NQ Minerals plc (AQUIS: NQMI) (OTCQB: NQMLF) hit Australian news today with ABC TV picking up on the Beaconsfield Gold Mine development.
NQ Minerals is an Australian-based mining company which commenced base metal and precious metal production in 2018 at its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania. Hellyer has a published JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimated at 9.25 Mt which is host to Gold at 2.57 g/t Au for 764,300 oz Au, Silver at 92 g/t Ag for 27,360,300 oz Ag, Lead at 2.99% Pb for 276,600 tonnes and Zinc at 2.57% Zn for 217,400 tonnes. In addition to these resources, the Hellyer assets include a large mill facility and full supporting infrastructure, including a direct rail line to port.
NQ Minerals plc (AQSE: NQMI) (OTCQB: NQMLF), the base and precious metals producer from its flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania Australia, has today announced that total gold Resources at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania have increased to 1.454 million tonnes at 10.3 g/t for 483,000 ounces of gold.
Key Points
· Total Resource at the lower section of Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania, Australia, increased to 1.454 million tonnes grading 10.3 grams per tonne (g/t) for 483,000 ounces of gold.
Beaconsfield Gold MineIndependent JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Statement – 30 April 2020(using 3 g/t lower cut-off)
Resource Category
Tonneskt
Gold GradeAu g/t
Contained MetalsAu koz
Measured
485
11.4
177
Indicated
492
11.2
177
Inferred
477
8.4
129
Total
1,454
10.3
483
· An additional 67,000 ounces of gold potential exists in Tailings Dam #1.
· Significant additional gold potential still to be assessed in the upper section of the old Beaconsfield Mine workings from surface to the 415 metre level plus the orebody remains open at depth below 1,500 metres.
· “Beaconsfield is a rich gold deposit with genuine scale. The deposit is open at depth and there is significant potential to increase these resources with further drilling.” – NQ Minerals Plc’s Chairman David Lenigas.
Importantly, this new Beaconsfield Resource is calculated only for the section of the mine from 415 metre level down to 1,500 vertical metres, and the ore body remains open at depth. The deepest hole returning 2.5 m at 32.4 g/t gold. No resources have yet been calculated for the rich upper section of the mine which was mined from 1877 – 1914. Historically this upper section of the mine recovered 855,000 ounces of gold at 24 g/t during this period.
A review by Tasmanian independent consultants Pitt & Sherry of the metallurgical accounts available at the Beaconsfield mine site indicates that there is approximately 67,000 ounces of contained gold in Beaconsfield’s Tailings Dam #1. The tailings comprise a mixture of flotation tailings and leached tailingsfrom Beaconsfield’s operations from 1999-2012. The Beaconsfield operation experienced a number of equipment failures and process plant design deficiencies that resulted in poor recoveries in the first 3 years of operation. An assessment is underway to determine the ability to economically reprocess some or all of the tailings based on processing and knowledge advancements.
David Lenigas, NQ Minerals Chairman, stated:
“The publishing of this new resource statement clearly demonstrates the huge underlying potential at Beaconsfield and highlights the immense scope for ongoing growth in the gold inventory as NQ moves this mine forward back in to production. In this regard, we believe that Beaconsfield offers a genuine opportunity for the Company to rapidly develop a high-quality gold asset not only for its shareholders but for Tasmania in general. We are almost complete with our due diligence process on this asset and are focused on bringing this famous and iconic Tasmanian gold mine back into production.”
About the Beaconsfield Gold Mine
The Tasmania Mine (Now referred to the Beaconsfield Gold Mine) is located 40 km north-west of Launceston in the town of Beaconsfield in Tasmania, Australia. The Tasmania Mine area is covered by Mining Lease 1767P/M.
Mining at Beaconsfield is centred on the Tasmania Reef. Prospectors discovered the Tasmania Reef in 1877. Mining between 1877 and 1914 yielded 854,600 ounces of gold at an average grade of 24.3 g/t. During this time, mining occurred between surface and 455 metres. Eventually, dewatering difficulties caused mine closure.
Modern exploration commenced in 1970. In the early 1990’s, a joint venture was established between Allstate Explorations and Beaconsfield Gold NL and a feasibility study commissioned. Following this study, production re-commenced in 1998 after 84 years of inactivity with around 1.8 million ounces of gold recovered since 1877.
The 350,000 tonne per annum capacity gold processing plant is currently under care and maintenance.
NQ is acquiring the Beaconsfield Gold Mine as previously announced on 21 February 2020.
NQ plans to re-open the mine by developing a new modern mine 3.6 km decline access into the Beaconsfield Mine from surface to reconnect into the existing mine workings at the 430 metre level. This new decline will be capable running large modern mining equipment and men/materials/rock from surface to anywhere in the mine environment and will allow for efficient low cost operations into the future.
Details of New JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate
An independent review of the underground gold resources available at Beaconsfield has been Groundwork Plus Pty Ltd for Pitt & Sherry on behalf of NQ Minerals Plc.
Note: The full Mineral Resource Estimate Report is available on the NQ’s website. This Report also includes the JORC tables required for the reporting of Mineral Resource Estimates.
The grade estimates have been classified in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code, 2012). Resource categories were assigned based on geological interpretation, data quality, data density and estimation quality. The following table represents the Mineral Resource as at 30 April 2020 for the Tasmania Mine. The resource has been compiled by Troy Lowien as a Competent Person as required by the JORC Code.
The Resource estimate for the Tasmania Mine has been classified as Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources in accordance with guidelines as set out in the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Code (2012). Resource categories have been defined using definitive criteria determined during the validation of the grade estimates, with detailed consideration of the JORC Code categorisation guidelines.
Tasmania Mine Mineral Resource Statement – 30th April 2020Ordinary Kriging Grade EstimatesSubdivided by Resource Category Above a Lower Cut-off Grade of 3g/t Au.
Resource Category
Tonneskt
Gold GradeAu g/t
Contained MetalsAu koz
Measured
485
11.4
177
Indicated
492
11.2
177
Inferred
477
8.4
129
Total
1,454
10.3
483
Competent Person’s Statement (JORC Report)
The Mineral Resources Report for the Tasmania Mine at Beaconsfield has been compiled in accordance with the guidelines defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’ (2012 JORC Code). The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results and Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Troy Lowien, a Competent Person who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Troy Lowien is employed by Groundwork Plus Pty Ltd. Troy Lowien has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’.
Competent Person’s Statement (NQ Minerals Plc)
The information in this report that relates to the Beaconsfield Gold Mine is based on information compiled by Roger Jackson, an Executive Director of the Company, who is a 25+ year Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (MAusIMM) and a Member of Australian Institute of Company Directors. Mr. Jackson has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves”. Mr. Jackson consents to the inclusion of the data contained in relevant resource reports used for this announcement as well as the matters, form and context in which the relevant data appears.
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI) (OTCQB:NQMLF), the base metals and gold/silver producer from the Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania, announces that it has appointed VSA Capital Limited as Corporate Broker, with immediate effect, alongside First Sentinel who are the AQSE Financial Adviser to the Company.
