Everybody is claiming to have “Critical Metals/Minerals” these days. Desperados in the copper space are the most shameless at touting this claim, while the most ludicrous are those in the gold space (though that goes without saying).

But how to measure what is and what isn’t critical?

Rankings

Criticality and Chinese dominance have become popular themes over the last decade with the British Geological Survey’s (BGS) first Criticality ranking in 2011 (in the midst of the Rare Earth boom) firing the starting gun on a race between countries to define what is critical to their own circumstances.

All attempts at ranking criticality are bound to run into criticism with different pundits and different economies perceiving different needs. Moreover, circumstances change, as Cesium showed when it went from being dominated by the US to being dominated by China when the US, fecklessly, let Sinomines acquire Cabot’s specialty fluids division. In our perception, Tungsten is not as critical as it was due to numerous non-Chinese developments in the pipeline.

Of all the Criticality lists the BGS one was the only one giving scoring to the metals and then producing degrees of risk to supply. Moreover, it gives the impression of being focused upon which metals are at risk (largely from China-dominance, though unstated) rather than saying (as the JOGMEC list does) that certain metals are critical for a specific (i.e. Japan’s) economy.

Criticality as Semantics

Metals rankings have now become like radio stations’ Top 40 lists of days gone by. However, it may just be a matter of international semantics as to what the word “critical” actually implies.

Some are saying that this means a metal is vital to an economy (which of course iron ore is to every economy) but others are interpreting it as being that the supply is in some way threatened or vulnerable. And the latter is where the China Factor is invoked. Europe meanwhile wants to fence-sit and pretends that it is not accusing the Chinese of wielding a big stick threatening EU industries (when really the Chinese are being threatening indeed).

The BGS by using the word “Risk” did not mince its words. Everyone knew what it meant. Chinese dominance meant supply could be turned off.

Rising Tide of Concern?

The financial media chattering about Chinese dominance of particular metals is one thing, but it is when the average householder gets concerned that the issue really becomes popular. Giving a speech several years ago on Erbium and 5G we noted that few, if any, of the public even knew that the jump from black & white TVs to colour TVs was made possible by Europium and behind that lay the Mountain Pass mine.

For the public, the new 5G technology seems to come out of the ether, literally, and thus it is not a good idea to ask too many questions about what metals make it happen because one would find out that (notwithstanding Huawei’s involvement) the REE component (Erbium) in 5G largely is China-sourced or China-processed. Who amongst the Great Unwashed (or experts) can tell us where other 5G inputs, like Scandium, Cesium and Tantalum, come from?

Alarm bells though have been ringing in the C-Suites (of Germany and South Korea, more than Detroit) about the vulnerability of the EV “revolution” to Chinese machinations and that has set off a furious hunt for non-Chinese supply chains.

Curiously though, the European list does not include Lithium amongst the critical metals, though this is probably predicated upon its upstream supplies being mainly from “friendly” sources such as Australia, Argentina and Chile. But with China dominating conversion of Lithium into Lithium ion batteries (and having a stranglehold on Cobalt from the DRC) it does not pay to be so simplistic in calculating where one’s sources might be.

Ergo, with China being the principal midstream processor, can one be so blithely dismissive of the criticality of Lithium?

The various surveys that followed on the heels of the original BGS Criticality rankings now reinforce the sheer number of metals at risk, though as one can see below each agency producing these lists has differing views of the criticality of different metals within their remit.

We can note from the lists above that the US regards most metals as having some degree of criticality.

Conclusion

The critical metals space is torn with rising demand for metals that have seen little, to no, development since before the Commodity Supercycle even began and is now seeing a secular decline in Chinese production due to over-production, exhaustion and environmental devastation. This makes for a rather dramatic tug of war.

It is now clear that the genie set free by Trump’s seemingly prophetic “Trade War” of the Chinese threat to supplies cannot be put back in its bottle. The “love” of the US industrial complex’s for cheap Chinese minerals has now even been called into question. We doubt that the East Asians (i.e. Japan, Korea and Taiwan) and the Germans can ever be easily lulled back into a false sense of security (of supply) by the Chinese.

The legacy of underinvestment and the lack of capital markets’ interest in specialty metals stories (beyond momentary pump-and-dumps) combined with the Chinese massive own goal in splurging its resource base in predatory pricing and, frankly, dumping over three decades has made for a secular crisis in metals supplies.

