Scott Williamson, Managing Director of Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX) returns today on Coffee with Samso Episode 120 with insights about the release of their inaugural Sustainability Report
The Blackstone Story is no stranger to making bold statements, but I would say that the biggest of them all is the release of their Sustainability Report. Blackstone is not shy of telling the market that they are going to produce Green Nickel.
Yes, you heard it right. Blackstone is going to produce nickel products that adhere to world class ESG standards.
That is a bold endeavour and it really makes you sit up and want to know more. Clearly, there is no room for second place with this statement. One would be doing this with Tier 1 standards, world leading practices and with total transparency. This is the statement from Scott and the Blackstone team.
Scott shares with us his thoughts and passion on making sure that the process of completing the Blackstone business in Vietnam is all about the people and the environment. The business will be complete only if there is participation and rewards from and for all stakeholders in the business model.
As you look into the story, the creation of a totally responsible and sustainable business is going to reap rewards beyond your typical mining nickel through to production model.
What this means is that this Green Nickel story by Blackstone Minerals will be at a level that will have a significant barrier to entry for competitors. The first mover advantage will create a near impossible competitor edge which will be hard to overcome.
There is a metal use revolution storm coming and what is felt now is nothing compared to this tsunami just outside the shores of the EV Revolution.
Tune in to find out if we are overdoing ESG.
Chapters
00:00 Start
00:20 Introduction
00:59 Scott introduces the Sustainability Report.
02:25 Inspiration for Green Nickel process.
05:26 What was the feedback to understand Green Nickel?
07:13 How has the transparency of the story helped corporately?
10:48 Blockchain of Green Nickel Story.
13:21 How will pricing of Green Nickel work?
14:40 Will mining Green Nickel be cheaper in the future?
16:06 A major problem for No-Emission story.
19:42 Where is the strict No-Emission on the Blackstone Story coming from?
20:58 Are we over doing all this ESG - No Emission story?
22:41 How fast is the transformation to an Electric Mining Fleet?
24:44 Is the capital still favouring Green?
26:15 What are people saying about this report?
29:24 Scott's last words on the Sustainability Report.
30:58 Conclusion
PODCAST
About Scott Williamson
Managing Director
Blackstone Minerals Limited Qualifications: BEng (Mining), BCom, MAusIMM
Scott Williamson is an experienced Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the mining and metals industry. He is skilled in Open Pit and Underground Mining, Corporate Finance, Investor Relations and Project Planning. A strong business development professional with equity capital markets experience, Scott graduated from West Australian School of Mines and Curtin University of Technology. Scott holds a WA First Class Mine Manager’s Certificate and is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
About Blackstone Minerals Limited
Blackstone Minerals Limited (ASX: BSX) is developing the district-scale Ta Khoa Project in Northern Vietnam where the company is drilling out the large-scale Ban Phuc Nickel-PGE deposit. The Ta Khoa Nickel-PGE Project has existing modern mine infrastructures built to International Standards including a 450ktpa processing plant and permitted mine facilities.
Blackstone Minerals also owns a large landholding at the Gold Bridge project within the BC porphyry belt in British Columbia, Canada with large scale drill targets prospective for high-grade gold-cobalt-copper mineralisation. In Australia, Blackstone Minerals is exploring for nickel and gold in the Eastern Goldfields and gold in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Blackstone Minerals has a board and management team with a proven track record of mineral discovery and corporate success.
The Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Project
The Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Project is located 160 km west of Hanoi in the Son La Province of Vietnam and includes an existing modern nickel mine built to Australian standards, which is currently under care and maintenance. The Ban Phuc nickel mine successfully operated as a mechanised underground nickel mine from 2013 to 2016. In the Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Project, previous project owners invested more than US$136m in capital and generated US$213m in revenue during a 3.5-year period of falling nickel prices. The project was placed into care and maintenance in mid-2016 during some of the lowest nickel prices in the past 10 years.
Existing infrastructure associated with the project includes an internationally-designed 450 ktpa processing plant connected to local hydro grid power with a fully-permitted tailings facility and a modern 250-person camp.
Since commencing maiden drilling in August 2019, Blackstone Minerals has made significant progress at Ta Khoa, drilling over 9,000 m of diamond core in more than 47 holes into the Ban Phuc DSS deposit and the highly prospective King Cobra discovery zone. An initial scoping study evaluating mining and processing options is well advanced, including potential in-country downstream processing to deliver high-value nickel sulfate into Asia’s rapidly expanding electric vehicle (EV) industry. The recently announced MOU with Asia’s largest and the world’s second-largest EV battery cathode manufacturer, Ecopro BM Co Limited represents a significant step towards making this a reality.
Disclaimer
The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer.
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