VSA Capital is a specialist in the natural resources sector and provides ongoing long-term advice to listed companies on all aspects of interaction with new and existing shareholders, as well as equity research.
NQ Minerals is an Australian-based mining company which commenced base metal and precious metal production in 2018 at its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania. Hellyer has a published JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimated at 9.25 Mt which is host to Gold at 2.57 g/t Au for 764,300 oz Au, Silver at 92 g/t Ag for 27,360,300 oz Ag, Lead at 2.99% Pb for 276,600 tonnes and Zinc at 2.57% Zn for 217,400 tonnes. In addition to these resources, the Hellyer assets include a large mill facility and full supporting infrastructure, including a direct rail line to port. The Company regularly updates the market on Hellyer’s operational and financial performance.
The Company is also focussed on further exploration, mining and processing opportunities in Tasmania. These include the proposed re-opening of the iconic Beaconsfield Gold Mine and development of a new nickel/cobalt mine adjacent to Beaconsfield.
NQ Minerals plc (AQUIS: NQMI) (OTCQB: NQMLF) Chairman David Lenigas joins DirectorsTalk to discuss the significantly expanded Nickel resource in Tasmania. David talks us through the highlights, expands on the long-term plans for the Beaconsfield region, touches on speaking to off-takers and battery industry players and what investors can expect from NQ Minerals in the coming months.
NQ Minerals is an Australian-based mining company which commenced base metal and precious metal production in 2018 at its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania. Hellyer has a published JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimated at 9.25 Mt which is host to Gold at 2.57 g/t Au for 764,300 oz Au, Silver at 92 g/t Ag for 27,360,300 oz Ag, Lead at 2.99% Pb for 276,600 tonnes and Zinc at 2.57% Zn for 217,400 tonnes. In addition to these resources, the Hellyer assets include a large mill facility and full supporting infrastructure, including a direct rail line to port.
NQ Minerals Plc (AQUIS:NQMI), the base and precious metals producer at the Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania Australia, has today announced progress on the flowsheet being developed for the Barnes Hill nickel and cobalt project. NQ Minerals is funding this development work through its investment in Tasmania Energy Metals Pty Ltd. Following further metallurgical testwork and initial engineering works, an updated flowsheet has been developed for the PFS. This updated flowsheet enables utilisation of lower grade feed for neutralisation of the process solutions after Ni and Co extraction. Accordingly, an updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Barnes Hill, Scotts Hill and Mount Vulcan deposits has been released covering all types of potential feed material.
Highlights:
· Updated Mineral Resource Estimate has been issued by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants Pty Ltd (“Snowden”) for the Barnes Hill Nickel Project to include lower grade Ni material. The new expanded resource has increased substantially to 25Mt @ 0.6% Nickel (“Ni”) and 0.05% Cobalt (“Co”) on a 0.25% Ni cut-off grade.
· Metallurgical testwork has supported an updated flowsheet that will serve as the base case in the current Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”). A metallurgical simulation model of the mass and energy balances of the central processing circuits has been completed to allow appropriate sizing of plant equipment and to support subsequent design work.
· The updated flowsheet includes three stage leaching that utilises the full laterite profile. Low grade material is also upgraded through screening to be used in the third neutralisation stage.
· A residue filtration section has also been added that will allow for dry stacking of laterite waste back into the original pit. This removes the need for a tailings dam at the nickel mine.
David Lenigas, Chairman of NQ Minerals, commented:
“The completion of this testwork and commencement of engineering sees the Barnes Hill project starting to take on physical shape. The lower cut-off Mineral Resource estimates for Barnes Hill, Scotts Hill and Mt Vulcan provides support for our long-term plans for the Beaconsfield region, and this larger tonnage of 25 million tonnes, versus 14 million tonnes previously reported, could supply a plant of the planned scale for well over 20 years. Our close proximity to the deep-water port at Bell Bay in Tasmania also suggests opportunities to import and blend in high-grade ore to boost feed grades and extend the life of the Barnes Hill mine even further.
“We are actively examining the ability to achieve further enhance economics by planning this downstream development to take advantage of our plans for the adjacent Beaconsfield Gold site. We expect to make an announcement on the final plant location in the near term. We are already speaking to off-takers and battery industry players and believe there is strong support for this development.”
Testwork to Establish the PFS Flowsheet
Metallurgical testwork has supported an updated flowsheet that will serve as the basis for the current PFS. A metallurgical simulation model, providing a detailed understanding of the mass and energy balances across the central processing operations has now been completed. It was designed using the well-respected METSIM software. The outputs of this model will allow appropriate sizing of plant equipment and support subsequent design work. The METSIM model, alongside other cost inputs, will also allow estimation of a new ore reserve (replacing the ore reserve issued by Snowden in 2010) for the Barnes Hill North and South deposits. The ore reserve will include pit design and the delivery of a mining schedule covering the initial years of planned operations.
The updated flowsheet includes three stage leaching that allows utilization of the full laterite profile including limonite, transitional, saprolite and saprock material. Blends of higher grade material will feed the initial two leaching stages. In addition, a screened fraction of low grade material is used in the third neutralization stage.
This updated flowsheet is based on laboratory testwork completed over recent months. For the testwork, TEM selected a purposive sample of intersections from the 2019 air-core drilling. The samples were checked for representativeness against the Barnes Hill resource. Following this, 90 drilled intersections were sent to the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (“BGRIMM”), a well-established Chinese laboratory with expertise in multi-stage leaching. These samples totally 518.5kg. The testwork applied sequential sulphuric acid leaching with varied blends of feed. In the first stage a blend of limonite/transitional/saprolite was processed with a high dosage of acid at a leaching temperature of 95degC. This was followed by a further stage of leaching of saprolite/saprock feed in an autoclave, where no additional acid was added but the temperature was raised to 160degC. A screened large-sized fraction from the saprock domain was then used for a neutralisation stage. This was ground and used in a tertiary leach to commence neutralisation, with no additional acid added. Results supported the ability to achieve overall Nickel and Cobalt extraction of over 90% across all three leaching stages with an acid consumption of 509kg/t feed. In accordance with the current plant design, this acid will be entirely supplied by utilising waste streams from the roasting of Hellyer’s gold and silver-bearing pyrite concentrate, which will separately produce gold/silver doré bars and copper/zinc intermediates. Testwork also included beneficiation testwork, including dry and wet screening, magnetic separation and gravity upgrading. As expected, wet screening produced strong results, particularly for saprock material. This was then built into the testwork, with a screened fraction of saprock providing a high-Mg neutralisation feed stock.
Further Development Progress
In addition to examining leaching, some initial filtration testwork has been performed. On the basis of those first-pass results, which are consistent with experiences at other comparable nickel laterite projects, an updated filtration section has also been added to the plant design that will allow for dry stacking of laterite waste back into the original pit. This removes the need for a tailings dam at the nickel mine.