This crisis is likely to be enduring and will definitely result in the long-term higher prices (even shortages).

All the chatter does not provide money for projects. Unfortunately, it is only metal price spikes that seem to do so. The soaring price of Lithium and Cobalt in 2017 was a case in point and then the Vanadium surge of 2018. However, the REE putsch of mid-2019 waxed and waned so fast that no party got any financings done before the brief window of opportunity slammed shut.

Less sexier metals never even get their day in the sun. Tellurium or Cesium could quadruple and it would not generate more than a muffled whisper in the trade journals. The same for individual Rare Earths such as Erbium and Dysprosium.

We are of the opinion that the critical “state” of the metals world will remain as long as the West is not self-sufficient in its supply of specialty metals. The Chinese have shown themselves to be malevolent players and that was while they had the whiphand in many metals. As they start to lose their grip the frustrations will start to rise, already we are starting to see some rancour in relations with Burma over neo-colonial resources policies being imposed by China on its neighbour. Other Belt-and-Road “beneficiaries” have found that Chinese largesse comes at a hefty price. Is this mere sparring or the first shots in a monumental struggle over the world’s most crucial mineral resources?

In retrospect, Trump’s “Trade War” of 2018-20 may be seen as the “phoney war” phase of a much bigger tussle over access to the world’s scarce specialty metals resources. The criticality rankings are the playlists for the background music as this plays out.

Note from Publisher: Next week – on Wednesday, November 9th in Toronto, the inaugural Critical Minerals Summit is on! To secure a delegates pass, click here  — READ: Summit to Address the Impact of the $1.2 Trillion EV Market Demand by 2030 on the Critical Minerals Sector

In this InvestorIntel interview with host Tracy Weslosky, Auxico Resources Canada Inc.’s (CSE: AUAG) Chairman and CEO Pierre Gauthier talks about recently announced off-take agreements for tantalum and tin and successful trades of rare earths from its DRC project.

In the interview, which can also be viewed in full on the InvestorIntel YouTube channel (click here), Pierre explains that “we’re in the rare earth business but the byproducts are as important as the earths themselves… What we’re looking at is to start off by producing a concentrate of tin with off-take agreements for tin. It’s a large market and easy market to access.” Auxico’s Massangana project in Brazil has 30 million tons of tailings with a 0.65 tin content, as well as niobium, tantalum and monazite. “It puts us on third base in terms of a project in terms of cash flow,” he tells Tracy, and “if we could be making cash flow from tin and niobium then those are tremendous credits against rare earths and reduce our cost of producing rare earths just about down to nothing.”

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About Auxico Resources Canada Inc.

Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (“Auxico” or the “Company”) is a Canadian company that was founded in 2014 and based in Montreal. Auxico is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

To learn more about Auxico Resources Canada Inc., click here

Disclaimer: Auxico Resources Canada Inc. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorIntel Corp., (IIC), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all the material information concerning the “Company” being interviewed. IIC offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on Sedar.com and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

If you have any questions surrounding the content of this interview, please contact us at +1 416 792 8228 and/or email us direct at [email protected].

A pleasant surprise is always a nice thing. These days it seems that any time you see the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq in positive territory on the day it’s considered a pleasant surprise. But that’s not what I’m talking about. What I’m referring to is a situation where you are a junior mining company in hot pursuit of a valuable and globally in-demand commodity, like rare earths, and you come across decent grades of gold, platinum and titanium, at surface no less. I believe that is what you call “having your cake and eating it too”, if you are at all familiar with that expression. If that phrase means nothing to you, then let’s stick with a pleasant surprise.

The company that looks like it’s blessed with an abundance of riches is Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG), a Canadian company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They are a combination project generator, miner, processor and marketer all rolled up into one, with a focus on the production of critical minerals and high-value metals, including niobium, tantalum, platinum group metals (such as platinum and iridium), and rare earth elements. Additionally, Auxico is the exclusive trade agent for rare earth concentrates from the DRC. The Company owns directly or through joint ventures, mineral rights in Colombia, Bolivia, and Brazil, with access to close to 4 million tonnes of critical minerals and rare earth elements – the largest deposits outside of China.

