace periods run out.

In total, the company missed almost $280 million of dollar bond payments between 23 September and 11 October. These each have a thirty-day grace period.

If Evergrande had missed the latest $47.5 million payment, it would have resulted in cross-defaults on an astonishing $19 billion of international bonds. When it comes to emerging market corporate debt defaults, $19 billion would be second only to state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela’s $25 billion default in 2017-2018.

What troubles investors and bondholders even more, however, is that Evergrande has a further $338 million in dollar bond payments overdue, which must be paid in November and December.

Given a lack of commentary from Evergrande itself, however, the debt situation remains somewhat inscrutable to outsiders.

What caused the crisis at Evergrande?

In 2020, China’s government introduced rules aimed at cutting down debt among major real estate companies like Evergrande.

Known as the “three red lines” policy, China’s new rules require a liability-to-asset ratio below 70%; a net gearing ratio below 100%; and a ratio of cash to short-term debt above 1x.

Regulations limiting how much real estate firms can increase debt will be imposed on companies breaching these three rules.

In response to the new rules, Evergrande has attempted to sell off parts of the business – but it is struggling. Plans for the $2.6 billion sale of a stake in one of its units, for example, collapsed in October.

Among China’s top thirty property firms, two-thirds are in breach of at least one rule, which has raised concerns for the real estate industry and companies involved in it.

Adding to woes is a slow-down on the Chinese property market, with demand for new apartments falling. For example, Evergrande’s contracted sales of properties in August 2021 were down 24% from the prior year.

While Evergrande is only one company, the firm’s struggles are symptomatic of a larger problem among real estate developers in China. 

How is the current situation affecting miners?

Just one square metre of property built in China needs around 28 kilograms of steel reinforcement bar, also known as rebar. Rebar is used to strengthen concrete, making it essential for the construction industry. In fact, this single industry uses 20-30% of China’s entire steel production.

It’s unsurprising, then, that the struggles of Evergrande and its fellow property developers are hurting both steel prices and production.

September marked the third month in a row of falling crude steel production in the country. Things are not expected to improve any time soon, either, with the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics leading China to order a cut to steel mill output for the season.

As iron is the main component of steel, prices for this particular metal are heavily impacted. The iron ore price for delivery in Tianjin is currently $107 per metric tonne, far below May’s high of nearly $230 per tonne.

As iron ore prices continue to suffer, Mount Gibson Iron (ASX: MGX) has opted to initiate staged suspension of its Shine iron ore project in Australia. Indus Mining, another Australian miner, put its Ridges mine into care and maintenance in response to plummeting prices. 

The Evergrande crisis dealt a blow to the share price of iron ore majors like Anglo American (LON: AAL | JSE: AGL), Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO | LON: RIO), and BHP (ASX: BHP | LON: BHP).

Nonetheless, these miners are still in a more positive situation than they were back in mid-September when Evergrande admitted to its debt problem. Shares in Anglo American, for example, fell as much as 20% at the time but have since climbed 14%.

What does the future hold?

Amid all the negatives, it’s important to keep in mind that Evergrande is now making payments – offering some reassurance when it comes to the company’s future.

Nonetheless, the situation remains complex. Whether the company will continue to make payments, and what China’s housing market looks like going forward, are all uncertain at the moment.

For mining investors, it’s important to take the current uncertainty into account when it comes to commodities like iron ore.

As with any situation in the markets, there are ways to use this latest news around Evergrande to gain an advantage. For smart investors, there may be opportunities right now to snap up investments in miners at low prices.

Author: Anna Farley

The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

Published in: Blog, on: 02 November 2021

Oriole Resources’s (LSE:ORR) early mover advantage in Cameroon seems to have started to pay off.

After studying the structural and geological composition of its eastern Central License Package (CLP) for the last two years, the firm is now moving on to the next stage of unveiling its project’s true precious metal potential.

Indeed, as revealed in early October, it has now identified multiple priority targets that could host several gold anomalies.

The 90%-owned Central License Package gives Oriole control over a region spanning 3,952 km²—that’s half the size of the Kédougou-Kéniéba in eastern Senegal that has a current gold endowment of over 45 million oz.

