SP Angel . Morning View . Thursday 24 11 22
Risk sentiment picks up on dovish Fed minutes and potential PBOC stimulus
MiFID II exempt information – see disclaimer below
AfriTin Mining Ltd (AIM:ATM, OTC:AFTTF) – H1 results following the completion of Phase 1 commissioning at the Uis mine
Atalaya Mining (AIM:ATYM, TSX:AYM) – Exploration progress report describes potential new discovery of the Mojarra trend
Arkle Resources PLC (AIM:ARK)* – Updates on Stonepark Drilling and early-stage pegmatite reconnaissance in Ireland
Atlantic Lithium Limited (AIM:ALL, OTCQX:ALLIF, ASX:A11)* – Donation towards Ghanaian farmers day celebration
Bluerock Diamonds PLC (AIM:BRD)* – Record ore throughput through expanded diamond process plant
Condor Gold PLC (AIM:CNR, TSX:COG, OTC:CNDGF)* – Quarterly results highlight the open-pit mine feasibility study and continuing advances in metallurgy and mineral resources at La India and wider district scale exploration opportunities
Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE)* – Field activities commence at Pitfield Copper Project
GreenRoc Mining PLC (AIM:GROC) – GreenRoc appoints engineers to work on graphite concentrates from Greenland mine
Mkango Resources Ltd (AIM:MKA, TSX-V:MKA, OTC:MKNGF)* – HyProMag GmbH awarded €3.7m grant to progress European NdFeB recycling
OreCorp Ltd (ASX:ORR) – Nyanzaga Gold Project funding discussions update
SolGold PLC (LSE:SOLG, TSX:SOLG, OTC:SLGGF)* – US$36m raised with Jiangxi Copper taking a ~6% stake in the Company
Thor Mining PLC (AIM:THR, OTC:THORF, ASX:THR) – A$48m farm in agreement to accelerate exploration at Molyhil
Huge enthusiasm from investors for battery metals sector at 121 Mining Conference in London this week
- We have just finished two days of meetings at the 121 Mining Investment Conference in London where we were surprised to see such enthusiasm from investors.
- Investors are, unsurprisingly, looking for battery metals opportunities with particular focus on drill-ready and near-production projects.
- Lithium is seen as a key metal for new investment alongside copper and a degree of new interest in graphite / graphene.
- We were truly astounded at the number of private investors meeting companies at the conference.
- Actions by many investment funds in reaction to liquidity issues, like Woodford, have increasingly restricted investment into smaller companies over the past 20 years.
- So, it is great to see so much enthusiasm and new expertise within the private investor community who have been effectively forced into managing their own portfolios to get exposure to growth companies in the battery raw materials and mining sector.
- Maybe the current market might see a re-run of 2008 / 2009 when the Sub-Prime mortgage crisis (GFC) caused funds to panic and sell the mining sector / market in general.
- Private investors stepped in, buying up discounted equities, with many making multiple returns as the market recovered through 2009 reaching new highs in 2010 and 2011. (see AIM Mining index)
- We look forward to seeing everyone at the 121 Mining Investment Conference in Cape Town.
Copper prices flatline at $8,000/t as traders weigh up supply picture amid shifting global demand dynamics
- Copper prices have remained rangebound around the $8,000/t having eased from $8,500/t last week.
- The recent tightness in the copper market seems to have eased, with the cash spread on copper futures falling further into contango to its lowest level since March.
- In a sign of more abundant physical supply, the LME cash premium has fallen from $133/t in late October to -$43/t now
- In line with this, global copper stocks have risen 23% since mid-November.
- Shanghai copper brokers remain net-long the metal.
- Trafigura has noted a ‘big shift’, with rising demand from electrification coming to fruition despite slowing appetite from China’s real estate sector.
- In line with this, Codelco announced this morning their plans to cut shipments of refined copper to China by 10% amid rising demand elsewhere and dwindling output on their side.
- Codelco has been hit by smelter repair work, grade declines, and contractual negotiations.
