When people talk about copper porphyry deposits, I am always thinking about South America. There are some in the Philipines and Indonesia but not in the same frequency. Over the years, I have not paid too much attention to the details that surround these deposits as it seems too complicated. I have been curious, but it seems to be not straight forward, and each deposit is different. However, I have noticed some of the recent discoveries coming out of the area, and that has sparked some of my interest. The more I got into it, the more I was fascinated with the story. One of the fascinating points of these deposits is the concentration in Chile. The deposits seem to be constrained to one time period and deposits cluster together with similar metal contents and styles of mineralisation. A good way to understand these deposits (according to theory) is to look at the mechanism of a subduction zone. What is a subduction zone you may ask? A Subduction Zone. I am going to give a chinaman explanation. For those that want more details, Mr Google has plenty of examples. The world consists of a series of tectonic plates that move around and slide into and over each other at the boundaries. The diagram below, Figure 2, outlines where these subduction zones are located within the Pacific Plates. When these plates collide and the process of “subduction” happens (Figure 3), a lot of things happen and one is the creation of these “Back-Arc”. This is what caused the potential formation of these metallogenic belts that are shown in Figure 1. A schematic cross-section representation of the process subduction is shown in Figure 3. The metallogenic “belts” are the creation of the Arc, as shown in Figure 3. As the subduction process is ongoing over geological time, the different belts are created over time. It is interesting that the different events appear to bring up different metal content within the deposits. If you look closely in Figure 1, there appears to be a spatial separation of deposit types, IOCG, Manto-type Cu Ag, Porphyry Cu and Epithermal Au and Cu. There seem to be something controlling where the types of deposits are found but what is pretty obvious is the rich source that is feeding this part of the world. Fortunately, this article cannot explain all the facts so I will leave that to those who actually know what they are talking about. As they say, when you have enough to be dangerous, one can create all sorts of issue :-). What is so special about these Chilean Deposits According to Camus, F and Dilles J.H 2001 [5], Chile is known to have the largest concentration of copper on Earth. At that time (24 in production), exploration expenditure in the region had exceeded US$2 billion, with 76 copper and gold discoveries. Due to the amount of work that has been done over the years, Chile has become the premier place to come and find that big mother lode. Expensive it may be for exploration, but the prize of discovery is enormous. There is a good summary I found on the www.kuraminerals.com site. The world’s largest and richest porphyry Cu–Mo deposits occur in the northern portions of the Chilean Andes and have allowed Chile to become not only the leading copper-producing country (5,764 kMT of copper were produced in 2015, 30% of annual global copper production) but also the second largest producer of molybdenum (52,579 MT in 2015) as a by-product of the copper exploitation. Despite the fact that Chile’s overall mineral wealth lies mainly in these world class Cu–Mo porphyry deposits, it is important to acknowledge other significant metallic ore occurrences, such as epithermal Au-Ag, iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG), volcanic-hosted manto-type Cu-Ag, iron ore–apatite, mesothermal Cu-Au-Ag- vein and minor skarns Cu-Ag-Au deposits. According to an article I found (Cooke DR, Hollings P, Walshe JL (2005) Giant porphyry deposits— characteristics, distribution and tectonic controls. Economic Geology, v. 100) [2], more than half of the 25 largest known porphyry copper deposits, defined in terms of contained copper metal, formed during three time periods: the Paleocene to Eocene, Eocene to Oligocene, and middle Miocene to Pliocene. Something that is consistent with what has been shown in Figure 1, for Chilean projects. These giant deposits are clustered within three provinces, central Chile, northern Chile, and southwest Arizona-northern Mexico. The other giant deposits occur in Montana, Utah, Panama, Peru, Argentina, Irian Jaya, Mongolia, and Iran. Compressive tectonic environments thickened continental crust, and active uplift and erosion were associated with the formation of many of these deposits. Calc-alkalic magmas are most favourable for the formation of giant porphyry copper deposits, although several of the largest systems are associated with high K calc-alkalic intrusions. In addition, the 25 largest of these deposits are found in the south-west Pacific and South America. The dominance of Chile as a giant copper porphyry mecca can be seen in Table 1 which was taken from a paper published in 2005 [2]. Similarly, there is a lack of gold-related projects in Chile (Table 2). This is not to say that there are none, it’s just not a “giant” status. I am not sure what the statistics are like now. It is 15 years since 2005 but without researching that fact, I can’t see the percentage dominance changing much, in terms of Chile having a higher frequency of giant copper deposits. To discover one of these giants is difficult and proving the deposit up is even harder. Since the downturn of the industry in 1999, I have not seen a large rise in exploration funding for any commodity in scale. However, what we are seeing is the gradual decrease in metal stockpiles which is starting to create some funding towards real exploration. As much as I like to think this will be increasing, my heart does tell me that it will still be a slow wait. There is a sentiment of positivity and in some way, the slow and steady growth is a good thing. It will last longer. The largest of the deposits are associated with high K calc-alkalic intrusions. Many calc-alkalic porphyritic intrusions have also produced giant gold-rich porphyries. In the last 20 m.y., the formation of giant porphyry copper-molybdenum and copper-gold deposits in the circum-Pacific region has been closely associated with subduction of aseismic ridges, seamount chains, and oceanic plateaus beneath the oceanic island and continental arcs. In several examples, these tectonic perturbations have promoted flat-slab subduction, crustal thickening, uplift and erosion, and adakitic magmatism coeval with the formation of well-endowed porphyry and/or epithermal mineral provinces. Similar tectonic features are inferred to be associated with the giant porphyry copper-molybdenum provinces of northern Chile (Eocene-Oligocene) and southwest United States (Cretaceous-Paleocene). Chile’s Metallogenic Belts As I have mentioned previously, the Chilean mineralisation appears to be related to six geological age range (see Figure 1), which is listed below, Late Palaeozoic – Triassic (298-230 Ma) Early Cretaceous (132-97 Ma) Palaeocene- Early Eocene (60-50 Ma) Late Eocene-early Oligocene (43-31 Ma) Late Miocene-early Pliocene (12-4.3Ma) The two youngest porphyry belts are the most important from an economic viewpoint (see Figure 1). They have the largest deposits and concentrating most current mining operations. The majority of the older porphyry Cu-Mo deposits are subeconomic (in 2007). Only Cerro Colorado (Eocene), Lomas Bayas (Palaeocene), Andacollo and Dos Amigos (Early Cretaceous, are currently mined (2005).and Spence (Eocene) is under development. Late Eocene-early Oligocene This is the most significant Chilean porphyry belt. It extends for 1400km along the Domeyko Cordillera and can be traced from the Peruvian border. There are up to 30 Cu-Mo deposits and prospects with the highest amount of copper resources. Has 220 million tonnes of Cu. The deposits are not regularly distributed along on this north-south trending belt, but rather form local clusters with areas of <200 km2.-1945 Other Porphyry Deposits Just to make sure readers are aware, there are other porphyry deposits. As you would expect, during the research part of this article, I came across a lot of information. I know there are many other copper porphyry deposits in the world. There is the Tujuh Bukit in Indonesia, the giant Bingham Cu-Mo-Au in Utah USA. and many others spread all over the world. I came across one project in China and learned that the porphyry here is different from those that are at the Andes. I am sure that there are more cases of similar type deposits but while researching, it just happened that I came across these in China before the others. Most porphyry Cu deposits in the world occur in magmatic arc settings and are formed in association with calc-alkaline arc magmas related to subduction of oceanic-slab, including porphyry Cu-Au and gold-rich porphyry Cu deposits which usually distributed in island arc setting, while porphyry Cu-Mo, Mo deposits in continental arc settings.[4] There are some significant porphyry Cu deposits in China, unrelated subduction, including porphyry Cu(-Mo,-Au), Mo, Au, Pb-Zn deposits, mainly distributed in Tibet, Qinling collisional orogen belts, and Yanshanian intracontinental settings in Eastern China. These porphyry deposits show many differences from those which are formed in magmatic arc settings, such as geodynamic settings, tectonic control, magma source, and ore-forming fluid system. [4] I have chosen a Chinese example as they are normally not talked about in the general public. If these projects ever come into an Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) company, most people would not have been exposed to what is in China. It occurs within a cluster of other porphyry deposits but this area is relatively unknown to the general investor. Similarly, most investors did not know about the clusters of nickel mines that run north of the nickel sulphide project owned by Blackstone Minerals Limited (ASX: BSX) in Vietnam. You can watch Scott Williamson talking on Coffee with Samso about the Ta Khoa project in Vietnam. Coffee with Samso – Episode 026 – Blackstone Minerals Limited (ASX: BSX) Developing the Ta Khoa Nickel Project in Vietnam. Coffee with Samso – Episode 007 – Blackstone Minerals Limited: Not just mining Nickel. The giant Pulang porphyry Cu-Au district (446.8 million tonnes at 0.52% Cu and 0.18 g/tonne Au) is in the southern segment of the Yidun arc (Zhongdian arc), part of the Sanjiang Tethyan orogenic belt in southwest China [1]. The district consists of three deposits: South Pulang (~96% of the total ore reserves) and the smaller East and North Pulang deposits. Four intrusive phases host the three Pulang deposits. The sequence of intrusion emplacement, alteration and veining, and sulfide associations at the three deposits suggests that South and North Pulang are two separate porphyry Cu-Au deposits, whereas East Pulang is probably a distal part of South Pulang[1]. As you can see from Figure 4, the age of the zones and the clustering of porphyry deposits are very similar to those in Chile. If one would look at the margins of all these subduction zones, you would see similar geology, age, and mineralisation styles. The diagram below, a schematic cross-section of the Pulang tectonic setting, is a good way to show how these porphyry deposits are form and the setting that they are found. When you compare the parallel North-South alignments in Figure 1 with Figure 5, you can see why the Chilean projects occur in that orientation. Each event of mineralisation or each rise of the magma (Figure 5) creates the deposits. The next event, the next mineralisation event will on another parallel alignment and the younger the deposit, the more recent event will be closer and closer to the water’s edge. This is the most simplistic way I can describe the process. I hope the academics don’t have a heart attack :-). Why my Interest in Copper Porphyry? In 2009, I was introduced to a company working in Chile. That company was Hot Chili Limited (ASX: HCH). I have not really looked into this part of the mineral resource, in terms of country, geology, mineralisation styles or companies involved till now. At that time, HCH was an interesting company which was doing gold and uranium (if I am not mistaken) that was in Chile and working in the “porphyry world”. A good associate of mine introduced me to the company. The two share price charts give a good history of the life of the company. I won’t go into details on what happened but suffice to say the last 12 months could bring the stock staus higher, over time. Several months ago, an associate sent me an HCH announcement of the first drilling phase, and I was impressed. I read the details and told him that this was a “discovery” and there is no doubt that they have a mineralised porphyry. My only concern was that this was a porphyry and it was going to take a while to sort itself out. Subsequent drill results supported the discovery comment and the rising share price (Table 1 and Table 2) indicate that the market is thinking the same. It was at this point that I decided that I want to look at the porphyry deposits and find out what it is all about. As I have mentioned, I have looked at this style of mineralisation before, but I have never done it in any detail. I knew about the likes of Batu Hijau, Grasberg, the PNG deposits and the South American deposits. Now that I have learned more about this topic, I am pretty impressed and keen on these deposits. I do continue to stand by the fact that exploring these styles means bigger budgets. A raise of AUD$5M on the ASX is not going to cut it unless there is a plan to support this raise with subsequent funding options. The likes of HCH is not an overnight success story. They have been doing this since 2010, and I am sure management has been persistent. Do not underestimate the quality of management in this case. For this company to be still in this space for so long and persisted and have done the corporate deals means that there is a bit of stuff in those brains. I have never met the management, but I think this is a pretty safe assumption. One would not be able to get their hands on these kinds of projects without being in the know about the subject space. My point here is that if there are investors looking in this space, pay keen attention to the management. This kind of deposits is like running a marathon. Not a 100m sprint. The company you are looking at needs good people to sustain the long term play. Conclusion Over the years, from a corporate point of view, I have always stayed away from things that are not in my sphere of knowledge and things that are way too complicated. Looking at these porphyry deposits would never have been in my thoughts. Now that I have had done a fair bit of research on this topic, I can understand why many companies go searching for this prize. Looking at the image of Escondida in the feature photo, one can see the riches that could be obtained. In a place like Chile, where the discoveries of large porphyry-style deposits are more