Mining exploration companies are back in favour, and multiple metals are sharing the spotlight this time around, including copper, gold and uranium, with nickel retaining a fanbase as well after enjoying a blockbuster year in 2022.
PTX Metals Inc (CSE:PTX, OTCQB:PANXF) offers its shareholders exposure to all of these metals, plus the ever-popular platinum and palladium, with a portfolio of projects in Eastern Canada, one of the world’s top mining jurisdictions. Ongoing exploration work plus plans to monetize some of its assets through sale or spin-off are helping PTX shares trade at some of their highest daily volumes in years.
PTX’s flagship is W2, a large-scale, near-surface copper-nickel-PGE project located in Northern Ontario’s famed Ring of Fire region. At 22,763 hectares, W2 is a large property where extensive exploration work was previously carried out by the likes of Inco and Aurora Platinum, data from which is now in PTX’s possession.
PTX has begun its own work on the project as well, announcing completion of the first phase of its initial drill program in June, assays from which include 88.76 metres of 0.47% copper equivalent (CuEq) starting at just 54.24 metres depth.
A National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on W2 dated this past September used a 3D grade shell model based on historic and recent drill results to indicate a near-surface exploration target of between 59 million and 135 million tonnes averaging between 0.78% and 1.03% CuEq, conceptually containing some 610,000 tonnes to 1,052,000 tonnes CuEq (using CuEq grades above 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively).
These are estimated target sizes only, and there is as of yet no assessment regarding rates of mineral recovery. The point is that the combined exploration work by PTX and previous operators points to the potential for a very meaningful deposit, which PTX is eager to build up over time through exploratory drilling.
“Having the data is a real advantage,” says PTX President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Ferron. “There have been 100 drill holes, which is only 20,000 metres, but it gives us data to look at.”
The model PTX put together includes five zones with a combined strike length of 7 kilometres. Targets are near the surface, defined in this case as fewer than 150 metres, but open at depth.
PTX’s ambition is “to grow the resource and improve its confidence and quality,” according to Ferron. Ultimately, PTX would seek a buyer amongst the large mining companies capable of taking the project into production.
Ferron believes that now is a good time to be a natural resources explorer in Ontario. With geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain disruptions a clear challenge for nations around the world, the Ontario government is pushing to develop domestic resources so that Canada can lessen its reliance on outside sources.
Southern Ontario houses the world-class Sudbury copper and nickel camp, but Ferron points out that “these assets get depleted over time, so they’re looking for new camps to secure the next 50 to 100 years of copper and nickel for Ontario.”
Ferron further explains that there is a real push to build infrastructure in the area, which local First Nations support because the region is fairly remote.
“You don’t necessarily have the power and roads and hospitals like you do at Thunder Bay, Timmins, Sudbury and other mining camps,” Ferron says. “At one point, those cities had no infrastructure at all. It was the mines that made the cities economic and put in the infrastructure. The same thing is happening here.”
PTX has other attractive assets in its portfolio as well, adding uranium and gold to the list of popular metals with the potential to bring value for shareholders.
On the gold front, PTX owns a 75% interest in the South Timmins Gold Joint Venture, with Fancamp Exploration holding the remaining 25%.
The project spans 28,542 hectares in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt, known for its world-class gold deposits, and includes historic mines and new discoveries.
In uranium, PTX has a 50% equity interest in Green Canada, which manages a portfolio of uranium projects in renowned Canadian uranium jurisdictions, including the Athabasca and Thelon Basins.
“I think we can create value for our shareholders by divesting and selling these two non-core assets,” explains Ferron, calling the divestments part of management’s “two-pronged” strategy.
“The market prefers you focus on a single asset because that's what they want you to finance and value. So, our current goal is to divest our gold and uranium portfolio and create a new vehicle that can unlock significant value for PTX shareholders. As an example, we could merge our uranium portfolio with another uranium company, becoming shareholders in that venture.”
PTX is not committing to a time frame for such a transaction, with Ferron insisting it will “fall into place” when the time is right.
In the meantime, PTX is reinforcing both its balance sheet and technical team.
The company recently announced a non-brokered private placement to raise up to $2.25 million to fund exploration, development and general business activities, and within a week had increased the placement size to $3 million thanks to strong demand.
On the personnel side, Dave Bell was recently welcomed as a technical advisor, bringing 25 years of experience in community engagement, government relations and environmental permitting to the company.
Earlier this year, PTX added corporate and legal expert Frederico Marques to its board as an independent director. And in November, Ryan Weston, James Mungall and Wes Roberts joined the team, bringing several decades of experience in mining exploration and engineering.
PTX completed a four-to-one share consolidation in September of this year, making its corporate structure more attractive to prospective shareholders.
And with funding on the cusp of being put to bed as well, PTX’s mission is clear. “We'll be drilling our W2 project and growing the resource because that's what the market wants to see,” says Ferron.
“The market knows that W2 is a unique asset, so the more work we do to de-risk and create value, that's the big catalyst that can attract institutional and corporate interest. And the other big development will be creating shareholder value through the divestment of non-core assets.”