But today we are going to focus on their Minastyc Property in Vichada, Colombia, where Auxico recently announced the granting of a mining permit (specifically a Work Plan Authorization) from the National Mining Agency of Colombia. This is a very significant development for the Company because Auxico will now be able to move forward with the formal purchase of the Minastyc Property from its current owner. The approval of the Work Plan was the last condition in the purchase agreement. This leaves one step left, a site visit by representatives of Corporinoquia (the Colombian environmental agency), before the Company will be able to move equipment on site, including heavy machinery for bulk sampling and a processing facility, which will enable Auxico to move towards making a production decision for small-scale mining operations.

In the meantime, Auxico has been busy at the Minastyc Property having previously announced a NI 43-101 Technical Evaluation Report on March 28^th of this year with highlights including a 3.2 tonne bulk sample from two locations of the Area 50 pit resulting in a 7.7 kg fine concentrate returning Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) grading 68.32% and 65.67% respectively from the two locations. Back in October 2021 the Company reported the discovery of platinum group metals (PGM’s) in samples including Sample 1 with 42.8% titanium, 25.4% niobium, and 8.3% tantalum while Sample 2, found in a different zone on the property, originating from a rock sample containing 30.4% tantalum, 23.3% niobium and 24.5% titanium.

But the fun doesn’t end there. The latest results published by Auxico show gold, platinum, titanium, zirconium and hafnium test results on samples taken from the Area 50, TA Area and two other areas from the Minastyc property. At this point, it’s almost easier to talk about what metal or mineral they don’t have on this property. All joking aside, highlights from the latest fourteen samples, taken from pits in the first metre from surface in these areas, gave an average head grade of 9.5 g/t of gold, and 13.5 g/t of platinum from 8 of the 14 samples that returned grade. Additionally, the Company reported the discovery of 24.5% titanium, 7.8% zirconium, and 2.4 kilograms of hafnium. And if those grades aren’t enough to get your attention, then perhaps the fact that the Company suggests that based on these field observations and from the satellite interpretation, an estimated minimum of 250,000 tonnes of material is represented by this Ferricrete layer in the first metre from surface at Area 50 and the TA area.

All this explains why Auxico is presently coordinating the site visit with Corporinoquia and expects the visit to occur near term. With these kinds of grades literally at surface they could be generating a decent revenue stream in short order to help finance further exploration, a preliminary resource estimate or whatever they determine is the best use of funds.

With a market cap of C$55 million, this isn’t one of those undiscovered companies that provides an almost free option on their exploration. However, with almost every valuable hard rock commodity on the planet concentrated in one spot with pretty impressive grades, any expansion in size could be a boon to shareholders. And I didn’t even touch on the myriad of other interesting opportunities going on at Auxico Resources that you can explore on your own at their website.

Apparently, my “watchlist” is far too large these days. When I circle around to have a look at some of the names on the list, I’m often shocked by the progress they’ve made since the last time I looked at them. Fortunately, in some cases, I can potentially still purchase the stock at a price comparable to the last time I reviewed it, despite its success in the interim. Today is a great example of this. It’s a stock that I last wrote about in June 2021. Since that time the Company has continued to grow its revenue and be profitable, increased the cash on its balance sheet, pays a quarterly dividend and yesterday closed 6.5% lower than it was trading at the beginning of last June.

That company is Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO), which is currently trading at 17x trailing 12-month earnings, has a 2.5% dividend yield and over $2/share of cash sitting on the balance sheet. These may not seem like outstanding metrics for an industrial stock as compared to its peers but Neo Performance is not like its industrial peers. They are sitting squarely in the driver’s seat of the green revolution. Neo manufactures the building blocks of many modern technologies that enhance efficiency and sustainability. The Company’s advanced industrial materials – magnetic powders and magnets, specialty chemicals, metals, and alloys – are critical to the performance of many everyday products and emerging technologies. Neo’s products are used in numerous end-use applications including micro motors, traction motors, auto catalysts, water pollution controls, healthcare (such as medical imaging), aerospace, clean energy technologies (such as HEVs and EVs), consumer electronics (such as smartphones and tablets), fiber optics, HDDs and a number of other applications.

Not only is Neo involved in the manufacturing of materials integral to a sustainable future, but there’s also the old real estate adage – location, location, location. The Company’s Estonian facility is the only commercial producer of rare earths in Europe and one of only two producers of aerospace-grade tantalum and niobium in the EU. A key business focus is to meet the rapidly growing demand for magnetic rare earths in Europe, which are needed by electric vehicles and high-efficiency electric motors. Neo is partnering with industry and government leaders across Europe with an aim toward helping establish production in Europe of sintered neo magnets to help meet demand using rare earth feedstock from North America and elsewhere outside of China. If you are like me and that last sentence is a little over your head, I encourage you to go to the Company’s website and click on all the “Learn More” boxes. It’s pretty fascinating stuff, even if I still didn’t understand a lot of it.