common, the likes of Hot Chili may not be too far from their “holy grail”. I have come across a lot of prospects in the “ASEAN” region and my conclusion is that it will take a lot of hard work in terms of attracting funding and actual geological work. Hence, investors will need to be aware if they are looking in this area. The South American deposits are no different. However, my thoughts on these “forbidden areas” have changed. I think that with the right investing community, these deposit styles can be obtainable. Like all exploration projects, it is all about attrition. The longer you can play the game, the more chances you have to find the prize. Remember, North American resource companies have been playing in this region for decades. The TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) has loads of companies that play in this region. I think what HCH did recently in getting access to a “de-risked” project is a good move. What I mean is the acquisition of the Cortedera project with some historical drilling success is a good move, at least corporately anyway. The deal has allowed the share price of the stock to climb from sub-AUD$ 0.01 to AUD$0.036 (Figure 7). It was definitely a good deal and the market is liking what is coming out of the company. The drill results that are being released are definitely more than a good intercept and the length of the intercept is consistent with a porphyry-like style of mineralisation. If you have read the book on the discovery of Olympic Dam, one would appreciate the feeling of potentially finding something “big”. The likes of HCH will take a while to “develop” this project but at least one can take comfort that they have something to develop. References: [1} Geology and Genesis of the Giant Pulang Porphyry Cu-Au District, Yunnan, Southwest China, Kang Cao ; Zhi-Ming Yang ; John Mavrogenes ; Noel C. White ; Ji-Feng Xu ; Yang Li ; Wei-Kai Li, Economic Geology (2019) 114 (2): 275–301 [2] Giant Porphyry Deposits: Characteristics, Distribution, and Tectonic Controls.. David R. Cooke, Peter Hollings, John L. Walshe; Economic Geology ; 100 (5): 801–818. doi: [3} Geological, Geochronological, and Geochemical Insights into the Formation of the Giant Pulang Porphyry Cu (–Mo–Au) Deposit in Northwestern Yunnan Province, SW China by Qun Yang 1,Yun-Sheng Ren 1,2,*,Sheng-Bo Chen 3,Guo-Liang Zhang 4,Qing-Hong Zeng 3,Yu-Jie Hao 2,Jing-Mou Li 1,Zhong-Jie Yang 5,Xin-Hao Sun 1 andZhen-Ming Sun 1 [4] Porphyry Deposits in Continental Settings of China: Geological Characteristics, Magmatic Hydrothermal System, and Metallogenic Model. Hou, Zengqian & Yang, Zhiming. (2009). Acta Geologica Sinica. 83. 1779-1817. [5] A Special Issue Devoted to Porphyry Copper Deposits of Northern Chile, Canus F, Dilles J.H; Economic Geology; Vol 96, No. 2, 2001 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value. It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

Investors all know about the value of diamonds and how much these elusive stones cost or are worth. In reality, that value is the perceived value of diamonds. I would wager that most of those investors would not realise that it is a controlled commodity, and hence the price is effectively artificial. What is interesting is also that it is one of the most challenging and most expensive product to go looking for, even with today’s technology. The last hurrah for diamonds in Australia would have to be in the early 1990s, and it is rare as hen’s teeth since that period of excitement. I had the privilege to have worked during that time and with a company that had the budget to do some real stuff, Ashton Mining Limited (taken over by Rio Tinto in the early 2000s). Diamonds in the form we see in our minds. Is it rare, or is it a controlled pricing structure. There is no doubt that there is no shortage of these stones, especially the white ones (hence my fascination with coloured gemstones). However, the fact is that it is not that easy to find them and then prove it up for mining makes these stones somewhat “rare”. The diamond formation process is one that can be a tease. Diamonds are chemically unstable in normal conditions as the metastable state is in the form of graphite. It is for this reason that diamonds need to be emplaced on the surface quickly (In a geological sense). Otherwise, it will change to a “non-diamond” form. Hence, the quickest way for this process to happen is to get delivered by a volcanic system that can allow magma (liquid-like rock material from deep within our Earth mantle) to rise to the surface. What are the source rocks for Diamonds? To date, there are two types of rocks where you can find diamonds. They are called Kimberlites and Lamproites. There other hybrids but they are typically some combinations of Kimberlitic and Lamproitic. Canadian Kimberlite locations. (source:Wikimedia Commons) According to old faithful Wikipedia, Kimberlite is an igneous rock, which sometimes contains diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an 83.5-carat (16.70 g) diamond called the Star of South Africa in 1869 spawned a diamond rush and the digging of the open-pit mine called the Big Hole. Previously, the term kimberlite has been applied to olivine lamproites as Kimberlite II, however this has been in error. Kimberlite occurs in the Earth’s crust in vertical structures known as kimberlite pipes, as well as igneous dykes. Kimberlite also occurs as horizontal sills.[2] Kimberlite pipes are the most important source of mined diamonds today. The consensus on kimberlites is that they are formed deep within the mantle. Formation occurs at depths between 150 and 450 kilometres (93 and 280 mi), potentially from anomalously enriched exotic mantle compositions, and they are erupted rapidly and violently, often with considerable carbon dioxide[3] and other volatile components. It is this depth of melting and generation that makes kimberlites prone to hosting diamond xenocrysts. Despite its relative rarity, kimberlite has attracted attention because it serves as a carrier of diamonds and garnet peridotite mantle xenoliths to the Earth’s surface. Its probable derivation from depths greater than any other igneous rock type, and the extreme magma composition that it reflects in terms of low silica content and high levels of incompatible trace-element enrichment, make an understanding of kimberlite petrogenesis important. In this regard, the study of kimberlite has the potential to provide information about the composition of the deep mantle and melting processes occurring at or near the interface between the cratonic continental lithosphere and the underlying convecting asthenospheric mantle. A diamond-bearing Kimberlite rock from the US. (Source: Wikipedia) Lamproite is an ultrapotassic mantle-derived volcanic or subvolcanic rock. It has low CaO, Al2O3, Na2O, high K2O/Al2O3, a relatively high MgO content and extreme enrichment in incompatible elements. Lamproites are geographically widespread yet are volumetrically insignificant. Unlike kimberlites, which are found exclusively in Archaean cratons, lamproites are found in terrains of varying age, ranging from Archaean in Western Australia, to Palaeozoic and Mesozoic in southern Spain. They also vary widely in age, from Proterozoic to Pleistocene, the youngest known example being 56,000 ± 5,000 years old. Lamproite volcanology is varied, with both diatreme styles and cinder cone or cone edifices known. The economic significance of lamproite became known with the discovery of Ellendale E4 and E9 lamproite pipes and better known 1979 discovery of the Argyle diamond pipe in Western Australia. This discovery led to the intense study and re-evaluation of other known lamproite occurrences worldwide; previously only kimberlite pipes were considered economically viable sources of diamonds. The Argyle diamond mine remains the only economically viable source of lamproite diamonds. This deposit differs markedly by having a high content of diamonds but low quality of most stones. Research at Argyle diamond have shown that most stones are of E-type; they originate from eclogite source rocks and were formed under high temperature ~1,400 °C (2,600 °F). The Argyle diamond mine is the main source of rare pink diamonds. Argyle Lamproite (source: JSJGeology) Olivine lamproite pyroclastic rocks and dikes are sometimes hosts for diamonds. The diamonds occur as xenocrysts that have been carried to the surface or to shallow depths by the lamproite diapiric intrusions. The diamonds of Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro, Arkansas are found in a lamproite host. Do all Kimberlites and Lamproites have Diamonds? Not all Kimberlites or Lamproites are diamond-bearing. There are considerable complexities that define whether the source rock has diamonds or not but let’s keep it simple. Diamonds form in a specific region in the Earth’s mantle. The temperature and pressure levels are one of the significant participants, and hence when the magma passes or originates from this region, it will sample diamonds. The endowment will depend on the rate and how mature the magma is when it reaches the surface. Contrasting models illustrating why diamond-bearing group 1 kimberlites are restricted to within the bounds of the Craton and barren kimberlites are confined to the adjacent mobile belts. (source:Kimberlites and Lamproite: Primary Sources of Diamond, Mitchell, R.H. 1991) The schematic diagram below shows some variants of factors that affect whether the source rock contains diamonds. There are many forms of Kimberlites, and I have included this article which I think is a good description of what I am talking about, Diamonds_Kimberlites and Lamproites. What is apparent is that they do form in clusters, and when they are of the same age, the presence of one diamond-bearing pipe will most likely mean that there are more to be found. Similarly, the presence of kimberlite or lamproite from that geochemistry will have diamonds. However, this theory is not an exact science, which is why when you find microdiamonds or a macro-diamond in exploration, you excited. This discovery means that the potential kimberlitic or lamproitic field is carrying that kind of chemistry. In term of exploration, we get excited if we find indicator minerals from that region of chemistry, but if you find diamonds, that is as close to a sure thing as you can get for diamond exploration. In reality, to find that pipe bearing the diamonds is not even close to a sure thing as in most cases, you have to deal with drilling all the potential pipes and the likelihood the pipe is covered or weathered. Diamond exploration is one of the hardest to achieve success, in my opinion. I would go as far as to say that it is the hardest in the space that I have been in over my years of exploration. The rate of success is pretty low, and it’s expensive. Projects take a long time because the risk/reward ratio is typically low. However, the payoff is significant when you do find it. In my previous Insight, The Webb Project: GeoCrystal Limited – The Next Diamond Story and Yellow Diamonds – A Gap in the Diamond market, I have made several mentions about this particular issue of high expenditure and lack of success in this sector. Is there anyone looking for Diamonds? Since the 1990s, there has not been any real exploration in Australia. However, it appears that the TSX (Toronto Stock exchange) companies have been active and of they are probably the only group that can be said to be active diamond explorers. The amount of activity is probably due to the well endowed North-West Territories of Canada. It is home to the massive Diavik Mine (8 million carats annually) and the Ekati Mine (7.5 million carats). Both these mines are still in production. A map of Canadian diamond mines showing the approximate locations. (source:Geology.com) In researching this Insight, I am amazed to find that there is a long list of diamond explorers in the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange). There is a long list of diamond producers as well. I must admit that my knowledge of this sector is decades behind, and I put this to the fact that there is no diamond action here in Australia. The only company that comes to mind is Lucapa Diamond Company Limited (ASX: LOM) and Gibb River Diamonds Limited (ASX: GIB). The diagram below shows gem-quality diamond production up to 2018. As someone had pointed out in Linkedln, Australia is missing from that list :-). I agree that this is inaccurate and I am not sure why they have left Australia out. Maybe they are talking about gem-quality stones. Diamond Production Leaders: Graph showing the production history of selected gem-quality diamond producing countries. This graph shows Canada holding its position as the third most crucial diamond producer based on carats. Values for 2018 are estimated. Graph by Geology.com. Data from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries. (source:Geology.com) The issues with this sector are that funding is challenging. I would think that the Canadians understand this sector better with so many producing mines. However, I do hear that the explorers are finding it hard to source funds as well. I know that Gibb River is currently looking for funds, but I am not sure about the progress. I would think that it is not going to be easy with the state of the diamond market. Lucapa is one that is mining and admittedly, I have not followed it other than reading the news — looking at their share price, which is at an all-time low of AUD$0.13. What this means is anyone’s guess. For a miner, it is always hard to make a decision based on their share price. I am suspecting that this is a reflection of the market price of the stones at this moment. The 5-year share price chart for Lucapa Diamond Company Limited (ASX: LOM). (Source: Commsec) There is one Canadian company that is doing lots of work in Australia, but Australian doesn’t get a look at is Lithoquest Diamond Inc (TSX-V: LDI). They have an excellent project up in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. To date, they have found a Kimberlite field and drilled one or two of them. One microdiamond has been found although it is separate to the known Kimberlite field. For a diamond tragic like me, this is exciting as this area has not been worked on previously and is considered the ideal place to locate these pipes. This story reminds me of the Merlin Diamond Project that I worked on with Ashton Mining in the 1990s. The Merlin project is one of the best diamond projects not to have been developed. Merlin is a low hanging fruit in regards to the stage of a diamond project. What I like about Lithoquest is that they have discovered something different. If the indicator minerals are pointing to the source rock taping that elusive diamond stability field, then we are indeed looking at total different potential. The Lithoquest story. (source: Lithoquest Diamond Inc.) Remember, the potential of the diamond-bearing source rock is all about the ability to tap that region where diamonds are stable and are “formed”. The excitement is in the discovery of gem-quality diamonds from documented stream samples throughout the