Elemental Royalties Announces Appointment of South32 Chief Development Officer as Director and Provides Asset Update
VANCOUVER, March 29, 2021 - Elemental Royalties Corp. ("Elemental" or "the Company") (TSXV: ELE) (OTCQX: ELEMF) is pleased to announce the appointment of South32 Limited ("South32") Chief Development Officer Simon Collins to the Elemental Board of Directors and update on developments across the Company's royalty portfolio.
Director Appointment
- Following the acquisition of a portfolio of precious metals royalties from a wholly owned subsidiary of South32 and in accordance with an Investor Rights Agreement, South32 has nominated a director to the Board of Elemental to increase the number of directors to five.
- Simon has more than 25 years' experience in the resources industry in senior leadership and business development roles
- At South32, Simon leads the Corporate Development team which covers portfolio strategy, business development, mergers and acquisitions and greenfields exploration. Simon also has accountability for South32's non-operated Brazilian alumina refining joint venture, the Hermosa base metals development project located in southern Arizona and the 50% owned Ambler Metals base metals exploration joint venture in Alaska
- Prior to joining South32, Simon worked for BHP for more than a decade, where he led global business development teams. Simon started his career in mine operations in Australia and South Africa
Corporate Update
- Focus Minerals Limited (ASX: FML) ("Focus") announced the first phase of an Open Pit PFS at their 100% Laverton Project in Western Australia
- Endeavour Mining (TSX: EDV) ("Endeavour") has provided production guidance following its acquisition of the Wahgnion mine and committed to a major exploration program
- Development work has begun on the Tuart Underground Mine covered by Elemental's royalty at Zijin Mining's (HKG: 2899) ("Zijin") Mount Pleasant Operations
Elemental's CEO, Frederick Bell, said: "We welcome Simon to the Elemental Board after our recent acquisition of three West Australian gold royalties from South32. His business acumen and business development background in the mining industry complement our existing Board skillset and we look forward to Simon's contribution as Elemental continues to grow it portfolio of producing gold royalties."
"Meanwhile the Stage-1 PFS at Laverton confirms our expectation of the potential for the early development of higher-grade open pit, oxide deposits in the Royalty Area near to the Barnicoat Mill. We have already seen encouraging recent drilling results at Beasley Creek and Beasley Creek South, not all of which have been included in the announced mine plan and expect Focus' ongoing assessments will continue to translate to further Resource and Reserve growth on Elemental's royalty areas, underpinning a production decision at Laverton."
"Endeavour's production guidance for 2021 at Wahgnion is ahead of our expectations and the potential for ongoing Reserve and Resource growth from a substantial drilling program is very encouraging."
Positive Pre-Feasibility Study at Laverton
- Initial Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") across only 21% of Focus' Mineral Resource base with substantial potential for resource growth at Elemental's Beasley Creek deposit, which remains open along strike and where additional infill drilling may lead to an upgrade of shallow existing Inferred Resources
- Focus recently announced JORC 20121 compliant maiden Ore Reserves of 546koz of gold, of which 238koz of gold is from the higher-grade Beasley Creek, Beasley Creek South and Wedge Deposits covered by Elemental's Royalty2
- New strong intersections at Beasley Creek South to be included in second-phase PFS already underway
- A number of other deposits with JORC 2004 resources with grades of 2g/t or greater, many of which are within Elemental's Royalty Area, are to be updated to JORC 2012 compliance before inclusion in the second-phase PFS
Endeavour Provides 2021 Guidance and Exploration Budget at Wahgnion
- Following the acquisition of Teranga, which closed on February 10, 2021, Endeavour has stated that Wahgnion is expected to produce between 140 - 155koz of gold
- Applying this guidance over the full twelve months would provide a production estimate of approximately 158 - 175koz of gold for FY 2021, continuing the trend of strong outperformance since the mine was built
- Endeavour also announced that exploration will be a strong focus in 2021, with their second-largest budget of US$12 million for a single mine committed to Wahgnion. This will target both extensions to existing deposits and new greenfields targets
Development begins on Tuart orebody at Mount Pleasant
- Elemental notes an announcement by a mining contractor that initial underground development is underway on the Tuart orebody, covered by Elemental's royalty at Zijin's Mount Pleasant Operations
- Tuart has a historical JORC 2012 compliant Indicated Resource of 212koz of gold at 1.8g/t and Inferred Resource of 232koz of gold at 3.8g/t3 on both conceptual underground and open pit mineralisation
On behalf of Elemental Royalties Corp.
