Uranium Archives - Page 3 of 43

Uranium stocks are the latest to grab the attention of Reddit’s WallStreetBets community, and surging uranium futures prices have prompted one Wall Street analyst to raise his triuranium octoxide price targets.

The Analyst: On Tuesday, Bank of America analyst Lawson Winder reiterated a Neutral rating on Cameco Corp (NYSE: CCJ) and raised the price target from $20 to $29.

The Thesis: Winder increased his 2021 triuranium octoxide price target by 18% to $36.30. He also raised his 2022 target by 41% to $53.50 and his 2023 target by 18% to $48.50.

In the last month, the price of uranium futures has jumped about 40% to around $42.40, roughly a seven-year high.

In that same stretch, Cameco shares are up 47.1%, and Winder said Tuesday that rising uranium prices are already reflected in Camecon’s stock price at this point.

He said the stock will likely continue to be volatile in the near-term given it is the only large, liquid U.S. stock with significant exposure to uranium.

“We however believe that any potential short-term spike in prices would prove temporary. We see our current outlook as largely reflected in the shares,” Winder said.

Winder said the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (OTC: SRUUF) alone has increased global demand by about 3% since Aug. 17. Winder said producers will certainly respond to the price spike by ramping up supply, but that new supply will take a bit of time to come online. Meanwhile, Winder said the SRUUF fund will likely continue to trade higher.

In addition to Cameco, several OTC-traded uranium penny stocks have experienced extreme volatility this week. In the past five trading days, Peninsula Energy Ltd (OTC: PENMF) shares are up 40.1%, Energy Resources of Australia Limited (OTC: EGARF) is up 40.2% and Yellow Cake PLC (OTC: YLLXF) shares are up 23.2%.

Benzinga’s Take: Uranium is the latest meme investment to take social media by storm, and pouring retail trading volume into relatively illiquid OTC-listed uranium stocks has certainly created some extreme near-term volatility.

Uranium prices may continue to drift higher in the near-term until more supply comes online, but traders can expect uranium stocks to eventually follow a similar longer-term trajectory to most of the low-float meme stock short squeeze trades of 2021.

Latest Ratings for CCJ

Dec 2020	RBC Capital	Downgrades	Sector Perform	Underperform
May 2019	TD Securities	Downgrades	Buy	Hold
Nov 2018	RBC Capital	Maintains	Sector Perform	Sector Perform

View More Analyst Ratings for CCJ
View the Latest Analyst Ratings

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The FTSE 100 was struggling for a foothold on gains Tuesday, as its heavily weighted mining sector logged losses.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – BHP Group on Tuesday laid out its aim to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 from the operations of its customers by working with them to cut carbon out of their processes.

BHP, the world's biggest miner, has already committed to extinguishing emissions directly from its own operations and lowering its indirect emissions through means such as using more power from renewable sources by then as well.

Steelmaking is one of the world's most heavily polluting industries and the shift to focus on net zero emissions from the use of its raw materials by the sector marks an escalation in its efforts. BHP said its definition of reaching net zero includes the use of carbon offsets.

The miner characterised its aim as an ambitious "goal" rather than a concrete target, since it has yet to determine a specific pathway to reach it.

Steelmaking is expected to be one of the slower sectors to decarbonise because it requires the combustion of carbon and iron at high temperatures, creating carbon dioxide as a byproduct.

Although steelmakers and Australia's iron ore miners are working on the production of carbon-free steel from iron ore, potentially using hydrogen, the process is not expected to become economic until late this decade at the earliest.

"The most significant contributions to our reported Scope 3 inventory come from the emissions generated by steelmaking through the processing of iron ore and metallurgical coal," BHP said.

Those emissions represent 96% of BHP’s total reported emissions, which during last financial year stood at 418.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Tom Hogue)

MELBOURNE, Australia, September 14, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto and Caterpillar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Caterpillar’s development of zero-emissions autonomous haul trucks for use at one of Rio Tinto’s Western Australian mining operations.

The collaboration will see Rio Tinto work with Caterpillar to advance the development of the manufacturer’s future 220-tonne 793 zero-emissions autonomous haul truck including the validation of Caterpillar’s emerging zero-emissions technology.

Rio Tinto and Caterpillar will progress a series of development milestones to include a 793 prototype pilot program, testing and pre-production trials.

It is anticipated that the world’s first operational deployment of approximately 35 new Caterpillar 793 zero-emissions autonomous haul trucks will be at Gudai-Darri once development is complete. Gudai-Darri is Rio Tinto’s most technically advanced iron ore mine, in the Pilbara, Western Australia

Rio Tinto’s Chief Commercial Officer Alf Barrios said "Our ambition to reach net zero emissions across our operations is a priority. Reaching this ambition will require new and innovative solutions and partnerships with supplier partners like Caterpillar. This collaboration represents a small but important step on that journey.

"We look forward to working together to validate these zero-emissions haul trucks in just a few years’ time. The advanced technology at Gudai-Darri puts it at the forefront of new mining operations globally and we look forward to adding Caterpillar zero-emissions haul trucks to the site."

Caterpillar Group President Denise Johnson said, "The integration of autonomy with a zero-emissions fleet demonstrates Rio Tinto’s commitment to reach net zero emissions.

"By leveraging these technologies across their sites, Rio Tinto can more safely increase productivity, efficiency and be more sustainable. We are pleased to be part of Rio Tinto’s sustainability journey and look forward to building on our long-standing collaboration."

In June, Rio Tinto announced it would deploy the world’s first fully autonomous water truck at Gudai-Darri, which will also be produced by Caterpillar. Rio Tinto is assessing multiple project scopes for Gudai-Darri Phase 2 as part of an ongoing $44 million pre-feasibility study.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210914006181/en/

Contacts

Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Media Relations, UK
Illtud Harri
M +44 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite
M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Americas
Matthew Klar
T +1 514 608 4429

Investor Relations, UK
Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978

Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877

Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom

T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Media Relations, Australia
Jonathan Rose
M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739

Jesse Riseborough
M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, Australia
Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia

T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – September 14, 2021) – Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSXV: PTU) (OTCQB: PTUUF) ("Purepoint" or the "Company") today confirmed that it has contracted crews and resources to commence drilling later this month at its 100% owned Henday Lake project located within the eastern margin of Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin.

"With this year's strengthening of the uranium market and our deep portfolio of advanced uranium projects, we can now aggressively schedule ongoing exploration activity through the coming year," said Chris Frostad, President & CEO at Purepoint. Along with this market activity, however, comes a heightened demand for crews, equipment and permits. Our long-standing relationships in Northern Saskatchewan are assisting us in ensuring a smooth flow of work across all of our projects."

Henday Lake

The 100% owned Henday Lake property is 1,029 hectares in size and consists of 2 claims. This property is located nine kilometres northwest of Orano's Midwest Lake deposit (41 million lbs. U3O8) and ten kilometres west of Rio Tinto's Roughrider Deposit (57 million lbs. U3O8).

Only one drill hole is known to have been drilled on Purepoint's Henday property. Hole HLH8-71 was drilled by Cogema Resources (now Orano Resources Canada Inc.) in 1998 and encountered a steeply dipping, strongly graphitic fault gouge at the bottom of the hole. The claims rest within a magnetic low believed to represent pelitic basement rocks, a typical host rock for economic uranium mineralization. The depth to basement is locally less than 350 metres.

Denison's recently discovered Huskie deposit is located approximately 10 km due east along strike from Henday Lake. A NI43-101 technical report dated October, 2018 estimates the inferred resource of the Husky deposit to be 5.7 million Ibs. U3O8.

The Henday Lake property falls within the Mudjatik-Wollaston Tectonic Zone, a northeast trending structural zone along the eastern margin of the Basin. The Mudjatik-Wollaston Tectonic Zone is the NE trending high strain tectonic zone marking the boundary between the Archean gneisses and granitoids of the Mudjatik Domain to the west and Archean gneisses, metasediments, and pegmatite intrusions of the Wollaston domain to the east.

About Purepoint

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSXV: PTU) (OTCQB: PTUUF) actively operates an exploration pipeline of 12 advanced projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin, the world's richest uranium region. Purepoint's flagship project is the Hook Lake Project, a joint venture with two of the largest uranium suppliers in the world, Cameco Corporation and Orano Canada Inc. The Hook Lake JV Project is on trend with recent high-grade uranium discoveries including Fission Uranium's Triple R Deposit and NexGen's Arrow Deposit and encompasses its own Spitfire discovery (53.3% U3O8 over 1.3m including 10m interval of 10.3% U3O8). Together with its flagship project, the Company's projects stretch across approximately 185,000 hectares of claims throughout the Athabasca Basin. These claims host over 20 distinct and well-defined drill target areas with advanced geophysical surveys completed, and in some cases, have had first pass drilling performed.

Scott Frostad BSc, MASc, PGeo, Purepoint's Vice President, Exploration, is the Qualified Person responsible for technical content of this release.

For more information, please contact:
Chris Frostad, President & CEO
Phone: (416) 603-8368
Email: cfrostad@purepoint.ca

For additional information please visit our new website at https://purepoint.ca, our Twitter feed: @PurepointU3O8 or our LinkedIn page @Purepoint-Uranium.

Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Press release.

Disclosure regarding forward-looking statements

This press release contains projections and forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/96419

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Fortescue Metals Group has reached a deal with the Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation (WGAC) to oversee development of new mines at its Solomon Hub iron ore operations in Western Australia, the groups said in a statement.

The pact comes as miners revise the way they negotiate with traditional land owners, following Rio Tinto's destruction of culturally and historically important rock shelters last year.

The destruction cost Rio's chief executive and two senior leaders their jobs, sparked a public furore and a parliamentary inquiry set to deliver its findings next month. Last year, BHP set up a new heritage council with the Banjima people.

"Working collaboratively, we will ensure that Eastern Guruma people are active participants in the future development of mines on our country," Wintawari Chair Glen Camille said in the statement.

The arrangement would enable deeper consultation over protection of culturally significant sites while building a better future for the people, he added.

Formerly at loggerheads, Fortescue and WGAC are to form a co-management joint venture to develop the East and West Queens deposit that is part of the miner's Solomon hub, which has annual production capacity of 75 million tonnes of iron ore.

It will work on all stages of the mine development.

Fortescue delayed 2019 royalty payments to WGAC after the group missed its timeline for consent, though WGAC told the parliamentary inquiry it had been waiting for more information, as the area had numerous sacred sites.