Oriole’s latest results continue to demonstrate that CLP has a strong association with the northeast-trending Tcholliré-Banyo Shear Zone (TBSZ) corridor.

In fact, one study showed that the TBSZ passes through at least six of Oriole’s licenses in the east and at least one in the west.

For those who don’t know, TBSZ is a dominant regional structure believed to host orogenic-style gold anomalies across central and eastern Africa as well as Brazil.

According to some studies, it is considered one of the most significant structural controls for gold and other metal resources that—if explored properly—could yield very strong returns in the years to come.

Oriole very well recognizes this rare opportunity, and its latest findings will only help it to accelerate its exploration efforts in Q4 of 2021.

Indeed, of all the 503 samples collected in three license regions - Ndom, Pokor, and Mbe – 26 of them returned a grading higher than 10 parts per billion (“ppb”) gold.

Meanwhile, six samples returned grades higher than 50 ppb gold while the highest reported result came from Oriole’s Ndom license where the best samples reported a grade rating of 291 ppb gold.

How it all started

Oriole’s focus on Cameroon started in 2019 when it recognized the country’s gold potential and made the first move to do a nationwide gold prospectivity analysis.

After doing an in-house study, it applied for several licences in the CLP region due to its closer proximity to the TBSZ.

The next step was to complete an independent study across the entire licence package to develop preliminary regional-scale analysis of geology, alteration, and structure.

This led to seven of the eight licences being interpreted as covering predominantly Paleo-Proterozoic and Pan-African (Neo-Proterozoic) rocks, both of which are prospective for orogenic gold.

Then, in Q1 2021, the company's 90%-owned Cameroonian subsidiary, Oriole Cameroon SARL, was granted five new licences (Tenekou, Niambaram, Pokor, Ndom, and Mbe) in central Cameroon before another three new licences (in Mana, Dogon, and Sanga) were granted to its 90%-owned Reservoir Minerals Cameroon SARL.

With an extended land package in tow, the company moved on to a first-pass regional mapping and stream sediment sampling programme focused on sampling active sediments on the primary stream beds at an average density of 0.4 samples per km^2..

And excitingly, initial results (for all 376 samples) from the Niambaram and Tenekou licences have identified several anomalies, with a best result of 95 ppb Au, related to the TBSZ corridor.

To date, the team has completed 64% of the programme, with 874 (including eight orientation) samples taken over the Oriole Cameroon SARL licences that cover the east of the package.

All-in-all, Tim Livesey, CEO of Oriole Resources believes the company’s work in the region supports its initial view that Cameroon is a new frontier for gold exploration.

The first operator of the CLP licenses and why it’s a big thing

Thanks to the first mover entry in the Central License Package, Oriole Resources has a great advantage over its respective peers for two main reasons:

1. It has already selected a quality package for gold exploration licenses.
2. It’s the first operator of the licences in CLP where no known commercial exploration had been conducted previously.

Other companies who recognized this subsequently are now following Oriole’s lead.

From junior exploration companies right up to large multinationals – it seems everyone is now in a race to submit license applications close to the CLP region and along the strike extensions of the TBSZ line.

And it could just be the beginning.

More and more players are expected to come soon and make the entire area busier than ever.

But Oriole is confident that its early mover position will help it dominate the region for months and years to come.

A bet worth taking

Apart from the CLP project, Oriole has several interests and royalties in companies operating throughout Africa and Turkey.

Likewise, its highly experienced team has a proven track record of discovering, exploring, and developing world-class assets as well as delivering shareholder value through multi-million-dollar project and company-level transactions.

The team is always looking for promising projects that could deliver future cash flow, which the firm uses to continue to assess new opportunities.

Investors looking to bet on promising exploration companies will find Oriole an extremely lucrative target.

Author: Mining Maven

The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

Published in: Blog, on: 26 October 2021

Greatland Gold (AIM:GGP| FRA: G8G) is on course to become the world’s second-lowest-cost gold producer.

Alongside joint venture partner and mining behemoth Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM), the company is working to unlock the potential of Havieron – an exceptionally low-cost project in Western Australia’s highly prospective Paterson region.

In what can only be the beginning for the asset, Greatland last week unveiled the extraordinary results of a pre-feasibility study for a fraction of the ground it covers.