The improved flowsheet further enhances the project’s green credentials, with ore-based neutralisation reducing the CO2 footprint and dry stacking enabling the refilled mining pit to be rehabilitated to close to its original form. The project already benefits from its Tasmania location where it will be able to be supplied by 100% renewable hydroelectric and wind power. NQ Minerals believes that these advantages make the Barnes Hill project environmentally attractive relative to peer projects. This is expected to be increasingly important in the Electric Vehicle supply chain where cradle-to-grave emissions assessment is becoming more prominent. NQ Minerals is in initial discussions with battery industry players regarding the future development of the project.
Expanded Mineral Resource Estimate for Scotts Hill & Mt Vulcan
The Barnes Hill Project is composed of four resources, all located within 2km of each other. Mining lease 1872P/M hosts the Barnes Hill North and South deposits, while Scotts Hill and Mt Vulcan (“Scotts/Vulcan”) occur primarily within exploration license EL2/2017 which is adjacent to the liming lease. All licenses are 100% owned by TEM.
On the basis of work done so far, an updated Mineral Resource Estimate has been issued by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants Pty Ltd for the Barnes Hill Nickel Project to include the lower grade Ni material. The expanded resource now totals 25Mt @ 0.6% Ni and 0.05% Co at a 0.25% Ni cut-off (indicated and inferred) as shown in Table 1 below. This complements the 0.5% Ni cut-off Mineral Resource estimate released on 25 November 2019. That previously announced resource (with a higher Ni cut-off) will still provide the main supply into the first two stages of leaching. Snowden found the revised lower cut-off grade to be reasonable assuming a standard open-pit mining approach with low-to-moderate selectivity and that it is commensurate with the cut-off grade used at similar deposits where beneficiation through screening is applicable.
Table 1: Barnes Hill Project Mineral Resource Estimates 2020
Scotts Hill & Mt Vulcan (“SV”) Mineral Resource Estimate at a 0.25% Ni cut-off
Domain
Class
Tonnes (kt)
Ni %
Co %
MgO %
Fe2O3 %
SiO2 %
Transitional
Inferred
2,311
0.53
0.09
3.5
44.3
28.4
Saprolite
Inferred
3,222
0.74
0.05
12.0
29.6
39.0
Saprock
Inferred
7,309
0.49
0.02
27.2
15.3
42.5
SV Total
Inferred
12,842
0.56
0.04
19.1
24.1
39.1
Barnes Hill (“BH”) North & South Mineral Resource Estimate at a 0.25% Ni cut-off
Domain
Class
Tonnes (kt)
Ni %
Co %
MgO %
Fe2O3 %
SiO2 %
Limonite
Indicated
1,874
0.37
0.11
1.3
53.3
16.3
Limonite
Inferred
242
0.40
0.07
1.9
45.5
26.2
Limonite Total
Indicated &Inferred
2,117
0.38
0.10
1.4
52.4
17.4
Transitional
Indicated
444
0.53
0.08
3.4
39.8
29.2
Transitional
Inferred
10
0.67
0.12
4.0
48.2
25.4
Transitional Total
Indicated &Inferred
454
0.54
0.08
3.4
40.0
29.1
Saprolite
Indicated
4,663
0.77
0.05
11.5
27.1
39.0
Saprolite
Inferred
817
0.61
0.05
12.7
24.8
43.3
Saprolite Total
Indicated &Inferred
5,480
0.75
0.05
11.7
26.8
39.6
Saprock
Indicated
2,559
0.57
0.02
27.9
12.8
41.9
Saprock
Inferred
1,315
0.47
0.02
25.0
14.7
42.9
Saprock Total
Indicated &Inferred
3,874
0.53
0.02
26.9
13.4
42.2
All Domains
Indicated
9,540
0.63
0.06
13.5
29.0
34.9
All Domains
Inferred
2,384
0.51
0.04
18.4
21.4
41.3
BH Total
Indicated &Inferred
11,925
0.60
0.05
14.5
27.5
36.1
Barnes Hill Project, BH & SV Total Mineral Resource Estimates at a 0.25% Ni cut-off
Domain
Class
Tonnes (kt)
Ni %
Co %
MgO %
Fe2O3 %
SiO2 %
All DomainsProject Total
Indicated & Inferred
24,767
0.58
0.05
16.89
25.74
37.66
Notes: 1) Please refer to the end of this section for the Competent Persons statements; 2) the Mineral Resource is reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012) with required tables included in the appendix; 3) Some rounding related discrepancies may occur in the totals.
The Mineral Resources were estimated using block models, constructed using a parent cell size of 25 mE by 25 mN by 1 mRL for Barnes Hill and 50 mE by 50 mN by 1 mRL for Scotts-Vulcan, constrained within the wireframed domains of the interpreted laterite layers. Grades were estimated using ordinary block kriging for both the Barnes Hill deposit and Scotts-Vulcan. Search ellipses and estimation parameters were based on the results of the variography, along with consideration of the drill spacing and geometry of the mineralisation. Global average density values were applied to the blocks according to the domain based on density measurements of diamond drill core.
The Barnes Hill and Scotts-Vulcan Mineral Resource estimates have been classified and reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). Mineral Resources for the Barnes Hill deposit have been classified as a combination of Indicated and Inferred Resources, while the Scotts-Vulcan resource has been classified as an Inferred Resource. The classification was developed by Snowden based on an assessment of the nature and quality of the drilling, sampling and assaying methods; drill spacing; confidence in the geological interpretation; and results of the model validation. The Mineral Resource is limited to the Limonite, Transitional, Saprolite and Saprock domains, with lower-Ni, higher-Fe domains above the limonite excluded. At Barnes Hill, where drilling is approximately 50 mN by 50 mE or better and the thickness is greater than 2 m, the resource has been classified as an Indicated Resource. Areas that are not supported by a 50 mN by 50 mE drill spacing or are less than 1 m in thickness have been assigned an Inferred classification. At Scotts-Vulcan, blocks within approximately 125 m of a drillhole have been classified as an Inferred Resource, with extrapolation beyond that excluded.
NQ Minerals plc (NEX:NQMI) Chairman David Lenigas caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss production figures at Hellyer, their COVID response plan, the Beaconsfield gold mine and what investors can expect in the next quarter.
Q1: Great news on
production figures today, can you talk us through the highlights please?
A1: The Hellyer lead,
zinc, gold, silver mine in Tasmania is our flagship asset and it continues to
run pretty much full steam ahead at the moment even though there are COVID-19
issues in Australia.
We had some very
good production numbers for the quarter, we are in the process of increasing plant
capacity from what was 900,000 tonnes a year average to a plan to bring it up
to 1.2 million tonnes a year processing of high grade lead, zinc, gold and
silver all feed through the plant. So, that work continues pretty much to plan and
is delivering some pretty good results.
We’re lucky in Tasmania that we are regarded as an essential business, the Tasmanian government regard the mining industry as an essential part of the economic drivers of the state. So, to that extent, we’re operating pretty much as normal, obviously people are taking caution and the value of our staff is paramount but things are operating with caution very well and we continue to move the project forward.