The group was unhappy with how Fortescue preserved another site, as well as its approach. In February, Fortescue apologised to WGAC for clearing land on a heritage site without ensuring elders were present as had been agreed.

Mining tenements cover more than 93% of Eastern Guruma country, making it one of the most heavily explored regions in Australia, WGAC has said.

Fortescue runs the large Solomon mine and a rail line on Eastern Guruma country while Rio runs six mines and three rail lines. Both firms are seeking approval for significant expansion, WGAC said.

(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

(Bloomberg) — BHP Group said it will target net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from its direct suppliers and the shipment of its products by 2050, but stopped short of extending it to steelmaking customers due to what it describes as the technical challenges facing the industry.

The Melbourne-based company’s Scope 3 emissions — which include procurement and shipping as well as end-user emissions — were 402.5 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent in the year ended June 30, BHP said in a climate plan announced Tuesday. That’s more than the total emissions of the U.K. and account for 96% of its overall emissions.

While steel is an important component in many of the products driving the decarbonization process, its production accounts for as much as 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions — and about three quarters of BHP’s Scope 3 emissions. The company says it’s working with industry giants including Japan’s JFE Steel and China’s HBIS Group on ways to reduce manufacturers’ carbon footprint.

“There are a number of global uncertainties that must be reckoned with in terms of achieving net zero in steel,” BHP said in the report, including the timeline for finding economical solutions to decarbonize the steel-making process. While some steel producers are trialling the use of hydrogen as a cleaner alternative to coal, the company has said the technology faces headwinds in terms of cost and storage.

Read: BHP Quits Oil, Piles Into Potash in Overhaul for CEO Henry

Both BHP and Rio Tinto Group, the world’s top iron ore exporter, are targeting a 30% reduction in the emissions intensity of its steel customers over the next decade. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. has said it will announce targets for Scope 3 emissions later this month.

BHP’s Scope 3 goals come with caveats. Its net-zero target for direct suppliers is subject to the availability of carbon neutral goods and services that meet the miner’s requirements. Its shipping pledge depends on the widespread availability of carbon-neutral solutions including low or zero emissions marine fuels as well as technology on board suitable ships.

While emissions from BHP’s operations rose 2% in the past year, the company said it remained on track to reach its 30% reduction target by 2030. Solar and wind power supply deals were already in place across a range of its mine assets which would lower those emissions in the years ahead, the company said.

BHP is looking to clean up its portfolio by exiting thermal coal and increasing its exposure to what Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry calls “future-facing commodities”. They include metals such as copper and nickel — key materials for the batteries and wiring that are key to the clean-energy transition.

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BEDFORD, NS / ACCESSWIRE / September 14, 2021 / Silver Spruce Resources, Inc. (TSXV:SSE)(FRA:S6Q1) ("Silver Spruce" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a Definitive Agreement with two parties (the "Vendors") to acquire 100% of three early-stage gold exploration properties, Mystery, Till and Marilyn, (the "Property" or the "Properties") located near Grand Falls, Newfoundland, Canada, 20-25 kilometres west of New Found Gold Corp.'s Queensway project and 15-35 kilometres south of Sokoman Minerals Corp.'s Moosehead gold project.

Figure 1. Location Map of Mystery, Till and Marilyn Gold Properties in the Exploits Subzone Gold Belt (Image adapted from exploits.gold).

"We expedited our initial site visit on the Properties during the week of August 23^rd and given the positive initial report on the mineral and rock textures potentially related to shallow epithermal and/or orogenic vein-style mineralization, we are pleased to move forward with this Definitive Agreement with the Vendors," said Greg Davison, Silver Spruce VP Exploration and Director. "We believe that this is a timely opportunity to acquire these Properties given their strategic location in a very active exploration camp, displaying prospective geology with only limited exploration and no history of drilling, and proximal to regional and secondary structural features defined by the geophysical and geological coverage. We have started building out the project ArcGIS database and investigating the most up-to-date and appropriate geochemical and geophysical techniques to conduct a Fall 2021 Phase 1 exploration program."

The Properties are well situated in exploration logistics, located close to each other and <10-25 kilometres southeast and south by road from Grand Falls, Newfoundland. The Properties are located <50 kilometres from the Gander International Airport and are easily accessible from major paved roads and local logging and bush roads and trails largely by vehicles and more remote areas by ATV.

The 8,750-hectare project is located within the Exploits Subzone, an extensive area of mineral exploration activity and discoveries over the past two years (Figure 1). The region is structurally complex and located, in large part, between two major crustal lineaments, the Grub Line and Valentine Lake Faults. Numerous major to lesser sub-parallel features merge and bifurcate along strike and are transected by NW and EW-trending faults. These deep-seated structures, which juxtapose geological terranes over hundreds of kilometres, are key to the location and formation of orogenic gold deposits containing several million ounces of gold as reported by a number of junior companies in the district. Though younger, the lineaments are very similar to those of the Abitibi Gold Belt in Ontario and Quebec in scale, splaying surface expression and wide distribution of mineral endowment, though in an earlier stage of overall exploration and development.

"We look forward to working in Newfoundland which offers a favorable regulatory environment, supportive communities, outstanding provincial geological survey, near year-round operating conditions, excellent property access and of principal importance, significant potential for new deposits as indicated by the number and quality of recent successful exploration projects," said Greg Davison, Silver Spruce VP Exploration and Director. "The Company's decision to add multiple properties to our portfolio in high-quality jurisdictions will give shareholders more opportunities for notable discoveries."

Due Diligence

Silver Spruce contracted a Newfoundland-based professional geologist to visit the properties with one of the Vendors. They travelled to the Mystery and Marilyn properties, shown in Figures 2 and 3 respectively, examined the geology, verified sample locations for the historical assays and collected new rock samples, thirteen of which were submitted to ALS Global for analysis, and took photographs of pertinent topography, geomorphology, geological exposures, access and types of vegetation. The four claims on the Till property were not evaluated during the site visit. Additional rock samples and splits of assay samples were shipped by courier to the Company's QP for forthcoming examination by optical microscopy. The results of the due diligence rock geochemistry for thirteen samples are expected from ALS Global in due course.

Figure 2. Mystery claims transected by the Great Rattling Brook. Due diligence sampling sites indicated.

Figure 3. Marilyn claims, southeast of Grand Falls, transected by the Bay d'Espoir Highway. Due diligence sampling sites indicated.

A selection of historical assays reported for precious and base metals and pathfinder elements from 123 samples collected from Mystery and Marilyn are shown in Table 1. Eighteen samples reported Au >0.5 g/t (max. 12.5 g/t Au). Cu values were reported up to to 9.85% with minor Ag, Pb and Zn. Arsenic was highly anomalous with values for 36 samples over the 2200 ppm upper limit for Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP-OES) analysis, strongly associated with elevated Au values and displayed generally as minor to abundant arsenopyrite (see Figure 4).

Table 1. Select analyses from historical exploration on the Mystery and Marilyn properties – n=123 The samples represent those with Au, Ag and base metal (Cu, Pb, Zn) values in the 90^th percentiles for each element from a total of 123 samples analysed.

Multiple surface occurrences are reported of agate chalcedony to colloform and crystalline silica veining and multi-phase breccias (see Figures 4 and 5), carbonate replacement by quartz, and open-space filling quartz and calcite, all textures indicative of the upper zones of epithermal systems and epizonal to mesozonal structural conduits in orogenic systems, and are accompanied by Au and arsenopyrite, stibnite, chalcopyrite, bornite and Cu carbonate mineralization in several host lithologies including quartz, black shale and other sediments, ultramafics and gabbro.

Figure 4. Left – Epithermal silica veining outcropping along Great Rattling Brook. Right – Quartz float with arsenopyrite, sample grade reported as 12.5 g/t Au, 3.2 g/t Ag with anomalous As and Bi.

Figure 5. Polished samples showing epithermal chalcedonic silica veining with complex depositional and compositional banding, open space filling and multi-stage brecciation from Mystery property.

Terms of Agreement

Silver Spruce had a 30-day window after signing the LOI (see Press Release August 16^th, 2021) to carry out its due diligence and prepare a Definitive Agreement ("DA") for the Property acquisition.

The principal terms to purchase 100% interest in the Properties include cash payments and Silver Spruce common shares, with CAD$40,000 in cash and 1,000,000 shares on signing, and escalating payments of CAD$575,000 and 9,000,000 shares spread over five years on the anniversary date of TSX Venture Exchange approval. The minimum work expenditures over the life of the agreement total CAD$1,500,000. All financial terms are in Canadian dollars.

A finder's fee is payable on the acquisition pursuant to the guidelines of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Upon TSX acceptance for the DA, Silver Spruce will earn a 100% interest in the Property by paying the following cash payments to the Vendors or their nominee(s):

$40,000 collectively upon receipt by the Purchaser of the Conditional Acceptance of the Exchange of this Agreement;
$50,000 collectively upon the first anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin;
$75,000 collectively upon the second anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin;
$100,000 collectively upon the third anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin;
$150,000 collectively upon the fourth anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin;
$200,000 collectively upon the fifth anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin; and

issuing to the Vendors or their nominee(s) from treasury the following Shares:

1,000,000 common shares collectively upon receipt by the Purchaser of the Conditional Acceptance of the Exchange of this Agreement;
1,000,000 common shares collectively upon the first anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin;
1,250,000 common shares collectively upon the second anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin;
1,500,000 common shares collectively upon the third anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin;
2,000,000 common shares collectively upon the fourth anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin;
3,250,000 common shares collectively upon the fifth anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin; and

incurring a minimum of $1,500,000 in Expenditures on the Property as follows:

$150,000 in property expenditures by the first anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin; and
$200,000 in additional property expenditures by the second anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin; and
$250,000 in additional property expenditures by the third anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin; and
$300,000 in additional property expenditures by the fourth anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin; and
$600,000 in additional property expenditures by the fifth anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin.

Upon completion of the above terms in to earn a 100% interest in the Property, and the Title Transfer, the Vendors will reserve, retain and hold a 2% net smelter return royalty as described in the Royalty Agreement (the "Royalty").

An advance payment against the Royalty payable by the Purchaser to the Vendors in the amount of $15,000 will be made on an annual basis starting on the 6^th anniversary of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin.

