Overview
Europe has a critical mineral problem, and it’s getting worse. The European Union has ambitious goals for the transition to clean energy, but relies on imports for most of the minerals it will need to reach those goals. The EU was already struggling, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine worsened the situation, as the EU had plans to fold Ukraine into its battery sector. Additionally, a report commissioned by the EU identified faster-than-expected demand for critical metals that face a lagging supply. Next year, the EU is launching a fund for critical minerals projects that will begin at €2 billion, but the region will need €100 billion to produce enough minerals.
The situation is even more dire due to increasing global competition for critical minerals, as other countries mirror the EU’s energy transition goals. Canada and the US have set their own clean energy transition goals, yet both countries are also heavily reliant on imports. It has become evident that to reach their respective targets, the EU, Canada and the US need to develop their own domestic supply chains for critical minerals. A domestic supply chain would create sustained growth for the energy transition, but getting there will require significant government investment. All of these factors add up to a steadily growing global demand for minerals and fierce competition to win the attention of mining companies necessary to build out the domestic supply chain.
Pivotal Metals (ASX:PVT), formerly Rafaella Resources, is a global developer and explorer of world-class mineral deposits critical to an ever-increasing, technologically-driven world economy. With assets in Canada and Spain, Pivotal Metals is committed to developing its projects in a manner that is environmentally and socially responsible.
Pivotal Metals’ exploration assets in Canada target the North American critical metals supply chain. The Horden Lake copper-nickel-PGM development project in Quebec, Canada, is the company’s most recent acquisition. With a JORC mineral resource estimate of 27.8 Mt at 1.49 percent copper equivalent (CuEq) containing 414 kt of contained CuEq, Horden Lake is considered a “transformative acquisition” for Pivotal Metals. The project will be developed as a carbon-neutral operation connected to La Grange hydro power.
The company’s Quebec Belleterre-Anglier exploration project has known high-grade nickel-copper-PGE deposits at Midrim, Lorraine and Alotta. The project allows the company to build out a North American supply chain for the clean energy transition in a tier 1 mining jurisdiction that has committed $3.8 billion to advance its critical metals industry. PGMs in particular are gaining attention as a critical mineral required in the development of green hydrogen.
Tungsten is classified as a critical mineral by the EU, UK, and the US due to its role in multiple strategic industries. Pivotal Metals has put together a portfolio of two previously producing tungsten and tin mines in Galicia, Spain: San Finx and Santa Comba. The mines are partially permitted and benefit from extensive infrastructure. San Finx was producing tin and tungsten concentrates as recently as 2017. Bringing these mines back into production will substantially mitigate Europe’s supply chain risks.
The proximity of the San Finx project to Santa Comba creates a synergistic relationship between them, as they’re able to share personnel, procurement and capital equipment. Additionally, both projects can supply the same markets and enable improved offtake commitments. San Finx has lower startup costs with a high-grade underground mine, alongside advanced permitting, making it a significant addition to the company’s Iberian Peninsula portfolio.
An experienced management team and board of directors lead the company towards its goals of contributing to the European and North American critical minerals supply chain. Steven Turner, managing director, brings 25 years of experience in the resource sector. Lluis Boixet Martí is a trained geologist with over 30 years of experience in the exploration, evaluation and developing mineral resources sector. The company’s board of directors also brings diverse experience to guide the company towards its ambitions.
Company Highlights
- Pivotal Metals is an exploration and development mining company with assets in North America and Europe, enabling it to become a significant contributor to domestic supply chains of critical minerals.
- The company’s recently acquired Horden Lake copper-nickel-PGM project in Quebec, Canada has a JORC mineral resource estimate of 27.8 Mt at 1.49 percent copper equivalent (CuEq) containing 414 kt of contained CuEq
- The Belleterre-Anglier Project, also in Quebec, is an early-stage exploration asset with known nickel-copper-PGE deposits
- The company has two tungsten projects in the Iberian Peninsula with synergistic opportunities to share resources, personnel and offtake agreements.
