SP Angel . Morning View . Tuesday 01 02 22
Metals prices gain on caution over pace of Fed QE tightening
Some Fed members are suggesting overly aggressive QE tightening will do more harm than good causing the US dollar to weaken
MiFID II exempt information – see disclaimer below
This is the year of the Tiger - Happy Lunar New Year
PRIVATE FUNDING – For a Rare Earth Phosphate deposit in the US
We are raising funds for a Rare Earth Phosphate deposit with up to 28% P2O5 in the raw ore.
REE enrichment is up to 4,200ppm, of which ~25% are high value magnet metals (Nd-Pr-Dy).
Management are looking to drill in 2022 to define potential for 20mmt 36% phosphate concentrate and 26,000t of REE magnet metals.
The resource is on privately-owned rural acreage, close to existing quarrying operations and rail infrastructure.
The company is working with several US REE extraction laboratories to maximise recovery and minimise opex.
Early estimates are for a $45m capex to get to phosphate concentrate production with additional capex for a REE leaching plant.
Please let us know if you wish to take part in this funding
*SP Angel’s role is limited to making introductions and interested parties should be aware that investment in a private company can present certain risks not present in listed companies (e.g. limited or no liquidity and no rules compelling disclosure of information to investors). This offer is open to professional investors only and is not offered to retail investors.
Altus Strategies* (Altus Strategies PLC (AIM:ALS, TSX-V:ALTS, OTCQX:ALTUF)) BUY, Target 111p – Newcrest portfolio of royalties acquisition deal completion
AngloGold (Angling Direct PLC (AIM:ANG)) – Full-year trading statement sees drop in earnings on Obuasi shutdown
Ariana Resources (Ariana Resources PLC (AIM:AAU)) – Kiziltepe mineral resource increase
Bluejay Mining* (BlueJay Mining PLC (AIM:JAY, OTCQB:BLLYF)) – Incorporation of joint venture company in Greenland with Kobold Metals
Botswana Diamonds (Botswana Diamonds PLC (AIM:BOD)) – Ghaghoo mine acquisition
Gem Diamonds (Gem Diamonds Limited (LSE:GEMD)) – Strong diamond prices fuel a robust final quarter
Lynas Rare Earths (Lynas Corporation (ASX:LYC)) – Approval for Kalgoorlie REE processing facility
SolGold* (SolGold PLC (LSE:SOLG, TSX:SOLG, OTC:SLGGF)) –Filing of the technical report for the maiden resource at the Cacharposa copper-gold porphyry, Porvenir project
IGTV: IG Outlook 2022, China new year, winter Olympics may see metals prices soften: (12/01/2022): https://youtu.be/vNqDh74zW5I
VOX Markets: 12/01/22: https://audioboom.com/posts/8011559-john-meyer-on-china-s-factory-shut-downs-plus-news-from-bluejay-beowulf-atlantic-lithium
interactive Investors: FTSE 100 favourite stock: https://youtu.be/BomNRQJt-YA. 2022 outlook: https://youtu.be/SxMPiPEc_Rg
Three small-cap mining share tips for 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xvA_3UXXYQ&ab_channel=interactiveinvestor
*SP Angel almost invariably acts as nomad or broker or nomad and broker to companies mentioned in the above videos and podcasts.
We speak more about these companies as we have a good understanding of their business and can talk with a greater degree of confidence. As ever, however, it should be noted that our views do not take into account the circumstances and needs of any particular investor or investor type. So enjoy the talks, but please do your own research, including other companies not mentioned by us but operating in the same areas, and get professional advice where appropriate.
Diamonds - Russian diamond miner Alrosa hikes diamond prices 10% in January
Prices for smaller stones rose 12-18% at its January 2022 trading session, reflecting ‘buoyant US consumer sales during the holidays’
Higher value stone prices were hiked 5-7%.
Supply gaps widened in January, with the company unable to meet manufacturers’ strong demand because of limitations on production and low inventories.
Supply volumes were up to 30% less than customers’ contracted allocations for the cheaper segments, and around 15% to 20% below for the more expensive items.
Gold prices recover on, inflation concerns, safe-haven demand and Friday’s US jobs report
Some Fed members are suggesting that an overly aggressive quantitative tightening will do more harm than good have causing the US dollar to weaken.