The Company shall be entitled, at any time in its sole discretion, upon written notice to the Vendors, to buy back 1% of the Royalty for $2,000,000, and shall have the right to buy back the remaining 1% of the Royalty from the Vendors at any time at a prevailing market price.

Geochemical Analysis, Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Rock samples were collected, packaged and delivered by the Company's contract professional geologist to a courier service for shipment to the ALS sample preparation facility in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. ALS Global is a facility certified as ISO 9001:2008 and accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 from the Standards Council of Canada.

Pulps (50gram split) were submitted for Au analysis by Fire Assay with Atomic Absorption finish (Au-AA24) and Four Acid Digestion with Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) multi-element analyses (ME-ICP61m).

Given the small size of the sample suite, no additional in-house quality control samples (blanks, standards, duplicates, preparation duplicates) were inserted into the sample set. ALS Global conducts its own internal QA/QC program of blanks, standards and duplicates, and the results are provided with the Company sample certificates. The results of the ALS control samples will be reviewed by the Company's QP and evaluated for acceptable tolerances. All sample and pulp rejects will be stored at ALS Global pending full review of the analytical data, and future selection of pulps for independent third-party check analyses, as requisite.

All of the metal values disclosed herein for the Mystery and Marilyn properties by past operators, including the Vendors, and by Silver Spruce are reported from grab samples which may not be representative of the metal grades, or the metal grade distribution, and those from previous exploration efforts must be considered as historical in nature. The Company has reviewed the historical certificates, where available, and conducted data verification sampling on the known areas of mineralization with a view to to confirm the presence and tenor of metal values. The verification sample results are pending from ALS.

The Company believes that the analytical protocols and data will withstand scrutiny for inclusion. Sample grades reported by element in the technical documentation and analytical certificates range from detection limit (based on the specific instrumentation and by element) to anomalous values which represent and include select samples and are reported as ‘up to' the maximum values and/or ranges presented. Average values may be reported for select suites of samples in which the sample frequency is indicated and which only represent metal grades from those samples.

Qualified Person

Greg Davison, PGeo, Silver Spruce VP Exploration and Director, is the Company's internal Qualified Person for the Mystery, Marilyn and Till Projects and is responsible for approval of the technical content of this press release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("N.I. 43-101"), under TSX guidelines.

About Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is a Canadian junior exploration company which has signed Definitive Agreements to acquire 100% of the Melchett Lake Zn-Au-Ag project in northern Ontario, and with Colibri Resource Corp. in Sonora, Mexico, to acquire 50% interest in Yaque Minerales S.A de C.V. holding the El Mezquite Au project, a drill-ready precious metal project, and up to 50% interest in each of Colibri's early stage Jackie Au and Diamante Au-Ag projects, with the three properties located from 5 kilometres to 15 kilometres northwest from Minera Alamos' Nicho deposit, respectively. The Company also is acquiring 100% interest in the drill-ready and fully permitted Pino de Plata Ag project, located 15 kilometres west of Coeur Mining's Palmarejo Mine, in western Chihuahua, Mexico. Silver Spruce has signed a Definitive Agreement to acquire 100% interest in three exploration properties in the Exploits Subzone Gold Belt, located 15-40 kilometres from recent discoveries by Sokoman Minerals Corp. and New Found Gold Corp., central Newfoundland. Silver Spruce Resources Inc. continues to investigate opportunities that Management has identified or that have been presented to the Company for consideration.

Contact:

Silver Spruce Resources Inc.
Greg Davison, PGeo, Vice-President Exploration and Director
(250) 521-0444
gdavison@silverspruceresources.com

Michael Kinley, CEO and Director
(902) 826-1579
mkinley@silverspruceresources.com

info@silverspruceresources.com
www.silverspruceresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with mineral exploration and difficulties associated with obtaining financing on acceptable terms. We are not in control of metals prices and these could vary to make development uneconomic. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate.

SOURCE: Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/663970/Silver-Spruce-Completes-Due-Diligence-and-Signs-Definitive-Agreement-to-Acquire-100-Interest-in-8750-hectare-Gold-Properties-Exploits-Gold-Belt-central-Newfoundland

(Bloomberg) — Copper might be BHP Group’s most prized metal, but the world’s biggest mining company spent little more than it earned in an average 12-hour period last year exploring for new deposits.

The company spent just $53 million looking for the metal last year, when it posted record profit of $37.4 billion. In total it spent $516 million on exploration, with more than two-thirds directed at oil and gas, a business it’s in the process of exiting.

The world’s biggest miners are universally bullish on copper, expecting a surge in demand as the global economy decarbonizes, while long-term supply looks constrained by the lack of new mine development. Yet part of the reason copper is so favored by miners and investors alike is because new deposits have been so hard to find.

Still, BHP does have growth plans in copper, but from buying into smaller developers rather then spending a fortune on exploration.

The company has built a stake in SolGold Plc, which is developing Ecuador’s Cascabel project, potentially one of the biggest copper mines in the world. BHP is also in the process of trying to buy Noront Resources Ltd. to gain control of a nickel project in Canada.

The company expects its total exploration spend to jump to $800 million this year.

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By Sonali Paul

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – BHP Group will transfer a smaller-than-expected $3.9 billion in oil and gas decommissioning liabilities to Woodside when it merges its petroleum business with the independent Australian gas producer.

Woodside's shares jumped 6.5% after the figure was disclosed in BHP's annual report on Tuesday, outperforming gains of around 4% among its peers.

"The long awaited BHPP (BHP Petroleum) abandonment provision number has been released, coming in below what we feared it could be," Credit Suisse analyst Saul Kavonic said in a note.

BHP said in its annual report that as of June 2021, its petroleum assets included "property plant and equipment and closure and rehabilitation provisions of approximately $11.9 billion and $3.9 billion, respectively".

When the merger was announced in August, investors had raised concerns as Woodside declined to reveal the rehabilitation liabilities that were assumed in setting the deal terms with BHP's petroleum business to create a global top-10 independent oil and gas company.

The oil and gas rehabilitation provisions, which are estimates of the cost of removing platforms and pipelines and cleaning up sites at the end of their lives, make up about one-third of BHP's total closure and rehabilitation provisions of $11.9 billion for all its assets.

Kavonic said he had assumed Woodside might inherit as much as $5 billion to $7 billion in decommissioning liabilities in the merger with BHP's petroleum arm, which comprises assets in Australia, the Gulf of Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Algeria.

Citi had estimated BHP's decommissioning liabilities in Australia's Bass Strait alone at $3.4 billion.

Once tax offsets are taken into account, the actual decommissioning cost may be below $1 billion, Kavonic said, adding that those costs could be deferred through reusing sites for activities such as carbon capture and storage or offshore wind in the future.

(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – September 13, 2021) – Quaterra Resources Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (OTCQB: QTRRF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed the first tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement"). Pursuant to the first tranche, the Company has issued 26,105,833 units ("Units") at a price of US$0.06 (C$0.075) per Unit for gross proceeds of US$1,566,350 (C$1,957,937).

Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional common share of the Company at an exercise price of US$0.10 per share for a period of three years from the date of closing. The Warrants contain a forced exercise provision if the daily volume weighted average trading price of the common shares of the Company on the TSX Venture Exchange is equal to or greater than US$0.30 for a period of 10 consecutive trading days.

Proceeds of the Private Placement will be used primarily for general working capital. The securities will be subject to a hold period expiring on January 14, 2022 in accordance with applicable securities laws.

In connection with the completion of the first tranche of the Private Placement, the Company paid a total of US$22,974 and issued 382,900 finder's warrants as finder's fees. The finder's warrants will be exercisable at US$0.10 per share for a period of 3 years from the date of closing.

The Company is pleased to announce that Stephen Goodman and Tony Alford have been appointed as directors of the Company. Stephen Goodman also serves as the President of the Company and effective September 15^th will assume the position of Chief Financial Officer.

Tony Alford brings to the board a history of executive leadership, including serving as a director of Revett Minerals Inc. in 2009 and 2010, where he was part of the team that rang the bell on the NYSE Amex listing of the company. Mr. Alford is the Founder and President of PBA Consultants, Inc., a firm specializing in tax savings and cost reduction services, for many of the fortune 500 companies across the USA. In 1993 Mr. Alford founded Alford Investments focusing on real estate investment properties, pharmacy distribution, food related and natural resource companies.

The Company also announces that John Kerr, LeRoy Wilkes, and Terrence Eyton have resigned as directors of the Company.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Stephen Goodman
President

For more information please contact:
Karen Robertson
Corporate Communications
778-898-0057

Email: info@quaterra.com
Website: www.quaterra.com

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/96362

Uranium producer Cameco, and meme stocks GameStop and AMC Entertainment all made gains early on Monday after generating interest on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum.

BEDFORD, NS / ACCESSWIRE / September 13, 2021 / Silver Spruce Resources Inc. (TSXV:SSE)(FRA:S6Q1)("Silver Spruce" or the "Company") announced today that the Board of Directors has appointed Kevin Thieneman as Chairman of the Board of Directors effective September 10, 2021. Mr. Thieneman was appointed to the Board on April 28, 2020.

Mr. Thieneman was formerly the President of Caterpillar Inc. Forest Products Business Unit, and currently serves as Chairman for LiuGong North America and Vice President of Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co. Ltd. ("LiuGong"). LiuGong is one of China's largest construction and mining equipment manufacturers with worldwide sales and operations. Mr. Thieneman is a global executive with decades of experience in turnarounds of manufacturing operations and end-to-end businesses, and with extensive on-the-ground experience in China and India. He previously chaired the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council infrastructure committee while leading delegations to Indonesia and Vietnam. He also served as Chairman of the Georgia Association of Manufacturers in 2017-2018. Mr. Thieneman earned a Juris Doctorate, with honors, from the Duke University School of Law. His previous experience includes working as a licensed attorney and Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois.

About Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is a Canadian junior exploration company which has signed Definitive Agreements to acquire 100% of the Melchett Lake Zn-Au-Ag project in northern Ontario, and with Colibri Resource Corp. in Sonora, Mexico, to acquire 50% interest in Yaque Minerales S.A de C.V. holding the El Mezquite Au project, a drill-ready precious metal project, and up to 50% interest in each of Colibri's early stage Jackie Au and Diamante Au-Ag projects, with the three properties located from 5 kilometres to 15 kilometres northwest from Minera Alamos's Nicho deposit, respectively. The Company is acquiring 100% interest in the drill-ready and fully permitted Pino de Plata Ag project, located 15 kilometres west of Coeur Mining's Palmarejo Mine, in western Chihuahua, Mexico. Silver Spruce recently signed an LOI to acquire 100% interest in three exploration properties in the Exploits Subzone Gold Belt, located 15-40 kilometres from recent discoveries by Sokoman Minerals Corp. and New Found Gold Corp., central Newfoundland. Silver Spruce Resources Inc. continues to investigate opportunities that Management has identified or that have been presented to the Company for consideration.