- Codelco is eyeing self-sanctioning European countries shunning Russian metal and willing to pay a premium for Chilean supply. European spot premiums are at multi-year highs.
- The Company also notes strong US demand for South American cathodes as they ramp up their electrification efforts.
Gold edges higher as dollar sell-off accelerates and US Treasury yields weaken
- Gold prices regained ground this week, having touched a weekly low of $1,734/t before rallying 1.3% this morning to close in on $1,760/oz.
- Prices have been supported by a weaker dollar, with the Greenback index falling over 6.2% from early November highs, closing in on August lows
- US Treasury yields have ticked lower again, hovering below 3.69%.
- US 2-year treasury yields are hovering around 4.47%, down from monthly hights of 4.55%, supporting gold prices.
- Fed officials have pointed to slower rate hikes, with a 50bp rate hike in December now fully priced in, weighing on the dollar and supporting gold prices.
- However, Fed officials are clearing pointing to the need for a higher terminal rate, with the market still seeing the potential for a recession in 2023 as diminishing that likelihood.
Rise in excavator sales and activity highlights Beijing stimulus lifting iron ore prices
- China’s primary excavator manufacturers saw sales rose up 8.1% yoy to 20,500 machines, in October marking first uptick for 15 months
- Caterpillar noted in their October earnings call that Excavator sales over 2022 in China had remained well below 2019 levels.
- Domestic excavator sales had previously fallen 48% yoy from January-September period, slightly better than the 50% yoy decline from Jan-Aug.
- Iron ore futures in Singapore have climbed 1.4% to settle around $96/t, rising alongside Steel futures.
- Hopes of additional rounds of Chinese stimulus for the property sector are mounting, with expectations Beijing will lower the reserve requirement ratios, increasing liquidity.
- China excavator sales have risen for the first time in 15 months of consecutive declines. Chinese construction companies typically ramp up investment in heavy machinery before a period of increased development activity.
Dow Jones Industrials +0.28% at 34,194
Nikkei 225 +0.95% at 28,383
HK Hang Seng +0.72% at 17,651
Shanghai Composite -0.25% at 3,089
Economics
Airports to ease rules on liquids and laptops on planes
- This doesn’t mean the security won’t want to frisk you for offensive items and dangerous vegetables.
- The global airport security market size was $10.78bn in 2019 and is projected to reach $11.45 billion by 2027 according to Fortune Business Insights
- So there are substantial business interests focussed on adding to the cost and value of checking you and your luggage.
- Maybe, one day, security could also give passengers a full CT scan and health check on the way through.
China – The PBOC may cut the reserve requirement ratio as soon as this week as the State Council hinted at a potential move, Bloomberg reports.
- The State Council said in a statement on Wednesday that monetary tools “such as a RRR cut” will be used “in a timely and appropriate manner” to maintain reasonably ample liquidity.
- The central bank last cut the RRR in April by 25bp, opting for a smaller reduction than markets expected.
EU – Discussions over Russian oil price cap are set to resume today amid split of opinions of EU members.
- For instance, Poland rejected the EU’s executive arm’s proposed price of $65/bbl as being too soft on Moscow while Greece said it does not want to go below $70/bbl.
- The decision requires the unanimous support from all EU members to be implemented.
Germany – Business sentiment ticks up on hopes of milder recession albeit absolute levels of the Ifo indices remain close to post pandemic lows.
- Unusually warm autumn weather and gas storage facilities filled up almost at capacity lowered the likelihood that German companies will face energy cuts in the coming months.
- “While companies were somewhat less satisfied with their current business, pessimism regarding the coming months reduced sharply... The recession could prove less severe than many had expected,” IFO said.
- IFO Business Climate: 86.3 v 84.3 October and 85.0 est.
- IFO Current Assessment: 93.1 v 94.1 October and 93.9 est.
- IFO Expectations: 80.0 v 75.6 October and 77.0 est.