Gold prices recovered to $1,806/oz this morning with >$5bn of new funds piling into gold in the week before last highlighting new investor confidence in the metal.
Gold ETFs holdings rose around 100,000oz yesterday to 99.2moz versus 97.8moz at the end of 2021
Continued concern over Russia’s encroachment on Ukraine has seen investors flock to the metal.
The White House has warned that Friday’s non-farm payroll data will come in behind expectations.
Economists expect 153,000 jobs for Jan vs 199,000 Dec – a weaker employment rate will discourage the Fed from an overly aggressive rate hike, boosting gold’s appeal to investors.
The US ISM Manufacturing PMI is also expected to come in lower than anticipated.
The dollar has also provided a headwind, with the index retracing from its recent 18-month high.
Copper strengthens on weak dollar and cautious Federal Reserve
Chile’s copper output also fell 1.9% last year to 5.68mt as strikes continue to disrupt production.
British Columbia sees record mineral exploration in 2021
A record of $519m was spent by mining companies in exploration in British Columbia in 2021. (BCGS)
The majority of the exploration has been targeted at copper, gold and metallurgical coal.
The survey also notes a significant ramp up in rare earths and nickel explorations spending.
Dow Jones Industrials +1.17% at 35,132
Nikkei 225 +0.28% at 27,078
HK Hang Seng +1.07% at 23,802
Shanghai Composite -0.97% at 3,361
Economics
India – India plans ramp up in infrastructure spending to fuel growth
India has revealed its budget will expand to $530bn this year and expectations of 8 to 8.5% growth – 6.6% less than 2021 and >0.7% lower than previous estimates.
The budget will ramp up investments into public infrastructure and renewable energy programs.
An additional $2.6bn will be invested into solar equipment manufacturing.
The government is also issue green bonds to fund projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions.
China - China plans mega infrastructure projects to boost economy
Beijing is offering $229bn in 2022 special purpose bonds to local governments to boost infrastructure spending.
102 mega-projects are part of Beijing’s 5-year plan to 2025.
$50.6bn will be spent on a train connecting Sichuan to Tibet.
Beijing also plans to build a tunnel twice the length of the Channel Tunnel between Yantai and Dalian.
It plans to connect the mainland to Taiwan with a 126km tunnel.
Other mega projects include major river diversions and dam projects.
The projects will be intensive in raw materials, with a swathe of rail projects providing a long-term tailwind to copper demand among other key electrification minerals.
China's push to decarbonise its power generation saw new solar installations jump 14% to a record 54.93 GW.
Officials looking to cut coal demand by 10% by 2025 as part of their 5-year plan
December production of EVs rose 120% to 518k vehicles
Sales rose 114% to 531k units
Total vehicle production were rose 160% to 3.54m vehicles
Total vehicle sales were rose 158% to 3.52m vehicles
Europe – Major euro-area economies see inflation figures higher than expected, piling pressure on ECB
German Inflation slowed significantly less than expected, with prices rising 5.1% vs 4.3% forecast and 5.7% in December.
French inflation slowed less than expected last month, with the inflation rate rising 3.3% in January vs 2.9% expected at 3.4% in December
Spanish prices rose 6.1% vs 5.5% expected and 6.6% in December.
Figures for Italy and the 19-nation euro area come out tomorrow.
The higher-than-expected inflation figures from major economies in the Euro heaps pressure on the ECB to act quicker to try and contain inflation in Europe.
The persistence of inflation is likely to dominate the ECB governing council meeting on Thursday, although the FT reports that it expects the council to stick to its timetable for reducing asset purchases to a lower level this year, while keeping interest rates at negative levels.
UK – House prices rose on average 0.8% in January on month prior
UK house prices registered their strongest star t to the year since 2005, however Nationwide comments that the property market is set for a slowdown as the cost of living crisis intensifies.
The annual pace of growth accelerated to 11.2%.
Germany – Job recovery beats estimates, unemployment falls 48,000 vs 6,000 estimate
German joblessness fell at a much faster pace than anticipated in January despite infection numbers reaching new records and new restrictions on activity.
