Copper Scrum Continues | So Do Mini-Midi Gold Takeovers
Plus: Carbon-capture; Deutsche Goldmesse event; Turquoise Hill
More copper: Privately held Peru concession ownerCoppernicoMetals says it will get, upon closing, $15 million CAD from a “major mining company” via a 9.9% strategic placement.
Canadian Ivan Bebek says both parties prefer to wait until the investment closes before naming the large miner.
Regardless, this is another example of the current copper scrum as large gold and copper miners seek more of the industrial metal.
Miners in the far north tell me one candidate for this Coppernico stake is Teck Resources TECK, which has a joint venture copper project in Peru called Cobreorco – with Condor Resources.See boilerplate here please.
If you recall, we talked to Ivan in December 2023. Since then, Ivan has been pursuing drilling permits for his southern Peru Sombrero project
See that December ’23 report for Ivan’s pub-co background. He had success with Keegan in Ghana a decade ago and an Auryn Resources-Fury Gold Mines transaction more recently. The Calandra Report here please.
Darwin Green and Rick van Nieuwenhuyse: Alaska
Sombrero is a skarn-market cluster of targets in southern Peru near the well known Las Bambas copper deposit, which I have seen.
“The copper deficit has been with us for 10 years, and it takes 25 years to get a mine into production,” Ivan, 47, says. His thesis is that “we have the next Las Bambas” with Sombrero.
Alaska
Another mini-midi transaction: Alaska’s Contango Ore CTGO in a $51 million CAD offer that will see it buy Highgold Mining HIGH. Pending shareholder approval.
[TCRs, for HIGH holders, the attraction here, as it was with mini-mid takeover share-deal ALAMOS GOLD-ORFORD MINING this year, and others, is the stock they will get. If (when?) CTGO, an NYSE stock, rises, the Highgold ‘take-under’ will see its pending value rise. Osino Resources OSI, Namibia gold, is another mini-midi ‘take-under,’ albeit all cash from a China mining conglomerate.]
Darwin Green of Highgold has been developing Johnson Tract in the Alaska north. Rick van Nieuwenhuyse of Contango is running a dual-mine-co with CTGO’s Kinross Gold partnership at Manh Choh and the Lucky Shot gold exploration project.
Johnson Tract will make it three mines. Manh Choh gold ore is scheduled this summer to be shipped to Kinross Gold plant Fort Knox in Alaska in the CTGO-Kinross venture.
Where could the high-grade, 10-gram-plus underground ore (both Lucky Shot and Johnson Tract) go to be processed?
Rick of Contango to me this morning: “There are a number of mills to consider processing high grade ores from Lucky Shot and/or JT. Keep in mind that if our grade is higher, there is always a business deal to be made if the mill is processing lower grade – high grade will always displace lower grade.”
As it turns out, after being pointed to Coeur Mining‘s Q1 this week by a miner with industry savvy, the Kensington mine and plant is looking to extend its approx, 5-year mine life for sometimes misfiring Coeur CDE with a “resource expansion.” That could allow for higher-grade ore from Lucky Shot, or Johnson Tract, or both. See Kensington boilerplate please.
“This Highgold deal saves capital, reduces timelines (underground permitting, roads, environmental approvals. Makes sense because Alaska does not have a lot of infrastructure,” Rick said. “JT (Johnson Tract) is next to the water; water is your infrastructure.”
“It just takes too long (to develop mines),” Darwin said. “That is what kills us in this business. Rick knows how to permit mines.”
The Contango CEO was behind NovaGold and Trilogy Metals TMQ, each active in Alaska. Trilogy is slogging through Interior Department resistance to a planned 200-mile-plus industrial road for its Ambler Project. At some point this year, TMQ’s shell-shocked shares will recover — as the federal government yields to community and Alaska state supporters, I believe. Latest TMQ boilerplate here.
The legislation, another sanction against Russia, which is or was providing 12% or so of non-enricheduranium to America according to some estimates, was in the cards — widely expected. Russia’s enriched uranium is said to power up to 25% of America’s commercial reactors, U.S. Department of Energy figures show.
Uranium sales from Russia to America also might originate in Kazakhstan, the largest uranium producing nation.
“The Russian suspend agreement already was in place that was reducing Russian sales to the U.S. considerably,” GovieEx Uranium’s GXU Daniel Major says from London. (New development in Niger for GoviEx here please.)
Uranium’s spot price looks to be holding ahead of the weekend at $92 a pound.
I asked Cory Belyk just now of CanAlaska Uranium CVV just how pragmatic are the White House’s sweeping carbon-capture, fossil-fuels, speedy permitting and numerous other greenhouse spending proposals via the Department of Energy and the ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AGENCY. See Washington press release here please.
According to Global Carbon Capture & Storage Institute, 194 large-scale CCS facilities worldwide in 2022 compared to 51 in 2019 CO2 capture capacity of all CCS facilities under development grew to 244 million tonnes per annum in 2022, up 44% over the year.
“It could be realized,” Cory, CanAlaska CEO and perpetual uranium optimist, said. “I think it may become more real than not if the Democrats get in again.” He added from Canada, the G7 this week stated all coal plants are to be replaced with cleaner energy sources, including nuclear, by 2035.”
You know the 5 uranium companies we own here at home. Go toThomCalandra.comfor the list please.
I also own in this report: Contango, Ivanhoe Mines IVN IVPAF.
Deutsche Goldmesse Saturday: Kai Hoffman, organizer, at podium [Courtesy of John McConnell, Victoria Gold]
TCRs, a note – the English translation of the original Ivanhoe Mines’ Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold deposit in Mongolia is Turquoise Hill. The controlling pub-co of the same name is now part of Rio Tinto and the government of Mongolia’s partnership there.
Companies we track and-or we own here at home: several are presenting in Frankfurt this weekend at Kai Hoffman’s twice-yearly event, Deutsche Goldmesse.They include Victoria Gold, QC Copper & Gold, Delta Resources, Vior, EarthLabs and Fireweed Metals.See list here please.