Q2: Can you also
tell us more about NQ Minerals’ COVID response plan that was announced earlier
today?
A2: The Tasmanian
government have a quite defined programme that they want people to stick to so we’re
operating on a shift work basis. Because the majority of our product is lead-based
anyway, our PPE procedures are quite extensive day in day out, whether COVID-19
exists or not.
So, a lot of
non-essential staff operate from home, if there’s a requirement for call-out
for maintenance or other types of people then it’s a short drive from where
they live to the operations. Personal hygiene has always been paramount at
Hellyer and always has been ever since the project started.
We operate pretty strict rules under what the Tasmanian government have legislated and it’s business as usual.
Q3: You recently
announced an update on the Beaconsfield gold mine, what does this mean for the
company?
A3: Beaconsfield has
been around for well over 100 years , it’s one of the premier mines in that
state and always has been and we bought it from the administrator through an
action plan and we’re we and truly into our due diligence process.
We’ve had a number
of very positive meetings with the Tasmanian government right to the highest
level, we’ve got tremendous support from pretty much all government departments
that we’ve spoken to to look at brining Beaconsfield back into production as an
economic driver but also creating mineral wealth for the state of Tasmania.
Phenomenal asset,
very high grade, one of the richest grade gold mines in Tasmania’s history and
it produced nearly 2 million ounces, there are a lot of ounces still underground,
the mine shut in 2012 because of the gold price at the time.
The plan is to look at reopening Beaconsfield as soon as possible, if I can have it reopened by the end of the year then that’s the objective and that’s what everyone is working towards.
Q4: What other news
can investors expect from NQ Minerals in the next quarter?
A4: Well, we’ve announced that we have a signed deal with Traxys and a major European bank for refinancing the company’s corporate debt and everyone complains about NQ, “look at all the debt”, most companies that start projects of this size do have some debt. Now, that the project is operating and has been for some 14/15 months, we’re now working with a number of big banking institutions to reschedule the debt down to a better coupon rate so that work has been going on.
So, hopefully we’ll come out with some news for our shareholders with respect to debt restructuring which has been something that people have been commenting on ever since I joined the Board as Chairman so that’s taking a lot of our corporate time.
It should be too
long before we hopefully report, in a public sense, the gold resources that
have been recalculated at Beaconsfield and we’ve got a number of other
initiatives going on with some of our other assets in Australia.
So, I imagine it
will be quite a full quarter coming up in respect to news releases but it
depends which one hits the button first.
NQ Minerals plc (AQUIS: NQMI) (OTCQB: NQMLF) Chairman David Lenigas joins DirectorsTalk to discuss Q1 2020 production figures and its COVID-19 response plan. David talks us through the highlights, expands on the response plan, explains what the update on the Beaconsfield Gold Mine means for the company and other news that investors can expect over the coming months.
NQ Minerals is an expanding base and precious metals production and exploration company with its operations centered around its Hellyer Operations in Tasmania, Australia.
In 2015, the company listed in London based on a portfolio of historically proven gold and silver exploration assets in Northern Queensland. In 2017, the Company acquired the Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania and subsequent to proving a Reserve of over 8 million tonnes, commenced reprocessing of high grade tailings. During late 2018, the Company commenced production of lead, zinc and precious metal concentrates. Hellyer has now achieved commercial production, exceeding originally anticipated metallurgical performance and plans are in place for further expansion.
The Company is currently focussed on further exploration, mining and processing opportunities in Tasmania. These include the proposed development of a new nickel/cobalt mine and processing facility, that will enable further commercialisation of the residual material from the reprocessing of Hellyer-tailings. At the same time the Company is advancing the development of its Northern Queensland properties to bring these into commercial operation.
NQ Minerals Plc (NEX:NQMI), the base and precious metals producer from its flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania Australia, has today announced excellent production levels of base metals concentrate were achieved for the First Quarter ending 31 March 2020. Hellyer’s lead concentrate production for the Quarter totalled 8,127 tonnes and 4,609 tonnes of zinc concentrate. Refer to Table 1.
In addition, NQ highlights that a total of 1,081 ounces of gold and 230,441 ounces of silver were produced as a payable precious metal credits in the lead and zinc concentrate streams for the Quarter.
Hellyer started implementing programmes to increase plant throughput during the Quarter, with a systematic increase in average production rate from 110 tonnes per hour to 122 tonnes per hour by Quarter end. Further production rate increases are planned during Q2.
Hellyer has now produced 37,098 tonnes of lead concentrates and 27,192 tonnes of zinc concentrates since the mine started operations in September 2018, and has generated approximately A$58 million in gross revenues from start-up to the end of Q4 2019. Unaudited financial results for Hellyer Gold Mines Ltd for Q1 2020 will be announced shortly.
David Lenigas, Chairman of NQ Minerals, commented:
“Operations at NQ’s Hellyer operations have performed extremely well this Quarter, especially considering the current global COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 represents an unprecedented challenge for people, governments and businesses worldwide. The Tasmanian Government responded quickly to the virus and was the first State in Australian to limit any travel to its island State and has implemented strict controls within the state. Confirmed COVID-19 infections in the State remain low.
“Fortuitously, Hellyer is currently regarded by the Tasmanian Government as an essential business during this critical period. While Hellyer has implemented tightened control measures in respect to employee health and safety, mining and processing activities continue as normal as can be hoped for in these uncertain times. None of our employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and the actions we are taking represent our best judgement, based on what we know today. As always, the safety of our employees is our top priority.
“With respect to operations for the Quarter, Hellyer has successfully implemented a number of steps to increase production rates by 10% to an average of 122 tonnes per hour. These actions are part of a systematic effort to raise overall production rates to 1.2 million tonnes per year. The base metals market has been under pressure due to the COVID-19 situation, however Hellyer is seeing a number of positives with USD vs AUD exchange rate moves during the period and a near 20% rise in the Australian gold price increase to A$2,620 per ounce. China appears, on the face of it, to be through the worse of the Coronavirus lockdowns and NQ is hopeful for an increase in base metal demand as China gets back to work. To this point, we are pleased that another 28,000 tonnes of Hellyer concentrates has been dispatched from the Port of Burnie on 3 April.”
Table 1: Hellyer Operations – Production Performance for Q1 2020.
Processed tonnes:
225,764 tonnes
· Lead grade %
2.80%
· Zinc Grade %
2.18%
· Gold Grade
2.38 grams/tonne (“g/t”)
· Silver Grade
86 g/t
Lead Concentrates Produced
8,127 tonnes
· Lead Recovery %
48.02%
· Lead %
37.41%
· Gold grade
4.14 g/t
· Gold produced1
1,081 ounces
· Silver grade
786 g/t
· Silver produced1
205,396 ounces
Zinc Concentrates Produced
4,609 tonnes
· Zinc Recovery %
42.54%
· Zinc Grade %
45.51%
· Silver grade
169 g/t
· Silver produced2
24,045 ounces
Note1: Gold and silver credits are payable in lead concentrates.