Currencies
US$1.1254/eur vs 1.1177/eur yesterday. Yen 115.00/$ vs 115.39/$. SAr 15.296/$ vs 15.540/$. $1.347/gbp vs $1.344/gbp. 0.709/aud vs 0.704/aud. CNY 6.361/$ vs 6.361/$.
Commodity News
Precious metals:
Gold US$1,806/oz vs US$1,788/oz yesterday
Gold ETFs 99.2moz vs US$99.1moz yesterday
Platinum US$1,038/oz vs US$1,013/oz yesterday
Palladium US$2,379/oz vs US$2,364/oz yesterday
Silver US$22.58/oz vs US$22.40/oz yesterday
Rhodium US$16,850/oz vs US$16,850/oz yesterday
Base metals:
Copper US$ 9,623/t vs US$9,560/t yesterday
Aluminium US$ 3,039/t vs US$3,066/t yesterday
Nickel US$ 22,520/t vs US$22,310/t yesterday
Zinc US$ 3,612/t vs US$3,591/t yesterday
Lead US$ 2,248/t vs US$2,264/t yesterday
Tin US$ 42,960/t vs US$41,760/t yesterday
Energy:
Oil US$89.3/bbl vs US$90.9/bbl yesterday
Oil prices pulled back slightly in early trading today, as investors appear to be taking profits, although expectations that supply will remain tight amid a limited output increase by major producers and a solid post-pandemic recovery in fuel demand acted as a support
The risk of geopolitical disruptions to oil supply at a time of already tight inventories due to the strong post-pandemic recovery has led to strong gains in recent weeks
The gap between OPEC+ commitment and output has deepened, adding fuel to an already strong price rally
In December, OPEC+ added 253kbopd to its combined production falling well short of its 400kbopd target for yet another month in a growing issue
Naturally, this has raised concerns about the security of global supply amid forecasts from the International Energy Agency that oil demand is going to exceed pre-pandemic levels later this year
In December, the IEA said that oil demand growth was going to slow down this year which has failed to materialise
It also forecasted a possible oversupply on the oil market for the current quarter, citing the effect of the Omicron variant on fuel consumption and rising non-OPEC production
Natural Gas US$4.877/mmbtu vs US$4.933/mmbtu yesterday
Russia’s natural gas production is expected to reach an all-time high this year, surpassing the 2021 record, yet this winter season’s deliveries to Europe have been much lower than usual
In 2021, Russia’s natural gas production is estimated to have increased by 10% to reach a record of 762Bcm according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)
Gazprom alone accounted for 80% of the rise in gas production, with its output nearing 513Bcm
This was the highest level since 2008, although below the company’s official production capacity of 550Bcm
Natural-gas futures tallied their largest one-day percentage gain on record last week, up more than 46% on Thursday alone
The spike coincided with the expiration of the February contracts, and a short squeeze as a winter storm looms in the US Northeast
The February contract settlement marked the biggest one-day percentage gain for a front-month contract based on records dating back to 1990, and the highest finish since October of last year
European gas prices remain elevated on the possibility of a serious supply squeeze amid Russian hostilities towards Ukraine
The US is trying to help Europe secure emergency gas supplies, however much of US inventories have been committed
Uranium UXC US$44.00/lb vs $44.85/lb yesterday
Bulk:
Iron ore 62% Fe spot (cfr Tianjin) US$137.1/t vs US$142.1/t
Chinese steel rebar 25mm US$751.3/t vs US$751.3/t
Thermal coal (1st year forward cif ARA) US$117.0/t vs US$117.0/t
Thermal coal swap Australia FOB US$198.5/t vs US$228.0/t
Coking coal swap Australia FOB US$438.0/t vs US$438.0/t
Other:
Cobalt LME 3m US$71,000/t vs US$71,000/t
NdPr Rare Earth Oxide (China) US$150,129/t vs US$150,129/t
Lithium carbonate 99% (China) US$56,986/t vs US$56,986/t
China Spodumene Li2O 5%min CIF US$2,710/t vs US$2,710/t
Ferro-Manganese European Mn78% min US$1,795/t vs US$1,783/t
China Tungsten APT 88.5% FOB US$320/t vs US$320/t
China Graphite Flake -194 FOB US$805/t vs US$805/t
Europe Vanadium Pentoxide 98% 9.7/lb vs US$9.7/lb
Europe Ferro-Vanadium 80% 39.25/kg vs US$39.25/kg
China Ilmenite Concentrate TiO2 US$391/t vs US$391/t
Spot CO2 Emissions EUA Price US$99.9/t vs US$99.9/t
Brazil Potash CFR Granular Spot US$805/t vs US$805/t
Battery News
Egypt exploring 1GW waste-to-hydrogen plant
Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone has given H2 Industries preliminary approval for a $3bn, 1GW waste-to-hydrogen plant in East Port Said.