area, including a 1.73-carat diamond and three micro-diamonds found in a 10kg sample in 2018. The diagram above is highlighting the potential of what may be at play. Defining a pipe could be like trying to find the core of a porphyry system, finding the Low pyritic shell, the pyrite shell, the distal…etc. The defining of the pipe architecture is expensive but essential to uncover the motherlode of the pipe. Lithoquest and Gibb River project areas. (source: Mitchell, R.H. Kimberlites and lamproites: Primary Sources of Diamond.) The other part of Lithoquest that I like is that I hear (not confirmed) that the Seppelt Diamond project is now within their project area. I don’t think this was part of the equation when I made my Coffee with Samso with Bruce Counts. I must remember to bring this up the next time I speak to him. Seppelt was last worked by Striker Resources (morphed into Myanmar Metals Limited, I think) in the early 2000s. Here is an excerpt from an article from The Age in October 2002, A 183-tonne bulk sample of Striker’s Seppelt 2 kimberlite pipe in the northern Kimberley yielded 412 carats of commercial-size diamonds. Striker said the indicated average grade of 2.25 carats per tonne was on face value, a world-class grade. Normally, grades at operating diamond mines are measured in carats per hundred tonnes. The exception is the Rio Tinto-owned Argyle mine, which grades 5-10 carats a tonne, albeit at a low average per carat value. Striker chairman and industry stalwart Ewen Tyler said the results were the best since the discovery of Argyle 25 years ago. “The most important aspect at this stage is the number of large diamonds in the sample, which is a very positive pointer for the value of what we are seeing at Seppelt,” he said. “Out of 412 carats from this 183-tonne sample, we have four diamonds greater than two carats, 21 greater than one carat and many greater than half a carat. The largest diamond to date weighed in just under three carats,” Mr Tyler said. There is no doubt that Seppelt is diamond-bearing so if Lithoquest does have this, I think we are looking at something special. The third diamond activity in Australia belongs to a private company called GeoCrystal Limited. The Webb Project which I wrote about The Webb Project: GeoCrystal Limited – The Next Diamond Story has a very interesting story. This will be the focus of the first Coffee with Samso for 2020. This should be published in the coming week. Canadian listed companies that are exploring for diamonds. (source: Bruce Counts CEO of Lithoquest Diamond Inc. (TSX-V: LDI)) Arctic Star Exploration (TSX-V: ADD) Head Office – Vancouver Shares Outstanding – 25.9m Recent Price – C$ 0.065 CEO – Patrick Power Website – https://www.arcticstar.ca/ Arctic Star has been exploring for diamonds for more than a decade. Currently, its flagship project is the Timantti Project in Finland where it has discovered several diamond-bearing kimberlite dykes and pipes(?). The company also has projects in the Lac de Gras region of the Northwest Territories near the Ekati and Diavik diamond mines are located as well as remote parts of the Nunavut Territory. Key technical people include Buddy Doyle (Diavik Diamond Mine discovery) and Roy Spencer (Gribb Diamond Mine discovery) North Arrow Minerals (TSX-V: NAR) Head Office – Vancouver, British Columbia Shares Outstanding – 110.7m Recent Price – C$ 0.045 CEO – Ken Armstrong Website – http://www.northarrowminerals.com/ North Arrow has been actively exploring for diamonds for several years and is arguably the most successful Canadian explorer over the last decade. The company has discovered two new diamond-bearing kimberlite fields, Pikoo in Saskatchewan and Mel in the Nunavut Territory. North Arrow’s current flagship project is Naujaat located in the Nunavut Territory. This project hosts several large diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes (originally discovered by BHP). The pipes have a low-value population of white diamonds; however, there is a population of orange-yellow diamonds that may change the economics. A large bulk sample is required to confirm the grade, value and size-frequency distribution of the coloured stones. Key technical people include Ken Armstrong (Diavik discovery) and Eira Thomas (Diavik discovery and current CEO of Lucara) Olivut Resources (TSX-V: OLV) Head Office – Edson, Alberta Shares Outstanding – 57.8m Recent Price – C$ 0.05 CEO – Leni Keough Website – https://olivut.ca/ Olivut has been an on-and-off diamond explorer for several years. The company’s flagship project is the HOAM project in the western Northwest Territories. HOAM hosts a number of weakly diamondiferous kimberlites. The company recently optioned and drilled a diamond project near Great Bear Lake in the NWT. Results of that drill program are pending. Key technical people include Leni Keough (Diavik discovery), Dr Malcolm McCallum (Sloan discovery) and Martin St. Pierre (Ekati discovery) Pangolin Diamonds (TSX-V: PAN) Head Office – Toronto, Ontario Shares Outstanding – 160.3m Recent Price – C$ 0.05 CEO – Dr Leon Daniels Website – https://pangolindiamonds.com/ Pangolin has seven early-stage projects, all of which are located in Botswana. The company’s flagship project is Malatswae where there is evidence of a kimberlite field in the form of KIM and diamonds recovered from loam samples. Key technical people include Dr Leon Daniels (several discoveries in southern Africa) Tsodilo Resources (TSX-V: TSD) Head Office: Shares Outstanding – 45.3m Recent Price – C$ 0.085 CEO – James Bruchs Website – http://www.tsodiloresources.com/s/Home.asp Tsodilo’s key project is the BK-16 kimberlite in Botswana’s Orapa field. The kimberlite is relatively low grade but may have a population of large type IIA diamonds similar to Lucara’s Karowe mine in the same field. Star Diamond Corporation (TSX: DIAM) Head Office – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Shares Outstanding – 428.2m Recent Price – C$ 0.36 CEO – Ken MacNeill Website – http://www.stardiamondcorp.com/ Star Diamond has an advanced diamond project in north-central Saskatchewan. The Fort a la Corne kimberlite field hosts some of the largest kimberlites globally. The project has been active for more than two decades and is currently under option to Rio Tinto. Key technical people include George Read (formerly with DeBeers) Included in the list of explorers was a list of companies that were producing diamonds. Canadian listed companies that are producing diamonds. (source: Bruce Counts CEO of Lithoquest Diamond Inc. (TSX-V: LDI)) Lucara Diamond Corp (TSX: LUC) Head Office – Vancouver, British Columbia Shares Outstanding – 396.9m Recent Price – C$ 0.88 CEO – Eira Thomas Website – https://www.lucaradiamond.com/ Lucara has one asset: a 100% interest in the Karowe diamond mine located in the Orapa kimberlite field in Botswana. The deposit was purchased from De Beers and ownership was consolidated by Lucara. The south lobe of the Karowe kimberlite complex has a population of large, top-quality Type IIA diamonds that have made the company very profitable in past years and has produced some of the worlds largest diamonds. The company has recently completed a feasibility study to determine the economics of transitioning from an open pit to an underground mine. Lucara is believed to be scouting for possible acquisitions and/or mergers. Lucara has also acquired a block-chain based marketing platform, Clara, that aims to align buyers of rough diamonds with specific stones. The platform is still in the ramp-up stage but aims to sell diamonds other than those produced at Karowe. It remains to be seen if this will be a profitable acquisition; however, it speaks to managements desire to broaden the revenue stream while staying within the diamond industry. Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (TSX: MPVD) Head Office – Toronto, Ontario Shares Outstanding – 210.1m Recent Price – C$ 1.14 CEO – Stuart Brown Website – http://www.mountainprovince.com/ Mountain Province has a minority interest (49%) in the Gahcho Kue diamond mine located in the Northwest Territories of Canada (De Beers owns the majority interest). The mine is known to produce lower-quality stones and stones that fluoresce. This has put a great deal of pressure on the profitability of the mine given that average price per carat of their production has declined by nearly 50% since the feasibility study was completed. Adding to that pressure for Mountain Province is the servicing of the debt incurred to fund their portion of the mine’s CAPEX. Mountain Province has a 100% interest in the Kennady Lake kimberlites which is an advanced project and located very close to the Gahcho Kue diamond mine. While the Kennady kimberlites are small, they are high grade. It is speculated that the Kennady kimberlite will be acquired by the Gahcho Kue Joint Venture in the future when the current mine nears the end of its life. Diamcor Mining Inc. (TSX: MPVD) Head Office – Kelowna, British Columbia Shares Outstanding – 65.3m Recent Price – C$ 0.095 CEO – Dean Taylor Website – http://www.diamcormining.com/ Diamcor has a single asset: a 100% interest in the Krone-Endora at Venetia Project. The project is focused on recovering diamonds from colluvium and alluvium down slope/stream from DeBeer’s Venetia diamond mine. Technically, the project is still at the bulk-sample stage since Diamcor has not produced a regulatorily compliant resource; however, effectively, the company is at the mining stage. Australian listed companies that are exploring for diamonds. Lucapa Diamond Company Limited (ASX: LOM) Head Office – Perth Shares Outstanding – 467.20m Recent Price – AUD$ 0.135 CEO – Stephen Wetherall Website – https://www.lucapa.com.au/ Commercial diamond production commenced at Lulo in 2015 through alluvial mining company Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo. The average US$ sales prices achieved for Lulo diamonds are among the highest of any alluvial mine in the world. Kimberlite exploration is conducted by the Lulo partners through the separate Projecto Lulo joint venture. This exploration is designed to locate the hard-rock sources of the exceptional Lulo alluvial diamonds. Lulo Diamond Operations. (source: Lucapa Diamonds) Lucapa is the operator of both the alluvial mining and kimberlite exploration activities at Lulo. Gibb River Diamonds Limited (ASX: GIB) Head Office – Perth, Western Australia Recent Price – AUD$ 0.045 Executive Chairman – Jim Richards Website – http://www.gibbriverdiamonds.com.au/ Gibb River Diamonds is a renamed company from decades ago. I have lost track of how many. The last name was Poz Minerals, and I am not sure if it had Blina Diamonds. The main project is the recent acquisition of the Ellendale Diamond mine. Famous for its yellow diamonds, it was a great money generator for its previous owners until the major buyer decided to stop taking the stones. Since then, it has just gone downhill with the company going into administration and the tenements being tendered out. The Ellendale Diamond Mine. (source: Gibb River Diamond Limited) The Blina Diamond project is of particular interest to me as it offers something different. If they can make this work, it will be something new and not dependent on the old Ellendale story. The Blina Project will combine well with the Ellendale Diamond Mine. (source: Gibb River Diamond Limited) Conclusion Diamond geology/mining/exploration is my favourite topic, so this article has gone that extra length. As they say, you learn something every day, and I have learnt that the Canadians are way ahead in the diamond game compared to Australia. When the rush was happening in the 1990s, Australia was the go-to place. The discovery of Argyle and Ellendale prior was the catalyst for the rush in the 1970s to the 1990s. In the early 1990s, Stockdale (De Beers) had almost exited the scene while Ashton and Great Central Mines Limited were the leading players. There were other smaller players, but they never succeeded, such as Striker Resources and Moonstone Diamond Corp. Most of the famous diamond mines have been operating for decades, and these mines are producing millions of carats per year. As I described earlier, Ekati and Diviak produced multiple of millions of carats per annum. Argyle Diamond Mine had a low gem-quality count, but it was the largest diamond producer in the world at one time. Argyle is famous for its pink diamonds. Argyle is also renowned for its marketing of simple brown diamonds as cognac and champagne diamonds. It is evident that diamonds are found worldwide. The point of this article was really to highlight the complexity of diamond exploration and the risk/reward ratio, which is making fundraising difficult. What I did discover from this article was that there are a lot of explorers in Canada and numerous mid-tier producers. The Australian contingent is lagging. However, some surprises could turn the tide. In Australia, I think Lithoquest and Gibb River could turn the momentum of diamond exploration if they make their projects work. For Lithoquest, confirming diamond-bearing kimberlites in their project area would create a new diamond region previously unknown. If Seppelt is indeed within the project are of Lithoquest could springboard the company into a possible near-term diamond producer. For Gibb River, convincing the capital market that a rejuvenated Ellendale mine for yellow diamonds will make money will make them the most definite candidate to be the next diamond miner in Australia and indeed the world. Proving that the company can make money mining the yellow diamonds will put Gibb in an extraordinary place in the diamond mining club. 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value. It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