Note2: Silver credits are payable in zinc concentrates.
Hellyer’s COVID-19 Response Plan:
The Tasmanian Government has implemented a strict lockdown across the State to control the spread of COVID-19 and the Company is working strictly to the protocols put in place by the Government. We will review and adjust our business continuity measures as the situation evolves and we will continue to be guided by the latest advice from medical and government authorities.
The mining industry in Tasmania has been classed as an essential service, and as such mining and processing operations at Hellyer continue. NQ and Hellyer management have been in recent conversation with senior Government officers about current and potential needs in the current context.
The Port of Burnie continues to operate, with a shipment of 28,000 tonnes of Hellyer’s lead and pyrite concentrates was loaded between 29 March – 3 April.
At the present time there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Hellyer operations. In response to the health risks associated with COVID-19, Hellyer has implemented a series of health and safety protocols on a company-wide basis. At the operational level, site-level controls currently in place and/or being introduced include medical screening of all individuals prior to entering site, enhanced cleaning and hygiene practices, social distancing of workers, increased reliance on the use of technology such as hosting of virtual meetings, work from home policies and the suspension of all non-essential work at, and visits to, the Company’s mine site.
NQ Minerals Plc (NEX:NQMI), the base and precious metals producer from its flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania Australia, today advised that it has engaged experienced Tasmanian mining specialist consultants to assist it to prepare a Mine Re-Opening Due Diligence Study to further assess the opportunities at Beaconsfield.
A corporate presentation on the Beaconsfield Gold Mine is now available on the Company’s website.
NQ announced on 21 February 2020 that it has entered into agreements with the mortgagee in possession of the relevant assets to purchase the Beaconsfield Gold Mine in northern Tasmania.
David Lenigas, NQ Minerals Chairman, commented:
“In these challenging times, I’m pleased to advise that all of NQ’s operations in Tasmania continue as normal. We will be providing a Q1 2020 update when results are finalised.
“The work on assessing the re-opening of Beaconsfield Gold Mine is progressing to plan with local engineering consulting groups who have extensive first-hand experience at Beaconsfield.”
NQ Minerals Plc (NEX:NQMI) (OTCQB: NQMLF) and its subsidiary, Hellyer Gold Mines Pty Ltd, have agreed a definitive term sheet with the Traxys Group and a leading European Natural Resource bank for a US$60m debt facility as part of its previously announced intention to refinance debt that was initially raised to start mining and processing at its flagship Hellyer base and precious metals operation in Tasmania.
The agreement follows extensive due diligence by both Traxys and the Bank. In addition, it reflects Hellyer’s transition during 2019 from a project in commissioning to an ongoing operation demonstrating continued improvements in performance.
The facility comprises a 6 year amortising loan with a coupon rate of Libor + 5%. This allows NQ and Hellyer to retire a portion of the initial project startup and commissioning debt and replace this expensive 12% debt with funding that has a significantly lower interest rate and is more aligned with the project’s maturity and projected life.
Completion of the facility and potential draw down of funds is subject to final documentation and a number of conditions precedent customary to a facility of this nature, including final Credit Committee and Board approvals.
NQ Minerals advises that it is also continuing in parallel discussions with other potential refinancing institutions to complement the Traxys/Bank facility and will update shareholders as negotiations progress and/or when material events occur.
David Lenigas, NQ Minerals Chairman, stated:
“This agreement represents an important step forward in executing NQ’s financing strategy as the Company consolidates the financing of Hellyer and its ongoing operation now that the operations are performing to expectations. This US$60m debt refinancing package provides a solid cornerstone to aid the refinancing of NQ’s debt providers.
“Importantly, I would like to thank Traxys, our valued offtake partner at Hellyer, and the Bank for all their effort and support as we have worked towards this agreement and for the confidence that this potential funding represents in the Hellyer team and the ongoing operations.”
NQ Minerals Plc (NEX:NQMI), the base and precious metals producer from its flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania Australia, has today advised that it has entered into agreements with the mortgagee in possession of the relevant assets to purchase the Beaconsfield Gold Mine in northern Tasmania. Beaconsfield is located 200 km from NQ’s current Hellyer base and precious metals operations.
Highlights
· NQ has signed a staged acquisition agreement totalling A$2million to purchase a 100% interest in the historic high-grade Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania.
· Beaconsfield is historically one of the richest gold mines in Tasmania. Past gold production totalled nearly 2 million ounces from 1887 to 2012 at an average of nearly 15 grams per tonne (“g/t”).
· The assets to be purchased include the 350,000 tonnes per annum (“tpa”) processing plant, tailings dams, associated infrastructure, property rights, mining leases, and related mining permits.
· An extensive 593 hectare mining lease covering the famous Tasmanian Reef and infrastructure.
Gold Resource Potential:
Historic gold production at Beaconsfield’s Tasmania Mine was in two main phases:
· 1877-1914 – 1.04M tonnes for 855,000 ounces of gold (averaging 25.6 g/t gold)
· 1999-2012 – 2.72M tonnes for 920,000 ounces of gold (averaging 10.5 g/t gold)
As part of the initial programme of works in assessing the potential to re-open Beaconsfield, NQ will be engaging independent consultants to re-assess the existing gold resources available within the mining lease, taking in to consideration the 50% increase in A$ gold price since the mine officially ceased underground operations in 2012.
However, it should be noted that prior to Beaconsfield’s operator, BCD Resources NL (“BCD”), closing the underground mine on the 30 June 2012, BCD stated in their June 2011 Annual Report that underground reserves and resources at its Tasmania Mine totalled 336,514 ounces of gold (Refer Table 1). Sizeable unmined areas remain within the existing mine envelope and the gold mineralisation is open at depth.
In the full year to 30 June 2012, the Mine’s last year of underground production, output was 246,084 tonnes at 6.5 g/t gold with plant recoveries averaging 86.9%. This resulted in 44,829 ounces of gold production for the year at an average operating cost of A$1,027 per ounce. The processing plant ceased treatment of gold ores in 2013 after treating surface stockpiles and has been in care and maintenance since then.
Significant drill intersections have been made below 1210m (the lowest mine working level at the time of closure) down to a depth of 1360m, illustrating the potential of further ore to depth, these include:
· 7.0m at 21.7 g/t gold (hole F91 at ~1220m depth)
· 11.0m at 15.4 g/t gold (hole F88 at ~1235m depth)
· 24.3m at 8.8 g/t gold (hole J17 at ~1240m depth)
· 6.6m at 11.3 g/t gold (hole J14 at ~1255m depth)
· 2.5m at 32.4 g/t gold (hole J10 at ~1355m depth)
(Note: Drill intercepts reported in BCD Resources NL news release to the ASX on 30 November 2011.)