The hydrogen centre will be fed with 4mt of organic waste and non-recyclable plastic a year and it is expected to produce 300,000t of hydrogen annually.
Egypt has been ramping up its green hydrogen ambitions in recent months, especially as it is set to host the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh in November.
If the project is approved, H2 Industries will look to complete it over three phases, with the final phase completed within five years.
Tesla opens Supercharger network to other EVs in Norway and France
Tesla has announced plans to expand its program to provide its Supercharging network to other EV brands.
Last year, Tesla launched a pilot scheme with selected stations in the Netherlands allowing other makes of EV to use the Supercharger network – the network is now open to other EVs in Norway and France.
The Tesla Supercharger network is seen as the gold-standard for EV charging networks, offering super-fast charging speeds (up to 250kW), as well as being very reliable.
Tesla currently operates over 30,000 superchargers worldwide – the largest fast-charging network globally. In October 2021, Tesla announced plans to triple the network within the next 2 years.
According to BNEF, public direct current fast chargers (DCFC) can use up to 25kg of copper per charger, over 10 times more copper than home chargers.
Bluefloat and Sener targeting 1.2GW floating wind farm in Spain
The Spanish government has begun consultation with Bluefloat and Sener Renewable Investments on a 1.2GW floating offshore wind farm planned to be built 30km off the coast of north-west Spain.
The Nordes project would be built in two phases starting with an initial 525MW and adding 675MW later.
The first phase would comprise of 35 turbines and use turbines with a 15MW capacity – the second stage would consist of 45 turbines.
The project will deliver 4800GWh of electricity a year when fully operational.
Company News
Altus Strategies* (Altus Strategies PLC (AIM:ALS, TSX-V:ALTS, OTCQX:ALTUF)) 58.9p, Mkt Cap £69m – Newcrest portfolio of royalties acquisition deal completion
BUY – 111p
The Company completed final closing of the $37.5m ($24.0m Altus’ share) Newcrest royalties acquisition first announced in Dec/21.
Second and final cash payment of $5.0m ($4.0m Altus’ share) was completed in regards of the portfolio including royalties over two producing gold mines, one near production gold mine and 21 development exploration stage assets.
The Company estimates the portfolio to contribute $3.5m in attributable post tax revenue that coupled with Caserones royalty proceeds is estimated to generate up to $6.4m in 2022.
*SP Angel acts as nomad and broker to Altus Strategies
AngloGold (Angling Direct PLC (AIM:ANG)) ZAR29,447, Mkt cap ZAR123bn – Full-year trading statement sees drop in earnings on Obuasi shutdown
Lower gold sales as well as higher operating costs are likely to report in lower headline earnings for AngloGold Ashanti (ASX:AGG), the company reports.
Production for 2021 is expected to be 2.5Moz vs 3.05Moz for 2020.
The decline follows the sale of its South African operations and due to “lower realised grades across certain operations, temporary suspension of mining activities at Obuasi as well as the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on production and costs”
The total basic earnings for the Period are expected to be between $584m-$650m resulting in a total basic EPS of US$1.37-US$1.54 – a decrease of 32% to 39% for the comparative period.
The suspension of activities at the Obuasi mine following an underground incident incurred costs of $45m in care & maintenance costs
Ariana Resources (Ariana Resources PLC (AIM:AAU)) 3.95p, Mkt Cap £41m – Kiziltepe mineral resource increase
Ariana Resources has issued an updated mineral resources estimate for its 23.5% owned Kiziltepe gold mine in Turkey.
The new estimate includes the satellite projects at Kepez, Kizilcukur and Ivrindi and shows an overall measured resource of 0.86mt at an average grade of 3.18g/t gold and 47.8g/t silver plus an indicated resource of 0.33mt at an average grade of 2.41g/t gold and 48.4g/t silver for an overall contained 285,000oz of gold and 4.6moz of silver.