Marron is the largest Australian freshwater crayfish which lives on the sandy bottoms of rivers and streams. The marron is native to Western Australia and is the third largest freshwater crayfish in the world. Marrons can grow up to 1.5kg (one mentioned up to 2kg) in weight as opposed to Yabbies which are commonly about 150g in weight. The photos below show marrons in the wild and on the plate. In Western Australia, recreational fishing for marron is popular but restricted to 4 weeks of the year. This restriction is to help maintain the stock for the future. In the 1960s and the 1970s, the recreational catch was around 150,000 tonnes: today it is 15,000 tonnes. Types of Marron There are two main types are found in WA: hairy marron (Cherax tenuimanus) and smooth marron (Cherax cainii). Smooth marrons are found in most south-west rivers and dams. They are commonly seen and caught in the wild and are the farmed aquaculture species. Hairy marrons are listed as critically endangered and only found in the upper reaches of Margaret River. (The head and sometimes tail (of larger marron) are covered in short hairs.) Marron is endemic between the Western Australian towns of Harvey and Albany. Historically, marron was stocked into farm dams and waterways from Hutt River north of Geraldton inland to the WA Goldfields and east to Esperance on the south coast. They are stocked into commercial aquaculture farms in South Australia. Marron survive well with water that is low in salinity, high in oxygen or low temperatures. They prefer to live in parts of rivers and dams where there is permanent water and plenty of suitable habitat and food, containing fallen trees and submerged leaves. Marron spawn in spring and grow in summer. They grow by moulting and it is at this stage that they become most vulnerable to predators as it is this time of hardening their inner shell where predators can get to them at ease. Juvenile marron is rare as they hide under rocks and in the forest litter on the river or dam bed. The biggest danger to a sustaining marron lifecycle is the introduced species of redfin perch and trout. Marrons eat living, dead and decaying plant and animal material found on the river and dam bed, including small invertebrates, fish eggs, fish larvae and algae. Marron Industry The Marron industry is very “cottage” industry because the growers have not been able to invest in increasing production. In my years of speaking to people in the aquaculture industry, this has been a sore point for many years. Currently, there are 60T of marron produced in Western Australia and about 10-25T from the rest of Australia. In my opinion, international markets will not be reachable for local growers until they find new investments to help them to increase production. Recently, in a meeting with an associate who was in the industry, he describes the need for funds as a necessary step to any expansion as the traditional owners are small family operators who can’t invest large sums of money into the business. Usually, marron takes 2-3 years to grow, and this can be a hindrance to increasing commercialisation. Live trade for marrons is sustainable because they can survive a long time during transit. The opportunity for innovative long-term investors is to invest some time to look at the Marron Industry in Western Australia. The south-west, here all the marron industry has an A-class infrastructure and has the best climate. It is still very unappreciated, so the land cost will not be prohibitive. In 2016, there were reports that the marrons stocks were declining due to change in climate. Falling water levels lead to extensive marron deaths. You would think that in n industry that at a guess is worth protecting, there would be sufficient means not to allow this to happen. These are the factors which would be perfect for potential investors to fix and partner with existing growers to make the industry more robust and profitable. An example of foreign investment interest is the purchase of the 289 hectares Andermel Marron Farm on Kangaroo Island for more than AUD$1.6 million in 2016. The purchaser was the investment arm of the Chinese government-backed miner, Shandong Geo-mineral. Whether the interest is on the marron or the 8-hectare boutique vineyard and cellar door selling wines under the Two Wheeler Creek label and the Marron Cafe is up for debate :-). Source: www.abc.net.au, www.fish.wa.gov.au, www.marrongrowers.org, www.arkive.org, www.wikipedia.org 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value. It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

“Our need will be the real creator.” - Plato No truer words can describe the urgency felt around the globe in achieving the goal of a Net Zero society by 2030. Our climate calamities were once beleaguered, but no more. The powers wielded by the global trends of social media, evolving consumer behaviour and the arrival of COVID19 have driven the cause to the upper echelons of political power. Combined, they've created the rapid shift of acceptance coupled with the advancements of science and technology. No single industry is at fault, but our modes of transport are a critical contributor. At the top of the agenda is creating a sustainable alternative for gas that works as a bridge to net zero. Many believe that the power created via the lithium-ion battery (LIB) will belong to the suite of green energetics that our future is contingent upon. Cellforce Group, based in Tubingen, Germany, will produce the high-performing battery for Porsche and BASF. Below, I illustrate why LIBs are on the table as a future transport power solution. The case for the lithium-ion battery run electric vehicle Pros They are light, fast, efficient, and long-lasting. Battery EV (BEV) cars cost less to run and fewer maintenance costs. High performing. Conveniently charge your car at home. EV preferential parking bays available. Technology used in creating BEVs continues to be explored and developed. Battery software can make up the shortfall of chemistry tech. Progress in battery technology will allow for quicker recharge times. LIBs will last five times longer than the traditional car battery. The BEV creates less of a carbon footprint than a regular vehicle. Immediately, it’s clear to see the positive attributes BEVs possess. While the cons are few, they present serious challenges to lithium-ion batteries being a viable energy replacement. Cons The cost of an EV is mostly comprised of how much the battery costs. A new battery is expensive. Higher purchase price. Finding charge stations. Lithium ion batteries end life is still a work in progress. Charging your car takes longer than filling it up with gas. There is also a limited number of charging stations. These cons are unsatisfactory by today's standards that are set by ESG and ISO compliance for the sourcing of lithium compounds, their production and their end-life journey. Despite these cons, it didn't deter the debut of Elon Musk's Tesla BEV named after the Serbian American electrical engineer and physicist, Nikola Tesla. Renewables Most Wanted The BEV was once a niche choice in personal mobility. Musk's Tesla became an industry disruptor and was a highly sought after car for generation Z and top Youtubers being viewed as a sign of success back in 2018. Currently in the EU, the Tesla model 3 is the top seller. In 2022, Gen Z continues to prefer renewable technology over coal powered products. EU-based car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot and other household name car manufacturers have supplied the BEV with mainstream appeal and has since continued to increase in popularity. The European Union’s (EU) ‘Fit for 55’ program has the aim of aligning land, climate, energy, transport and tax policies to reach their goal of 55% reduced emissions by 2030. The EU has the lion’s share of the 6.8 million battery fueled electric vehicles on the road globally, so there is a vested interest in maintaining and creating further technological advancements to support them. Confidently Committed The EU is dedicated to the transition of hydrocarbon fuel to green energetics. The commitments below confirm that businesses and governments are confident and have faith in a green energy future. Car manufacturers are phasing out the Internal Combustion Engine production (ICE). EU banks and governments are no longer supporting the creation of coal projects. EU countries have stated their end dates for the sale of ICE cars which will affect 50 percent of original equipment manufacturing car sales globally by 2030. China is another key country that has stated publicly their intentions to discontinue coal and the production of internal combustion engine cars, by 2030. 18 of 20 of the largest car manufacturers in our world have committed to increasing their EV options and the parts needed to produce them are going to explode in demand. BEVs vs ESG - The Challenges Ahead Currently, EVs are available in four models, but the battery-operated EV is the true net zero hero. How we get lithium from the earth to the car in an ESG compliant way though, is another matter. Overcoming these barriers successfully will be a first for history and the value garnered will be priceless. Mining companies need to start integrating sustainability practices in their business plans as a strategic priority. The good news is that a new generation of ASX listed mining companies are creating the modernised changes needed for a cleaner mining mindset. So, when the news breaks that a mining firm's practical plans in overcoming lithium’s ESG barriers is released, everyone’s interest is piqued. That company is European Metals Holding (ASX:EMH). Net Positive Business - ESG Style European Metals Holding (EMH) is an ASX listed Aussie and UK developer and explorer. By using their Czech Republic located lithium-tin mine-site, Cinovec, they are defining their position as the EU’s premier green supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. From the outset, EMH is making sustainability a strategic priority for their business. Cinovec is a lithium resource that lies underground rather than as a reserve and is the largest hard rock project in the EU. This is highly appealing - part of the ESG concerns that lithium mining causes is due to the disruption to the land to access the mineral. By being underground, less invasive methods have been formed which lessen the environmental impact, selectivity is refined and the weather is kept at bay. EMH’s partnership with CEZ, the Czech Republic government-owned energy conglomerate will provide the sustainable energy resources needed to power the Cinovec site. Cinovec's successful Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been publicly released by EMH and it was conducted by Minviro, a UK-based globally acknowledged sustainable eco consultancy. It’s a huge credibility boost for the continued viability of EV’s run on lithium-ion batteries. Due to the promising reports coming out from the Cinovec Project it has now been slated to have the potential to be a blueprint for all other lithium-ion producers worldwide. Now that is an exciting prediction! The Cinovec Project EMH and CEZ plan to substitute the conventional methods used for raw lithium production with these green alternatives: Czech grid base. Solar powered lithium plant. Full electric mining fleet of electric vehicles and of the mine itself using electric mining equipment. Green Hydrogen - replacing regular gas with thermal energy for ore roasting. The Minviro report compared the Cinovec Project against the standards for current practice flow sheets used in the traditional mining of Chilean brine, Australian spodumene and US sedimentary clay. Current Flow Sheet Standards: Global Warming Potential (GWP) Acidification Potential Water Use Land Use The standards measured are ISO compliant and the Minviro LCA was third party assessed by expert consultants in life cycle assessment reports. EMH, Executive Chairman, Keith Coughlan commented: “We are extremely pleased that the Minviro LCA has confirmed what we have believed to be the case for a long time – Cinovec has the potential to have the lowest overall environmental impacts compared to other conventional lithium battery metals projects not only in Europe but also on a global basis. With the use of solar power and other optimisations the Cinovec Project will set a standard by which all other conventional lithium producers could be judged. We expect the environmental credentials of the Cinovec Project will help make its product valuable to end users, particularly in light of the new EU requirements in relation to greenhouse emissions. Not only does the optimised model demonstrate very low CO2 emissions, the Project also delivers excellent results with regards to acidification and water consumption. Cinovec is a historic underground mine that possesses minimal social and environmental impacts. The entire ESG credentials of the Project are very strong. In addition, we expect to shortly provide a market update covering the additional benefits of a mine backfill study and a revised PFS which updates the project economics and value of the Project.” - Source: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/EMH/cinovec-to-produce-low-carbon-lithium/15221617 EMH’s green playbook for lithium sourcing will be the blueprint that will be referred to again and again as technology develops. I look forward to their next project update to see this new world of cleaner mining evolving in real time. Are you intrigued yet? And this is just the beginning... Investing in Rechargeable Dude, where’s my charger? Not surprisingly, our lives are increasingly functioning on rechargeable tech and the demand for lithium-ion batteries continues growing. It’s found in everyday devices as a component of scooters, phones, laptops and used in the creation of other products including glass and ceramics. Green energetics is predicted to be a trillion dollar industry as reported by McKinsey. Like gold and silver, lithium is a precious metal, but it cannot be traded as a standalone product. You need to invest in the businesses that mines it. Traders have raised concerns with the potential volatility of lithium due to the increasing demands on it, but others say it’s an excellent opportunity to grab onto, as you will see as you keep reading. Electromobility - the Options Keep Coming a) On Land Iconic motorcycle company, Harley Davidson, recently announced their business decision to incorporate a new generation of bikes for Harley fans called the LiveWire utilising the rechargeable lithium-ion battery. They are merging their electric department with SPAC AEA-Bridges Impact Corp in a deal valued $1.77b and would be the first publicly traded EV motorcycle company in the US. The pivot was due to Harley Davidson staying abreast of their market changes. Traditional motorbike sales were lower, their target audience was ageing out and they saw the writing on the wall for their business. To continue to be a relevant competitor they needed to include and appeal to a new target audience who appreciate the renewable forms of transport. b) On Water The shipping industry is also beginning the transition to green energetics with a deadline of 2050. It’s the counterpart to the on-road supply chains but it’s just as prolific in its carbon emissions. If you had any doubts about the imminent death of fossil fuels, then this news should change your mind. Conclusion Life on charge. While we aren’t even halfway there yet, the reported changes afoot mentioned in this article and many others attest to the fact that our looming environment catastrophe is finally being taken seriously globally. But first we need to solve today's issues. Future Needs for ESG Compliant Lithium Mining Globally: Mitigate the ESG concerns of lithium mining. Net zero and ESG compliant end life batteries recycling. Create widely available electric vehicle charging stations. Overall costs need to be reduced and financial and regulatory support is needed. Integration of vehicle to grid. What the end result will look like is as yet unknown, but I imagine it as an ever-evolving network of green energetic options as they become available - green hydrogen, lithium-ion batteries, solar power, wind power, tidal energy and more. This network will allow us to evolve our technology options, reduce carbon emissions and reshape how we do business and live our lives. All the while keeping the very thing that borne us into existence, alive. 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.