Table 1: Beaconsfield Gold Mine – Gold Resources (Including Reserves) as at 30 June 2011
Category
Tonnes
Gold Grade (g/t)
Contained Ounces
Measured Resource (Tasmania Mine)
262,000
11.5
96,000
Indicated Resource (Tasmania Mine)
430,000
11.1
153,000
Inferred Resource (Tasmania Mine)
319,000
8.4
85,000
Total Resources
1,011,000
10.35
336,514
(Note: Resources reported by BCD Resources NL to the ASX on 30 November 2011.)
Terms of the Transaction:
NQ has, via a wholly owned subsidiary, entered into a binding sale agreement with the mortgagee in possession, to purchase a 100% interest in the Beaconsfield Gold Mine which includes a number of mining leases, as well as all associated plant and equipment. Following settlement, NQ will have a 100% interest in the mine and associated assets.
The total consideration for the acquisition is A$2 million, paid as follows:
· on the date of signing, an initial non-refundable payment of A$100,000;
· a refundable deposit of A$100,000 payable on exchange;
· on settlement, a further A$800,000 is payable; and
· the balance of the A$1 million purchase price to be paid by NQ by 31 December 2020 with interest accruing at 10% per annum from 1 July 2020.
The balance of the purchase price which remains payable following settlement will be secured including by way of a charge over the assets which are the subject of the acquisition.
Completion of the transaction is conditional upon normal regulatory approvals being obtained by 30 June 2020, including the consent of the Tasmanian Government to the transfer of the relevant mining leases to NQ.
Competent Person’s Statement
The information in this report that relates to the Hellyer Gold Mine is based on information compiled by Roger Jackson, an Executive Director of the Company, who is a 25+ year Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (MAusIMM) and a Member of Australian Institute of Company Directors. Mr. Jackson has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves”. Mr. Jackson consents to the inclusion of the data contained in relevant resource reports used for this announcement as well as the matters, form and context in which the relevant data appears.
David Lenigas, NQ Minerals’s Chairman, stated:
“As from today, NQ and its engineering consultant teams commence an extensive due diligence programme on Beaconsfield as part of the acquisition agreement. NQ will be working with its consultants and relevant Government Departments in Tasmania to assess and ascertain what is required to re-open Beaconsfield as soon as possible.
“Acquiring an established gold processing plant for a fraction of the cost to build and permit a new one, not to mention the typical lead time associated with permitting a new facility in Tasmania, is an exciting opportunity which provides our shareholders with exposure to the potential near term re-opening of a high-grade gold operation in Tasmania. Recent notable successes in re-assessing new potential around historic high-grade gold mining centres has seen significant value add for investors at projects like Fosterville in Victoria and Bellevue in Western Australia. In this regard, we believe that Beaconsfield offers a genuine opportunity for the Company to develop a high-quality gold asset.
“Futhermore, the opportuinity to bring Beaconsfield back into operation reinforces and builds on NQ’s existing activities, commitment to, and strategy in Tasmania. This project will leverage off the skills and experience developed during the successful fast track recommissioning and operation of the Hellyer Gold Mine and complement the development of the Barnes Hill nickel and cobalt mining and processing project. In particular the close location of the Barnes Hill project to Beaconsfield will enable shared capital and operating costs reducing the implementation timeslines and costs for both opportunities.”
NQ Minerals plc (LON: NQMI) has announced that it has secured high grade underground base metals resources at its Hellyer mine with bonanza drilling grades.
Highlights:
· NQ to acquire additional lead/zinc/gold/silver resources and mineral rights at its flagship Hellyer Mine in Tasmania, Australia from Bass Metals Ltd (“Bass”);
· Acquisition includes 1.175 million tonnes of underground JORC Resources grading 8.6% Zinc, 4.9% Lead, 96 g/t Silver and 1.66 g/t gold (Refer to Table 1);
· These resources offer significant potential of increasing Hellyer’s overall resources to add to the 10-year mine life to its tailings reprocessing project;
· 9 well advanced exploration targets have been developed to date within the Hellyer Mining Lease and all targets are located close to pre-existing mine decline development and are within 2 km of Hellyer;
· Bonanza drilling intercepts for immediately follow up, including:
§ 20.4 metres grading 16.3% Zn, 7.2% Pb, 104 g/t Ag and 2.4 g/t Au at the Fossey East Orebody;
§ 7.0 metres grading 22.3% Zn, 9.9% Pb, 181 g/t Ag and 3.4 g/t Au at the new Mackays prospect discovery, which sits immediately adjacent to the Hellyer orebody;
· Hellyer Plant rated at 1.6 million tonnes per annum and permitted for 2 million tonnes per annum for mining and processing;
· The Hellyer plant is currently operating at 62% of its capacity, processing around 1 million tonnes a year of high-grade zinc/lead/gold/silver tailings.
London listed NQ Minerals Plc, the base and precious metals producer from its flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania, Australia, has announced that it has signed a deal with Bass Metals Ltd (ASX: BSM) to finally secure 100% of all the mining and exploration rights to the main 1,695 hectare Hellyer Mining Lease (CML103M/87) by Bass surrendering its long standing Sublease Agreement over Hellyer’s underground base metals rights. NQ has also acquired 100% rights to the 46 km2 Mt Block permit (EL48/2003), which surrounds the Hellyer Mining Lease.
David Lenigas, Chairman of NQ Minerals, commented:
“This acquisition is truly transformational for NQ. This long-awaited deal provides real potential to radically change the long-term plans for Hellyer and the perception of NQ in the market. There is real potential to re-open the underground mining operations, adding much higher-grade ore feed to the plant over the coming years. Some of the drill intercepts near the Hellyer orebody are regarded as ‘bonanza’ grades anywhere in the world and NQ is planning to commence drilling a number of the high priority targets as soon as possible. Exploration around VHMS ore bodies, such as Hellyer, is supported by the fact that deposits of this style are often clustered and occasionally stacked at more than one stratigraphic level. The last operator of the mine discovered three significant zones of base metal mineralisation within 200 metres of the large Hellyer orebody at Fossey, Fossey East and Mackay and confirmed the significant potential for new discoveries on the leases.”
NQ recommenced operations at Hellyer a year ago with a major mine tailings retreatment operation with a stated mine life of over 10 years. These operations are now running profitably, as referred to in recent news releases.
This transaction with Bass now provides a very real opportunity for NQ to look towards re-opening underground mining operations on very high-grade base metals deposits already identified at Hellyer, providing potential to extend its operational life well beyond the current 10-year plan.
Historically, some 18.2 million tonnes of ore grading 12.2% Zinc (Zn), 6.3% Lead (Pb), 0.3% Copper (Cu), 156 g/t Silver (Ag) and 2.4 g/t Gold (Au) have been mined from the Hellyer area.
This transaction will bring to NQ’s books additional JORC (2004) resources of 1.175 million tonnes grading 8.6% Zn, 4.9% Pb, 96 g/t Ag and 1.66 g/t Au. (Refer to Table 1)
There are a number of highly notable drill hole intersections that will require early follow-up. These include:
· 20.4 metres grading 16.3% Zn, 7.2% Pb, 104 g/t Ag and 2.4 g/t Au were intersected at the Fossey East deposit; and
· 7.0 metres grading 22.3% Zn, 9.9% Pb, 181 g/t Ag and 3.4 g/t Au at the new Mackays prospect, which sits adjacent to the Hellyer orebody.