As bullish as this sounds, coupled with a track record of success and growth over the last couple of years, I can see a couple of things that may account for the uninspired performance of the stock price of late. The first is that 37% of corporate revenue in 2021 came from Chinese customers. With China’s zero tolerance COVID policy and lockdown after lockdown making the news headlines, investors may wonder if Q1/22 financials might be impacted. They might, but that is somewhat short sighted in my opinion. Yes, I realize COVID has been annoying us for over 2 years now, but the world is adapting and starting to get on with life. It’s possible there could be an impact to Q1 numbers but if there is, I would simply view that as a buying opportunity if the stock were to sell off (assuming this was the sole reason). Secondly, investors might be concerned that Estonia is a neighbor of Russia and formerly part of the USSR, which Putin seems to want to reunify. However, Estonia is part of NATO (and the EU), and thus not likely to be in Putin’s sights anytime soon as I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to stick his hand in that hornet’s nest, especially given how poorly things are going for him in Ukraine at present. So without trying to understate the atrocities and humanitarian crisis going on in Ukraine, I personally don’t view there to be much, if any, risk to Neo’s Estonian assets.

As the market is tending to drift towards value and industrial stocks with the specter of rising interest rates making investors second guess the multiples applied to tech stocks, assuming they even have earnings, one could question why Neo’s stock price is trading far closer to its 52 week low instead of its 52 week high. Even if it were considered a “show me” stock, I would suggest looking at the last 4 (or more) quarterly earnings and question what else investors might be looking for. Net income, positive cash flow, virtually no debt and a 2.5% dividend yield put Neo Performance on a pretty good footing. Then consider the upside of the business segment they are involved in and one can make a strong case for taking a closer look at Neo Performance Materials.

Today we take a look at a company that is focused on some of the most valuable metals, critical and precious, globally. This company has both mining and exploration stage project interests in multiple countries as well as its own high-value metals cracking and leaching technology. It is also involved in non-fuel minerals marketing and trading.

Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG) (“Auxico“) is focused on the production and trading of critical and other high–value metals such as tantalum, niobium, iridium, tin, and the rare earths; as well as gold and the platinum group metals. Auxico owns directly or through joint ventures mineral rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, and Ivory Coast. Auxico also has the worldwide rights to an environmentally friendly, non-mercury, non-cyanide gold and silver extraction process; and it is proposing to build mercury and cyanide-free gold and silver processing plants. Auxico’s cracking and leaching extraction technology (UAEx) can be used fin the processing of a variety of critical and high–value metals to improve yields and economics.

Auxico’s global projects location map

Source: Auxico Resources company presentation

Auxico’s high-grade rare earths projects, plus tantalum and niobium

Auxico’s recent focus is on two very high-grade rare earths projects, in Colombia and Brazil, with a strategy of positioning the Company to be a major supplier of rare earths to North America.

Auxico Columbia properties

Auxico has acquired a total of 1,482 hectares of mineral rights and surface rights to properties (Minastyc, Agualinda) located in the municipality of Puerto Carreño, Colombia. The Properties are located within a strategic area designated by the Colombian Government for its potential for tantalum, niobium and the rare earths.

Auxico state (January 2022 company presentation):

“AUXICO has made a significant discovery of high–value rare earth ore in Colombia, with a total rare earth content of 56.81%. Subsequent to a sampling program of 23 pits, samples from the Company–controlled property were sent to Canada and analyzed by Coalia Research Institute in Thetford Mines, Canada. Test results on a sample from a separate pit on the property resulted in 47% tin content, as well as with tantalum, niobium, scandium and rare earth credits. The pitting program was conducted on the property subsequent to a satellite imagery interpretation study which identified in excess of 20 priority exploration targets that are in the process of being sampled.”

Note: Bold emphasis by the author.

Auxico Columbia has the highest global TREO content by weight at 56.81 wt%

Source: Auxico Resources company presentation

Auxico Brazil JV

Auxico has an option to enter into a JV for the development of their properties in Brazil with a total rare earth oxide content of up to 63.49%. This is also exceptionally high.