France – In a sharp contrast to dire levels of German business confidence, France headline measure was little changed in November.
- The measure is down on the year (102 Nov/22 v 113 Nov/21), but nowhere near to lows reported in Germany, that in partly reflects lower dependence on gas imports and higher share of nuclear power in the nation’s primary energy consumption.
- Business Confidence: 102 v 102 October and 101 est.
Turkey – The central bank is due to announce its rate decision later today with expectations for another 150bp cut.
- This would follow up on a 150bp drop announced in the previous meeting despite inflation running at above 85% in the country.
South Korea – The Bank of Korea slowed the pace of its monetary tightening raising rates by 25bp to 3.25%.
- This takes the total volume of rate increases to 275bp since last August and follows 50bp moves earlier in July and August.
- Additionally, the central bank released its updated economic estimates showing GDP growth revised downwards to 1.7% for next year compared to 2.1% forecast in August.
- Inflation remained strong, although, the rate pulled back to 5.7% in October after peaking at 6.3% in July.
- Inflation is expected to average 3.6% next year, down from 3.7% estimated previously.
Currencies
US$1.0414/eur vs 1.0269/eur yesterday. Yen 139.11/$ vs 141.02/$. SAr 16.967/$ vs 17.383/$. $1.208/gbp vs $1.184/gbp. 0.674/aud vs 0.664/aud. CNY 7.150/$ vs 7.164/$.
Dollar Index: 106 /-0.64% on week
Commodity News
Chinese nickel trader seeks $594m in Hong Kong IPO
- Lygend Resources & Technology is looking to raise the cash and list in order to expand its Indonesian nickel trading business, with the proposed IPO valuing the business at somewhere around $4bn.
- The company both trades and produces nickel products and saw revenue double to 10bn yuan ($1.4bn) in the first half of 2022.
- Proposed investors in Lygend should be cautious given President Widodo’s export ban on nickel in 2020 that forced the industry to bring smelting onshore.
- Some analysts believe President Widodo could take things one step further and expand the export ban to include products refined from the ore – though no official statement has been made.
Precious metals:
Gold US$1,754/oz vs US$1,743/oz yesterday
Gold ETFs 94.2moz vs US$94.1moz yesterday
Platinum US$994/oz vs US$974/oz yesterday
Palladium US$1,896/oz vs US$1,925/oz yesterday
Silver US$21.53/oz vs US$20.84/oz yesterday
Rhodium US$13,300/oz vs US$13,250/oz yesterday
Base metals:
Copper US$ 8,032/t vs US$8,007/t yesterday
Aluminium US$ 2,402/t vs US$2,401/t yesterday
Nickel US$ 26,110/t vs US$25,165/t yesterday
Zinc US$ 2,931/t vs US$2,972/t yesterday
Lead US$ 2,124/t vs US$2,145/t yesterday
Tin US$ 22,195/t vs US$21,830/t yesterday
Energy:
Oil US$85.1/bbl vs US$87.0/bbl yesterday
- Crude oil prices fell in thin trading and ahead of today’s US Thanksgiving holiday after the EIA reported a surprising 3.1mb gasoline and 1.7mb distillate builds last week with refinery utilisation up 1% to 93.9%.