The work revealed that mining just this one small part of Havieron would cover the entire capex for the project, creating a launchpad for future growth and early cash flow.

Here, CEO Shaun Day walks Mining Maven through the significance of the study for both the project and for Greatland itself.

Timing proves “just right” to develop Havieron

The stage 1 pre-feasibility study ("PFS") covers just a fraction of Havieron, known as the South-East Crescent.

Day suggests thinking of the Havieron ore body as a “big cylinder” , and the South-East Crescent as the cylinder’s “high-grade backbone”.

Although the PFS assesses only “a small part" of that South-East Crescent, he adds that this area of the Havieron ore body alone offers an exciting 27% internal rate of return with a short payback period of only three years.

Indeed, with the Newcrest-owned Telfer project based just 45km away, the partners plan to use its existing processing facility and infrastructure when developing their own project

It all combines to mean that the South-East Crescent starter mine alone will carry the full project capex for Havieron, making it that much easier for the project to grow over the long term and hit early cash flow.

As Day puts it:

“It's actually extraordinary that this small fraction of the ore body not only generates this high IRR, but does so carrying 900 meters of the decline going down into the mine as well as the road all the way back to Telfer, power lines coming from Telfer, plus developing the camp on a permanent basis.

When Havieron is fully developed and takes advantage of all that infrastructure at Telfer, the incremental ounces you add to this are going to be even more profitable.”

As Day explains, typically, when optimising a mine, there is a limit to the tonnage miners can take out of the ground since it requires building a processing plant that can handle the larger tonnage.

However, since Telfer has a “colossal 20 million ton per annum processing plant” and is set to hit its end of life come 2024, the infrastructure becomes available at the perfect time for Havieron to benefit.

Day points out that:

“What's almost unique here is the confluence of not only finding this world-class ore body next to existing infrastructure but also finding it just as that existing infrastructure is becoming available at the end of the Telfer mine life.

“You find it in five years’ time, Telfer's decommissioned and you've lost the 1,200 people who have all the Paterson experience. You find it five years earlier and presumably [Newcrest] want to sequence Havieron behind Telfer. We really did get the Goldilocks timing here, not too early, not too late, just right to develop Havieron.”

Havieron also benefits from Newcrest’s funding.

In order to earn up to 70% interest in the joint venture (“JV”), the mining giant must complete various exploration and development milestones across a four-stage farm-in. Once the farm-in completes, it can then acquire another 5% interest at fair market value.

With Newcrest’s backing and the “Goldilocks timing” with Telfer, everything has lined up perfectly for Greatland – especially when it comes to cost. Indeed, the total development capex for Havieron is A$529 million, with Greatland’s share of upfront capital coming in at only $73 million.

“One of the big takeaways is, if Havieron is executed as planned, Greatland would be the second-lowest-cost gold miner on the planet,” says Day.

Havieron study is just the beginning

The recent PFS is the first step towards something even more powerful at Havieron. Indeed, Greatland has everything here to build a successful project, including a high grade of 4.58g/t gold equivalent.

In its recent release, the company highlighted that the PFS is at a ‘point in time’, with a cut-off for drilling information of February 2021. The significant additional information obtained since then will be included in future studies.

“The key message is that the best of Havieron is still ahead of us,” says Day.

The PFS also only considers the indicated mineral resource of 1.9 million ounces of gold and 99,000 tonnes of copper for the South-East Crescent. It does not include 37 million tonnes of the inferred mineral resource in the area, nor does it include any potential new resources for other areas of Havieron, such as Northern Breccia and Eastern Breccia.

The indicated mineral resource is where the grade, quantity, and other aspects are established enough to support evaluating the economics of the deposit. With an inferred mineral resource, factors like quantity and grade are estimated but not yet verified.

All-in-all, for Havieron to still have a A$706 million net present value without even including these other regions and resources is truly impressive.

For the initial mine life, the PFS estimates 14 million tonnes of probable ore reserves mined over a nine-year initial life, with a 2 million tonnes per annum (“Mtpa”) throughput.

Studies are underway already to assess production rates of more than 3Mtpa, and the JV partners have also set a target for substantial further drilling at Havieron. As Day explains:

“We're going to put another 90,000 meters of drilling into Havieron in the year to June 2022.”