The resource contains a further 0.59mt of inferred resource at an average grade of 2.02g/t gold and 31.0g/t silver (97,000oz of gold and 1.5moz of silver.
Including all classes of resources, the Kiziltepe deposit is estimated to contain a total of approximately 80% of the overall gold and 85% of the silver with the majority of the remaining resources largely within the Kepez and Kizilcukur deposits. Around 70% of the gold content is classified as either Measured or Indicated.
Ore reserves at Kiziltepe, Kepez and Kizilcikur amount to 1.05mt at an average grade of 2.38g/t gold and 43.2g/t silver for a contained 80,580oz of gold and 1.46moz of silver.
Managing Director, Dr. Kerim Sener, said that the new estimate shows a “19% increase in total resources compared with our 2020 estimate … and represents the culmination of a full year of work at Kiziltepe, involving over 15,000m of drilling and other detailed technical studies by the Zenit and Ariana teams ”.
He also said that “For the first time since our Feasibility Study, we are also reporting a major update to our Reserves since operations commenced in 2017. This is particularly relevant given we have now produced more gold from Kiziltepe than envisaged in the Feasibility Study, despite having only mined for 5 years out of a projected 8-year mine life”.
“The increase in Reserves is an outstanding success, with our current Reserve tonnage of 1.1Mt being equal to that of our pre-operational Reserves in early 2017. This revised Reserve is expected to support at least three years of additional higher-throughput production at a conceptual rate of c. 25,000 ounces of gold per annum, and enable the doubling of total life of mine output, as compared to the Feasibility Study”.
Bluejay Mining* (BlueJay Mining PLC (AIM:JAY, OTCQB:BLLYF)) 8.55p, Mkt cap £83m – Incorporation of joint venture company in Greenland with Kobold Metals
(KoBold Metals can earn up to 51% in the Bluejay’s Disko project in Greenland allowing Bluejay to maintain its 49% stake through proportionate funding after Kobold have spent US$14.5m.)
Bluejay Mining report the incorporation of the joint venture company, Nikkeli Greenland A/S.
Nikkeli will be the new licence holder for the Disko project as operated by the Kobold / Bluejay joint venture.
The two teams are currently planning the work program for this year’s field season, to be managed by Bluejay and executed on behalf of the joint venture with Kobold.
Kobold had already done some 6-9 months of due diligence before signing the jv agreement with Bluejay last August and have been working through the extensive data collected in the region to prepare new targets.
Dr. Peter Lightfoot, who was in the Falconbridge discovery team at Disko in the late 1990s now leads ‘Magmatic Systems’ exporation at Kobold reckons ‘It is geologically demonstrable that a major nickel-copper-cobalt mineralising system is in place at Disko’.
Other experts also reckon the Disko/Nuussuaq licenses could contain one of the largest occurrences of Nickel-Copper-Cobalt in the world with Anglo American also acquiring licenses surrounding Bluejay’s licenses.
Some US$80m worth of work has already been done on the Disko/Nuussuaq licenses by Falconbridge, Cominco and Bluejay but with limited drilling to date.
High-grade surface samples such as a large boulder assaying 7% Ni, 3% Cu & 2ppm PGE as well as geophysical surveying suggest similarities to the Norilsk-Talnakh nickel deposits in Siberia.
Seven large magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE conductor targets have been confirmed with the two largest being 5.9km x 1.1km and 4.8km x 800m.
Geology: The Disko-Nuussuaq Property is centred in a region of extensive contaminated and metal-depleted volcanic centres where there is evidence for the equilibration of flood basalt magma with crustal sulfur with potential for the concentration of magmatic sulphides in shallow sub-volcanic intrusions.
Previous exploration data provides a good platform for for KoBold to utilize its proprietary technology to target the source of mineralisation.
Magmatic nickel mineralising system need:
Pathways/conduits
Energy
Source of metals and sulphur
Trapping/accumulation of metal-being sulphides
All of which have been demonstrated to be present across the Disko/Nuussuaq license area.