- Pivotal Metals is led by an experienced management team and board of directors that create confidence in its ability to reach its goals.
Key Projects
Horden Lake Copper-Nickel-PGM
Pivotal Metals acquired the Horden Lake polymetallic deposit in northwestern Quebec from Gestion Ora-Mirage Ltée in September 2022. Horden Lake is an advanced project
located approximately 140 kilometers north of the mining town of Matagami, and 300km north of the company’s wholly owned Belleterre-Angliers Cu-Ni-PGM project, also in Quebec. The company has said that the project will be developed as a carbon-neutral operation, with its connection to the La Grange hydroelectric power complex.
Project Highlights:
- JORC Mineral Resource Estimate: 27.8 Mt at 1.49 percent CuEq containing 414kt of contained CuEq
- Potential for Fast-tracking: Significant body of historical technical study work and more than 50,000 meters of drilling database makes for a huge potential to accelerate the project to prefeasibility study
- Stable Infrastructure: Close to existing mines, transportation links and large hydro power facilities
- By-product Potential: Intercepts showed good grades of gold and cobalt, as well as silver and PGMs.
Belleterre-Anglier PGM-Ni-Cu Exploration Project
Pivotal Metals strengthened its PGM-nickel-copper sulphide portfolio in Canada by acquiring the Alotta and Lorraine PGM-Ni-Cu projects from Chase Mining Corporation Limited. The acquisition, which combined with the Midrim and Laforce claims, now comprises the Belleterre-Anglier PGM-Ni-Cu Exploration Project.
The Alotta and Lorraine tenement packages are adjacent to the Midrim and Laforce PGM-Ni-Cu projects consolidating 157.4 km2 of the eastern portion of the Belleterre-Angliers Greenstone Belt located in the Abitibi-Pontiac Greenstone. The company now has a total of 137 new and reclassified targets identified across the combined exploration package, 20 of which were identified as ‘priority 1’ for further investigation.
Project Highlights:
- Previous open-pit mining at Lorraine during the 1960s produced recovered grades of 0.38 percent nickel, 0.90 percent copper, 0.62 g/t gold
- Drill results at Alotta are comparable to the historic high-grade polymetallic intersections at Pivotal Metals’ existing Midrim project, located just 1.5 kms NE of Alotta.
- Completed assays at Midrim and LaForce serve as proof of concept that the geological formations contain significant deposits. Testing has revealed 5 percent nickel in 10 percent sulfide at the Midrim nickel tenor and 10 percent sulfide at the Laforce nickel tenor
San Finx Tungsten Project
Synergistic Opportunities: San Finx and Santa Comba are 50 kilometers apart, which creates opportunities for the two projects to share personnel, equipment, processing and offtake agreements.
San Finx Tin and Tungsten Project Highlights:
The company’s underground high-grade San Finx project lies 110 kilometers away from A Coruña, a significant regional port city. In 2017, the company extracted 17,000 tonnes of ore, producing 32 tonnes of wolframite concentrate and 35 tonnes of tin concentrate.
Project Highlights:
- Existing 72,000tpa process plant. Extensive infrastructure in place.
- Proven high-grade clean product with high recoveries: Completed assays of concentrates indicate a clean, high-grade product, but production has been halted due to flooding. The company recently received a proposal from the water authority to approve the key water discharge permit, which will unlock the project and allow Pivotal Metals to commence development activities.
Santa Comba Tungsten and Tin Project
The Santa Comba project is 60 kilometers away from the port city of A Coruña. The brownfield project has considerable infrastructure access, including power and water. The project contained permitted narrow vein high-grade underground operations and was last active in 1985.