Natural Gas US$7.125/mmbtu vs US$6.278/mmbtu yesterday
Uranium UXC US$50.35/lb vs US$50.70/lb yesterday
Bulk:
Iron ore 62% Fe spot (cfr Tianjin) US$95.2/t vs US$97.2/t
Chinese steel rebar 25mm US$542.7/t vs US$542.9/t
Thermal coal (1st year forward cif ARA) US$200.0/t vs US$200.0/t
Thermal coal swap Australia FOB US$357.0/t vs US$341.0/t
Coking coal swap Australia FOB US$248.0/t vs US$261.0/t
Other:
Cobalt LME 3m US$51,955/t vs US$51,955/t
NdPr Rare Earth Oxide (China) US$91,049/t vs US$90,733/t
Lithium carbonate 99% (China) US$79,091/t vs US$80,473/t
China Spodumene Li2O 5%min CIF US$6,110/t vs US$6,110/t
Ferro-Manganese European Mn78% min US$1,286/t vs US$1,268/t
China Tungsten APT 88.5% FOB US$31.7/kg vs US$31.7/kg
China Graphite Flake -194 FOB US$880/t vs US$880/t
Europe Vanadium Pentoxide 98% 7.7/lb vs US$7.5/lb
Europe Ferro-Vanadium 80% 31.75/kg vs US$31.75/kg
China Ilmenite Concentrate TiO2 US$315/t vs US$313/t
Spot CO2 Emissions EUA Price US$78.0/t vs US$73.8/t
Brazil Potash CFR Granular Spot US$530.0/t vs US$552.5/t
EV News
Philippines to cut EV tariffs to promote domestic sales growth
- An inter-agency panel chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr approved removing EV tariffs in a meeting held yesterday.
- Tariffs on EVs such as passengers cars, buses, vans, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles will be cut to 0% from a current 5% - 30%.
- The cut also applies to EV parts, though tariffs on hybrids will not change.
- According to the country’s economic planning agency: "The executive order aims to expand market sources and encourage consumers to consider acquiring EVs, improve energy security by reducing dependence on imported fuel, and promote the growth of the domestic EV industry ecosystem,"
Company News
AfriTin Mining Ltd (AIM:ATM, OTC:AFTTF) 4.5p, Mkt Cap £68m – H1 results following the completion of Phase 1 commissioning at the Uis mine
- Afritin Mining reports that, over the last year, its exploration has identified over 100 pegmatites within a 3,200 hectare area located approximately 35km southeast of its Uis mine in Namibia.
- The company confirms that rock chip samples taken systematically along sample traverses from 64 of these pegmatites “included
- 13 m at 1.93% Li2O, 0.10% Sn, and 36 ppm Ta from sample line T78;
- 24 m at 1.65% Li2O, 0.15% Sn, and 52 ppm Ta from sample line T72;
- 20 m at 0.97 % Li2O, 0.12% Sn, and 172 ppm Ta from sample line T36;
- 14 m at 1.33% Li2O, 0.17% Sn, and 118 ppm Ta from sample line T71;
- 11 m at 0.93% Li2O, 0.17% Sn, and 149 ppm Ta from sample line T24;
- 4 m at 2.44% Li2O, 0.07% Sn, and 43 ppm Ta for sample line T76”
- The exploration area, which includes the “historical Tin Tan Mine which produced tin and tantalum during the late 1980's … [is accessible by road from the Uis mine and] … is also connected to the port of Walvis Bay to the south-west”.
- The company is to continue exploration with additional geological mapping and sampling, initially focused on the area to the north of the Tin Tan mine where the pegmatite “zone appears to be preferentially enriched in lithium” with initial metallurgical testing and scout exploration drilling planned “to characterise the nature of these intrusions at depth”.
- CEO, Anthony Viljoen pointed out that the exploration area’s “Proximity … to the Uis Mine, which is our operating facility with comparable types of mineralisation, presents potential development synergies”.
Conclusion: Afritin’s exploration southeast of the Uis mine shows encouraging tin, tantalum and lithium assays in early stage rock-chip sampling in an area previously mined during the 1980s. These results are to be followed up by scout drilling and an initial programme of metallurgical testing. We await the results with interest.
Atalaya Mining (AIM:ATYM, TSX:AYM) 289p, Mkt Cap £401m – Exploration progress report describes potential new discovery of the Mojarra trend
- Atalaya Mining (AIM:ATYM, TSX:AYM) has provided a progress report on its exploration activities in southern Spain including its Masa Valverde, Ossa Morena and at Riotinto East.