Contact:

Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Michael Kinley, CEO and Director
(902) 402-0388
mkinley@silverspruceresources.com

info@silverspruceresources.com
www.silverspruceresources.com

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

SOURCE: Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/663702/Silver-Spruce-Announces-New-Board-Chairman

(Bloomberg) — Plant workers at a Codelco mine in Chile agreed to end a strike while union members at a BHP Group mine accepted a new wage proposal, easing labor tensions in the top copper-producing nation.

Codelco reached a deal to end a more than three-week stoppage by members of the Suplant union at its Andina mine, the state-owned company said Friday, allowing the central Chilean operation to ramp back up.

At BHP’s Cerro Colorado mine, workers voted Saturday to accept an offer hammered out by the two negotiating teams in mediated talks this week, avoiding a strike. Union members at Salvador, Codelco’s smallest mine, are scheduled to vote Monday on a new offer delivered during mediation.

The breakthroughs follow strike-ending agreements earlier this month with the two main unions at Andina and at a mine owned by JX Nippon Mining & Metals. Chile is coming to the end of an intense period of contract renewals, with the industry so far managing to avoid stoppages at top-tier mines such as Escondida and El Teniente.

Workers used high copper prices and profits as leverage in the talks while companies looked to contain labor costs in a cyclical industry that has seen input prices start to rise.

(Adds result of Cerro Colorado vote)

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(Bloomberg) — Plant workers at a Codelco mine in Chile agreed to end a strike while union members at a BHP Group mine will vote a new wage proposal in the latest signs of easing labor tensions in the top copper-producing nation.

Codelco reached a deal to end a more than three-week-long stoppage by members of the Suplant union at its Andina mine, the state-owned company said Friday.

At BHP’s Cerro Colorado mine, workers will vote on the new offer Saturday after the two negotiating teams hammered out terms in mediated talks this week, the union said in a text message. Voting is scheduled to conclude at 4 p.m. Santiago time.

The breakthroughs follow strike-ending agreements earlier this month with the two main unions at Andina and at a mine owned by JX Nippon Mining & Metals. Chile is coming toward the end of an intense period of contract renewals, with the industry so far managing to avoid stoppages at top-tier mines such as Escondida and El Teniente.

To be sure, there is still a possibility of a stoppage at Codelco’s smallest mine, Salvador. Workers used high copper prices and profits as leverage in the talks while companies looked to contain labor costs in a cyclical industry that has seen input prices start to rise.

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Bullish sentiment appeared to return to markets on Friday morning as a combination of supply disruptions and an apparent detente between the U.S. and China gave oil markets hope.

Oil Prices Today: Friday, September 10th, 2021

With three-quarters of crude production still shut in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ida remained one of the key factors determining price movements this week. In addition to tight US supplies, with the EIA reporting a 1.5 million b/d week-on-week drop in total production, Friday provided some additional bullish sentiment as the Xi-Biden phone call sparked hopes of a smoother US-China relationship, offsetting downside factors like the Chinese strategic stock auction. As of today, Brent traded around $73 per barrel, whilst WTI was just south of $70 per barrel.

China Releases Strategic Reserves of Crude.

For the first time ever, China’s Strategic Reserves Administration will hold an auction on SPR volumes to be provided to integrated refiners and chemical plants (i.e. state-owned firms) in a bid to tame increasing feedstock prices.

US Natgas Futures Hit $5/mmBtu For First Time Since 2014.

US natural gas futures soared this week as expectations of warmer-than-anticipated weather coincided with Hurricane Ida-induced production outages, with October delivery prices surpassing the $5 per mmBtu mark for the first time since February 2014.

Saudi Aramco Moves into Steel.

Moving beyond its traditional sphere of activity, the world’s largest oil producer Saudi Aramco (Tadawul:2222) signed a deal with Chinese steelmaker Baoshan (600019) to build a steel plate factory in Saudi Arabia, marking the second metals-related venture of the Saudi NOC.

Libyan Export Terminals Blocked by Protesters.

Libya’s Es Sider and Ras Lanuf terminals were blocked by protesters who forced vessels to halt loading operations as calls for the dismissal of NOC head Mustafa Sanalla gained strength, in what might trigger another prolonged period of infighting in the North African country.

Gazprom Waits for German Nod on Nord Stream 2.

Having completed the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Russian gas giant Gazprom (MCX:GAZP) is now waiting for an approval from Germany’s regulator, a process that could take several months.

LyondellBasell Eyes Houston Refinery Exit.

US chemicals firm LyondellBasell (NYSE:LYB) is reportedly trying to sell its 265kbpd Houston Refinery as soon as possible. This is the second time LyondellBasell has attempted to sell after the 2016 talks with Saudi Aramco yielded no result.

Papua New Guinea Might Derail Santos Merger.

Fearing that the pending merger between Australian energy firms Santos (ASX:STO) and Oil Search (ASX:OSH)might give the company too much control over PNG oil and gas, the Papua New Guinea government is mulling its options to veto the deal.

India Expedites Ethanol Blending Target.

The Indian government brought forward its 2030 objective to see 20% ethanol blending in gasoline flows by five years to 2025, requiring an effective tripling of its ethanol production and breathing life into its grain-to-ethanol output which has been all but non-existent so far, relying primarily on sugarcane.

Nigeria’s NNPC Mulls IPO Options.

Nigeria’s state-owned oil company NNPC, which is to become a limited liability company under the country’s new oil code, could consider an initial public offering within three years, buoyed by news that the company recorded its first-ever profit last year, Reuters reports.

Exxon Tries Methane Integrity Grading.

Under increasing pressure from environmentalist groups, US major ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) will offer some of its gas assets in the Permian Basin for a third-party assessment on potential methane leaks from its production sites.

Colombia Desperate for New Upstream Investment.

The Colombian government is pinning its hopes on a November licensing round that will see the national hydrocarbons agency offering 28 areas of potential interest, desperate to breathe new life into its declining production rates. Colombia’s oil reserves have fallen to the equivalent of 6 years’ production.

PEMEX Impacted by KMZ Explosion After All.

Despite PEMEX claiming to have fully recovered from the Ku-Maloob-Zaap platform explosion in late August, Mexico’s Finance Ministry revised its 2022 crude production estimate downwards by some 50,000 b/d to 1.826 million b/d. The draft version of Mexico’s 2022 budget also has PEMEX’s profit-sharing duty dropping from the current rate of 54% to 40%.

BHP Teams Up with Billionaire-Backed Firm.

Australian miner BHP (NYSE:BHP)signed a partnership deal with Kobold Metals, a recently launched AI exploration company that is backed by Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, and Jeff Bezos, in a bid to find more battery metals like copper and nickel in Australia.

Hyundai to Present Next-Gen Hydrogen Technology.

The South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motors (KRX:005380) pledged to present its new hydrogen drivetrain in 2023, with the aim of applying fuel cell systems to all commercial models by 2028, claiming overall costs would be some 50% lower than currently existing technologies.

Nickel Prices Soar Despite Chinese Stock Releases.

Nickel prices rose to their highest level in 7 years – going beyond $20,200 per metric ton – as continuously robust demand has started to reduce global stockpiles. Most notably Shanghai warehouse stocks have decreased by 80% year-on-year, standing at less than 6,000 tonnes.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

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We can readily understand why investors are attracted to unprofitable companies. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Investigator Resources (ASX:IVR) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.

View our latest analysis for Investigator Resources

When Might Investigator Resources Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. In December 2020, Investigator Resources had AU$14m in cash, and was debt-free. In the last year, its cash burn was AU$4.7m. Therefore, from December 2020 it had 2.9 years of cash runway. That's decent, giving the company a couple years to develop its business. Importantly, if we extrapolate recent cash burn trends, the cash runway would be noticeably longer. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Is Investigator Resources' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

In our view, Investigator Resources doesn't yet produce significant amounts of operating revenue, since it reported just AU$70k in the last twelve months. As a result, we think it's a bit early to focus on the revenue growth, so we'll limit ourselves to looking at how the cash burn is changing over time. In fact, it ramped its spending strongly over the last year, increasing cash burn by 179%. It's fair to say that sort of rate of increase cannot be maintained for very long, without putting pressure on the balance sheet. Investigator Resources makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. We prefer most of the stocks on this list of stocks that analysts expect to grow.

Can Investigator Resources Raise More Cash Easily?

Given its cash burn trajectory, Investigator Resources shareholders may wish to consider how easily it could raise more cash, despite its solid cash runway. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.

Since it has a market capitalisation of AU$86m, Investigator Resources' AU$4.7m in cash burn equates to about 5.4% of its market value. Given that is a rather small percentage, it would probably be really easy for the company to fund another year's growth by issuing some new shares to investors, or even by taking out a loan.

So, Should We Worry About Investigator Resources' Cash Burn?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Investigator Resources' cash burn. For example, we think its cash runway suggests that the company is on a good path. While we must concede that its increasing cash burn is a bit worrying, the other factors mentioned in this article provide great comfort when it comes to the cash burn. Considering all the factors discussed in this article, we're not overly concerned about the company's cash burn, although we do think shareholders should keep an eye on how it develops. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 5 warning signs for Investigator Resources (of which 2 are concerning!) you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

(Bloomberg) — Argentina’s Mendoza province is in talks with some of the world’s top producers of potash to revive a mine that requires an investment of as much as $5 billion at a time of surging fertilizer prices.

Mendoza — better known for its exports of Malbec wine than its vast mineral wealth — took over the Rio Colorado potash project several months ago after years of wrangling with Vale SA. The Brazilian company pulled the plug in 2013 after spending $2.2 billion to build almost half the mine.

Provincial officials have since spoken to several would-be partners to finally put Rio Colorado into production, signing non-disclosure agreements with five of the world’s biggest producers of the crop nutrient, said Emilio Guinazu, director general of province-owned PRC SA, which holds the asset.