Auxico’s business strategy is a mix between high value metals exploration, processing, marketing & trading from multiple projects globally

Source: Auxico Resources company presentation

Note: Coltan is an ore that contains niobium and tantalum. Niobium was originally named “columbium” thus columbium and tantalum = coltan.

In addition to the above rare earth projects, Auxico has an MOU agreement with Minampro Asociados S.A.S for the exploitation and trading of industrial sands (tantalum ore) originating from Vichada, Colombia.

Auxico also recently signed a JV to acquire a 70% interest in a rare earth property in Bolivia. What is very interesting is that the property has “confirmed the presence of pegmatite veins containing lithium mineralization, as well as high-grade cesium and rubidium mineralization, and various rare earths.”

High-value metals extraction and processing

Auxico has several agreements in place to process high-value metals. In Columbia, Auxico plans to build a 10,000 square meter rare earth refining facility. In the DRC, Auxico has signed a JV agreement with Kibara Minerals for the concentration and export of tantalum and niobium ores.

Auxico state: “AUXICO has licensed a patent–pending environmentally friendly extraction technology (UAEx) for the processing of high–value metals. The UAEx process is very effective on high–value rare earth samples, achieving +80% recoveries of select rare earth elements over a 2–hour leaching time.”

Marketing and trading of metal ores

Auxico is also involved with marketing and selling manganese ore from Brazil, an MOU for exploitation and commercialization of tantalum, niobium, iridium and tin from industrial sands located in Bolivia, and has a LOI for the exploitation and trading of tantalum and iridium bearing minerals from the Ivory Coast.

Closing remarks

Auxico is certainly an adventurous company with projects in several high-risk countries. However, by diversifying across many countries, many projects, many valuable metals, and mining exploration and processing, marketing & trading; Auxico aims to lessen the risks and achieve success. In many ways, Auxico reminds me of a very early stage version of Glencore.

Auxico Resources Canada trades on a market cap of C$44 million and looks suitable for adventurous and risk-tolerant investors hoping to prosper from Auxico’s efforts across a wide range of valuable metals. A very interesting company with plenty of paths to profitability and success.

Every once in a while, I get to discuss a company of which it is hard to capture the true essence. For the most part, when we look at junior mining (exploration and early development) companies, they are focused either geographically or by resource, but one way or the other, they are a junior mining, basically exploration, company. Occasionally, they are also dabbling in special or creative ways to process the particular ore at the heart of their operations. But today we are going to dig into a company that does all of the above, as well as getting into the marketing and sales of the finished products, whether it be theirs or not. And at first glance, it’s almost hard to tell which opportunity has the most upside. Given my background, my bias is the marketing side of things, but I will try and keep an open mind as we dig into this interesting and somewhat unique company.

Without further ado, let’s have a look at Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG), which is a combination project generator, miner, processor and marketer all rolled up into one. Auxico is a Canadian company, founded in 2014 and based in Montreal, engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Ivory Coast (so far). Across these countries, Auxico is involved in gold, silver, coltan (which I had never even heard of before but is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium (aka, columbium) and tantalum are extracted), iridium, tin, manganese and last but certainly not least a full basket of Rare Earths.

Perhaps you might be starting to get a feel for why this is a tough Company to talk about but wait there’s more…a lot more. The Company has numerous agreements in place to market various products to generate cash flow today, which is not typical for a junior mining company. A great example is manganese ore sales from Brazil to India, China and the UAE.  Auxico has purchased and sold a total of 15,000 metric tons of manganese ore, with a minimum grade of 46% Mn (~15% net profit margin), as part of two contracts with customers to provide for shipments of up to 120,000 MT per month cumulative of manganese ore. Additional marketing agreements include an MOU for exploitation and commercialization of tantalum, niobium, iridium and tin from industrial sands located in Bolivia, and an LOI for the exploitation and trading of tantalum and iridium in Ivory Coast. These and other similar arrangements serve the company in two ways. As noted, it provides a source of revenue to the Company, so they don’t always have to go to the market and raise cash to drill more on their exploration properties and it gets them into the deal flow to potentially acquire interests in some of these mining plays if they so desire.