Canyon Resources Limited (ASX: CAY) and Metro Mining Limited (ASX: MMI). The Best Small-Cap Bauxite Companies on the ASX – Canyon Resources Limited (CAY) and Metro Mining Limited (ASX: MMI) is a continuation from my first bauxite article titled “Bauxite – The next commodity rush?“. I hope the first article will shed some light into the following piece of writing. Bauxite companies that swim in the small-cap sector are hard to find. Bauxite is a commodity that seems to be reserved for bigger players around the world, what we call Tier 1 players. Take the two bauxite province in Australia. The Darling Range is Alcoa and Worsley and the other in Weipa is all about Rio Tinto. Personally, bauxite is one of the most straightforward commodity to evaluate. It’s just a bulk commodity and controlled by size and chemistry. As usual, many will argue that it is not that simple. If I want to be honest, I agree, but for this purpose of a desktop evaluation, I will say that it is simple. Metro Mining Limited (ASX: MMI) According to the Metro Mining Limited website, the company was established in 2014 and is a company focused on the Bauxite Hills deposit. The project is located 95km north of Weipa on Western Cape York with a total tenement holding of 1.900 square kilometres. The Bauxite Hills Mine has a total Resource of 144.8 million tonnes. Mining began in April 2018 and produced approximately 2 million tonnes to China and was announced on 31 December 2018. Metro Mining Limited Project Location. (Source:Metro Mining Limited) Mining ceased in December 2018 due to the wet season and will be commenced again in April 2019. An update for the new activities issued on the 28 February 2019. Capital Structure Market Capitalisation: 187M (03/2019) Outstanding Shares: 1,362M (06/2018) Top 20 Shareholding: 76.50% (2018) Metro Mining Limited (ASX: MMI) 5 Year Chart. (Source:Commsec) Flagship Project Metro Mining’s flagship project, The Bauxite Hills Mine, is located 95kms north of Weipa on Western Cape York where the company holds a total tenement package covering approximately 1,900 square kilometres. The Bauxite Hills Mine, alone, has an estimated ore Reserve of 92.2Mt and total Resources of 144.8Mt Bauxite Hills Deposits. (Source: Metro Mining Limited) The deposit type is lateritic bauxite derived from the weathering of aluminous sediments in a tropical to sub-tropical environment. The mineralisation within the Bauxite Hills Mine forms part of the Weipa Plateau, a widespread area of aluminous laterite on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula that includes Rio Tinto Alcan’s Weipa, Andoom and Amrun bauxite deposits as well as Metro Mining’s Bauxite Hills Mine. The bauxite deposits in the Project area generally consist of a single flat-lying pisolitic bauxite layer, generally 0.5m – 3m thick that is underlain by a kaolin horizon. Within the area of the resources the average bauxite thickness is 1.6m. The bauxite deposits are overlain by lateritic overburden and topsoil. Under the bauxite deposits there is often a ferruginous cemented layer and a kaolin clay layer. Kaolin, sandy clays and minor quartz sand deposits occur beneath the bauxite layer and extend beyond the bauxite areas. The geological model is grade-based using a cut-off of ≤15% total SiO2 and ≥45% Al2O3 for the BH1 resource area, a cut-off of ≤8% reactive SiO2 (at 1500C) and ≥45% Al2O3 for the BH2 area and a cut-off of ≤20% total SiO2 and ≥45% Al2O3 for the combined BH6 and Gulf (Skardon) resource area. (Source: Metro Mining Limited) Mining operations commenced in April 2018. In its first year of operations, Metro achieved its 2018 production guidance shipping 2 million tonnes to five different Chinese companies. Metro Mining Bauxite Hills Mine site (Source: Metro Mining) The company has announced an expanded 2019 calendar year production from 3.0Mtpa to 3.5Mpa. Metro has also commenced a DFS for potential Stage 2 Expansion of Annual Production to 6.0Mtpa by 2021. Metro is also further exploring its tenement holdings on Cape York, initially focusing on near mine opportunities for Bauxite Hills. The Bauxite Hills Mine employs up to 220 people with an indigenous workforce of approximately 37%. Around 90 people on site at any one time. Simple Mining Operation: • Mining operations are undertaken only in the dry season, which is notionally 8 months from April to November. • Free-dig bauxite is mined by front-end loaders, trucked to a port infrastructure area, screened to a max product size of 100mm and fed onto the Barge Loading Facility and into barges. • Barges are towed down the Skardon River to an anchorage point at sea where the bauxite is transhipped to freight vessels. Canyon Resources (ASX: CAY) Canyon Resources is developing the Minim Martap Project which is located in the Adamawa region of Cameroon which is alongside the company’s other project, Birsok Bauxite Project. The Minim Martap Project includes two projects, the Ngouadal and Minim Martap deposits, which are within 25km of each other. The total area of the permits is 1,349 square kilometre. Capital Structure Market Capitalisation: 90M Outstanding Shares: 315.4M (06/2018) Top 20 Shareholding: 33.50% (2018) Minim Martap Project What I like about the project is the size. The ones in Australia that are owned by small players do not have the size. The grade is high but short of the 50% mark that is common in these tropical deposits. These deposits are refractory and usually require high temperature to treat them. Chemically, bauxite deposits are complex and different deposits will have their issues. The size present with Canyon is impressive, and I am sure they have an excellent chance to extend their resource. What I am not sure about is the typical sovereign issues that seem to muddy all projects from Africa. Canyon Resources project location, rail and port facilities. (Source: Canyon Resources) However, in defence of the potential sovereign risk issues, I have a few associates tell me that those issues are not as bad as reported. In some degree, I have to agree as there are indeed many projects that are doing well in places such as Africa and Asia where you would think that these sovereign issues will be a deal breaker. Conclusion There is a lack of small-cap bauxite players and the reason, I believe, is the bulk nature of deposits and the lack of a market price. The lack of a spot market price can be hazardous for small players, especially when they don’t have a large deposit. The other issue is that the value-adding occurs when you turn it into alumina and if you are not blessed with a significant resource and an excellent grade, you are going to have a problem. The fact that bauxite is a product of chemical weathering and you are in a tropical climate,(rare to be in an arid environment), you need a geological condition to retain and subsequently capture the end product. If you do not have a “geological collection point”, you are not going to get a large deposit. With limited competition, if these two companies get their cash flow happening, they are going to be very interesting. There is no argument that the Chinese market will improve and demand will surge. I think these two companies will take time to get their act together and like many small-cap companies, the liquidity of their cash position will determine how long they hang around. Canyon has decent looking chemistry with their resource. Their silica content is very low as the industry is buying up to 8% silica. I am not clear on the chemistry for Metro, but I would assume that Weipa will be reasonably consistent. What I do know about the Weipa bauxite is the requirement of high-temperature refining. I am guessing the refractory nature causes the same problem as what you get in refractory gold issues. The Weipa grade is good. However, I think they need to get the tonnages up. 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value. It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

Ausmex Mining Group or Ausmex (ASX: AMG) has had a lot of attention lately with announcements that they are possibly sitting on top of an IOCG (Iron Ore Copper Gold) source. Recent drilling results have been very encouraging, and they are in elephant country in terms of talking about IOCGs. When I think of IOCG, I think of Olympic Dam, and if what Ausmex have is anything like that, this is going to be a fantastic story for shareholders. I am a shareholder of the company and have been for almost two years. A long-suffering shareholder until the recent rise in share price. History I became a shareholder of Ausmex nearly two years ago when they listed on the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) in May 2017. It was a rebadging of a company called Eumeralla Resources Limited at a price of AUD$0.08. It has been a long ride, and the share price has gone as far down as AUD$0.032. The original concept was to explore and add value to the Mt Freda group of tenements. They have some stockpile of ore that they were going to commercialise, but I was intrigued by the package of projects and the historical drilling results. One of the things I have learned about the Cloncurry area is that it is a very mineralised corridor, but it is not very big in terms of strike length (length of the region). There have been some big mines and the potential of developing a project to get some of the cream will be good. Corporate Information Market Capitalisation: 63.8M (04/2019) Outstanding Shares: Approx. 470.7 (04/2019) -including 58.3M placed on 2 April 2019 (Not including 89.25M unlisted options) Top 20 Shareholding: Approx. 70.4% (2019) – Before placement What is an IOCG? (Source: Geoscience Australia) Iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) deposits are a diverse family of mineral deposits characterised by the following features: (1) Cu with or without Au, as economic metals, (2) hydrothermal ore styles and strong structural controls, (3) abundant magnetite and/or hematite, (4) Fe oxides with Fe/Ti greater than those in most igneous rocks, and (5) no clear spatial associations with igneous intrusions as, for example, displayed by porphyry and skarn ore deposits. Uranium-rich IOCG deposits in which U is an economic metal are an important yet uncommon subset of the IOCG family. Currently, the Olympic Dam deposit is the only IOCG deposit in which U is extracted as a significant economic commodity. This deposit is the world’s largest single resource of U (BHP Billiton, 2010 Annual Report, www.bhpb.com). In a global context, most of the other IOCG deposits containing higher grades of U are found in the Gawler Craton and Curnamona Province of southern Australia. Based on current knowledge of IOCG deposits globally, it would appear that the IOCG deposits with the highest grades of REE are also confined to southern Australia. Distinctive features (Source: Geoscience Australia) High to extreme paleogeothermal gradients is the critical driver. What that means to the average person is that it was damn hot at the time of mineralisation. To achieve this extreme gradient, it has to be of a crustal-scale hydrothermal system to accomplish the massive scale of alteration systems and the masses of hydrothermal precipitates (mineralisation) in individual IOCG deposits. When we geologists talk about crustal scale, what we mean is that it is a big system. It’s like comparing the Grand Canyon to the trench you would dig in your backyard for your garden reticulation pipes. There is the presence of two distinct fluids during deposit formation: (1) a highly oxidised fluid (e.g., meteoric/ground waters), and (2) deep-sourced high-temperature brines (magmatic-hydrothermal fluids and/or fluids reacted with metamorphic rocks). In many IOCG systems there is also evidence of volatile-rich fluids during ore formation (e.g., CO2-bearing; see review by Williams et al., 2005, and references therein). To collect so much “mineralisation”, you need to have a topographic depression such as calderas, grabens, maar complexes…etc). They are conducive to mixing of shallow-crustal and deep-sourced fluids. IOCG deposits are characteristically diverse in their minor element compositions and contain elevated concentrations of many critical commodities. Recently published data for the Olympic Dam deposit have revealed the presence of an extensive range of minerals and corresponding geochemical variation. More than 90 minerals have been identified, and in addition to Cu, U, Au and light REEs the deposit is enriched to strongly enriched in As, Ba, Bi, C, Cd, Co, Cr, F, Fe, In, Mo, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Te, V, W, Y, and Zn (Ehrig et al., 2013). It is interesting to note that almost all of these elements are included in the current study of critical commodities. Australian IOCG Provinces There are two major IOCG provinces in Australia of global significance: the Olympic IOCG Province along the eastern margin of the Gawler Craton in South Australia, and the Cloncurry district in the eastern Mount Isa Inlier of northwest Queensland. In addition, there are several other metallogenic provinces that contain or may contain medium-sized or small IOCG deposits, including the Tennant Creek district (Northern Territory), Curnamona Province (South Australia and New South Wales), and the Aileron province, Northern Territory (Schofield, 2012). Mt Freda Story (Source: Ausmex Mining Group) The project area is approximately 38km from the township of Cloncurry. The famous Ernest Henry Mine which is an iron oxide copper-gold deposit lies in the same area (35km NE of Cloncurry). As of 2017, the mine had the following resources, Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources for the Ernest Henry Mine (source: Evolution Mining) 95.30Mt @ 0.63g/t Au for 1.92Moz 28.59Mt @ 1.17% copper for 334kt Ore Reserves for the Ernest Henry Mine 51.40Mt @ 0.55 g/t gold for 902koz 15.42Mt @ 1.07% copper for 165k The main component of the whole story is that you have this massive IOCG target that is being worked by Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) within a stone’s throw from the tenement boundary. I have been a fan of the whole Olympic Dam story, and hence I am excited to be associated with a story such as this in Ausmex. SAM could make all the Difference. Why do I keep bring up Olympic Dam? When you read about the extent they went about chasing the concept, you realise that it could have been a non-event. Looking at the image below, the SAM (Sub Audio Magnetic) conductor could be more than impressive. Remember my article about Carlow Castle, the only geophysical method that picked up the mineralisation was SAMS. In the world of exploration, no one way works 100% of the time, and it is this kind of logical optimism that drives discovery. If SAM is picking up something real, then this could be the game changer that will work in this instance. The great thing about an IOCG target is that it is big and as mother nature intended, completely random where it put or shares its mother lode. Looking at the location of that blue speck for the next phase of drilling, one has got to be quietly excited. As in Olympic Dam, it was not the area of the high that drove the discovery. It was the periphery of the high, and even the participants admitted that it was a stroke of random genius that decided on that area. The conductive structure that has been defined is an easy target, and if the drilling comes up with good results, this will be a sitting target to drill out. Imagine what Newcrest would think if a minnow like Ausmex makes such a discovery. Imagine what the Ausmex share price would do with discovery. Why Do I believe? I do get some of my “confidence” from the fact that you are not dealing with hundreds of meters of cover and being in the middle of the desert. The intercept at Little Duke when they got 59m @1.25g/t Au, and 0.43% of Cu is very significant in my books. The first two significant drill holes at Olympic Dam was, RD1 which came back with 38m @1.05% Cu and RD5 with 92m @ 1.01% copper. Although the copper values are more significant, one has to be encouraged with the length of 59m from a depth of 73m. In my book (and it’s not a very detailed book), I think if management can zero in on the source, I am going to be holding onto my shares. There is a diagram (see below) that was released in an announcement that gives a cross-section view of the whole concept. I am a big believer of a schematic diagram as it simplifies the technical into a cartoon view. This view was something that sold me on the story, and the funny part is that I think the story got better over time. As I have said, it has taken a long time, and I hope this comes good. You can interpret the diagram below in any level of technical confidence, but we all know that a missed drill hole could mean a lot, but a persistent team will most likely make up for that missed hole. Just like the story of Sirus Resources Limited using the last remaining budget to drill holes which led to the discovery of the Nova-Bollinger nickel sulphide mine. The flip side of a schematic diagram is that it is a cartoon and one has to become aware that it does not become a real cartoon. Schematic diagrams are made to simplify a complicated view 🙂 What does this all mean? The big prize is the potential of tapping an IOCG source, and the reward can be astronomical. The issue with chasing IOCG style mineralisation and chasing this big pie in the sky is that you will (not potentially) be spending a lot of money. Western Mining Corporation which is now part of BHP started searching for a copper deposit in 1953 and only found Olympic Dam in 1976. They spent in today’s terms around AUD$45m to discover that copper mine. Fortunately for WMC, they not only found a copper mine, but they also found the mother of all mines in copper and uranium and to a lesser amount, gold. I think they commercialise a few other commodities. It is good to see that Ausmex raised the AUD$7M as they will need that to keep the momentum going. There is no doubt that there is a lot of noise around and management will have to be very scientific on where to drill. I don’t think there are too many people out in the geoscientific world today that will doubt the way WMC went about exploring. When you read the book “The Olympic Dam Story” by David Upton, you will see the long and meticulous way the people went about looking for “Olympic Dam”. It took them years of postulating and finally ten holes to get the discovery. Only 3 of those holes were not barren. It was almost a 3-year journey, and it took another 13 years to get to production (mostly due to the anti-uranium program). RD1 was a start, and RD5 was a teaser and RD10 was the discovery. The time from RD1 and RD10 was over 12 months. Hence, the point is that it is going to take even more patience and even more efficiency on the part of Ausmex management to create even more value for shareholders (ME… 🙂 ) Conclusion To close on this article, the storyline that the management of Ausmex is telling people is the potential of a significant find. As a shareholder, I hope they are correct, and they spend the AUD$7M wisely and manage their salaries like how a chinaman would (if they want advice on how to do that, they know where to contact me) do if they were running the company. I don’t doubt the storyline, but as many “investors” will attest, there have been many great stories that have become lemons. In my experience, I always say that the proof of concept is the numerous smoke that is in the area and that Newcrest is spending money on the same idea. It is not a lone ranger concept, and that gives me some confidence. The conductive structure is the other piece of confidence. Technology such as SAM was not around in the 1970s, so the comparison I have made with the discovery of Olympic Dam may not be so pertinent. However, as a shareholder, I bloody hope it is the holy grail….. At the end of the day, Olympic Dam is a big deposit. It had 10B tonnes of ore. Something close to that would be punching above Ausmex weight and all shareholders will be happy. NOTE: I am a shareholder of Ausmex, and I do want to highlight that this Insight is not meant to give advice and not to influence anyone to buy or sell the shares of the company. This is my research and my thoughts on the activities of the company. I have not been paid by the company to write this Insight. 