Norilsk comparison:
High Mg, olivine rich magmas (2-5+km thickness)
Proximity to large, crustal-scale faults & magma conduit systems
Sulphide/sulphur bearing country rocks
Prolonged episodes of assimilation of siliceous crustal rocks (contaminated lava, containing shale/sandstone)
Chalcophile element depletion in crustily contaminated rocks (contaminated lava has lost Ni, Cu, PGE, evidence that sulphide melt has segregated from magmas prior to eruption. Mass balance supports that 12-16 million tons of nickel are missing from the lava sequence).
Kobold is entitled to earn a 51% of the Disko licence holding through a two stage earn-in commitment:
Stage I: US$3.4m for the advanced geological and geophysical evaluation of Disko/Nuussuaq to refine drill-targets using Beluga’s proprietary technology by December 2022,
Stage II: US$11.6m in drilling expenditure or 15 pre-agreed drill holes within the Disko licence area to be completed by December 2024,
KoBold Metals is using Artificial Intelligence / machine learning and talented expertise to identify new prospects in difficult terrain.
The company is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures which is backed by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg and Ray Dalio.
*SP Angel act Nomad and broker to Bluejay. The analyst holds shares in Bluejay Mining.
Botswana Diamonds (Botswana Diamonds PLC (AIM:BOD)) 1.03p, Mkt Cap £9m – Ghaghoo mine acquisition
Botswana Diamonds has announced that its proposed partner in the acquisition of Gem Diamonds’ Ghaghoo diamond mine in Botswana, Vast Resources has confirmed to both Botswana Diamonds and Gem Diamonds that it does not intend to proceed.
Under the terms of the original plan announced in August 2021, “VAST was responsible for funding Okwa … [the joint-venture company in which BOD has an initial 10% carried interest] … with the first US$15 million of funding required for the purposes of carrying out due diligence, acquiring GDB and placing the mine back into production”.
Botswana Diamonds confirms that it “has identified alternative potential partners to replace VAST as its joint venture partner in Okwa and has confirmed to Gem Diamonds its commitment to conclude the transaction as originally envisaged as soon as possible”.
The company also says that it is working with Vast and Gem Diamonds “towards a mutually beneficial outcome and have agreed to extend the long stop date under the sale agreement from 31 January 2022 to 31 March 2022 to allow BOD to secure an alternative joint venture partner”.
Botswana Diamonds also says that an incoming partner may require additional approvals from the Botswana Government.
At the time of its annual results announcement in December last year for the year ending 30th June 2021 Botswana Diamonds explained that a restart of the Ghaghoo mine would establish infrastructure for its wholly-owned KX36 deposit, located approximately 70km south of the mine and where historic, SAMREC compliant, indicated resources amount to 8.6m carats at an undisclosed grade.
Conclusion: The decision of Vast Resources to forego the opportunity at Ghaghoo leaves Botswana Diamonds needing to find a new partner. Provided mutually acceptable terms can be agreed, the reopening of the mine would seem advantageous both to the current owner, Gem Diamonds, and to the Botswana Government as well as to Botswana Diamonds and we look forward to further news prior to the extended long-stop date of 31st March.
Gem Diamonds (Gem Diamonds Limited (LSE:GEMD)) 48.3p, Mkt Cap £67m – Strong diamond prices fuel a robust final quarter
Gem Diamonds reports that Q4 diamond prices of over US$2,000/carat for its Letšeng mine production reflect continuing strength of consumer demand and recovery in the global diamond market.
Average prices for the full year, at US$1,835/carat were 4% below the US$1,908/ carat achieved in 2020.
Production of 33,069 carats during Q4 brought full year production to 115,335 carats marginally ahead of the revised guidance target of 110-114,000 carats which was issued in October with the Q3 results.
Cash costs targets were achieved and capital costs came in below guidance.
A further 5 diamonds were sold for in excess of US$1m each bringing the total of such diamonds sold during 2021 to 21 and Gem Diamonds also reports that “three diamonds greater than 100 carats were recovered to bring the total for the year to six”.
The company also says that “productivity improvements and cost savings … [targeted at US$100m over 4 years] … up to year end 2021 has been fully delivered”.
Gem Diamonds reports net cash of US$20.9m at the year end and CEO, Clifford Elphick explained that “the Group-wide debt refinancing was successfully concluded during the Period”.