I also made mention early about being an innovator on the processing side of the equation. On July 30^th Auxico signed a technology license agreement with Central America Nickel for the use of a patent-pending ultrasound assisted extraction process (“UAEx”) for mineral extraction. The UAEx process is a sustainable metallurgical process for the refining of critical minerals using ultrasound technology. In particular, artisanal gold miners, who produce an estimated 15 million ounces of gold yearly, use mercury in their process plants. The UAEx process is able to extract gold and silver in less than one hour in a closed-loop system and does not use cyanide or mercury, which can solve the environmental issues created by artisanal mining. Additionally, this process will dramatically reduce capital and operating costs as most known metallurgical processes that use sulfuric acid, cyanide or hydrochloric acid do so in a 24-hour cycle. As you could well imagine, this could be Auxico’s diamond in the rough, but it might not even be the most exciting aspect of the Company.

I think I’ve saved the best for last, at least as things currently stand for Auxico, and that’s the rare earths project in Columbia. Auxico has discovered high-value rare earths with total rare earth oxide content over 56% at the Company controlled Vichada property. And if that’s not good enough, they’ve also discovered platinum group metals on the property along with tantalum, niobium and tin. The Company has an MOU agreement with the Colombian company Minampro Asociados S.A.S., to earn a 70 % interest. Auxico’s partner has an exclusive purchase agreement for industrial sands within 20,000 hectares of land owned by the indigenous community Guacamayas-Maipore.

The graph below is an eye opener:

Source: Auxico Resources MD&A for the period ended June 30, 2021

My head is starting to spin thinking about all the things on the go at Auxico so I will leave it here for now. To summarize they have impressive exploration prospects, a sustainable, environmentally friendly mineral extraction process, and marketing agreements that are already generating revenue. That’s quite a bit going on for a company that currently has a market cap of roughly $84 million. I don’t think I’d even know where to start to try and value all the various parts, but the Columbian assets have definitely caught my eye.

In a recent InvestorIntel interview, Tracy Weslosky spoke with Peter Clausi, President, CEO and Director of CBLT Inc. (TSXV: CBLT) about CBLT’s recent news release on declaring a dividend for its shareholders, and about CBLT’s Shatford Lake project which has been identified as highly prospective for lithium.

In this InvestorIntel interview, which may also be viewed on YouTube (click here to subscribe to the InvestorIntel Channel), Peter Clausi said that CBLT’s Shatford Lake project, owing to its proximity to the world-famous Tanco Mine, in Manitoba, is also prospective for tantalum, beryllium, cesium and rubidium. Providing an update on the Shatford Lake exploration program, Peter said that the first batch of pegmatite samples has been sent to an accredited lab for analysis the results from which are imminent.

To watch the full interview, click here

About CBLT Inc.

Lithium and cobalt are two of the key critical metals needed to power the electric vehicle (EV) revolution. As a result, companies that can successfully explore and grow a resource either of lithium or of  cobalt quickly become highly valued. Our company today, CBLT Inc., (TSXV: CBLT), already has several cobalt, exploration stage, projects in Canada, some gold opportunities, and now  a promising potential lithium project in Manitoba, Canada.

CBLT Inc. (TSXV: CBLT) announced to the market in February 2021 that it had acquired 100% of the Shatford Lake Property, located in the Winnipeg River-Cat Lake pegmatite field in eastern Manitoba. This Property had been previously explored for rare element containing pegmatites with historical mapping and drilling identifying multiple pegmatite dykes. Most of this prior work focused on the tantalum potential of the dykes and lithium was not analyzed for. Spodumene, the pre-eminent ore of lithium, however, was noted in an assessment report and provincial geologists also documented the presence of lithia mica.

The Shatford Lake Property lies just 5 km southwest of the well-known Tanco Mine. The Tanco Mine is a lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT-type) pegmatite, producing cesium and tantalum. Lithium, beryllium and rubidium were also previously produced at Tanco. It was estimated back in 1991 that Tanco had lithium reserves of 7.3 million tonnes at 2.76% Li2O (a historical third party estimate). To put this in perspective, the world’s leading lithium spodumene mine in Australia, Greenbushes, has a total Resource of 178.5Mt @2.0% Li2O. This shows that although Tanco is much smaller (based only on the historical third party estimate),  it  is a very high grade, with potential valuable by-products. Most lithium projects today have grades of around 0.9-1.5% Li2O. A typical lithium spodumene producer has a total Resource size of around 50-250 MT @ 1.0-1.4% Li2O.