Luring investment to Rio Colorado 15 years after Rio Tinto first sought to develop it would be big win — not only for Mendoza, which has struggled to spur new mines because of environmental opposition, but for the whole country, where onerous business rules including capital controls have scared off investors. Guinazu says now is the time because prices of potash are rallying along with other fertilizers as strong demand from farmers collides with a slew of supply disruptions.

“A window of opportunity has begun to open that we don’t want to waste,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

U.S. sanctions against Belarus potash producers are jeopardizing mine expansion there, while pandemic- and hurricane-related shipping disruptions are slowing fertilizer trade. A decision last month by BHP Group to proceed with the $5.7 billion Jansen project in Canada after years of hesitation underscores the market’s buoyant long-term prospects.

Rio Colorado has potential to produce 4.5 million metric tons a year, similar to Jansen, which would require roughly $5 billion. This version of the project needs 500 miles of train track to be built or upgraded to get the potash to an Atlantic port for export to markets like Brazil.

A more likely scenario, Guinazu said, is to attract $1 billion for annual output of 1 million tons, which could be transported by truck, though Mendoza would be prepared to scale down even further just to get the project off the ground. An investment of $200 million would produce enough fertilizer for Argentina and its small neighbor Uruguay, he said.

The province wants to find an investor that would take a majority stake and operate the mine within 18 months. It’s currently looking for an adviser to guide the search.

Because of risks in Argentina, where markets are often intervened, investors need a strong stomach. But they can also be drawn in by specially-designed benefits. For instance, federal and provincial governments are in talks for legislation for oil and gas drillers in the Vaca Muerta shale patch to be able to increase sales abroad and to free some of those export revenues from capital controls. A similar mechanism is under discussion for miners, Guinazu said.

“Without a doubt, some of the benefits in the oil and gas bill are being studied for mining too,” he said.

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MELBOURNE (Reuters) – An executive with mining company Rio Tinto has played down damage to Indigenous Australian heritage, an Aboriginal group said on Thursday, in a submission to an inquiry into widespread destruction of sites of cultural significance.

A spokesman for Rio Tinto said the company declined to comment.

News emerged this year that Rio forerunner Hamersley Iron failed to protect artefacts belonging to the Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation (WGAC) that had been salvaged from its Marandoo iron ore project including 18,000-year-old evidence showing how people lived during the last Ice Age.

Those and other artefacts were thrown in a Darwin rubbish heap.

The group's complaint centres on a statement by Rio's head of Indigenous Affairs, Brad Welsh, who last month told the Juukan Gorge Inquiry: "We have not identified any evidence that Rio Tinto directed any disposal of artefacts," according to the submission.

The group said such comments showed Rio's "continued lack of regard and respect for Eastern Guruma cultural heritage".

"The comments clearly sought to downplay importance of the cultural material disposed and lessen Rio’s involvement and responsibility for what occurred," the group said in its submission.

Rio Tinto operates six of its 16 mines and three rail lines on the group's traditional lands.

Last year, Rio Tinto triggered a public outcry with the destruction of rock shelters in Western Australia that showed human habitation dating back 46,000 years, during iron ore mining operations.

Welsh told the inquiry that the world's biggest iron ore miner had not been able to put together a "complete picture" of the potential cultural or archaeological value of what was discarded, given the passage of time, and without knowing if its records were complete.

"However, we do recognise that decisions made on the management of these materials may not have adequately considered archaeological and cultural values in the analysis completed," he said, adding that current standards of analysis would be more comprehensive.

(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Robert Birsel)

BEDFORD, NS / ACCESSWIRE / September 9, 2021 / (TSXV:SSE) – Silver Spruce Resources, Inc. ("Silver Spruce" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the receipt of its report from Strategic Consultants IGIS, ("SCIGIS") based in Chihuahua, Mexico, providing a comprehensive interpretation of regional ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflectance Radiometer) and LANDSAT 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) data over three exploration properties comprising El Mezquite, Jackie and Diamante (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. El Mezquite, Diamante 1 and 2, and Jackie Concession Location Map. Nicho mine development by Minera Alamos located 6 km SE of Jackie (Image taken from Google Earth).

"We continue to build on the Sonoran project geotechnical database using advanced processing techniques for re-interpretation of available ASTER and LANDSAT 8 OLI imagery. The TLALI algorithm processing clearly illustrated its capabilities in mineral and anomaly identification with clarity of spatial response," said Greg Davison, Silver Spruce VP Exploration and Director. "We are compiling and interpreting the Shortwave Infrared ("SWIR") and Visible to Near-Infrared ("VNIR") hyperspectral data from El Mezquite and Jackie rock samples in concert with the ASTER/LANDSAT alteration fields for the next phase of drill target definition after recently completing our maiden drill program on EL Mezquite and Phase 2 geological and alteration mapping on Jackie. The SCIGIS maps also will be used for focusing and planning of the targeted geological mapping program at Diamante 1 and 2 in Q4 2021."

The SCIGIS study comprised a spectral reconnaissance of the Properties (Diamante 1, Diamante 2, El Mezquite, and Jackie) to understand the structural and lithological controls in a regional context and provide additional detail on the mineral-by-mineral distribution over each of the Properties. SCIGIS research covered an area of 6,500 hectares – the map area shown in Figure 2. The ASTER imagery was processed using the proprietary TLALI algorithm, which has shown significant success in optimizing and recognizing anomalies in a wide range of geological environments from several international projects.

A second run was carried out using LANDSAT 8 OLI imagery and focus on clay minerals, ferrous iron, and iron oxide species. The reporting included a complete set of shapefiles, index raster and RGB images, index reclassifications, and various digital elevation rasters with shading and lineament extraction in ArcGIS format.

Project Geology – Spectral Response

The El Mezquite and Diamante properties each exhibit features that manifest with excellent hyperspectral signatures and responses for a broad suite of oxide and silicate minerals. The remote spectral response distribution, particularly for Jackie, is limited by extensive vegetation. A historical study of ASTER imagery was performed in 2017 principally on the Diamante and El Mezquite properties and identified hyperspectral responses interpreted as supergene oxidation and argillization with propylitic areas, the latter mainly in less altered andesites.

Figures 2 and 3 illustrate examples of the Servicio Geológico Mexicano ("SGM") alteration and the recent LANDSAT 8 OLI interpretation for the three properties mainly for the Diamante and El Mezquite projects. Data available from the GEOINFOMEX SGM web portal displayed alteration with broadly circled areas of grouped minerals or styles. It is noteworthy that the Jackie property showed only minimal LANDSAT 8 OLI responses though the evidence from the current ground exploration successfully identified significant clay and oxide minerals proximal to the Au-Ag anomaly (see Press Releases – June 10^th and June 26^th, 2021).

El Mezquite – A white mica-dominant assemblage with lesser jarosite, kaolinite and iron oxides, distal zones containing chlorite, and intermittent areas of aluminous minerals locally linked to potential structural lineaments, were identified by the rock hyperspectral response. The LANDSAT 8 OLI TLALI maps illustrate northeast and northwest-trending clusters tied to surfaces exposure and topographic features including faults interpreted from the magnetic and 3D IP surveys. ASTER data documented, in Figures 3 and 4, the kaolinite, alunite and pyrophyllite group, with silica spatially associated with NW-trending lineaments and, in part, were targeted by the Phase 1 drilling. Additional targets to the south of the current drilling are interpreted from the TLALI alteration maps and the initial lineament analysis.

Jackie – The Phase 1 prospecting and Phase 2 mapping programs (see Press Releases – June 10^th and June 26^th 2021) identified a distinctive andesite ridge with intense oxidation, silicification, argillic alteration, and a notable vegetation-free zone. This location was confirmed by the ASTER and LANDSAT 8 interpretation though was limited to a focused area with ferric oxides, kaolinite, silica and chlorite-epidote-carbonate. The oxide and silicate alteration, was verified by aiSIRIS results of rock hyperspectral analysis, represented oxidized argillic zones with low grade or bleached metal values. Rock samples collected from the northern area of the ridge also displayed intense replacement by zeolite, kaolinite, alunite, montmorillonite, opaline silica, and muscovite and contained the bulk of the anomalous gold and silver values. None of this neighboring and significant alteration was recognized by ASTER and LANDSAT 8 OLI given the coverage by vegetation during the period of image collection. Compilation of the rock sample hyperspectral data is pending and requisite for advancing the alteration mapping of the Jackie property.

Figure 2. Distribution of clay and ferric oxide alteration from LANDSAT 8 OLI data focused around vein and disseminated mineralization targets, with outlined areas sourced from historical SGM database, on the Diamante and El Mezquite properties. Limited response on the Jackie property.

Diamante – Historical ground exploration on the Diamante 1 and 2 concessions identified mineralization accompanied by silicification, and phyllic, argillic, advanced argillic (quartz-alunite-pyrite) and propylitic (chlorite) zones, with overprinting by iron oxide and oxyhydroxide (hematite, goethite, and limonite) staining, jarosite and vuggy silica. The TLALI maps, shown in Figures 2 and 3 for the LANDSAT 8 OLI and combined LANDSAT/ASTER data, respectively, illustrate the spectral response for silicification and argillic alteration, including generic clay, alunite, pyrophyllite, kaolinite and silica, which are in part coincident with known artisanal vein workings and disseminated gold targets, such as the Southern Anomaly in Diamante 2. The areas of alteration require verification by surface exploration as part of the Phase 1 drill target definition program planned for Q4 2021.

Figure 3. Distribution of alunite, pyrophyllite, kaolinite and silica from ASTER and overprinting ferric oxide alteration from LANDSAT 8 OLI data focused on Diamante 2 and El Mezquite identifying potential targets of advanced argillization and silicification, with outlined areas sourced from historical SGM database, on shaded topography.

Figure 4. Distribution of alunite, pyrophyllite, kaolinite and silica from ASTER focused on Diamante 1 and El Mezquite identifying potential targets of advanced argillization and silicification, on shaded topography and regional geology, primarily the Tarahumara Formation (teal color), principal host to known mineralization.

Project Background

The 180-hectare ("ha") El Mezquite and 1,057-ha Diamante Concessions are drill-ready precious metal (Au-Ag) projects, located 10 and 5 kilometres respectively, from Tepoca and 165 km southeast of Hermosillo, Mexico. Diamante 1 is situated adjacent to the west of the El Mezquite project. Diamante 2 is located 700 metres south of Diamante 1. The grassroots 1,130-ha Jackie property is located less than two kilometres south of our El Mezquite and Diamante properties and directly adjacent to the west boundary of Minera Alamos' Santana project.