- The company currently has three drilling rigs deployed at Proyecto Masa Valverde where the intersection of 18.75m of massive sulphides averaging 0.84% copper, 0.63$ zinc, 0.66% lead and 76.24g/t gold in the second hole drilled on the previously undrilled, 2km long, NW trending Mojarra trend, located 1km north of the Campanario mineralised trend is described as a “New potential discovery”.
- CEO, Alberto Lavandeira, described the identification of the Mojarra trend mineralisation as “very promising and demonstrates the value of the systematic exploration approach being implemented by our geological team”.
- Elsewhere in Proyecto Masa Valverde “Step-out drilling in the western area has discovered a new high-grade zinc zone … [in hole] … MJ54: Including a main mineralised interval of 18.00m at 0.25% Cu, 8.30% Zn, 2.49% Pb, 60.17 g/t Ag and 0.89 g/t Au (4.06% CuEq)”. The mineralisation remains open laterally.
- Resource definition drilling along the Campanario trend has “encountered new zones of shallow polymetallic mineralisation” including intersections of:
- 9.80m averaging 0.44% copper, 8.16g/t silver and 0.15g/t gold from a depth of 11m in hole CA40; and
- 7.50m averaging 0.45% copper, 1.09g/t silver and 6.67g/t gold from a depth of 35m in hole CA42; as well as
- An intersection of 9.10m at an average grade of 0.72% copper, 3.60% zinc, 2.65% lead, 73.79g/t silver and 0.99g/t gold from a depth of 100.90m in a hole (CA25) located close to the historic Campanario mine which Atalaya says confirms the “lateral and up-dip continuity of the previously defined mineralisation”.
- A fourth drilling rig, working on Proyecto Ossa Morena, has completed four holes (1,874m) on the Hinchona prospect including an “intersection of 3.40m at 0.80% Cu, 1.84 g/t Ag and 479 ppm Co” in hole HIN-04.
- The target at Hinchona is a “1km long as defined by the alignment of several small historical mines, soil geochemical and induced polarization anomalies …northwest trending structure which controls the emplacement of a diorite porphyry and associated alteration and hydrothermal mineralisation”.
- “So far only 450m of the 1 km long target zone … [at Hinchona] … has been drill tested” and Atalaya explains that the intersection in HIN-04 “has positive exploration implications mainly because it represents a mineralogical, textural and geochemical vector towards better grades to the south”.
- Ayalaya Mining confirms that drilling is expected to continue with all four rigs “until the end of the year” with emphasis on defining the lateral continuity of the Mojarra trend as well as investigating the potential for additional shallow mineralisation “between Campanario and Cibeles historical mines” and drilling the Chaparral Cu-Au prospect in the Proyecto Ossa Morena and “step-out drilling at the flagship Alconchel Cu-Au deposit”.
- Mr. Lavandeira confirmed that “Exploration will remain a key activity for Atalaya in 2023 and our exploration budget is expected to reflect our geological team's recent successes and the growing list of targets across our exploration portfolio.
- He explained that the exploration strategy remains “focused on expanding our resource base and identifying higher grade material that could be processed at our Riotinto plant, potentially providing an uplift to copper production by increasing the blended head grade”.
Conclusion: Atalaya Mining is achieving exploration success in identifying additional mineralisation accessible to the existing Riotinto processing plant which opens up the possibility of substituting higher grade feed to the plant as a means of increasing copper output through more effective use of the existing processing capacity
Arkle Resources PLC (AIM:ARK)* 0.6p, Mkt Cap £2m – Updates on Stonepark Drilling and early-stage pegmatite reconnaissance in Ireland
- Arkle and the operator of the Stonepark Project, Group Eleven Resources, announce the completion of three remaining drillholes for the 2022 programme.
- Arkle has a 23.44% stake in the Stonepark JV with Group Eleven holding the remainder.
- The Company are waiting for permitting approval to drill an additional hole at the Stonepark Block, which will be funded by the recent £200k equity placing.
- Arkle also provide an update on their early-stage pegmatite reconnaissance work at the Mine River Block on the Wexford/Wicklow border.