At least 9 well advanced exploration targets have been developed to date within the Hellyer Mining Lease and all targets are located close to pre-existing mine decline development and are within 2 km of Hellyer’s 1.6 million tonne per annum capacity processing plant.
Note: Fossey, Fossey East and Hellyer remnant JORC 2004 resource reported to ASX by Bass Metals Ltd (ASX Code: BSM) dated 30 September 2013.
NQ’s operating entities associated with its Tasmanian operations will pay Bass Metals Ltd A$15,000 per month for 24 months and provide local minor logistics support to Bass for their continuing obligations with nearby tenements. In addition, NQ will be taking over security deposits totalling A$112,000 with the Tasmanian Government on the Hellyer Mine’s licence (CML103M/87) and the surrounding Mt Block Exploration Licence (EL48/2003). The transaction is expected to close in January 2020. The market will be advised when this transaction closes.
NQ Minerals Plc (NEX: NQMI) (OTCQB: NQMLF), the base and precious metals producer from the Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania Australia, has today announced that November 2019 was an excellent month for production, with a provisional mine unaudited net profit before tax for November at a record A$2.44 million on revenues of A$5.64 million.
(Note: These numbers are with respect to the NQ’s Hellyer Gold Mines Pty Ltd only)
Hellyer Operations – Production Performance for November 2019
Mined tonnes:
73,358 tonnes
Processed tonnes:
73,532 tonnes
· Lead grade %
2.95%
· Zinc Grade %
2.08%
· Gold Grade
2.46 grams/tonne (“g/t”)
· Silver Grade
87 g/t
Lead Concentrates Produced
2,780 tonnes
· Lead Recovery %
47.28%
· Lead %
36.93%
· Gold grade
5.18 g/t
· Silver grade
785 g/t
Zinc Concentrates Produced
1,426 tonnes
· Zinc Recovery %
40.35%
· Zinc Grade %
43.25%
· Silver grade
191 g/t
David Lenigas, Chairman of NQ Minerals, commented:
“The Company is seeing excellent P&L and operational performance from its flagship Hellyer Mine in Tasmania. Work is continuing to improve lead and zinc recoveries and the prognosis for the full fourth quarter and into 2020 is looking strong.”
NQ Minerals is an Australian-based mining company which commenced production in Q4 2018 at its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania. Hellyer has a published JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimated at 9.25 Mt which is host to Gold at 2.57 g/t Au for 764,300 oz Au, Silver at 92 g/t Ag for 27,360,300 oz Ag, Lead at 2.99% Pb for 276,600 tonnes and Zinc at 2.57% Zn for 217,400 tonnes. In addition to these resources, the Hellyer assets include a large mill facility and full supporting infrastructure, including a direct rail line to port. The Company anticipates strong cash-flow and profitability from Hellyer and has a portfolio of exciting exploration prospects.
NQ Minerals (NEX:NQMI) Chairman David Lenigas caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss his new role as Chairman, what investors can expect over the coming months and the value of the NQ shares.
Q1: First off, congratulations
on becoming the Chairman at NQ Minerals. David, what can you tell us about why you’ve joined the company?
A1: Well, not for a long time since I was brought into Emperor Mines in
the 80’s and 90’s that I’ve actually joined a company that’s actually making money
so this is a far cry from the things I’ve normally done in the past which is
trying to build companies from scratch which have been very successful.
I was asked to come on as the new Chairman of NQ, when I saw the potential
and the profitability of this mining operation in Tasmania, I thought this is a
good opportunity to re-whet my mining engineering appetite and help the guys
build something quite sizable here and get the story out to the global
marketplace.
I see very exciting potential here for the company.
Q2: So, what can investors expect to see over the coming months with you
on board?
A2: For starters, one of my roles is to start telling the international community
that the company exists, for the last 6-12 months it’s been fairly unloved in
the London markets and I think deliberately so. The management team, up until
now, has focussed more on, and it’s a very interesting way they’ve done it,
they’ve funded it in an upside down way.
Normally, London companies focus on raising equity, diluting
shareholders to fund a growing operation and here, the company have funded
principally from debt and listed bonds the Helier operations to bring them back
into production. Since about July, its really started to hit its straps and
really turning into quite a profitable operation.
So, there’s lot of good news to come, in fact I was down in Tasmania
looking at the operations a week and a half ago and met a very dedicated
management team on site who are really kicking some serious goals on the
production and profitability side. Over the last few months, they’ve been
producing record lead/zinc/gold and silver revenues and looking at way things
are going this month, the lads are really kicking it right out of the park at
the moment.
So, an operation like this which has got very very long mine life, some
10 years with a lot of room to grow on its existing operations, before the whole
situation really starts swinging towards back to underground and open pit
operations, this has got a good fundamental background to build something quite
sizeable.
As I’m on the Board and there’s lots of news to come over the coming months, I see that this is something that shareholders could find quite interesting, and potentially new shareholders.
Q3: Just thinking about shareholders, do you think the NQ Minerals’ shares
are good value at the moment?
A3: NEX is a very difficult market but as people start to work out how NEX
works, I think once people start trading the stock a bit more actively as the
good news comes out from the robust operations in Tasmania, we’ll see some good
liquidity pick up on this marketplace.
To sit here with a company, market capped at £9 million, with 10 years
of pretty much proven reserves, making millions of dollars a year, with huge
scope for upside potential particularly on the exploration, I can only see one
way for this to go.
Very rarely have I seen an opportunity listed in London that I see tremendous
upside in, particularly from a market
cap of £9 million. If you look at the institutional groups that have funded Hellyer,
some of them are pretty big global players and we’ve got a very good
relationship with our offtake partners,
Traxys, a lot of the product goes off into China and that’s a great
relationship for us.
So, it’s interesting from the people who have funded the quite
substantial amount of debt and listed bonds down at the Hellyer level, really
what we’re looking at here from the main Topco which owns 100% of the Hellyer
operations is very little activity so I see that changing quite quickly as life
progresses.
So, do I see real value in this stock at this market cap?
Absolutely and it’s time to start telling the world about it now its kicked
through into the very profitable scenario and I see profitability improving
quite substantially for the rest of 2019 and 2020 and beyond.
NQ Minerals Plc (NEX: NQMI) (OTCQB: NQMLF) new Chairman David Lenigas joins DirectorsTalk to discuss his new role. David explains why he has joined the company, what investors can expect to see from the company over the coming months and shares his thoughts on whether NQ shares are good value.
NQ Minerals is an Australian-based mining company which commenced production in Q4 2018 at its 100% owned flagship Hellyer Gold Mine in Tasmania. Hellyer has a published JORC compliant resource estimated at 9.5 mt which is host to Gold at 2.61 g/t Au for 796,000 oz Au, Silver at 104 g/t Ag for 32 m oz Ag, Lead at 3.03% Pb for 287,800 tonnes and Zinc at 2.5% Zn for 237,900 tonnes. In addition to these resources, the Hellyer assets include a large mill facility and full supporting infrastructure, including a direct rail line to port. The Company anticipates strong cash-flow and profitability from Hellyer and has a portfolio of exciting exploration prospects.