The Properties are well situated in logistics for exploration, adjacent to each other, and six to fifteen kilometres west and northwest of the Minera Alamos' Nicho deposit in mine development.

The Properties are easily accessible from Mexican Highway #16, which transects Diamante 1 and El Mezquite, ranch trails and dry riverbeds to Diamante 2, and dry riverbed access from the pueblo of La Quema, west of Highway #117 to Jackie. High voltage power lines positioned along with Highway #16.

The El Mezquite, Jackie, and Diamante projects are currently subject to option agreements with Colibri, wherein SSE can earn 50% of the gold and silver projects by meeting specific criteria over periods of two to four years. El Mezquite and Jackie concessions currently have hyperspectral assays pending detailed interpretation from 2021 mapping and prospecting programs, and the Company recently completed Phase 1 drilling at El Mezquite.

The Properties are located within the west-central portion of the Sierra Madre Occidental Volcanic Complex within the prominent northwest-trending "Sonora Gold Belt" of northern Mexico and parallel to the well-known, precious metals-rich Mojave-Sonora Megashear.

Several nearby large operating mines include Alamos Gold's Los Mulatos gold mine and Agnico Eagle's La India gold mine located 50 and 58 kilometres to the northeast, respectively, Agnico's Pinos Altos Mine, 100 kilometres southeast and Argonaut's La Colorada Mine, 100 kilometres west. Exploration in the surrounding area is very active, with adjacent and nearby properties held by Evrim, Newmont, Garibaldi, Kootenay Silver, and Penoles.

Qualified Person

Greg Davison, PGeo, Silver Spruce VP Exploration and Director, is the Company's internal Qualified Person for the El Mezquite, Jackie and Diamante Projects and is responsible for approval of the technical content of this press release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("N.I. 43-101"), under TSX guidelines.

About Strategic Consultants IGIS

Based in Chihuahua, Mexico, Strategic Consultants have been in mineral exploration for over 30 years, having GIS and Remote Sensing as powerful tools to search for mineral deposits. Strategic Consultants developed an innovative cloud-based algorithm capable of processing an ASTER image anywhere in the world, in a matter of minutes, yielding up to twenty-five spectral signatures representing the same amount of minerals, each in a separate ArcGIS shapefile. This procedure allows to establish types of alteration, a rock-mineral relationship or geological-mineral characteristic, and helps to select specific areas of interest and objectives. Major mining companies, such as Agnico-Eagle México and Redline Minerals Inc., have used the algorithm for exploration in brownfields and greenfields properties in México and the United States.

About Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is a Canadian junior exploration company which has signed Definitive Agreements to acquire 100% of the Melchett Lake Zn-Au-Ag project in northern Ontario, and with Colibri Resource Corp. in Sonora, Mexico, to acquire 50% interest in Yaque Minerales S.A de C.V. holding the El Mezquite Au project, a drill-ready precious metal project, and up to 50% interest in each of Colibri's early stage Jackie Au and Diamante Au-Ag projects, with the three properties located from 5 kilometres to 15 kilometres northwest from Minera Alamos's Nicho deposit, respectively. The Company is acquiring 100% interest in the drill-ready and fully permitted Pino de Plata Ag project, located 15 kilometres west of Coeur Mining's Palmarejo Mine, in western Chihuahua, Mexico. Silver Spruce recently signed an LOI to acquire 100% interest in three exploration properties in the Exploits Subzone Gold Belt, located 15-40 kilometres from recent discoveries by Sokoman Minerals Corp. and New Found Gold Corp., central Newfoundland. Silver Spruce Resources Inc. continues to investigate opportunities that Management has identified or that have been presented to the Company for consideration.

Contact:

Silver Spruce Resources Inc.
Greg Davison, PGeo, Vice-President Exploration and Director
(250) 521-0444
gdavison@silverspruceresources.com

Michael Kinley, CEO
(902) 826-1579
mkinley@silverspruceresources.com

info@silverspruceresources.com
ww.silverspruceresources.com

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

SOURCE: Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/663321/Silver-Spruce-Completes-ASTER-and-LANDSAT-8-Hyperspectral-and-Image-Analysis-on-El-Mezquite-Jackie-and-Diamante-Au-Ag-Concessions-Sonora-Mexico

(Bloomberg) — BHP Group is joining forces to explore for metals crucial to the energy transition with a startup backed by a group of tycoons including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.

The world’s biggest miner has entered an alliance with Silicon Valley-based KoBold Metals Co. to deploy its artificial intelligence technology to look for metals like cobalt, nickel and copper, which are used in electrical vehicle chargers and batteries. The two companies will jointly fund and operate exploration programs — initially in Western Australia — and will each have the right to share in any identified prospects.

KoBold has used data-crunching algorithms to build what’s been described as a Google Maps for the Earth’s crust. The technology can locate resources that may have eluded more traditionally-minded geologists, and helps miners to decide where to acquire land and drill, the company said.

See also: Algorithms Join Cobalt Hunt Backed by Gates, Bezos and Dalio

The tie-up offers an opportunity to access exploration databases built up by BHP over many years, Kurt House, KoBold’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. “In Western Australia, there’s extensive information. A lot of this data is dark data – it hasn’t been used more than once.”

Shareholders of KoBold Metals also include Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Norwegian oil major Equinor ASA and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a fund backed by a dozen high-profile investors including Bezos, Gates and Ray Dalio, as well as Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

“Globally, shallow ore deposits have largely been discovered, and remaining resources are likely deeper underground and harder to see from the surface,” Keenan Jennings, vice president at BHP Metals Exploration, said in a statement. “This alliance will combine historical data, artificial intelligence, and geoscience expertise to uncover what has previously been hidden.”

KoBold now has about a dozen exploration properties around the world that have resulted from joint ventures and tie-ups like the one with BHP, House said. “BHP engaged us, and we had many detailed discussions about KoBold’s technology,” he said. “Our approach is very different, and as such, various partners are keen to have ringside seats to see it deployed.”

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MELBOURNE (Reuters) – BHP Group will team up with billionaire-backed AI exploration firm KoBold Metals to look for battery minerals like copper and nickel in Australia and other global locations, the companies said on Wednesday.

The world's largest miner is building out its portfolio in what it calls "future facing commodities", expecting demand for electric vehicles and green energy to determine the minerals that will drive profits in coming years.

Privately held KoBold uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to hunt for raw materials. Its principal investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate and technology fund backed by Microsoft's Bill Gates, Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

Miners have been moving towards machine learning to find underground deposits in recent years, leading to some big discoveries, such as Rio Tinto's copper project Winu.

"Globally, shallow ore deposits have largely been discovered, and remaining resources are likely deeper underground and harder to see from the surface," said Keenan Jennings, vice-president of BHP Metals Exploration.

"We need new approaches to find the next generation of essential minerals, and this alliance will combine historical data, artificial intelligence, and geoscience expertise to uncover what has previously been hidden," he said.

The alliance will cover an area in Western Australia of more than 500,000 sq km (193,000 sq miles), KoBold CEO Kurt House told Reuters.

"Exploration success rates have been declining over the last couple of decades … because the easy things have been found," House said.

The discovery zones over the next 20 years will be at depths of 200 m to 1,500 m, he said.

"That’s the area that is very poorly explored (and) is likely to host a tremendous number of ore bodies."

KoBold has a dozen tie-ups across about 20 locations including Sub-Saharan Africa, North America and Australia, looking for copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium, House said.

Australia has some of the world's best mapping data for prospective minerals, while its solid regulatory environment also make it an attractive destination, House said.

KoBold, however, said it is closely watching development of a bill to protect Aboriginal heritage in Western Australia. Indigenous groups have protested a draft of the bill because it denies them final say-so over protection of their sacred sites, which could become a governance issue for miners and investors.

KoBold is planning to set up an Australian office in the next 12 months and is looking for other exploration partners.

"Inside the area of interest we are exclusive for BHP, but outside we are open for business."

(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Tom Hogue)

(Bloomberg) — Argentina’s Mendoza province is in talks with some of the world’s top producers of potash to revive a mine that requires an investment of as much as $5 billion.

“A window of opportunity has begun to open that we don’t want to waste,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

The province wants to find an investor that would take a majority stake and operate the mine within 18 months. It’s currently looking for an adviser to guide the search.

“Without a doubt, some of the benefits in the oil and gas bill are being studied for mining too,” he said.

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Here are five stocks added to the Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) List today:

AngloGold Ashanti Limited AU operates as a gold mining company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings has been revised 22.5% downward over the last 30 days.

Intrusion Inc. INTZ develops, markets, and supports entity identification, data mining, cybercrime, and advanced persistent threat detection products. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings has been revised 37.9% downward over the last 30 days.

Rio Tinto Group RIO engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings has been revised 2.1% downward over the last 30 days.

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. SRNE is a clinical stage and commercial biopharmaceutical company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings has been revised 38.5% downward over the last 30 days.

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. PRTH provides merchant acquiring, integrated payment software, and commercial payment solutions. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings has been revised more than 100% downward over the last 30 days.

View the entire Zacks Rank #5 List.

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BEDFORD, NS / ACCESSWIRE / September 8, 2021 / Silver Spruce Resources Inc. (TSXV:SSE)(FRA:S6Q1) (the "Company") announced today that it has increased its private placement up to $1,500,000. The private placement will now consist of the issuance of up to 30,000,000 units at a price of $0.05 per unit with each unit consisting of one common share and awarrant to purchase an additional common share at an exercise price of $0.075 per share for a period of three years from the closing of the private placement.

The proceeds from the private placement will be used for exploration of the Company's mineral projects and general working capital.

The private placement is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Finder's fees will be paid on the private placement in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Silver Spruce Resources Inc.
Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is a Canadian junior exploration company which has signed Definitive Agreements to acquire 100% of the Melchett Lake Zn-Au-Ag project in northern Ontario, and with Colibri Resource Corp. in Sonora, Mexico, to acquire 50% interest in Yaque Minerales S.A de C.V. holding the El Mezquite Au project, a drill-ready precious metal project, and up to 50% interest in each of Colibri's early stage Jackie Au and Diamante Au-Ag projects, with the three properties located from 5 kilometres to 15 kilometres northwest from Minera Alamos' Nicho deposit, respectively. The Company also is acquiring 100% interest in the drill-ready and fully permitted Pino de Plata Ag project, located 15 kilometres west of Coeur Mining's Palmarejo Mine, in western Chihuahua, Mexico. Silver Spruce recently signed an LOI to acquire 100% interest in three exploration properties in the Exploits Subzone Gold Belt, located 15-40 kilometres from recent discoveries by Sokoman Minerals Corp. and New Found Gold Corp., central Newfoundland. Silver Spruce Resources Inc. continues to investigate opportunities that Management has identified or that have been presented to the Company for consideration.