- The Company has aimed to establish the presence of granite, pegmatite and aplites to the east of Ireland’s lithium-bearing pegmatite belt, where Ganfeng has enjoyed successful lithium exploration.
- Arkle report the presence of granite, pegmatite, and aplite within its prospecting licenses during initial reconnaissance work across four of the five target areas.
- The Company will now analyse collected rock chip samples.
*SP Angel are Nomad and broker to Arkle Resources
Atlantic Lithium Limited (AIM:ALL, OTCQX:ALLIF, ASX:A11)* 47.95p, Mkt Cap £300m – Donation towards Ghanaian farmers day celebration
- Atlantic Lithium has made a donation of GH¢50,000.00 to the Central Regional Coordination Council (CRCC) towards the upcoming farmers day celebration.
*SP Angel acts as nomad to Atlantic Lithium
Bluerock Diamonds PLC (AIM:BRD)* – 4.95p, Mkt cap £2.04m – Record ore throughput through expanded diamond process plant
- BlueRock Diamonds report throughput of 80,000t in October setting a new record for the plant.
- Grades remain below target but are still higher year on year with mining focussing on the KV2 pit at Kareevlei since mid-October.
- Management continue to optimise and debottleneck the mine and process plant to raise throughput and ensure better operation through the forthcoming wet season.
- Drill and blast activities are being closely managed to realise operational efficiencies and cost savings with a new contractor appointed and is mobilising at site.
- Technical specialists are assisting with the performance improvement assessment and to upskill the mine staff. Security has also improved.
- BlueRock is accumulating an increasing stock of rough diamonds for sale in the November tender.
- The company has a ZAR47.2m ($2.8m) facility with Teichmann South Africa Proprietary Limited.
- Management settled none of this debt in October as diamond stocks accumulated. This facility is outside the originally agreed ZAR30m ($1.8m) facility.
- “Teichman continues to provide financial assistance to Kareevlei through the provision of guarantees to suppliers of diesel and key commodities.
- The plan is to bring the Facility within limits during Q1 2023, on the assumption that the current mine and plant performance continues.”
- BlueRock remain in discussions with Tim Leslie and Mr M Poole over the repayment of a £462,500 convertible loan note which was due for repayment on 16 October with an instalment repayment plan expected to be agreed.
- We expect much of the additional cost inflation in fuel, lubricants and other services to be offset by the impact of the weakening rand against the US dollar.
- 2022 Guidance:
- Production: 600-700,000t vs 620-670,000t previously
- Diamond production: 20,000-22,000 vs 20,000-24,000cts – not much of a downgrade but disappointingly not an upgrade
- Grade: 2.96-3.2cpht vs 3.25-3.5cpht – the downgrade in grade is disappointing
- Value per carat: $500-570/ct from $500-600/ct – this may reflect some softening in the market
- Revenue: $10-12.5m vs $10.0-14.4m
- 2023 Guidance:
- Production: 900-1,000,000t vs 875-970,000t .
- Diamond production: 35,000-41,000cts – unchanged.
- Grade 3.7-4.1cpht vs 4.0-4.3cpht – we wonder if this reflects the challenges of grade control with the pushback
- Value per carat: $500/ct – appears relatively conservative compared with this year’s auction prices.
- Revenue: $17.5m - $20.5m - unchanged.
Diamond market: We expect rough diamond prices to pull back as jewellers take stock on the market in the run up to Christmas.
Competition from a fall in prices for synthetic diamonds may not help pricing and demand for natural mined diamonds in the short term.
We expect lower prices for synthetic diamonds to erode confidence in this market in the longer term with the retailers providing better differentiation between synthetic and natural diamonds going forward.
Conclusion: We look forward to news on sales in the November tender. We are hopeful for news on the recovery of more, larger, diamonds as ore production ramps up from higher grade areas within the mine.
*SP Angel acts as nomad and broker to Bluerock Diamonds. The analyst holds shares in BlueRock Diamonds.