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value. It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

Content The Report That May Have Been The Nostradamus Moment for Tin Market Plenty of Tin Supply What does this mean for Investors? The Australian Tin Story Australian Tin Provinces Tasmania, the most important tin producer in Australia The Other Tin Provinces in Australia Porphyry Style Tin Deposits The Holy Grail of Renison Bell Tin Mine The Rentails Project - Retreatment of Renison Tailings (Mining Technology) The historical timeline for Renison Bell Tin Mine Conclusions Tin Players Back in 2012, I was in a meeting where people were saying how the tin price needed to break USD25,000 for tin mining to be positive. At that time, not only was the market not excited about the tin price, it was not even excited about the tin metal. When I talk to people today, this sentiment seems to be almost the same. Tin price is now at historical highs but there seem to be not that much excitement around. Tin is a metal that I have been following casually over the last 15 years. It became more of a notable metal since 2012 when I got involved in the Tungsten story, because there is a subtle relationship between the pricing of tin and tungsten. Figure 1: Tin price since 1960s. As you can see there is clearly a breakout since March 2020. The pandemic story is very consistent with all other metals. (source: Trading Economics) I have to be truthful in saying that I was completely taken by surprise at the rate in which tin has risen in price. As I write this Insight, the price of Tin is USD50,025. This is an incredible rate of passage for tin which has been largely ignored as a strategic metal. Most investors would think of tin as a soldering component. While it is not exactly a bright light of excitement, the rate of its rise has to be more than a few traders playing games. The Report That May Have Been The Nostradamus Moment for Tin Market. On 20th April 2021, Julian Kettle, Senior Vice President, Vice Chair Metals and Mining of Wood Mackenzie, wrote an article titled Tin – the forgotten foot soldier of the energy transition. I have referred to this article many times in many of my narrations on Coffee with Samso and social media posts. The essence of the article comes down to this paragraph: However, the issues of ESG risk and limited projected supply associated with tin mining, coupled with the challenge of tin recovery from the waste stream, mean that demand could significantly outstrip supply. To quote Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, tin threatens to become a case of “water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink”. Tin is an incredibly resourceful metal. It has been in existence since humans learnt how to use metals. Like iron and copper and nickel, it has been a mainstay of the existence of the human species. However, the perceived importance of Tin is way down the list. Julian Kettle makes the argument that up to 90% of tin supply is now at risk of not having the appropriate ESG (Environment Social and Governance) requirements. It is not a big secret that the main style of mining tin is not what you would class as an environmental champion. What this means is that while the demand for tin may not outpace the mining of the metal, the risk of the supply being limited due to non-compliant ESG may well do so. Hence, the supply could be so severely restricted such that the demand will outpace mining and hence put a lot of pressure on the price. Plenty of Tin Supply As you can see in the diagram below, there is no supply issue. There is plenty of tin awaiting mining. Figure 2: The world supply of tin and the jurisdiction where these resources are located. (Source: Wood Mackenzie) I came across an old article that gave a good description of the Southeast Asian Tin Belt Here is a part of the abstract to show the dominance of world tin supply that may soon be at risk of non-compliant ESG: The Southeast Asian Tin Belt is a north-south elongate zone 2800 km long and 400 km wide, extending from Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand to Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian Tin Islands. Altogether 9.6 million tonnes of tin, equivalent to 54% of the world’s tin production is derived from this region. The Main Range Granitoid Province in western Peninsular Malaysia, southern Peninsular Thailand and central Thailand is almost entirely made up of biotite granite (184-230 Ma). Tin deposits associated with these granites contributed 55% of the historic tin production of Southeast Asia. Simple veins arc the most abundant type of hydrothermal ore deposit, constituting 52% of all known primary tin-tungsten deposits. Complex infilling-dominated deposits of the sheeted-vein or stockwork type are less abundant (10% of primary deposits). Other types arc replacement-dominated deposits (24%). tin-tantalum mineralized pegmatites (12%) and breccia deposits (1%). Placer tin deposits derived from the primary tin mineralization in the pre-Miocene basement are the major source of tin. The oldest terrestrial sediments deposited on the extensively peneplaned basement have a Miocene-Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene age. These sediments, which arc up to 60 m thick, host the most important placers. They are overlain by younger alluvial strata or marine sediments, which are up to 25 m thick and usually do not contain minable tin mineralization. Fluvial allochthonous bottom placers are of major economic importance. Fluvial residual bottom placers, fluvial above-bottom placers and alluvial-fan placers are also significant. Eluvial, colluvial and littoral placers arc of minor importance. What does this mean for Investors? When we look at where investors can participate in the Tin Story, in my opinion, jurisdiction is at the top of the list. Since I have had previous history in trying to find good tin projects, I have to say, today, I would stick to Class 1 jurisdiction. Most of the "better" projects are in what investors today will perceive as hard places to work. Tin is notorious for being in places that are not the best in terms of jurisdiction. I have even heard that Spain and Portugal have issues lately. The rest of the hot spots are in Burma and Indonesia. In saying that, there are many projects that are in so called hard jurisdiction and they are doing extremely well. When I make the comment that these places are hard to work, I also accept and do want readers to understand, it is a case by case scenario. Elementos Limited (ASX: ELT) is a prime example. They are doing extremely well and they have their tin project in Spain. Some people tell me Spain is a hard place to work but ask ELT and you will get a different answer. As such, the Wood McKenzie article that I mentioned above, does make me think that the rising tin price is here to stay. I will not be surprised if the price goes higher over time. Of course, as usual, this will be counter balanced with alternatives that flow in to reduce costs. However, if there was an alternative to tin, we would have seen some of that by now. The again, I may have not seen it or am not yet aware of any. About 85% of all historically mined tin of about 27 million tonnes Sn is from a few tin ore provinces within larger granite belts. These are, in decreasing importance, Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar), South China, the Central Andes (Bolivia, Southern Peru) and Cornwall, UK. Hence, if a region has an issue, they are all going to have the same issue. The Australian Tin Story Tin (Sn) and Tungsten (W or WO3) have a coexisting relationship that is due to the way Granites fractionate (cools down and create compounds, well, sort of). The scientific explanation is a bit more complicated. Tin mineralisation is all about granites and the way they fractionate, meaning the way they release the metals out from the melt/magma. Hence, this is where it gets complex about how great a place is or not. There are a lot of studies on this but I think we can skip all that science. Currently, the Renison Bell mine is the only tin producer and it has been so for the last 50 years. The Renison Bell deposit is what I would call the Holy Grail of tin deposits. As you will discover, the Australian tin story is really about Tasmania. The region that surrounds Renison Bell is the Mecca of the tin story. I will even say that if you look at the geology of the area, the lack of real exploration has probably hidden other metal discoveries. The recent mineral exploration market has had an injection of funding that it has not seen in my 30+ years of being involved in this industry. Discoveries are now being made and this is what the Renison region will get once companies such as Venture Minerals Limited (ASX: VMS) deploy their money. I have now learned that Stellar Resources Limited (ASX: SRZ) is also in the region, but I have not really heard about their activities. This is one of the issues with the noisy market space too. If you do not stick your head out and shout about your projects, the market seems to simply ignore your presence. Elementos Limited has the Cleveland Tin deposit and that is also within a stones throw from Renison. Australian Tin Provinces [1] The major tin districts lie in Eastern Australia where they are in two major provinces in the Lachlan Fold Belt - The Wagga Belt and in Tasmania. There are some minor areas in Queensland which I won't cover in this Insight. The Sn provinces of eastern Australia form part of a discontinuous circum-Pacific belt of Phanerozoic Sn provinces and lie within a Phanerozoic fold and thrust belt system: Tasman fold belt system - the western margin of which is defined by the Tasman line. The major provinces (Figure 3:[A]) are located in northeastern and western Tasmania, in the Central. Lachlan Fold Belt (the Wagga Sn belt) - in New England and in northern Queensland (Cooktown, Herberton-Mount Garnet, and Mount Carbine provinces). Figure 3: [A] The major Sn provinces of the Tasman fold belt system, eastern Australia. 1 = northeast Tasmania, 2 = western Tasmania. 3 = Wagga Sn belt, 4 = New England, 5 = North Queensland. [B] The Wagga Sn belt of the central Lachlan fold belt. [1] Tasmania, the most important tin producer in Australia Tasmania has a variety of tin mineralisation which include sheeted veins, greisen, stockwork, carbonate replacement, proximal skarn, and fault lode deposits [2]. Tasmania hosts the Renison Bell Tin Mine which has an inferred resource of 18.55 million tonnes @1.57% Sn. All tin mineralization in Tasmania is spatially associated with Devonian-Carboniferous granites, which intruded Mesoproterozoic to Early Devonian predominantly sedimentary sequences during the Tabberabberan orogeny. A summary of tin deposits in Tasmania is listed in Table 1. The stand out deposits are Renison Bell and Mount Lindsay. In fact, if you look at the tonnage, it is about the same, but the grade for Renison is 5 times greater. Table 1: Summary of Major Primary Tin Deposits in Tasmania - Data compiled from Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) company reports, historical reports from Mineral Resources Tasmania, and Corbett et al. (2014) The Other Tin Provinces in Australia While I am researching for information on this topic, I am realising that there is little information on tin deposits outside of Tasmania. I know that there are some tin occurrences in New South Wales, but I did not realise that there was very little literature on the facts of these deposits in the public domain. The only major tin area in Eastern Australia that seems to come up in searches is the site of the Taronga Tin Project near Emmaville in New South Wales. This is an open-pit mine that is considered the fifth largest undeveloped tin project. It was owned by AusTinMining and was recently sold to a London based company for AUD$34M. According to the website of AusTinMining, the project contains the following: 57,000t contained tin 26,000t contained copper 4.4Moz silver Pre-Feasibility completed in 2014 permitted for initial 410,000t trial mine Porphyry Style Tin Deposits I never knew that there are tin deposits that are sourced from a porphyry. The Ardlethan Porphyry-Style tin deposits (Figure 4) were the most productive on the Australian mainland [1]. According to [4], the mineralisation occurs within a series of bifurcating breccia pipes that are hosted by the Mine granite. Between 1912 and 1986, these pipes produced about 30,000 tonnes of tin. The Ardlethan tin deposits are derived from the Ardlethan granite creating a series of Greisen style deposits amongst the breccia pipes. These deposits sit in the so called Wagga Tin Belt. Figure 4: The geologic setting of the Ardlethan granite in eastern Australia. The Tasmanides of eastern Australia are shown, including the Lachlan orogen, Thomson orogen, and New England orogen (NEO). Granites of the Wagga-Omeo belt of the Lachlan orogen are shown in dark gray. The location of the Ardlethan granite is marked by the black box, and the geologic units of this area are shown in B. B) Geologic units of the Ardlethan region including the Ardlethan granite (red), the Garnet porphyry (GQFP; green), the Mine granite (blue), Ordovician sediments (dark gray), and Devonian sediments (light gray). Mineralized zones, including greisen and breccia hosted deposits, are colored yellow. The locations of tourmaline samples collected for isotopic analysis are marked by an X with the sample number. The location of the schematic cross section through the breccia pipes (panel C) is marked by A-A’. C) Schematic cross section of the Ardlethan deposit. Breccia pipes occur within the Mine granite but are inferred to converge on the Ardlethan granite. Breccia pipes are labeled as follows: 1 = Mine breccia pipe, 2 = Carpathia-Blackreef breccia pipe, 3 = Stackpool-Godfrey breccia pipe, 4 = White Crystal breccia pipe. The Mine porphyry occurs within these breccia pipes and contemporaneous with the brecciation event. [4]. Map and cross section edited from [5]. From memory, apart from what I think is the Taronga Mine, there are not too many tin occurrences that will make headlines. Whether it´s a matter of not enough exploration or if it's because there just isn't enough geology happening for a Renison-style discovery, time will tell. Th upside of this is that if there are similar "Renison" or something close to it, the current market for mineral exploration is good. On current trends, this is still looking as being sustainable and again, time will be the true indicator. The Holy Grail of Renison Bell Tin Mine Renison is located on the west coast of Tasmania, approximately 15km north-east of Zeehan. The Renison Bell Tin Mine is a 50%/50% JV between Metals X Limited and Yunnan Tin Group and is called the Bluestone Mines Tasmania JV. It is the biggest and I think, the only tin operation in Australia. According to the Meals X website, the mine sold 2,175 tonnes of tin metal. A rough estimate if sold at an average price of AUD$30,000 per tonne would give receivables of near AUD64M. That is not bad. You may ask, what is the big deal with Renison? Well, it has been producing about 8,000 t of tin per annum which at today´s price would make this very profitable. What makes Renison special is that it is mining at over 1% Sn, which makes it one of the largest known primary tin deposits. Today, the Metals X website shows that it still has a Resource of 18.5M tonnes at a grade of 1.57%. In amongst that resource is another 26,600 tonnes of Copper. The Ore Reserve Estimate is below: Table 2: The Ore Reserve for Renison Bell. (Source: Metals X Website.) Rentails is the Renison tailings retreatment project. The Rentails Project - Retreatment of Renison Tailings (Mining Technology) Based on an updated feasibility study completed in 2017, Rentails is proposed to retreat the historical tailings for more than 11 years at an average rate of two million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). The concentrator dams are expected to produce approximately 2,200tpa of copper in a high-grade copper matte and 5,400tpa of tin in a high-grade tin fume product. The project is aimed at recovering tin from around 22.5Mt of tailing deposits at an average grade of 0.44% tin and 0.23% copper from the historic ore processing at the Renison mine. The historical timeline for Renison Bell Tin Mine 1890: Discovery by George Renison Bell (alluvial cassiterite) and commencement of production. 