Frederick Bell
CEO and Director
For further information about the Company or this news release, please visit our website at www.elementalroyalties.com or by email at info@elementalroyalties.com.
Elemental is a proud member of Discovery Group.
Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
About Elemental Royalties
Elemental is a gold-focused royalty company listed on the TSX-V in Canada and provides investors with lower risk precious metals exposure through a portfolio of nine high-quality royalties. This enables investors to benefit from ongoing royalty revenue, future exploration upside and low operating costs. Elemental's experienced team seeks to secure royalties in advanced precious metals projects, run by established operators, from its pipeline of identified opportunities.
Qualified Person
Richard Evans, FAusIMM, is Senior Vice President Technical for Elemental, and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this press release.
Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements
This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology.
Forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the future growth and development of the Company. Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Elemental to control or predict, that may cause Elemental's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including but not limited to: the requirement for regulatory approvals and third party consents, the impact of general business and economic conditions, the absence of control over the mining operations from which Elemental will receive royalties, including risks related to international operations, government relations and environmental regulation, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties; the uncertainties involved in interpreting exploration data; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with Elemental's expectations; accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters, labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions in operations; fluctuating metal prices; unanticipated costs and expenses; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations; currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions; liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties. Elemental undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
Notes | |
(1) | Reconciliation to CIM Definitions |
In this News Release, the Company has disclosed a number of resource and reserve estimates covering properties related to certain mining assets that are not based on Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definitions, but instead have been prepared in reliance upon the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves ("JORC Code"). | |
Estimates based on the JORC Code are recognized under NI 43-101 in certain circumstances. In each case, the mineral resources and mineral reserves included in this Presentation are based on estimates previously disclosed by the relevant property owner or operator, without reference to the underlying data used to calculate the estimates. | |
Accordingly, the Company is not able to reconcile the resource and reserve estimates prepared in reliance on JORC Code with that of CIM definitions The Company previously sought confirmation from its Qualified Person who is experienced in the preparation of resource and reserve estimates using CIM and JORC Code, of the extent to which an estimate prepared under JORC Code would differ from that prepared under CIM definitions. The Company was advised that, while the CIM definitions are not identical to those of JORC Code, the resource and reserve definitions and categories are substantively the same as the CIM definitions mandated in NI 43-101 and will typically result in reporting of substantially similar reserve and resource estimates. | |
The Company's Qualified Person further confirmed, without reference to the procedures in which the estimates prepared using JORC Code that are reproduced in this News Release were conducted, that in the course of preparation of a resource or reserve estimate, effectively the same procedures would be used to prepare and report the resource or reserve estimate regardless of the reliance on CIM or JORC Code. | |
(2) | Focus Minerals Ltd. (ASX: FML) announcement titled "Laverton Stage 1 Open Pit PFS Progressive Results", dated March 11, 2021, and the Beasley Creek, Beasley Creek South and Wedge orebodies described, amongst others, in that release are within Elemental's Royalty Area. |
(3) | The Tuart deposit in Elemental's Mt Pleasant royalty area has been assigned a historical resource estimate on both conceptual underground and open pit mineralisation on the basis of Norton Gold Fields Limited's announcement dated February 3, 2015, titled "January 2015 Mineral Resource & Ore Reserve update". |
The estimate was prepared by Norton Goldfields Ltd (ASX: NGF) in accordance with the JORC Code 2012 for the situation at Dec 31, 2014, and is available on the ASX website at: https://www.asx.com.au/asx/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=01596085. | |
Elemental believes that the resources disclosed are fundamentally reliable but they should not be relied on as a current resource estimate, and no qualified person of Elemental has done sufficient work to classify the above estimate as current Mineral Resources. Elemental is not treating the historical estimate as current Mineral Resources or Mineral Reserves and it is unknown how much of the historical resource will be economic under the proposed mine plan. Elemental understands that there has been no production from the area since the historical resource estimate was published |
SOURCE Elemental Royalties Corp.
Contact
please visit: discoverygroup.ca or contact 604-653-9464.