Project Highlights:
- Recently completed PFS: The company recently announced the results of an advanced pre-feasibility study (PFS) that is JORC-compliant. The study indicates a 42 percent increase in the mineral reserve estimate. The study demonstrates an indicated resource estimate of 7.09 m tonnes at 0.15 percent tungsten and 98 ppm tin. NPV of A$95m, IRR of 33 percent and a payback period of only 2.3 years post construction. Importantly the study only considered 6 percent of the total potential resource (open pit and underground resources and targets)
- Encouraging Metallurgical Test Work: Metallurgical work shows an increase of 5.6 percent in recovery, reaching 71.6 percent to produce premium calcium tungstate.
- Permit Applications to Move Towards Development: The company is presently awaiting the filing of a permit application for open-pit mining.
Management Team
Steven Turner – Managing Director
Steven Turner brings over 25 years of experience in the resource sector, having held senior roles in both industry and investment banking. During his career, Turner has been based in London, Aberdeen, Singapore, Brisbane and Madrid. Turner has raised significant capital for the development of resource projects, including equity, public bonds and project finance. Most recently he was head of business development at a private mining group, having been instrumental in the successful growth of the company from a junior to mid-tier Australian base metal operator. Turner holds Australian, Canadian and UK citizenships and is a fellow of The Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Lluis Boixet MartÍ – New Projects
Lluis Boixet, a geologist, is a member of the European Federation of Geologists (QP), with more than 30 years of experience in the exploration, evaluation and development of mineral resources, including 3D modeling and resource estimation, mainly for gold and base metals. He has participated in the discovery and development of several sites in Spain and has served as a consultant for projects in Latin America and Africa.
Peter Hatfull – Non-Executive Chairman
Peter Hatfull has over 30 years experience in a range of senior executive positions with Australian and International companies. He has an extensive skill-set in the areas of business optimisation, capital raising and company restructuring. Hatfull has held senior financial and board positions in Australia, Africa and the UK. He has particular experience in revitalizing business plans, attracting investor funding, and implementing profitable strategies. Hatfull graduated as a chartered accountant in the United Kingdom, where he worked for Coopers and Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers), and subsequently moved to Africa, where he spent eight years in Malawi. Hatfull moved to Perth in 1988. He is considered to be an independent director.
Dr. Robert Wrixon – Non-Executive Director
Dr. Robert Wrixon is currently a director of the mining venture capital group Starboard Global Limited and has 20 years of experience in corporate strategy, commodities marketing, mining M&A and mineral exploration management. He has previously run two listed junior resources companies in Australia, and prior to that spent five years in corporate strategy for Xstrata plc based in Sydney and London. Wrixon is an Irish national and holds a Ph.D. in mineral engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Wrixon is not considered to be an independent director.
Ashley Hood – Non-executive Director
Ashley Hood has more than 15 years experience in the mining industry having worked in mine and exploration operations for junior and large mining companies based in Australia and throughout the Pacific including New Zealand. He has broad senior management experience having held a number of ASX-appointed board positions whilst working on some of Australia’s major JORC resources. Hood predominantly specializes in project/people management, native title negotiations, logistics, and project diligence/acquisitions and has personally held and managed a number of his own exploration projects. Hood is considered to be an independent director.
Daniel Rose- Non-Executive Director
Daniel has extensive experience in the investment banking industry, commodity financing, origination and trading. He most recently served as CEO and director of VTB Capital Hong Kong (VTBC), overseeing an SFC-regulated investment banking platform focused on natural resources activities across global markets, structured and corporate finance, M&A and asset management. Rose has spent 18 years in the commodity markets working for Societe Generale (prior to VTBC) in Sydney, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. Rose holds a Bachelor of Law (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from Bond University.
Amanda Wilton-Heald – Company Secretary
Amanda is a chartered accountant with over 20 years of accounting, auditing (of both listed and non-listed companies) and company secretarial experience within Australia and the UK. Amanda has been involved in the listing of junior explorer companies on the ASX and has experience in corporate advisory and company secretarial services.