Contact:
Silver Spruce Resources Inc.
Michael Kinley, CEO
(902) 402-0388
mkinley@silverspruceresources.com
info@silverspruceresources.com
www.silverspruceresources.com

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements," Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to, statements regarding the private placement. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with mineral exploration and difficulties associated with obtaining financing on acceptable terms. We are not in control of metals prices and these could vary to make development uneconomic. These forwardlooking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate.

SOURCE: Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/663275/Silver-Spruce-Increases-Private-Placement-to-up-to-1500000

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, Mont., Sept. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sandfire Resources America Inc. ("Sandfire America" or the "Company") announces that it has entered into a bridge loan agreement (the "Agreement") with Sandfire BC Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd. ("Sandfire BC"), the Company's largest shareholder, and Tintina Montana Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company ("Tintina Montana").

Pursuant to the Agreement, among other things, Sandfire BC will lend an aggregate of up to US$12.0 million to Tintina Montana (the "Loan") through one or more advances. The Loan shall bear interest at the rate of five percent (5%) per annum, payable in monthly installments, and the Loan will have a latest maturity date of June 30, 2022, subject to the terms of the Agreement.

In connection with the Loan, the Company will act as guarantor to Sandfire BC. Tintina Montana will issue a promissory note to Sandfire BC in respect of each advance under the Loan on the date of the applicable advance.

The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Loan to complete the proposed work program on the Company’s Black Butte Copper Project and working capital purposes. The Company intends to service and repay the Loan by completing either debt or equity financings.

No securities of the Company are issuable under the Agreement. The Agreement and any subsequent financing is subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Contact Information:
Sandfire Resources America Inc.
Nancy Schlepp, VP of Communications
Mobile: 406-224-8180
Office: 406-547-3466
Email: nschlepp@sandfireamerica.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain disclosures in this document constitute "forward looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the Agreement, the Company's financing options and expected outcomes. In making these forward-looking statements, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable, including that the Company will receive required regulatory approvals, and that the Company will be able to secure additional funding to execute its plans,. However, the forward-looking statements in this document are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors, including delays in obtaining or inability to obtain required government or other regulatory approvals or financing. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Symbol: AZM.TSX Venture

LONGUEUIL, QC, Sept. 7, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ – Azimut Exploration Inc. ("Azimut" or the "Company") (TSXV: AZM) is pleased to report it has released today an updated corporate presentation (Azimut Corporate Update_September 2021). This presentation is available on the Company's website. It provides important insights into the Elmer Property in light of the upcoming 20,000-metre drilling program.

About Azimut

Azimut is a mineral exploration company whose core business centres on target generation and partnership development. The Company is actively advancing the Patwon gold discovery on its 100%-owned flagship Elmer Property in the James Bay region.

The Company uses a pioneering approach to big data analytics (the proprietary AZtechMine^TM expert system), enhanced by extensive exploration know-how. Azimut maintains rigorous financial discipline, a strong balance sheet and has 81.7 million shares issued and outstanding. Azimut's competitive edge against exploration risk is based on systematic regional-scale data analysis and multiple concurrently active projects.

SOURCE Azimut Exploration Inc.

Cision

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2021/07/c3176.html

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. Importantly, Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (CVE:UCU) does carry debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

When Is Debt Dangerous?

Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

View our latest analysis for Ucore Rare Metals

How Much Debt Does Ucore Rare Metals Carry?

As you can see below, at the end of March 2021, Ucore Rare Metals had CA$2.89m of debt, up from CA$1.25m a year ago. Click the image for more detail. But on the other hand it also has CA$7.21m in cash, leading to a CA$4.33m net cash position.

A Look At Ucore Rare Metals' Liabilities

According to the last reported balance sheet, Ucore Rare Metals had liabilities of CA$2.07m due within 12 months, and liabilities of CA$1.88m due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had CA$7.21m in cash and CA$709.2k in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it can boast CA$3.97m more liquid assets than total liabilities.

This surplus suggests that Ucore Rare Metals has a conservative balance sheet, and could probably eliminate its debt without much difficulty. Succinctly put, Ucore Rare Metals boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load! There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is Ucore Rare Metals's earnings that will influence how the balance sheet holds up in the future. So when considering debt, it's definitely worth looking at the earnings trend. Click here for an interactive snapshot.

Since Ucore Rare Metals has no significant operating revenue, shareholders probably hope it will develop a valuable new mine before too long.

So How Risky Is Ucore Rare Metals?

We have no doubt that loss making companies are, in general, riskier than profitable ones. And in the last year Ucore Rare Metals had an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss, truth be told. Indeed, in that time it burnt through CA$5.0m of cash and made a loss of CA$5.3m. With only CA$4.33m on the balance sheet, it would appear that its going to need to raise capital again soon. Even though its balance sheet seems sufficiently liquid, debt always makes us a little nervous if a company doesn't produce free cash flow regularly. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet – far from it. For instance, we've identified 5 warning signs for Ucore Rare Metals (2 are a bit unpleasant) you should be aware of.

When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

Iron ore prices have been on a downward spiral lately, due to China’s efforts to cut steel production and expectations of a pick-up in global iron ore supply.

Future prices for iron ore with 62% iron content, hit a nine-month low of $140.54 a ton on Sep 2. It eventually recovered to settle at $144.83 a ton on Sep 3. Iron ore prices are currently 34% below the high of $219.77 in July. Year to date, iron ore prices have declined 12%, which is in stark contrast to the rally of 70% witnessed last year. Robust demand in China stemming from the government’s measures to stimulate the economy from the COVID-19 slump amid concerns of supply shortage from Brazil had worked in favor of iron ore prices last year.

The tables seem to have turned this year, as China’s intensified focus on cutting down emissions has dealt a blow to the steel industry, which given its high energy consumption and outdated technology and equipment is one of the biggest contributors to pollution in the country. China is, thus, working toward reducing its crude steel output in 2021 from a year earlier. The China Iron and Steel Association (“CISA”) announced that in late August, the average aggregate daily crude steel output of large and medium sized steel enterprises in China was down 4% compared to mid-August, which highlights the impact of the implementation of production restrictions at steel mills.

Meanwhile, the Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI contracted for the first time since April to 49.2 in August 2021. It came below 50.3 in July and missed market estimates of 50.2. This was primarily due to measures to curb rising cases of the Delta strain, supply chain bottlenecks, and raw material cost inflation. Output shrank for the first time in 17 months and new orders declined at the steepest rate in 16 months. Exports sales contracted for the first time since February. Consequently, the lower demand in China and output recovery in Brazil have been weighing on iron ore prices.

Demand for Iron Ore to Remain Resilient

The World Steel Association projects steel demand to grow 5.8% in 2021 and reach 1,874 million. In 2022, steel demand is expected to go up 2.7% to reach 1,924.6 Mt. In China, steel demand is expected to grow 3.0% in 2021 but will decline 1% in 2022 due to the intensified environmental push. Meanwhile, steel demand will go up 8.2% and 4.2% in 2021 and 2022, respectively, in advanced economies. The ongoing recovery in automotive and construction sectors worldwide will drive demand for steel. In the United States, massive government spending to rebuild infrastructure including railroads, highways and bridges will significantly boost steel demand, thus raising the requirement of more iron ore.

3 Stocks to Keep an Eye on

We recommend these iron mining stocks that are well-poised to capitalize on the increase in demand for iron ore. These stocks have a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold) and a VGM Score of A. Our research shows that stocks with such a combination offer the best investment opportunities. They also have solid earnings growth projections.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

BHP Group BHP: In fiscal 2022, the company expects to produce between 249 Mt and 259 Mt of iron ore backed by productivity improvements at Western Australia Iron Ore operations. Efforts to make operations more efficient through smart technology adoption across the entire value chain will aid in reducing costs, thereby bolstering its margins. Its focus on lowering debt is commendable. The company’s exit of the petroleum business, investment in growth projects and decision to unify its dual-listed structure will aid growth as well. These factors have resulted in a share price appreciation of 18.8% over the past year. .

The company has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current fiscal earnings indicates year-over-year improvement of 37.8%. The consensus estimate has moved up 6% over the past 90 days.

Rio Tinto plc RIO: The company expects to produce at the low end of its range of 325 Mt to 340 Mt of iron ore in fiscal 2021. It boasts a world-class portfolio of high-quality assets and continues to strengthen it by increasing investment in high-value projects to ensure long-term growth. Rio Tinto is strengthening the portfolio further with its commitment to fund the high-quality Jadar lithium project, which signals its entry into the fast-growing battery materials market. The company remains focused on making its operations as efficient as possible through the use of technology and innovation, including automation. A strong balance sheet and a disciplined capital allocation support its ability to sustain production and increase investment in development projects (in high-return iron ore and copper), while delivering superior returns to shareholders. All of these factors have contributed to its share price gain of 24.6% in a year’s time.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2021 earnings indicates year-over-year improvement of around 104%. The consensus mark has been revised upward by 5% over the past 90 days. The company has a long-term estimated growth rate of 3%.

Vale S.A VALE: The Brazilian miner expects to produce between 315 Mt and 335 Mt of iron ore in 2021. Backed by solid cash flow, Vale continues to lower debt and strengthen its balance sheet. The company also continues to invest in growth projects that will help it achieve annual iron ore production capacity of 450 Mt in the future. Vale is working toward transforming its base metals business, and believes it will attain 500 ktpy (kilo tons per year) with projects already in pipeline. Its ongoing efforts to improve productivity, introduce more high-quality ore in the market and control costs have been impressive, leading to a 72.8% surge in its share price over the past year. The company is also investing in its autonomous program in a bid to ensure safety in mining, reduce carbon footprint, improve efficiency and lower costs.

The company has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 30.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2021 earnings suggests year-over-year growth of around 170%. The consensus mark has moved north by 6% over the past 60 days. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 14.3%, on average.