1958: Acquisition of Renison by the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Limited – commencement of modern era of Renison. 1980s-90s: Mine operated under Renison Goldfields Consolidated (RGC). 1998: Acquisition of Renison by Murchison United. 2004: Acquisition of Renison and Mt Bischoff by Bluestone Tin Limited, refurbishment program completed and commissioning of operations at Renison. 2005: Suspension of operations at Renison due to low tin prices. 2006: Merger of Bluestone Tin Limited and Metals Exploration Ltd to form Metals X Limited. 2008: Resumption of mining at Renison and at Mt Bischoff. 2009: Resumption of operation of processing plant. 2009: Feasibility Study completed for Renison Tailings Retreatment Project. 2009: Sale of 50% of Renison to Yunnan Tin Group of China and formation of Bluestone Mines Tasmania Joint Venture. 2010: Closure of Mt Bischoff mining operations. 2018: Construction and commissioning of new 3-stage crushing circuit and ore sorter. Conclusions Tin should be one of the hottest commodities on the watch screen of investors but it is still relatively unknown. The complexity of tin goes past trying to find a deposit that has the grade. The one topic of tin that I have not touched on is the processing. If the tin is too soft, it will grind too small and float away. So, when you are looking for tin, you have to find one that has the properties for you to mine and process for it. Yes, it is that hard. Hence, we look at Renison who has been mining tin for 50 years. If you look at the Ore Reserves listed in Table 2, you will appreciate why I call Renison the Holy Grail. There is no doubt that the likes of Venture Minerals and Stellar Resources that are playing in the Tasmanian space would be keen to find another Renison. Due to my association with Venture Minerals, I have more of an understanding of their projects. I know of several others in the area but I cannot comment much on the projects. Venture is closely aligned with the same geology that is feeding Renison so future exploration will make things very interesting for the company. Remember, they have had a BFS done on Mt Lindsay way back in 2012: Bankable Feasibility Study delivers more than $550 million in Net Revenue: Mt Lindsay Tin/Tungsten Project The prices adopted was: Tin - US$23,800/t (Currently US$41,826) Tungsten - US$392/mtu (The last I saw, it was around the US$350/mtu) Copper - US$8,000/t (Currently US$10,165) I would think that Venture Minerals will be taking advantage of the high prices and start putting a mine plan together. Chasing the Renison geology will be the smartest thing they could do for themselves. If they find the grade that Renison has, this will confirm the world class status of Mount Lindsay. In the public domain, I cannot see anyone that could come close to what Venture Minerals is offering. Tin Players Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX) - Renison Bell, Tasmania Thomson Resources (ASX: TMZ) - Bygoo,NSW Aus Tin Minng (ASX: ANW) - Taronga, NSW Elementos (ASX: ELT) - Oropesa, Spain and Tasmania European Metals Limited (ASX: EMH) - Cinovec, Czech Republic Venture Minerals Limited (ASX: VMS) - Mt Lindsay, Tasmania Stellar Resources Limited - Heemskirk, Tasmania 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. References: Walshe,J.L., Solomon, M, Whitford, D. J. Sun, S-S And Foden, J. D. 2011. The Role of the Mantle in the Genesis of Tin deposits and Tin provinces of Eastern Australia. Economic Geology, V106. pp 297-305 Denholm,J.L., Stepanov,A. S., Meffre,S., Bottrill, R. S. and Thompson, J.M. 2021. The Geochronology of Tasmanian Tin Deposits Using LA-ICP-MS U-Pb Cassiterite Dating. Economic Geology, V116, No. 6, pp 1387-1407. Corbett, K.D., Quilty, P.G., and Calver, C.R., 2014, Geological evolution of Tasmania: Geological Society of Australia, Special Publication 24, 623 p. Carr, P, Norman, M.D., Bennett, V.C. and Belvin, P.L. 2021 Tin Enrichment in Magmatic-Hydrothermal Environments Associated with Cassiterite Mineralization at Ardlethan, Eastern Australia: Insights from Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd Isotope Compositions in Tourmaline. Economic Geology, V116, No. 1, pp 147-167
  Ren, S.K., Walshe, J.L., Paterson, R.G., Both, R.A., and Andrew, A., 1995, Magmatic and hydrothermal history of the porphyry-style deposits of the Ardlethan tin field, New South Wales, Australia: Economic Geology , v. 90, p. 1620–1645. Lehmann, Bernd. 2020. Formation of tin ore deposits: A reassessment. Lithos 402-403, Article 105756. Schwartz, M.O., Rajah, S.S., Askury. A.K., Putthapiban, P. and Djaswadi, S. 1995 The Southeast Asian Tin Belt. Earth Science Reviews 38, pp 95-293

Recently, I have been following the news flow from De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG) and it occurred to me that they may turn out to be the only real gold project to come out of the Pilbara for a long time. I know there is some gold history out of the Pilbara region but that was a while ago. The Pilbara region is a harsh place for the unprepared. Even the great Mark Creasy had given up on the Pilbara and made his fortunes in the southern goldfields of Yandal, Albany Fraser and the Kalgoorlie region. There is no argument that there is gold in the Pilbara region, it’s just that nobody has yet found a sizeable source. Like the Patterson Range where there has been limited “exploration” due to its remoteness, the Pilbara suffers from a lack of success. I have seen chunks of manganese on the surface and very colourful pegmatites during my limited time in the Pilbara but ultimately, this is Iron Ore country. Those that have spent many more moons in this region tell me that they get close but as yet, come up with nothing. I found this Mines Department Annual Report from 1914 and you can see that there is a suite of minerals identified as of interest. I can guarantee many ASX company would love to go chasing them in today’s market. The issue is that even today, none of that has been even noticed. Some may have been investigated and listed as non-economical. However, I would have a guess that most would be overlooked from a market sentiment point of view. However, what could be interesting are the ones that were overlooked due to a lack of funding or technical misunderstanding. What’s the Issue? Looking at the diagram below, you can see that the Pilbara is predominantly an Iron Ore country. The BIFs (Banded Iron Formation) that strike from one side of the basin (Newman) to the coast carry a minimum of 30% Fe. Since the rise of the Iron Ore boom in the 1970s, the Pilbara has really been a single commodity region. Some players have gone in there to look at Nickel and Gold but it has not made an impression. There is also the Wittenoom asbestos mine which was a world-class deposit being shipped out of Point Samson (not sure if they were shipped out of the other ports). The conglomerate gold rush in late 2017 was what made this place stand out in terms of a commodity other than iron ore. The rush was international and money from big names came flooding into the region. I think that is a rush that could have opened the place up for real exploration. The rush for lithium did not make the same impact. I guess that is why there is the term Gold Fever. Obviously, when the Conglomerate Goldrush came, that fuelled the speculation that this is why there has never been any primary source. The theory was that the gold was deposited rather than your traditional “primary” source. Kind of like sedimentary deposition…etc. This was the main aspect of the story that got everyone excited and the association with the South African Witwatersrand conglomerates and their resources in billions of ounces. The traditionalist felt that the story was just that, a good story. A lack of success on that theory would end that rush. Corporate Information (Source: Commsec) Market Capitalisation: 62M Outstanding Shares: 334.47M (2018/06) Top 20 shareholding: 51.40% (2019) What is the REAL value of De Grey Mining? De Grey is not your ordinary explorer. When one looks at this company, in my opinion, you need to understand that you are investing in a company that is the whos who of gold mining. I am talking about the following shareholders, Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd (ASX: KLA) with 9% DGO Gold Limited (ASX: DGO) with 7% Kirkland is an 18.4% shareholder of Novo Resources Corp (TSX-V: NVO) who has a JV (Farno JV) with De Grey. In turn, the shareholders of Novo are also highly notable gold bulls, such as Mark Creasy, Sprott Asset Management and Newmont Mining Corp. Hence as you can see, they are well connected. I think they must be the most well-connected company that does not operate a mine, yet. DGO Gold is chaired by Ed Eshuys who was the right-hand man of Great Central Mines discovering major nickel and gold mines in the 1980s and 1990s. Novo Corporation has the “famous” Quinton Hennigh, who “discovered” the big resources for Kirkland Lake Gold’s project at Fosterville Gold Mine in Victoria, Australia. My point is that when you look to invest in this company, you are with some good company. I am not saying that this is a given that they will discover things and make the company great. I am just highlighting that you are in the company of some good names. When one looks at the management of a company, as I mentioned in my article (5 Points you Need to know before Investing in a small-cap resource company on the ASX?), there is a focus on who they are and what they have done before in the past and what they will potentially do in the future.. When you have so much experience close at hand, it would allow technical issues to be sorted out easily. This would be a great tick of approval in regards to the correct management. From the project asset register, one will see that they have got some decent resources and if the economics hang together, there will no issue raising the funds. This has got to be one of the easiest fundraising campaigns when the time comes to doing that job. The Projects (Source: De Grey Mining Limited) The projects are located 60km south of Port Hedland in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia (see Figure 4). The company has mentioned that there is a mineralised strike of approximately 150km. The total tenement packages are approximately 1500 square kilometres. Currently, their gold inventory is a total of 1.4Moz (see diagram below). They are shared by several deposits over the 150km strike. Like most of the goldfields a couple of decades ago, the amount of drilling in this region is primarily to bedrock, which literally means drill to when it gets hard. Hence, most of the drilling is less than 100m. I do suspect that the maximum depts would have been in the 150m department. The Pilbara is a place where there is not much cover. Unlike the goldfields, you pretty much cannot dig too deep. Hence, it is pretty interesting that in places where you find decent mineralisation, there is a deep “soft” geology, for obvious reasons :-). In places like Carlow Castle, you can get RC drilling doing 400m in a day. That is not going to happen if you start drilling the BIFs, especially the fresh kinds of stuff. This is a region that has had previous mining and exploration success so there are good reasons for optimism in making this work. Items such as infrastructure will not be an issue and the cost of mobilisation for construction will be reasonable. All these factors are aligned with the fortunes of the company. Geological Factors of the Projects The geology of the projects is pretty straight forward. Most of the projects are now at the stage of just needing more drilling. The aim is to accumulate information to construct some sort of a resource leading to mining. It is no longer an issue of discovery, the drilling data just need to be consolidated. The latest announcement on the Toweranna with the release of 136m @2g/t got my attention. LIke the Ausmex story, where there was the intercept of 59m @1.25g/t Au, and 0.43% of Cu. The 136m to me was some sort of validation that they could have some depth to the story. These days, I tend to look for the length of intercept and not just grade of intercept. Repetition over sections is also a good thing. On the 15th April 2019, the company announced the latest drilling result from the Toweranna project. Figure 6 above shows the drill plan and the drilling can be seen over three sections which are described over Figure 7, 8 and 9. The cross-sections showed clearly the information which caught my attention. The drilling did show that the mineralisation at depth could be substantial and of a decent grade. The grade is not going to set any records but if mineralisation does get extended from 200m to 400m, that will be something that you want to really shout to the markets. In Figure 7, the proposed drilling will hopefully put that theory to bed. One must think that this will happen unless there is a great big fault in between and displace the continuity. I have not seen any geophysical information but I am assuming that management would have noticed this possibility. A mineralisation length of 280m would be really good for the share price 🙂 I noticed that in that same announcement, the company made the comment that this style of mineralisation is not common in the Pilbara and has analogies to Wallaby (Goldfields) and the Jupiter (Dacian Gold Limited) The Toweranna deposit shows a style of gold mineralisation not previously known in the Pilbara, but similar to other granitoid hosted gold deposits around the world, many of which host large gold resources (>1.0Moz). Two Western Australian analogues are both located in the Laverton region of the Eastern Goldfields and include: • the Wallaby deposit (Goldfields Limited) – >8Moz resource and producing over 250,000oz per year; and • the nearby Jupiter Deposit2 (Dacian Gold Limited) – 1.6Moz resource. Additionally, the Lamaque and Sigma gold deposits in Quebec, Canada, have both produced over 4.5Moz each for total production in excess of 9.0Moz3. Mineralisation and mining extend at Sigma to over 1800m depth. Importantly, these large multi-million-ounce gold deposits also tend to occur in clusters, providing longer-term upside to discover additional Toweranna style targets within De Grey tenement portfolio. De Grey is assessing a number of early-stage exploration targets including to the south west of Mt Berghaus. —De Grey Mining Personally, the fact that you have these clusters of mineralisation with decent resource numbers is already different from what is around in the Pilbara. The closest to something like this could be the Carlow Castle project that is owned by Artemis Resources Limited (ASX: ARV). I covered this project in an article in late 2018. It was titled, Best undiscovered project: Carlow Castle an unconventional Gold-Cobalt-Copper mineral Project. If there was a negative aspect of this good story, it is that the resources are far apart. Toweranna is approximately 100km from Winginia and this is going to be an issue in the short term. I think many projects claim that they can economically mine several satellite pits and make money, In many cases if not all, I think this is more of a hope than a fact. This is more of a fact if you are a Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST), a Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) or a Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO). To be fair, if DeGrey can establish bigger numbers to all their projects, then this will not be an issue. It is very early at this point to make an encouraging or non-encouraging call, but the one concern I have is when you look at Figure 9, the mineralisation is not very lengthy. Sure the plunge may come into play but I would have thought that anything significant will hold true for at least 80m (two sections). I would have liked to see longer intercepts that will create meat for the resources. Conclusions De Grey Mining Limited has gone through a large transformation process. I remember the first time I came across the company, around 2015 (I think), they were trying to sell off one of their assets. I forget which one now. They were struggling in the market and looking for directions. Fast forward to 2017 and they became a front runner on the Conglomerate Goldrush. Couple with a large holding in the Pilbara area and influential investors such as Kirkland and DGO, the company became noticed. The share price was moving and in some ways, the company was being noticed more than the ARV-Novo partnership. Large sums of money were being raised even though their landholding in the Conglomerate Goldrush was not the most prospective. However, after the dust settled, it is safe to say that DEG may have come off better. The shareholder list will most likely help with future fundraising assuming that the story unfolds well geologically. Looking at the data presented by the management, I do see some good signs that the current resource would increase. My one unknown factor is I don’t have much information on the metallurgical aspects and that may or may not turn out to be a deal breaker. This may have been mentioned but I am sure the standard company issue is that all is well. Time will tell if that is the case. I have no doubt that if management drill more and get a decent number for the tonnage, the matrix will get better and the success will provide a good ending to the story. The take away from this story is that without the strong shareholding on the register, I would think that with the amount of work required to make this work, most companies will struggle to get it done. There is going to be a lot of money needed to be spent in the coming years. The downside to such a strong shareholding will be if that translates to a stranglehold on sudden share price run. In the past, many of these top-heavy companies seem to struggle with this part of the equation. Time will tell. 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value. It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

