Jim's Mining Letter - November 5, 2024

SolGold (SOLG.L SOLG.TSX SLGGF S8F.F) announced the commencement of geotechnical investigations at the Cascabel copper-gold porphyry project in northern Ecuador, marking an important milestone in the advancement of what is described as one of the world's premier copper-gold projects. The Cascabel project's pre-feasibility study outlined a 28-year mine plan based on an updated mineral reserve estimate of 540 million tonnes, containing 3.2 million tonnes of copper at 0.60%, 9.4 million ounces of gold at 0.54 grammes per tonne, and 28 million ounces of silver at 1.62 grammes per tonne. This represents just 18% of the overall resource defined to date and is based on metal prices of $1,750 per ounce of gold, $3.85 per pound of copper and $22.50 per ounce of silver. With a capex of $1.55 billion, the project delivers a modelled after-tax IRR of 24% and an NPV8 of $3.2 billion using a staged development strategy. The initial phase of the geotechnical investigations program, including the drilling and ground geophysics, will focus on key infrastructure areas for the mine. Data collected will inform excavation design, ground support, and other critical components of the project. SolGold is funded following a recent gold-only streaming agreement with Franco-Nevada (Barbados) and Osisko Bermuda. This agreement provides the company with $100 million to conduct the planned work and studies required to complete permitting applications and the feasibility study, subject to specific provisions. The agreement further provides $650 million for development funding contingent upon conditions precedent and a final development investment decision.  SolGold is advancing strategies to secure additional capital solutions to complete the remaining development funding and the company is also exploring early-stage open-cut development of the Tandayama-Ameríca deposit to bring the Cascabel project's copper-gold production forward by several years…more

Drummond Ventures (DVX.P) and Elton Resources announced a binding merger agreement in respect of a reverse-takeover transaction of Drummond by Elton, which will constitute the completion of Drummond's TSX Venture Exchange qualifying transaction. The companies anticipate that the proposed transaction will be completed by December 31, 2024. Elton has engaged Eight Capital and Canaccord Genuity as co-lead agents and joint bookrunners in connection with a private placement aiming to raise a minimum of C$10 million combined with a Drummond financing and a maximum of C$15 million. The agents have also been granted an option to increase the size of the private placement by up to 15%. Elton is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties and holds an interest in three properties, of which Darnley Bay (located in the vicinity of Paulatuk NT on the mainland Arctic coast 397 kilometres east of Inuvik and encompassing an area of approximately 50 kilometres by 80 kilometres) is its material property.

Collective Mining (CNL CNL.TSX GG1.F) announced the closing of its upsized bought deal public offering of 8,050,000 common shares at a price of C$5.00 for aggregate gross proceeds of C$40,250,000 , including the exercise in full of the underwriters' over-allotment option. Concurrently with the closing of the public offering, the company completed a non-brokered private placement of 1,226,235 shares at the issue price with a strategic investor of the company for aggregate gross proceeds of C$6,131,175. Collective intends to use the net proceeds from the public offering and the concurrent private placement to fund ongoing work programs to advance the Guayabales project, to pursue other exploration and development opportunities, and for working capital and general corporate purposes…more

Lithium ION Energy (ION.V IONGF ZA4.F) announced that it has entered into a letter of intent agreement to progress a business combination with United Rare Earths, a US based rare earths recycling and refining company. United secured a strategic location to develop and has significantly advanced discussions with a federal agency for grant opportunities which includes non-recourse, non-dilutive funding. Per ION, United has support at the highest levels of the government and an instrumental memorandum of understanding with a national laboratory that will advance rare earth recycling and refining technologies. ION also announce a non-brokered private placement offering of convertible debentures at a price of $1,000 per debenture for aggregate gross proceeds of $2 million. The debentures will mature 24 months from the date of issue, carry an interest rate of 8% per year and will be convertible to common shares at a conversion price of $0.10 per share. In the event the 10-day volume weighted average price of the common shares of the company exceeds $0.15 or more, ION will have the right to accelerate the conversion of the shares. Proceeds will be used to complete the business combination with United and develop its rare earth recycling and refining technology, for the continued advancement and exploration of the company's lithium assets, as well as working capital.

Thor Energy (THR.L THR.ASX THORF T5M.F) announced that drilling has commenced at the Groundhog prospect on the company's 100% owned Wedding Bell project, located in the uranium-vanadium mining district of the Uravan Mineral Belt, southwest Colorado. Infill drilling will be centred around high-grade uranium and vanadium mineralisation intercepted in 23WBRA020, with extension holes up to 300 metres to the north and east. Drilling is estimated to take approximately four weeks to complete, with downhole gamma results released to the market as they become available…more

Military Metals (MILI.CSE MILIF QN90.F) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company and the controlling shareholder of the target pursuant to which the company will acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding common shares in the capital of the target by way of a three-cornered amalgamation. The target owns three brownfield projects in Slovakia, of which Trojarova is the most advanced. Trojarova is located in western Slovakia and potentially hosts one of the European Union's most significant known primary antimony deposits. 63 holes were historically completed into the deposit over a strike length of 1.5 kilometres, along with nearly 1.7 kilometres of underground workings; the deposit hosts historical antimony and accessory gold resources classified in the Soviet era Russian classification system. Additionally, Military has acquired both a tin and second antimony property in Slovakia. The tin property also features significant historical drilling, underground development, and a historical tin resource. The antimony property features over two dozen small underground workings along its 10-kilometre length where historical production is reported. Consideration for the acquisition of 100% of the target’s shares comprises 10 million common shares of the company at a deemed issuance price of C$0.56 per share, valued at a sum of C$5.6 million. Military will also assume the target's obligations in respect of its outstanding share purchase warrants, which will provide holders the right to acquire up to 3,499,997 shares at an exercise price of C$0.10 per share. Per the company, the Trojarova project is potentially one of Europe's most significant primary antimony deposits. Antimony is classified as a critical mineral by the United States, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. Currently, over 90% of global antimony reserves are concentrated in China, Russia, and Tajikistan.

Savvy Investors Know Where to Get Their News—Do You?

Here’s the truth: there is no magic formula when it comes to building wealth.

Much of the mainstream financial media is designed to drive traffic, not good decision-making. Whether it’s disingenuous headlines or relentless scare tactics used to generate clicks, modern business news was not built to serve individual investors.

Luckily, we have The Daily Upside. Created by Wall Street insiders and bankers, this fresh, insightful newsletter delivers valuable insights that go beyond the headlines.

And the best part? It’s completely free. Join 1M+ readers and subscribe today.

These are opinions only of the individual author. The contents of this piece do not contain investment advice and the information provided is for educational purposes only and no discussions constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of any company. All content is purely subjective and you should do your own due diligence. No representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness or reasonableness of the information contained in the piece is made. Any assumptions, opinions and estimates expressed in the piece constitute judgments of the author as of the date thereof and are subject to change without notice. Any projections contained in the information are based on a number of assumptions and there can be no guarantee that any projected outcomes will be achieved. No liability is accepted for any direct, consequential or other loss arising from reliance on the contents of this piece. The author is not acting as your financial, legal, accounting, tax or other adviser or in any fiduciary capacity.