Condor Gold PLC (AIM:CNR, TSX:COG, OTC:CNDGF)* 21.5p, Mkt Cap £35.3m – Quarterly results highlight the open-pit mine feasibility study and continuing advances in metallurgy and mineral resources at La India and wider district scale exploration opportunities CLICK FOR PDF
- On 22nd November, Condor Gold announced that it had appointed advisors to “seek a buyer” for its La India Gold project in Nicaragua where it has advanced the project to a Feasibility study, published in October.
- Chief Executive, Mark Child, explained that “The Board has reviewed the Company’s options including going through a financing and construction phase as a single asset, single jurisdiction company with no existing gold production and has concluded it is in the best interests of the Company and all stakeholders to sell the assets of the Company to a gold producer with mine building expertise”.
- Mr. Child explained that this approach would ensure “a significant investment in the local area and a regeneration of the local communities”.
*SP Angel act as a broker to Condor Gold
Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE)* 1.9p, Mkt Cap £8.1m – Field activities commence at Pitfield Copper Project
- Empire reports it has begun field work at its large and underexplored Pitfled Project in Western Australia.
- Work will follow up on historical geochemical and aeromagnetic data, that suggested a reginal anomaly over 40km on the license, within the Yandanooka Basin, which is known to host widespread copper, silver, nickel and zinc anomalism.
- Initial work at Pitfield will consist of geological surface mapping and soil sampling, ahead of further IP surveying in Q1 2023 which is expected to further delineate drill targets.
*SP Angel acts as nomad and broker to Empire Metals
GreenRoc Mining PLC (AIM:GROC) 3.90p, Mkt Cap £4.34m – GreenRoc appoints engineers to work on graphite concentrates from Greenland mine
- GreenRoc has appointed ProGraphite to act as an adviser to GreenRoc on graphite processing, sales and marketing.
- UVR-FIA GmbH, a German process engineer is also appointed to complete test work on a 700kg bulk sample of graphite ore from the Amitsoq mine.
- Core samples have been sent to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland for detailed mineralogical and petrographical studies to support the proces plant design and other testwork.
- GreenRoc’s ceo, Stefan Bernstein recently visited Asbury Graphite and Carbons NL, Maastricht offices alongside initial exploratory meetings with representatives of European car manufacturers and gigafactories.
- Amitsoq has a current, reported, JORC resource of 8.28Mt ore grading 19.75% graphite.
- Recent drill results, when incorporated into the resource should show a meaningful increase in the scale of the resource.
Mkango Resources Ltd (AIM:MKA, TSX-V:MKA, OTC:MKNGF)* 15.2p, Mkt Cap £32m – HyProMag GmbH awarded €3.7m grant to progress European NdFeB recycling
(Mkango’s subsidiary, Maginito, holds a 42% interest in HyProMag Limited, with an option to increase its interest to 49%. HyProMag GmbH is 80% owned by HyProMag Limited.)
- HyProMag GmbH has been awarded a total of €3.7m in grants for a new project in Germany aiming to progress infrastructure and recycled NdFeB production capacity ahead of commercial production.
- The project, expected to cost €6.1m and titled "Innovation Centre for Science & Economy Northern Black Forest IZWW”, has received €2.5m from the European Regional Development Fund and €1.2m from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism Baden-Württemberg.
- Phase one includes development of a production facility in Baden-Württemberg State with a minimum capacity of 100tpa NdFeB comprising recycled rare earth sintered magnets, alloy pellets and powders.
- The initial facility will be a similar size top the £4.3m project being developed by HyProMag Limited and the University of Birmingham at Tyseley Energy Park in the UK.
- Hypromag’s current focus is on developing its patented HPMS (Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap) technology that sees NdFeB alloys reduced to a powder to enable their extraction from spent electronics and subsequently reused.
- The group have previously taken magnets from end-of-life products subjected to the HPMS process to create a powder feedstock that was chemically characterised, purified, and re-sintered into a new magnet with minor additions of new rare-earth hybrid material.