All of this means the Shatford Lake Property appears to be highly prospective for lithium and may hold a very high grade lithium deposit, similar to Tanco’s. If high grade lithium is found, then the next question for investors will be how extensive and large  the resource is. t

The Shatford Lake Property is in an early stage of exploration, but it is very promising.

CBLT Inc.’s sample assay locations at the newly acquired Shatford Lake Property in Manitoba, Canada

Source: CBLT Inc. Twitter page

The summer exploration program at Shatford Lake began in June 2021 and then on August 10, CBLT Inc. informed the market that “the first batch of samples has been sent to an accredited lab for analysis. Results are expected in approximately six weeks.” This means assay results from surface samples should be due about now. Added to this will be results from surface mapping trying to identify  pegmatite locations.

CBLT Inc.’s cobalt properties also some with gold potential – All at exploration stage

Source: CBLT Inc. website

Big Duck Lake update

CBLT Inc. owns 100% of the Big Duck Lake gold property. It covers six square kilometers of prospective geology, east of Thunder Bay, Ontario  in the Hemlo Gold Camp region. It contains 46 showings including the Coco-Estelle Deposit, which hosts a historic resource of 53,700T @ 10.7 g/t Au, or more than 18,000 ounces of contained gold (historic resource, so cannot be relied upon with CBLT carrying out confirmatory work including drilling). In a recent update CBLT Inc. stated: “CBLT’s work on Big Duck Lake has begun, with a detailed review of historical data. CBLT is continuing with its consultation with Pays Plat First Nation, including a recent in-person meeting in Thunder Bay…..CBLT will be at Big Duck Lake as soon as reasonably possible to carry out a diamond drill program and to investigate the high grade zinc and copper showings.”

Ready Set Gold Corp. update

CBLT Inc. also holds a small shareholding in Ready Set Gold Corp. (CSE: RDY). At this time CBLT Inc. is not happy with Ready Set Gold Corp.’s performance as discussed in an update here.

Closing remarks

CBLT Inc. runs a very streamlined company with a focus on avoiding shareholder dilution and on maximizing return for shareholders. The Company also looks to add value with astute deal making. Traditionally the focus has been on cobalt, and some gold, but in 2021 has broadened its focus to include lithium. In total CBLT Inc. currently has 9 projects as you can read here.

With sample assay results due soon at the exciting Shatford Lake Property, investors are keen to see what the future holds. Following this will be results of the historical data review and then further exploration work at Big Duck Lake.

CBLT Inc.’s stock is up 50% the past year, but still trades on a low market cap of just C$4.57 million.

Imperial Mining Group Ltd. (TSXV: IPG | OTCQB: IMPNF) (“Imperial”) is due to shortly release a 43-101 preliminary Resource Estimate for their 100% owned Crater Lake Scandium-Rare Earth Project in northeastern Quebec, Canada. What can investors expect?

The Crater Lake Project consists of 57 contiguous claims covering 27.8km². The Project has ~14 km of potential mineralized horizon (only 1/4 drill tested) spread over several zones, some of which have drill tested high-grade scandium and some rare earths deposits, including and yttrium. There is also potential for niobium and tantalum.

Imperial Mining’s Crater Lake location showing excellent infrastructure nearby

Drilling has defined several mineralized zones of over 600m in total strike length and from surface to a vertical depth of up to 200m.

Source: Company presentation

Excellent drill results at Crater Lake continue in 2021

Past drilling has shown some excellent long length, high-grade, scandium oxide results ranging from 0.0235% to 0.056% (235-506 g/t).

For example, in April 2021 the Company announced excellent drill results at Crater Lake that included 92.5 m @ 291g/t scandium oxide (Sc₂O₃). Elevated levels of total rare earth oxides plus yttrium of up to 0.42% were also found. There is also a parallel niobium target showing grab assay results of between 0.20% and 1.42% Nb2O5 which sits 250m west of the scandium target.

Then in May 2021, Imperial announced:

• “Assay results from the first four drill hole continue to return impressive intercepts of 111.9 m (367.0’) grading 298 g/t scandium oxide (Sc₂O₃), including 40.5 m (132.8’) grading 336 g/t Sc₂O₃and 34.77 m (114.0′) grading 321 g/t Sc₂O₃.
• Elevated levels of total rare earth oxides plus yttrium (TREO+Y) of up to 0.38 %.”