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BEDFORD, NS / ACCESSWIRE / September 7, 2021 / (TSXV:SSE) – Silver Spruce Resources Inc. ("Silver Spruce" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the receipt of assays from the first ten holes of its Phase 1 exploration drilling at the El Mezquite Au-Ag property ("El Mezquite" or the "Property"). A total of 2,485 metres were drilled in twenty (20) holes covering eight collar locations.

Figure 1. El Mezquite property showing RC rig from Layne de Mexico

"We received favourable precious metal assays in nine of the first ten holes consistent with our exploration expectations for a low-grade, heap-leachable target with mineralization in the range of 0.1 g/t Au to 1.0 g/t Au. Thirty-one sampling intervals, ranging from surface to 146.4 metre depth downhole, are shown in Table 1, including up to five separate sections in one hole (MEZ-005), are reported from 0.1 g/t Au to 0.955 g/t Au. Discrete sections of >0.1 g/t Au with multiple samples reached a maximum of 4.58 metres. Silver values ranged from 1 g/t Ag to 241 g/t Ag and elevated Ag occurred commonly with higher Au and base metals. Au-Ag zoning or stacked mineralized structures could be indicated given no clear relationship of Ag to associated Au grades," stated Greg Davison, Silver Spruce Vice-President Exploration and Director. "The mineralized intervals, identified to date, reflect the thickness of the vein and structurally controlled surface showings. Of importance to the geochemical interpretation, the pathfinder elements (Hg, Cu, Pb, Zn, Sb and As) often displayed a well-defined metal halo, up to eighteen (18) metres in apparent thickness downhole, within and peripheral to the multiple gold and silver-bearing intervals and potentially are indicative of a significant precious metal mineralizing system. We look forward to the compilation of the 2D and 3D spatial interpretation of the assay results from these and the remaining drill holes, the latter of which were focused on gold-bearing surface exposures along interpreted structural lineaments."

Table 1. Select assay intervals (>0.1 g/t Au) for the Phase 1 drilling program (MEZ001-MEZ-010)

"The Phase 1 RC program (see Figure 2 and Table 2) comprised 20 holes with a combined depth of 2,485 metres and utilized eight drill pad locations focused around a 400m x 600m area with elevated precious metal values to 3.41 g/t Au and 387 g/t Ag. Collars were defined by several northeast-trending veins, structural lineaments and oxide/sulphide transitions interpreted from geological mapping, precious metal assays, multi-element geochemistry, alteration assemblages and coincident 3D IP chargeability anomalies," said Mr. Davison. "New targets for Phase 2 drilling are developing from our ongoing geological, hyperspectral, LANDSAT and LiDAR compilation."

Figure 2. Drill collar location map for the El Mezquite property.

The first ten holes were drilled mainly on four collar locations (M1, M2, M3 and M5) targeting 3D IP chargeability anomalies and were logged primarily as green to grey-green andesite and mafic dykes exhibiting surface oxidation and transitional zones, weak propylitic alteration and at depth, abundant disseminated sulphides and/or magnetite. Andesite dykes contained elevated magnetite. Minor rhyolitic units may be feldspar-quartz intrusive dykes. Oxidation reached depths of 3 metres to 18.3 metres above transitional intervals of 3 metres to 24.3 metres. The sulphide zone andesites were intersected at overall downhole depths of 13 metres to 36.6 metres and continued through the holes. Pyrite was the dominant sulphide species with minor chalcopyrite, sphalerite and possible galena. Sulphides also occurred in quartz and quartz-carbonate veinlets with a stockwork-style distribution.

Table 2. Final drill hole data for the Phase 1 El Mezquite exploration program

The Company's first-ever drilling program at El Mezquite was completed in July with samples being submitted to ALS Global in Hermosillo in daily batches of 3-4 holes. The first seven (7) drill holes were completed on June 14^th. The remaining thirteen (13) holes were drilled with two RC rigs from Layne de Mexico and completed as scheduled on July 28^th.

Local drill management and oversight, packaging and shipping, logging, splitting and packaging of geochemical samples, quality control protocols and delivery to ALS Global were conducted under Servicios Geológicos IMEx ("IMEx") supervision at the El Mezquite property and at our option partner Colibri Resource's ("Colibri") office facilities in Hermosillo.

Sample splits (50%) were collected for geochemical analysis from 1.53 metre intervals throughout the length of each hole. Chip samples were split for logging from each interval, packaged in vials and organized in trays by drill hole. The remaining splits (50%) were stored at the project site and at Colibri's storage facility in Suaqui Grande.

Laboratory assay results were submitted between June 17^th and August 5^th. Data were received between July 15^th and August 24^th. Despite laboratory workloads which have impacted turnaround timelines, our samples were analysed in Vancouver and Lima, Peru to expedite completion.

Exploration Overview

The Company undertook an exploration program including environmental permitting for drilling, geological mapping of geologic structures and lineaments, ortho-mosaic photography, rock geochemical and hyperspectral analysis, data compilation and GIS modeling, and a LiDAR survey. Ground truthing of the Au-Ag system with geological mapping and rock sampling was completed in three campaigns between July 2020 and March 2021. All aspects of the exploration program are conducted with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols for personal safety.

All current samples from the 2020-2021 field programs were submitted to ALS Global for gold, multi-element and hyperspectral analysis. Historical samples (>400) from the 2010-2019 programs also were submitted to provide complementary multi-element and hyperspectral data over the Property database. The assays, LiDAR survey data, and satellite hyperspectral interpretation results are being updated into the project ArcGIS database.

The environmental permit, required to drill the Property, was received from SEMARNAT (see Press Release April 20, 2021) and granted to the concession holder, Yaque Minerals S.A. de C.V. ("Yaque") by the Mexican Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). The permit allows for fourteen (14) drill pads over the targets in the northern area of the concession. Individual holes achieved depths of 100-200 metres to intersect the target intervals.

Land surface agreements were signed with three ranchers to facilitate full access to the Phase 1 collar locations.

Figure 4. Location Map for El Mezquite, Jackie and Diamante Concessions. Nicho mine development by Minera Alamos located 10 km SE of El Mezquite.

Project Background

El Mezquite, a drill-ready precious metal project located 10 km northwest of the town of Tepoca, and 170 km southeast of the capital city of Hermosillo, eastern Sonora, Mexico, is very well situated in terms of logistics for exploration and is located only twelve kilometres northwest of the Nicho deposit currently under mine development by Minera Alamos (see Figure 4).

The 180-hectare Property is easily accessible from Mexican Highway #16 via a southerly-trending unpaved road which traverses through the centre of the known gold mineralization. High voltage power lines are positioned along Highway #16.

The El Mezquite Project is located within the west-central portion of the Sierra Madre Occidental Volcanic Complex within the prominent northwest-trending "Sonora Gold Belt" of northern Mexico and parallel to the precious metals-rich Mojave-Sonora Megashear (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Location Map of El Mezquite Property and Mines of the Sierra Madre Occidental

Geochemical Analysis, Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Drill chip sample splits were delivered from drill site, to an in-house storage facility in Hermosillo for logging and QA/QC by IMEx, and then to the ALS sample preparation facility in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. ALS Global in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is a facility certified as ISO 9001:2008 and accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 from the Standards Council of Canada. Local chain of custody was monitored and maintained by a professional senior geologist with IMEx.

The samples were crushed to 70% passing 2mm (PREP-31) and a split of up to 250 grams pulverized to 85% passing 75 micrometres (-200 mesh). The sample pulps and crushed splits were transferred internally to ALS Global's North Vancouver, Canada or Lima, Peru analytical facility for gold and multi-element analysis. Pulps (50gram split) are submitted for Au analysis by Fire Assay with Atomic Absorption finish (Au-AA24).

The retained pulps also were analysed by Four Acid Digestion followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) multi-element analyses (ME-ICP61m) with Hg by Aqua Regia and ICP-MS (Hg-MS42).

Over-limit Au and Ag samples are analyzed by Fire Assay with Gravimetric Finish Ore Grade (Au-GRA21 or Au-GRA22, Ag-GRA21). Overlimit base metals are analyzed by Four Acid Digestion followed by Ore Grade Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) for Cu, Pb and Zn (Cu-OG62, Pb-OG62, Zn-OG62).

In-house quality control samples (blanks, standards, duplicates, preparation duplicates) are inserted into the sample set by IMEx. ALS Global conducts its own internal QA/QC program of blanks, standards and duplicates, and the results are provided with the Company sample certificates. The results of the ALS control samples were reviewed by IMEx and the Company's QP and evaluated for acceptable tolerances.

All sample and pulp rejects will be stored at ALS Global pending full review of the analytical data, and future selection of pulps for independent third-party check analyses, as requisite.

Qualified Person

Greg Davison, PGeo, Silver Spruce VP Exploration and Director, is the Company's internal Qualified Person for the El Mezquite Project and is responsible for approval of the technical content of this press release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), under TSX guidelines.

About Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is a Canadian junior exploration company which has signed Definitive Agreements to acquire 100% of the Melchett Lake Zn-Au-Ag project in northern Ontario, and with Colibri Resource Corp. in Sonora, Mexico, to acquire 50% interest in Yaque Minerales S.A de C.V. holding the El Mezquite Au project, a drill-ready precious metal project, and up to 50% interest in each of Colibri's early stage Jackie Au and Diamante Au-Ag projects, with the three properties located from 5 kilometres to 15 kilometres northwest from Minera Alamos's Nicho deposit, respectively. The Company is acquiring 100% interest in the drill-ready and fully permitted Pino de Plata Ag project, located 15 kilometres west of Coeur Mining's Palmarejo Mine, in western Chihuahua, Mexico. Silver Spruce recently signed an LOI to acquire 100% interest in three exploration properties in the Exploits Subzone Gold Belt, located 15-40 kilometres from recent discoveries by Sokoman Minerals Corp. and New Found Gold Corp., central Newfoundland. Silver Spruce Resources Inc. continues to investigate opportunities that Management has identified or that have been presented to the Company for consideration.

Contact:

Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Greg Davison, PGeo, Vice-President Exploration and Director
(250) 521-0444
gdavison@silverspruceresources.com

Michael Kinley, CEO and Director
(902) 402-0388
mkinley@silverspruceresources.com

info@silverspruceresources.com
www.silverspruceresources.com

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

SOURCE: Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/662956/Silver-Spruce-Reports-Assays-from-Phase-1-Drilling-at-El-Mezquite-Au-Ag-Project-Sonora-Mexico

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