Carnaby Starts Drilling in Mallina, Pilbara.
Following our mention of De Grey Mining’s Hemi project in the Mallina Basin we follow up with this announcement by Carnaby Resources (CNB) of a 400-hole, 8,500 m aircore drilling program at its 100% owned Strelley project in the Mallina Basin, Pilbara of Western Australia.
The initial aircore drilling program will be completed on a nominal 320 x 80 m spacing across several priority targets including the Palisade target where a 300-500m wide bottom of hole gold anomaly is open in all directions.
Results from the aircore drilling will be prioritised and will be immediately followed up by a second drill rig which will initiate a 3,500 m RC program, for deeper drill testing of the high priority targets starting in mid-November 2020.
Carnaby has also locked in a 3rd RC / Diamond drill rig to commence diamond drilling targeting the highly prospective Tick Hill North offset target in Qld coupled with an RC program targeting the direct extension of the Tick Hill main lode into the northern wall of the historical open pit. The Tick Hill drilling is expected to commence in mid-November 2020.
The Company’s Managing Director, Rob Watkins commented: “We look forward with high anticipation to completing the maiden Carnaby drilling programs at Strelley in the Mallina Basin of the Pilbara and homing in on the extension of high-grade Tick Hill gold deposit in Queensland, both of which have the potential to produce company transforming results”
Blackstone Minerals Releases Scoping Study.
A scoping study was released by Blackstone Minerals (BSX) for their Ta Khoa nickel project in Vietnam. The Australian based company is bullish the project will deliver great outcomes for the company. The key points to come from the study are:
Maiden Ban Phuc DSS indicated resource of 44.3Mt @ 0.52% Ni for 229kt Ni and Inferred Mineral Resource of 14.3Mt @ 0.35% Ni for 50kt Ni;
Annual production of 12.7ktpa Ni over 8.5-year project life; Gross Revenue of US$3.27 billion;
Net pre-tax cashflow of US$1.2 billion; Pre-tax cashflow of US$176mpa;
Pre‐tax NPV8% of US$665m and 45% IRR; www.blackstoneminerals.com.au
Capital Payback Period of 2.5 years;
Economically robust nickel sulphide project able to produce downstream nickel: cobalt: manganese (NCM) Precursor products for the Lithium-ion battery industry;
Downstream processing utilises existing well-tested technology;
Blackstone’s downstream NCM Precursor product significantly improves the pay ability of nickel, from ~70-80% to ~125-135% of LME metal prices;
Upside opportunities include staged capex, by-product credits (including copper, gold, platinum, palladium and rhodium), King Cobra Discovery Zone (KCZ), Ban Chang, Ta Cuong and 25 untested massive sulphide vein (MSV) targets.
SO4, Lake Way Project continues on schedule
SO4 (SO4) released an update to the market about its Lake Way project and the key points to date. The site construction of the plant is running to schedule. The process plant site concrete foundations poured by Flanco are 97% complete, installation of structural steel supplied by Metro Steel has commenced and first carbon steel tanks have been installed by Proweld.
The long lead procurement items have commenced arriving on site including the Veolia crystallisers with associated components and tanks, and transformers from Wilson.
The permanent village, construction village, warehouse, workshop, administration, reagents, laboratory, ablutions and crib rooms have all been completed and 4G communications has been installed across site.
The development of On-Lake infrastructure continues to progress. Work commenced on the fourth pond train and 62km of trenches have now been completed. The Paleochannel drilling programme continues with the seventh bore completed. All bores have intercepted basal sands in line with the model prediction.
With finance in place the project is expected to continue on schedule with production of the first sulphate of Potash in the 2021 March quarter.
Rio Tinto Release 3rd Quarter Production Results.
Some key points to come from Rio Tinto’s (RIO) 3rd quarter production results are:
All Injury Frequency Rate (AIFR) of 0.35 has improved through 2020 versus 2019 (0.42). They have successfully adapted their assets and offices to the new operating conditions associated with COVID-19 and continue to closely manage this risk to protect our people and communities.
Pilbara operations are returning to more normal operating conditions with rosters back to pre-COVID-19 settings although controls to protect their employees, contractors and communities remain in place. Total material moved was a record for the quarter with Pilbara iron ore production of 86.4 million tonnes (100% basis), 1% lower than the third quarter of 2019. A recovery in planned maintenance activity in the port led to 5% lower shipments.
Aluminium production of 0.8 million tonnes in the third quarter was 1% higher than the third quarter of 2019 with stable operations across our smelter portfolio.
Third quarter mined copper was 18% lower than the same period of 2019 due to lower grade at Kennecott as a result of pit sequencing to accommodate the extended smelter shutdown. Refined copper was 57% lower, primarily due to delays in restarting the Kennecott smelter.
Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques said “We have delivered a good operational performance across most of our assets catching up on planned maintenance activity, particularly in iron ore, and continuing to adapt to new operating conditions as we learn to live with COVID-19. We have maintained our capex guidance and our 2020 production guidance across our key products.
Emeco Repays 2022 Notes
Emeco has announce it has repaid US$142 million, representing 100% of the 31 March 2022 notes outstanding.
The repayment of the 2022 Notes was funded from the net proceeds of the recently completed underwritten A$149 million pro rata entitlement offer and existing cash on hand. The note repayment will reduce annual interest costs by $19 million per year.
As previously announced, Emeco recently completed the refinancing of US$180 million (A$247 million3) of the 2022 Notes, replacing them with notes with an extended maturity date of 31 March 2024 (2024 Notes).
The completion of the refinancing and repayment of the 2022 Notes activates an option for Emeco to extend the maturity of its $97 million revolving credit facility to September 2023. This secures the long-term liquidity of the Company.
Emeco Managing Director and CEO, Mr Ian Testrow, commented: “We are pleased to complete the package of initiatives that provide Emeco with the strongest balance sheet in our history as a public company with net leverage of 0.9×1. We are excited to now be in a position to have the flexibility to implement a complete capital allocation framework, including distributions to shareholders in the future, as appropriate.”
Mr Testrow, continued: “With longer tenor on significantly reduced total debt and lower interest expense, we are set to generate strong free cash flow in the years ahead. This allows the Emeco team to fully focus on running the business and continue our evolution to becoming a leading mining services solutions provider.”