- A key aim at Tyseley is developing a semi-continuous version of the HPMS process on a production line, while also producing magnets at multiple grades to match the requirements for a range of applications.
Conclusion: Mkango are developing a suite of cutting-edge projects in the rare earth recycling space, the importance of which is reflected in the receipt of government funding aiming to stimulate growth in this area. The company is making strong progress with its Mine, Refine, Recycle strategy through completing a feasibility study at Songwe Hill and progressing a study at the proposed Pulawy separation facility.
*SP Angel acts as Nomad and Broker to Mkango Resources
OreCorp Ltd (ASX:ORR) A$0.38, Mkt Cap A$152m – Nyanzaga Gold Project funding discussions update
- The Company received indicative debt funding proposals for the development and construction of the Nyanzaga Gold Project located in north western Tanzania.
- The team reports of non-binding expressions of interest received from European, African and Tanzanian banks for more than US$400m, in excess of the planned US$300m debt target.
- Discussions with potential credit funds, royalty and streaming providers as complimentary funding sources to develop Nyanzaga are said to have started.
- The Nyanzaga DFS released in August envisaged a 4mtpa CIL plant fed by the material from an open pit and underground and averaging ~230kozpa at ~US$950/oz AISC over 10y LOM.
- Development capex is estimated at US$474m with the project carrying NPV5% (post tax) and IRR (post tax) US$618m and 25%, respectively (using $1,750/oz gold price).
- The Nyanzaga project hosts 40.1mt at 2.02g/t for 2.6moz in Reserves.
SolGold PLC (LSE:SOLG, TSX:SOLG, OTC:SLGGF)* 17p, Mkt Cap £393m – US$36m raised with Jiangxi Copper taking a ~6% stake in the Company
- Jiangxi Copper along with a number of investors agreed to buy 180m shares at US$0.20/sh (~17p) raising US$36m for the Company.
- Jiangxi will be subscribing for 155m shares and will hold ~6.3% of the issued share capital post the raise.
- Jinagxi Copper is the largest integrated copper producer in mainland China with a market capitalisation of HKD53bn (US$6.8bn) and involved in mining, smelting and refining of copper.
*SP Angel acts as Financial Advisor to SolGold
Thor Mining PLC (AIM:THR, OTC:THORF, ASX:THR) 0.45p, Mkt Cap £8.6m – A$48m farm in agreement to accelerate exploration at Molyhil
- Thor Mining has announced that it has signed an A$8m farm-in agreement with ASX listed Investigator Resources to accelerate the exploration of its wholly-owned Molyhil project in Australia’s Northern Territory approximately 220km northeast of Alice Springs.
- Molyhil has a combined (Measured, Indicated & Inferred) mineral resource estimate of 4.4mt at an average grade of 0.27% tungsten trioxide, 0.1% molybdenum and 0.05% copper.
- Under the agreement, following at initial A$100,000 payment, Investigator Resources’ wholly owned subsidiary, Fram Resource, is committed to A$1m of exploration expenditure over the next 18 months in order to earn a 25% interest.
- A second stage of the earn in provides for the expenditure of a further A$2m over the next 18 months to earn a further 26% of the project followed by a third stage commitment of a further A$5m of exploration by the end of a six year period from the start of the agreement to earn an additional 26% interest in Molyhil.
- At the end of the first phase of the agreement, Fram will also acquire Thor Mining’s 40% interest in the Bonya exploration licence located around 30km NE of Molyhil.
- Thor Mining explains that the “agreement enables Thor to focus on its priority USA Uranium assets and the multi-commodity Ragged Range Project, [which Managing Director, Nicole Galloway Warland described as] … where we see the most significant and nearest-term value potential within Thor's portfolio” while retaining an interest in the Molyhil Project.
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Sources of commodity prices
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Gold ETFs, Steel - Bloomberg
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Thermal Coal - Bloomberg OTC Composite
Coking Coal - SSY
RRE - Steelhome
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