Commenting on the proposed sale of the Ghaghoo diamond mine, Gem Diamonds confirms that “competition authority and regulatory conditions have now been fulfilled and written approvals have been obtained from the Botswana Competition Authority and, in December 2021, the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security of Botswana” but also confirms the withdrawal of Vast Resources from the transaction and that Botswana Diamonds has “confirmed its commitment to conclude the transaction as originally envisaged as soon as possible and has informed Gem Diamonds that it has identified an alternative financing partner which will, subject to any approvals that are required, replace Vast”.
Lynas Rare Earths (Lynas Corporation (ASX:LYC)) A$8.9, Mkt cap A$8bn – Approval for Kalgoorlie REE processing facility
Lynas reports that it has received ministerial approval for its rare earths processing facility in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
The initial approval outlines a plan for building the facility and the conditions for the construction and operation.
Lynas is now working to finalise the secondary approvals required for project implementation.
The company produced 1,359t of neodymium and praseodymium last quarter.
SolGold* (SolGold PLC (LSE:SOLG, TSX:SOLG, OTC:SLGGF)) 25.95p, Mkt Cap £608m –Filing of the technical report for the maiden resource at the Cacharposa copper-gold porphyry, Porvenir project
(The Cacharposa porphyry copper-gold deposit at the Porvenir project is held by a 100% owned subsidiary of SolGold.)
SolGold reports that it has now filed the technical report for the maiden open-pittable resource for the Cacharposa copper-gold porphyry in Southern Ecuador which it announced in mid-December on Canada’s SEDAR system.
The 396.8mt indicated resource grades 0.35% copper and 0.14g/t gold (0.44% copper equivalent) containing 1.4mt of copper and 1.8moz of gold.
A further 96.9mt of inferred resource grades 0.29% copper and 0.12g/t gold (0.37% copper equivalent) for another 280,000t of copper and 0.38moz of gold.
The mineralisation starts from surface and is exposed over a 650m long strike.
The Porvenir project lies ~100km north of the Ecuador-Peru border and ~100km south of Lundin Gold (TSX:LUG)’s 9.5moz Fruta Del Norte project.
Conclusion: Cacharposa offers a outcropping copper-gold resource with the potential for relatively quick access for mining. We look forward to seeing the details of the resource estimate for Cacharposa and to further news as exploration progresses.
No.1 in Copper: “The winner of the 2020 Fastmarkets Apex contest for copper was the team at SP Angel comprising John Meyer, Sergey Raevskiy and Simon Beardsmore, with an accuracy score of 93.8%”
No1. In Gold: “SP Angel’s trio took the top spot for the gold price prediction throughout the year, with an accuracy score of 97.59%”
The SP Angel team also ranked 1st in Palladium, 3rd in Tin and 5th in Silver in the fourth quarter of 2020
Analysts
John Meyer – John.Meyer@spangel.co.uk – 0203 470 0490
Simon Beardsmore – Simon.Beardsmore@spangel.co.uk – 0203 470 0484
Sergey Raevskiy –Sergey.Raevskiy@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0474
Joe Rowbottom – Joe.Rowbottom@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0486
Sales
Richard Parlons –Richard.Parlons@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0472
Abigail Wayne – Abigail.Wayne@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0534
Rob Rees – Rob.Rees@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0535
Grant Barker – Grant.Barker@spangel.co.uk – 0203 470 0471
SP Angel
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*SP Angel are the No1 integrated nomad and broker by number of mining brokerage clients on AIM according to the AIM Advisers Ranking Guide (joint brokerships excluded)
+SP Angel employees may have previously held, or currently hold, shares in the companies mentioned in this note.
Sources of commodity prices
Gold, Platinum, Palladium, Silver
BGNL (Bloomberg Generic Composite rate, London)
Gold ETFs, Steel
Bloomberg
Copper, Aluminium, Nickel, Zinc, Lead, Tin, Cobalt
LME
Oil Brent
ICE
Natural Gas, Uranium, Iron Ore
NYMEX
Thermal Coal
Bloomberg OTC Composite
Coking Coal
SSY
RRE
Steelhome
Lithium Carbonate, Ferro Vanadium, Tungsten, Spodumene, Ferro-Manganese, Graphite
Asian Metal