Canadian cobalt developer Global Energy Metals (TSX-V:GEMC) revealed that it has made a payment that will allow it to begin exploration work at its two projects near Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada on Thursday. The firm, which has announced plans to co-list in London, said it made a payment to the Bureau of Land Management for the required reclamation bond fee to begin drilling at the sites, which are called Lovelock and Treasure Box.

The properties are located in Churchill County, around 150km east of Tesla’s major battery factory in Sparks. Lovelock covers around 1,400 acres and is said to have produced 500ts of cobalt and nickel mineralisation between 1883 and 1890 when it was last in operation. Global Energy believes exploration work and modern drilling techniques could unlock a large amount of potential value at the site.

Treasure Box, meanwhile, is adjacent to Lovelock and hosts mine workings from limited copper production, which occurred until early into the 20th century. A historical diamond drill hole at the asset reportedly intersected 1.52pc copper over 85ft, with mineralisation beginning at surface.

Global Energy’s chief executive Mitchell Smith said completing the bond payment would enable the business to move forward with a staged exploration programme at Lovelock. He added that this will allow for further definition of the character, size, and potential of the nickel-cobalt-copper system at the asset.

‘We are excited about this initial phase of exploration and are very optimistic that this strategically located asset will significantly further the growth of our company,’ said Smith.

The company said its exploration program will be informed by ground induced polarisation surveys that defined areas of anomalous subsurface chargeability. This work has generated a number of drill-ready targets. The business is now reviewing work program options and anticipated announcing details of the first-phase exploration in the ‘near future’.

Earlier this month, Global Energy raised $813,500 in an oversubscribed placing at $0.05 a share to support the funding of the programme. Meanwhile, it announced in March that it had made its first option payment towards acquiring an 85pc stake in both sites. To do this, it issued 384,627 of its shares to the projects’ current owner Nevada Sunrise and paid $20,000 to the underlying vendor.

Global Energy focuses on offering security of supply of cobalt, which is a critical material in the rapidly growing rechargeable battery market. It is building a diversified global portfolio of assets in the sector, including project stakes, projects and other supply sources.

The business’s flagship asset is the Millennium Project in the world-renowned Mt. Isa region of Queensland, Australia. It executed the final agreements to take a 100pc interest in the project in November. Millennium is a multi-zone, near-surface cobalt-copper sulphide system with several kilometres of potential strike length. It is located near established mining, transport, and processing infrastructure and offers easy access to a very skilled workforce.

The growth-stage site contains a defined zone of cobalt-copper mineralisation.  Here, a 2016 JORC Resource estimate identified 3.1MMts of inferred resources containing 0.14pc cobalt and 0.34pc copper with gold credits. Global Energy is now looking at ways to increase the size of its deposit. Results from a first phase exploration campaign at two zones called Millennium North and Millennium South exceeded grade and thickness expectations. The firm will now carry out a second phase of drilling to examine both areas further.

Alongside Millennium, Global Energy has acquired two further discovery sites called Mt. Dorothy and Cobalt Ridge.  These are collectively known as the ‘Mt. Isa projects’. The areas expand Global Energy’s Australian land position by nearly twenty times but have yet to be exploited. Exploration to date has returned high-grade cobalt intercepts at both, allowing Global Energy to line up numerous targets for further investigation and test work to define a resource.

Finally, the business currently owns 70pc of the Werner Lake cobalt mine in Ontario Canada. It joint venture partner Marquee Resources is enjoying much success in its ongoing exploration campaign at the asset.

Author: Daniel Flynn

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