More recent drill results announced in June 2021 included:

• “99.8 m (327.3’) grading 299 g/t scandium oxide (Sc₂O₃), including 24.2 m (79.4’) grading 331 g/t Sc₂O₃ and 77.3 m (253.5′) grading 313 g/t Sc₂O₃.
• Elevated levels of total rare earth oxides plus yttrium (TREO+Y) of up to 0.46% characterize the scandium-bearing intercepts.”

Crater Lakes’ critical minerals mean a 10MT resource can potentially be very valuable

Imperial’s ‘target’ at Crater Lake is to define a scandium-REE mineral resource of a minimum of 10 Mt, sufficient for a 25-year operating model. What some investors miss is that a small relatively shallow resource-rich in valuable metals such as scandium, niobium, and rare earths can be highly valuable. The chart below highlights this by expressing the results as 6.5 to 12.0 g/t ‘gold equivalent’. If Imperial Mining was able to achieve 10MT of ore at say 6.5 g/t Au equivalent (lower range) that would be equivalent to 65 million grams (2.1 million troy ounces) of gold in terms of value. If the grade was in the higher range then the gold equivalent would be almost double. Of course, the 10MT is a ‘target” and not yet a reality, as we will have to wait to see what the upcoming resource estimate is.

The Crater Lake TG Zone drill results are equivalent to 6.5 to 12.0 g/t gold equivalent

Source: Company presentation

Once a resource is grown the other important issue is the extraction method and recovery rates. In June 2021 news Imperial announced that they had developed a “high-recovery extraction process for scandium and rare earth elements for Crater Lake mineralization…..as part of its current Phase 3 Hydrometallurgical Development Program.” Scandium extraction was at 84-87%, and total rare earth elements, including yttrium (TREE+Y) was 84%. This is excellent news.

Near term stock catalysts

Imperial President & CEO, Peter Cashin, stated in August: “We are now in the final stages of the surface evaluation of our Crater Lake property. In addition to delivering the inaugural 43-101 resource estimation on our TG Zone later this month, we look forward to delivering on the results of the remainder of the targets present on the Crater Lake property. We clearly believe that much additional critical metal potential remains to be evaluated on our property as we have only drill-tested one-quarter of the favourable 14-km-long mineralized horizon. We also intend to assess a high-grade niobium-tantalum mineralized area identified in 2010, north and northwest of the scandium-bearing Crater Lake Complex.”

Imperial will now embark on a Summer 2021 campaign that will include surface evaluation of additional high priority scandium rare earth exploration targets outside of the drilled TG Zone mineralized area. 50-tonne bulk samples at the STG mineralized Zone will be used in a pilot plant study to further test and optimize Imperial’s metallurgical process method. Next, a detailed assessment of historical high grade rare earth, niobium, tantalum occurrences at the Crater Lake Extension property area will be undertaken. Following this will be a pilot plant study and a Preliminary Economic Assessment.

Closing remarks

Imperial Mining trades on a market cap of a mere C$20 million. Considering the outstanding drill results over the past year, outstanding hydromet recovery rates achieved to date, and the impending 43-101 preliminary Resource Estimate due out any day now the stock looks likely to be potentially re-rated higher soon. Don’t wait too long!

In a recent InvestorIntel interview, Chris Thompson speaks with Peter Cashin, President and CEO of Imperial Mining Group Ltd. (TSXV: IPG | OTCQB: IMPNF) about Imperial’s Crater Lake scandium and rare earths project. Touching on why these critical materials are valuable for an ESG investor to consider in their portfolio, Analyst Chris Thompson asks a wide range of compelling questions from extraction technology to where Imperial Mining is in the process towards building a North American supply chain for scandium.

Starting with an overview on the competitive applications for scandium and niobium, which includes the lightweighting of steel and aluminum for use in the automotive and aerospace sectors, Peter explains that Imperial Mining is anticipating a 43-101 resource estimation on the TG Zone expected in the next few weeks. Highlighting Crater Lake’s high-grade surface scandium mineralization and ‘very high grades of niobium and tantalum’, Peter explains that a strategic marketing effort in conjunction with a sustainable supply source of these critical materials will most assuredly affect the demand.

To watch the full interview, click here

About Imperial Mining Group Ltd.

Imperial is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company focused on the advancement of its technology metals projects in Québec. Imperial is publicly listed on the TSX Venture Exchange as “IPG” and on the OTCQB Exchange as “IMPNF” and is led by an experienced team of mineral exploration and development professionals with a strong track record of mineral deposit discovery in numerous metal commodities.