Even beyond Havieron, Greatland is developing other areas across Western Australia – using everything learned so far to seek out additional opportunities there. As Day says:

“The great competitive advantage of Greatland was to have the technical capacity, and also the conviction, to drill Havieron under cover. We continue to try to apply that competitive advantage in this incredible Paterson district.

“I don't think there's a better way for us to unlock shareholder value than finding another Havieron or even another half-Havieron.”

In particular, the CEO highlights Greatland’s plans for the Ernest Giles, its 100%-owned project in Western Australia’s Archean goldfields:

“Ernest Giles is in this Archean Greenstone belt associated with a lot of the Australian gold discoveries. It’s under cover, and really underexplored because of that. We're just trying to get a first nations agreement and then apply those same techniques, that same competitive advantage, to unlock value for our shareholders in Ernest Giles. And I think the amount of option value that we create for shareholders with a discovery is tremendous.”

With Greatland, then, investors not only access the principal Havieron asset but also projects like Ernest Giles and Juri – another JV with Newcrest.

Low cost and capex unlock growth for Havieron

With Havieron’s economics now so well established, the investment case for Greatland is stronger than ever. Indeed, given all of the positives around the study, it’s unsurprising that shares are up 10% on a one-month basis.

Still, the opportunity on offer here goes far beyond the scope of the PFS.

As Day comments:

“If you're bought Greatland stock a month ago, you bought it because you believed in the overall size of this ore body and the opportunity that is still sitting there. You just now know it's going to be low cost and low capex.”

The CEO notes that the low cost and low capex, combined with low risk, will, in turn, drive free cash flow generation and “unlock the forward growth of Havieron”.

For those who haven’t yet invested in Greatland, the opportunity remains significant and this recent announcement is definitely worth considering. It is emblematic both of the potential on offer with Havieron, and for the company as a whole.

Author: Anna Farley

The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

Published in: Blog, on: 25 October 2021

It seems it’s only a matter of time before we’re all driving electric vehicles. BMW (ETR: BMW), for example, intends for half of its total sales to be EVs as soon as 2030.

But before this can happen, there’s a major problem.

In short, EVs need lithium to power their batteries, but because of the pandemic, lithium supply chains are a real liability.

This is especially the case in Europe, where there are currently no operating lithium mines. In fact, the European Union recently added lithium to its critical materials list, stating its intent to reduce its dependence on imports for this crucial metal in battery manufacture.

Though this all provides a challenge for the EV industry generally, it’s actually great news for a company called Zinnwald Lithium (LON: ZNWD | FRA: 7WW) and its CEO, Anton du Plessis.

You see, du Plessis is aiming for Zinnwald to become one of the first companies to develop an operating lithium mine in Europe.

The company is advancing the project, which is located in Dresden close to the heart of German electric vehicle manufacturing. And given the focus on securing more reliable supply chains—especially in Europe—the timing could hardly be better.

To find out more, Mining Maven spoke to du Plessis about Zinnwald’s potentially game-changing project and how it could provide a reliable lithium supply for the continent.

A much-needed alternative to fragile supply chains

As pandemic control measures closed factories and shut down borders—especially links with China—the importance of local supply was emphasised.

While some had been voicing concerns about the stability of these globe-spanning supply chains for years, that voice grew into a shout as many in Europe began to look around and see the scale of the problem.

du Plessis explains:

“I think what the pandemic kind of showed up was that these long global supply chains do represent risks, in that they can be disrupted relatively easily.”

He goes on:

“As things stand, there are no operating lithium mines in Europe. The EU wants to change that. They recognize that in an increasingly polarized world, it’s sensible not to be reliant on supply from very distant places.”

Of course, it makes sense that Europe would want its own lithium supply, especially with the general push on the continent towards electrification.

“Most countries,” du Plessis points out, "are committed to ending the sale of internal combustion engine cars from 2035”.

He also explains that the EU has decided to commit €3.5 billion “to expand the battery industry in Europe”, with a portion “earmarked for the stimulation of raw material supply from within Europe”.

And the fact is, when it comes to expanding the battery industry, according to du Plessis, to power EVs, lithium-ion batteries are the “most viable in the near and medium term.”