NQ Minerals (LON: NQMI) CFO Colin Sutherland joins DirectorsTalk to discuss its further investment in Tasmania Energy Metals. Colin explains why this transaction is a good strategic fit for the company, provides more detail on the structure of the deal, how long it will take to develop an integrated facility and what other news we can expect from NQ over the coming months.
NQ Minerals is an Australia-based mining company which commenced production in Q4 2018 at its flagship Hellyer Gold Mine. The Company anticipates strong cash-flow and profitability from Hellyer and has a portfolio of exciting exploration prospects. The Company’s management team has decades of experience in the exploration and production of gold, silver and a variety of base metals.
NQ Minerals Plc (NEX:NQMI) Executive Director Roger Jackson caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the first bulk shipment of pyrite concentrate from their Hellyer Gold Mine.
Q1: First off, congratulations on announcing the first successful shipment of precious metal pyrite concentrate from the Hellyer Gold Mine. Could you explain for us the significance of this for the company?
A1: The shipment closes the loop on our metallurgy process at Hellyer and convinces us now that our concept of producing three concentrates works and we’ve seen that we’ve been able to produce a lead/gold/silver concentrate to the specification that we thought.
We then made a zinc
concentration that would build up the recovery zone to make it saleable and
good product to market.
The last product was pyrite and it was important that we can move it because it adds value to us and we’ve seen that now we can make it and fill it of which I believe is something pretty unique and also it’s something a lot of people doubted, and we’re proud of the fact that we’ve achieved what we set out to do.
Q2: NQ Minerals have now delivered three high-quality concentrate products to the market, what’s helped you achieve all this?
A2: We’ve got a fantastic technical team and a good management team at Board level within our company, some really excellent metallurgists and technical process people amongst our team which has made it a lot more fluent. It is a difficult task in extracting tailings and making a product out of it because it is the second time round.
It started out with a
concept and we believed in that and we’ve stuck to our process and we’ve
finally come out with three sets of products that are saleable and profitable. There
was many doubters on this and we’re happy that we’ve done what we said we could
do.
We’re also happy because we’ve got strong support from our funders and our off-take partners and of course, our investors.
Q3: As you advance your Hellyer project further, what are the key milestones that investors can expect to hear from NQ Minerals in the months ahead?
A3: I’m not going to give too much away but I’ll just suggest that investors should keep an eye on NQMI space. We have some very good initiatives underway, behind the scenes, and we’re working on those, their value add to what we do and additional products that we now understand and dealt with through Hellyer.
So, we feel that we can
bring these products online and they’ll provide significant shareholder value
so yes, keep an eye on the NQMI space.
NQ Minerals Plc (NEX: NQMI) (OTCQB: NQMLF), today announced that commissioning of the Hellyer Processing Plant has now been completed and that during the fourth quarter of 2018, the company produced 3,991 dry metric tonnes of lead, 1,537 dmt of zinc, and 4,291 dmt of pyrite realising approx £3.2m (AUD$5.7m) in Sales. The Company is now consistently producing all three concentrates with sales occurring on a weekly basis.
Brian Stockbridge, Chairman of NQ Minerals PLC, commented “With commissioning substantially complete, NQ is now a producer. Having completed the acquisition and refurbishment of Hellyer over the prior two years, the culmination of Management’s efforts will make 2019 a transformational year for the Company. With the change in status to a producer, we believe there is substantial potential to unlock shareholder value.”
NQ Minerals PLC (NEX:NQMI) Executive Director Roger Jackson caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the commencement of the flotation commissioning at their Hellyer mine in Tasmania and what’s next for the project.
Q1: Can you tell us more about the Hellyer mine and what NQ Minerals is aiming to achieve there?
A1: The Hellyer mine is actually a tailings dam processing project which will re-treat tailings through its existing flotation plant onsite in Tasmania. The material that we send up from this tailings dam is a polymetallic material, very high grade, and is made up of essentially gold, silver, lead and zinc. There’re over 10 million tonnes to re-treat through the plant over the next decade.
NQ essentially will be cleaning up an environmental legacy and making revenue of in excess of £800 million over that period.
Q2: So, what does today’s news mean for the project?
A2: It’s great news, it indicates we’re nearing the end of the refurbishment process and moving the project into the operational phase.
As per our schedule, we’ve been working to a budget that’s been put together by our management team back at the start of the year and we’ve met that target of starting commissioning in August and it means that we are now moving towards operations.
Further to this point, we’ve got a perfect safety record and we’ve had no lost time injuries over the 62,000 hours that’s been worked in this refurbishment project.
Q3: Can you tell us more about the expected concentrate to be shipped later in the year?
A3: So, this is a bit of a unique project in the sense that it is a very high-grade tailings dam project, it has a good mix of high value products in it, as I mentioned, gold, silver, lead and zinc, but further to that there’s a pyrite product.
We’re going to be producing three flotational concentrates, they are produced by sequential flow so the first one to be produced will be a gold/silver/lead product, the second product is a zinc concentrate and finally we’re making a pyrite concentrate. We’ll be treating a million tonnes put through the plant and we’ll be producing about 560,000 tonnes of concentrate which will be sent to the Burnie port, some 65 kilometres north of the plant in Tasmania.
Q4: What’s next for the project?
A4: NQ Minerals are going to move this project from a commissioning stage into a steady state production phase, we’ll gradually tweak everything, we’ll improve our efficiencies, and we’ll make the process more viable by increasing our grades and recovery. Certainly, we’re going to be looking for other opportunities within that region of North-West Tasmania and whilst we’re doing this, we’re making very very good cash. We’ve got some very exciting exploration projects up in North Queensland and with that cash, we can spend a bit of time and money looking further into those projects.
NQ Minerals PLC (NEX:NQMI), an Australia based exploration and mining company, has today announced that Mr. Kevin Puil has been appointed to the Board of Directors as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.
A Canadian national, Mr. Puil currently serves as the founder and Managing Partner of RIVI Capital LLC which is a private equity fund focused on precious metals and providing investors direct access to physical metal exposure.
Kevin is a financier and has a wealth of experience in the mining sector. He has previously worked as an investment analyst and portfolio manager in both Canada and the US and is a CFA charter holder.
Mr. Puil currently holds options over 4m shares in NQ Minerals Plc, exercisable at a price of 12p per share.
NQ Minerals’ Non-Executive Chairman Brian Stockbridge said, “We are delighted to welcome Kevin to the Board of NQ Minerals. He is a highly experienced investor in the area of precious metals and currently serves on the Board of a number of listed mining companies. As we drive our flagship Hellyer Gold mine into production this year, and seek admission to AIM, I have no doubt that Kevin will be an invaluable addition to the Board.”