Cutting carbon emissions

By developing a lithium mine in Europe, Zinnwald will also enjoy the benefits of helping to cut carbon emissions. Don’t forget: the EU has set a target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

But right now, Australia leads the world in lithium mining, where it’s made into a concentrate that’s then shipped to China. Once there, du Plessis explains:

“…it’s converted to a battery grade product in what is typically quite a carbon intensive process, just because of the nature of energy sources in China, which are often heavily coal based.”

Only after that can the battery grade product be shipped to Europe.

So, the current process not only depends on this long, fragile supply chain but also generates a great deal of carbon in converting and shipping the lithium itself.

“There’s a lot of transport miles in that whole setup. And if you could avoid that, obviously it’s better, especially given where international freight rates and international carbon prices are going,” says du Plessis.

By developing its mine in Europe, then, Zinnwald Lithium offers the EU a way out of this carbon-intensive and inefficient system.

An unbeatable location for EV production

Not only is Zinnwald Lithium’s project in Europe, but as mentioned earlier, it’s specifically located in a German industrial powerhouse.

The Zinnwald project—from which the company gets its name—is just 35 kilometres from Dresden on the border with the Czech Republic.

Surrounded by a growing EV manufacturing hub, the project is in the perfect place to capitalise on the EV boom. Says du Plessis:

“If you go and have a look at some of the announcements by Volkswagen in particular, they’re talking about 80% of their light passenger vehicle manufacturing being electric vehicles by 2030. To that end, they’ve already converted a number of their factories to making EVs.

“And if you look at where those factories are, they surround our project: there’s one in Leipzig, there’s one in Zwickau, and there’s one in Czech Republic. If you drew a circle of 50 kilometres around our project, those plants are all are all there.”

It’s a super smart location, especially as it’s also in the heart of Europe’s chemical industry too, making it easier to verify that the lithium end product is manufactured to a high standard and in an ethical manner.

Indeed, it’s crucial in battery making to have a product at greater than 99.7% purity, with extremely low levels of deleterious elements. After all, as du Plessis points out:

“If you’re a car maker making batteries, and the batteries are the most expensive part of your car, and you have to write an eight-year warranty on that battery, the last thing you want is for it to burst into flames. You really want to be able to be sure that the products you’re putting into that battery meet your spec and are consistent.”

It’s why, he goes on to point out, it would be much more straightforward for EV makers to:

“...be able to go down the road, where there is a local team, and make sure that it’s all meeting your specs”.

Without doubt, the location is ideal and puts Zinnwald Lithium in an extremely strong position.

A whole range of potential resources

With the strong tailwind of a growing EV industry and the restrictive supply of lithium in Europe, Zinnwald Lithium’s future looks strong.

And investors will be pleased to see that a definitive feasibility study (“DFS”) was already completed in May 2019 on the Zinnwald project, which suggested a €428 million net present value before tax with a total JORC resource of 757,144 tons of lithium-carbonate equivalent (“LCE”).

That’s huge. But even then, additional licences have since increased the overall resource to more than 1 million tons of LCE.  

Plus, the DFS’s mine life of 30 years equates to less than 50% of the current identified mineral resources. Indeed, du Plessis believes the company’s “large resource and long life” will be key to the project’s success.

Furthermore, the company has moved on from exclusively focusing on lithium fluoride to “include a broader range of products and a few more mainstream products”. Primarily, this includes lithium hydroxide as that is the current focus of the European market. As du Plessis himself points out:

“One of the benefits of this project is it can produce a range of products. It’s quite a flexible project in that sense as it can produce lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate, or lithium fluoride. But we will focus the study now on lithium hydroxide.”

There’s no wonder then that the company plans to advance towards production as quickly as possible. Given the sheer number of factors in its favour, it makes sense to get this project active as soon as possible.

“Lithium pricing has more than doubled since the beginning of this year,” explains du Plessis, and a ramp-up in lithium-ion battery production over time is likely to keep those prices high.

With shares up almost 70% year-to-date, investors are clearly starting to realise Zinnwald Lithium is perfectly positioned to capitalise on the increasing demand for lithium that the EV industry is driving at pace.

Author: Anna Farley

The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

Published in: Blog, on: 15 October 2021