The commodity market is in a quandary at the moment. What I mean is that there is no doubt that there is going to be a shortage of metals on the market soon. The lack of supply is well documented, and there is no shortage of news professing all sort of theories. However, commodity pricing is not setting any all-time highs. You would think that if there were going to be a shortage in metals or even a prediction that there would be a shortage, you would see signs of a resurgence. Yes, the price has moved up over the period, but investors are not jumping up and down. Fear is still in the market. Even with a known shortage of metals and a rising price, investors are sensing FEAR. Lithium and Cobalt pricing has taken a beating and is still not showing any signs of a resurgence. The darlings of the resource industry have taken a backward step as the world adjusts to the falling demand out of China. The Chinese economy is dealing with a financial issue that has stemmed from their over-eagerness to generate a GDP worthy of a gladiator. In that journey, a shadow banking industry developed, and it has since blown up. A bubble that is a Chinese economy size is not an easy thing to fix, and I am sure this shadow banking bubble is more significant than many GDPs put together. The fear of what may come in a decreasing consumption level is driving a market into a fear syndrome and most people sitting on the fence. Take Palladium, it is now worth more than gold, but try raising some funds to explore for the metal. The demand for iron-ore is also showing some signs of slowing. I cannot see demand increasing for commodities which would reflect a lowering of pricing shortly. However, the charts show a cautious to a complex scenario. Nickel History of Nickel (Source: Wikipedia) Use of nickel (as a natural meteoric nickel-iron alloy) has been traced as far back as 3500 BCE. Nickel was first isolated and classified as a chemical element in 1751 by Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who initially mistook the ore for a copper mineral, in the cobalt mines of Los, Hälsingland, Sweden. The element’s name comes from a mischievous sprite of German miner mythology, Nickel (similar to Old Nick), who personified the fact that copper-nickel ores resisted refinement into copper. An economically important source of nickel is the iron ore limonite, which often contains 1–2% nickel. Nickel’s other essential ore minerals include pentlandite and a mixture of Ni-rich natural silicates known as garnierite. Major production sites include the Sudbury region in Canada (which is thought to be of meteoric origin), New Caledonia in the Pacific, and Norilsk in Russia. Nickel Pricing There is no secret that the investing world has been telling everyone that there is going to be a nickel supply issue very soon. I have been a nickel, copper and zinc bull for the last two years. Looking a the 5-year price above and the LME stock levels will hopefully give readers a clear view of the shortage scenario. There is a clear correlation in a decreasing or an increasing nickel price with a corresponding increasing or decreasing supply. If this were a reasonable demand and supply Economics 101 world, you would be excused for saying – what is the big deal? Its just market equilibrium. I would agree too, but with the onset of an expected rush for lithium batteries for EVs, there will be a supply crunch. This is mainly due to the miners holding off on producing as they await a more stable nickel price. This is probably a smart move considering the last price crunch would have hurt a lot of them. The other issue that readers need to understand is that reopening mines is not like reopening a cafe. And some of the economics of these mines are very thin so if the integrity of the spreadsheets may be entirely dependent on a consistent and efficient system. Opening and shutting the operations could tilt the balance so much that the system cannot be recreated economically. Speaking to some of the nickel producers in Perth, they tell me that consistent pricing in the USD7,000 per Ib or USD15,000 (currently USD13,000+) per tonne is where they feel comfortable. Some of the mines are now taking steps in anticipation of the price rise and gone ahead with re-opening the mines they closed. Copper History of Copper (Source: Wikipedia) Copper is a chemical element with symbol Cu (from Latin: cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orange colour. Copper is used as a conductor of heat and electricity and as a building material. Copper is also used as a constituent of various metal alloys, such as sterling silver used in jewellery, cupronickel used to make marine hardware and coins, and constantan used in strain gauges and thermocouples for temperature measurement. Copper is one of the few metals that can occur in nature in a directly usable metallic form (native metals). This led to very early human use in several regions, from c. 8000 BC. Thousands of years later, it was the first metal to be smelted from sulfide ores, c. 5000 BC, the first metal to be cast into shape in a mould, c. 4000 BC and the first metal to be purposefully alloyed with another metal, tin, to create bronze, c. 3500 BC. In the Roman era, copper was principally mined on Cyprus, the origin of the name of the metal, from aes сyprium (metal of Cyprus), later corrupted to сuprum (Latin), from which the words derived, copper (Old English) and copper, first used around 1530.[5] Copper Pricing When you look at the copper pricing and its LME stock levels, you see the same patterns as that of Nickel. Copper is usually the barometric indicator of the economy. If copper goes up, things are going well. The beginning of 2016 was effectively the bottom of the commodity slide, and the bounce ran for three years. At the same time, Gold was hovering around the USD1050 mark. It was at a point where many pundits thought it was going to break the USD1000 mark. Typically, people look at the worst case scenario, but when you look at it logically, at that time, no mines would be able to produce gold at sub USD1,000 mark for an extended period. If the price of gold had gone down that low, production would have ceased. And what happens when you do that, the price goes up. I feel that this is the case with Nickel and Copper. The two metals are like the main components of our civilisation. Looking at the LME stock levels, you can see the sharp drop in supply with the price around the pre-2016 timing. When you looked at the stock level dropping in 2018, you noticed that the price is going the other way. The price reacted much faster than the supply change, and this is consistent with the reversal in pricing in 2016. Zinc History of Zinc Zinc is a chemical element with symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. In some respects zinc is chemically similar to magnesium: both elements exhibit only one normal oxidation state (+2), and the Zn2+ and Mg2+ ions are of similar size. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in Earth’s crust and has five stable isotopes. The most common zinc ore is sphalerite (zinc blende), a zinc sulfide mineral. The most massive workable lodes are in Australia, Asia, and the United States. Zinc is refined by froth flotation of the ore, roasting, and final extraction using electricity (electrowinning). The element was probably named by the alchemist Paracelsus after the German word Zinke (prong, tooth). German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf is credited with discovering pure metallic zinc in 1746. Work by Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta uncovered the electrochemical properties of zinc by 1800. Corrosion-resistant zinc plating of iron (hot-dip galvanizing) is the primary application for zinc. Zinc is an essential mineral, including prenatal and postnatal development.[9] Zinc deficiency affects about two billion people in the developing world and is associated with many diseases.[10] In children, deficiency causes growth retardation, delayed sexual maturation, infection susceptibility, and diarrhoea. Enzymes with a zinc atom in the reactive centre are widespread in biochemistry, such as alcohol dehydrogenase in humans. Zinc Pricing Zinc has a very interesting chart history. For those people who have read my previous blogs ( Zinc Market- What happened to the price surge? and 7 Interesting Zinc Companies on the ASX ) on zinc will know that I am a big bull on this commodity. Like all the commodities, it rose from the ashes in 2016 and has continued the run. Currently, like its other commodity cousins, the price has taken a rest recently, but it has also started to move again. What is the most glaring is the steady reduction in stock since 2014? You will find lots of commentary about how this commodity is going to be the darling of the market, but you will not find too many companies succeeding with mining zinc comfortably. The relentless slide in supply is not seen in Nickel nor Copper. But you will see it in aluminium which I will discuss below. This relentless slide in stock levels is due to the combination of a lack of investment in exploration and a lack of profitable deposits to mine. When I did my research on the previous articles on zinc, I struggled to identify the decent projects, and those that look decent appear to be lacking in the strike length which I assume will lead to a deposit that cannot be mined profitably. Aluminium History of Aluminium Aluminium or aluminum is a chemical element with symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic and ductile metal in the boron group. By mass, aluminium makes up about 8% of the Earth’s crust; it is the third most abundant element after oxygen and silicon and the most abundant metal in the crust, though it is less common in the mantle below. The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite. Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing environments. Instead, it is found combined in over 270 different minerals. Aluminium is remarkable for its low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the aerospace industry[8] and important in transportation and building industries, such as building facades and window frames. The oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium. The history of aluminium has been shaped by the usage of alum. The first written record of alum, made by the Greek historian Herodotus, dates back to the 5th century BCE. The ancients are known to have used alum as dyeing mordant and for city defence. After the Crusades, alum, an indispensable good in the European fabric industry, was a subject of international commerce; it was imported to Europe from the eastern Mediterranean until the mid-15th century. The nature of alum remained unknown. Around 1530, Swiss physician Paracelsus suggested alum was a salt of earth of alum.[51] In 1595, a German doctor and chemist Andreas Libavius experimentally confirmed this; In 1722, German chemist Friedrich Hoffmann announced his belief that the base of alum was distinct earth. In 1754, German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf synthesized alumina by boiling clay in sulfuric acid and subsequently adding potash. Attempts to produce aluminium metal date back to 1760. The first successful attempt, however, was completed in 1824 by Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted. He reacted anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium amalgam, yielding a lump of metal looking similar to tin. He presented his results and demonstrated a sample of the new metal in 1825 Pricing of Aluminium I think Aluminium is one of the most exciting commodity. I know I have stated that I like nickel and copper, but aluminium to me is the most significant part of EVs. What is this considerable part, you may ask? Aluminium is light, and EVs need to be light. For it to go far with the battery, it cannot be carrying too much weight. Like zinc, I have previously written two blogs on bauxite, and this is why I see the excitement. To understand what I am talking about, have a read of Bauxite – The next commodity rush? And The Best Small-Cap Bauxite Companies on the ASX – Canyon Resources Limited (ASX: CAY) and Metro Mining Limited (ASX: MMI). The bauxite industry and hence the alumina industry took a beating a while back, and I don’t think that the supply team has been able to catch up. As mentioned in my previous blogs, the bauxite industry is not as prevalent as other commodities. It is a tight market. This means that there is a deficit game in catching up with demand. When you start taking into consideration that the EVs will boost the need for more metal, that is just not a good thing. Conclusion In conclusion, as readers can see from the charts, the negative news in regards to the resource industry is not consistent with what we see in the price and stock charts. All the technicals tell a situation where supply is low, and the price has to be rising. Why is the market negative? I believe that it is the FEAR factor. The fear if the unknown and what is this big Chinese Panda bear is going to do. Market sentiment tells us that the recent biggest consumer of commodities may appear to be in hibernation, but I think the bear is too big not to eat over winter. The Chinese government will not simply shut consumption. It needs to stimulate the industry. It needs to stimulate investments that will drive the GDP or at least keep it turning over. Exploration funding is very hard to find, and pre-production or brownfield project funding are getting very expensive. Production funding, on the other hand, is getting cheaper as they are now the best bet in the game. Those companies that I have mentioned in my other blogs will do well if they find what they are looking for with whatever funding they have received. This shortage of metals and is not going to go away very soon. I think the next boom that many people talked about post-2016 is just getting some legs. I remembered in 2016 when I told many people that the bottom is near or at least the worst is over, and I was proven correct. I sense that we are in a similar place with all the same parameters in play, just at a different price level. The same signs are appearing, lack of funding, everyone is negative, China is slowing down, and consumption is not coming. I heard that in 2000 and 2016. 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value. It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

While trawling around for something interesting, I came across the term In-Situ Recovery. In-Situ Recovery, In-Situ Mining or In-Situ Leaching, according to Wikipedia, is a mining process used to recover minerals such as copper and uranium through boreholes drilled into a deposit, in situ. In situ leach works by artificially dissolving minerals occurring naturally in a solid state. ISR reminds me of fracking and the fishbone technology for the crude oil extraction industry. Samso describes the process as drilling holes into a known deposit and injecting a substance they call lixiviant. This acts as a solvent to “dissolve” and “act as a medium to transport” the intended metal or commodity. ISR is what people would call a disruptive technology that will revolutionise the whole metal mining industry. This is what fracking has done to the crude oil industry and opening up shale oil and allowing competition to disrupt decades of OPEC stranglehold on oil pricing. The disruption to the industry that I mentioned could potentially open up sources of mining where previously was not viable due to cost or geopolitical issues constraints. The process of In-Situ Recovery/Leaching This process involves pumping of a lixiviant into the ore body via a borehole, which circulates through the porous rock dissolving the ore and is extracted via a second borehole. The lixiviant varies according to the ore deposit: for salt deposits, the leachate can be fresh water into which salts can readily dissolve. For copper, acids are generally needed to enhance the solubility of the ore minerals within the solution. For uranium ores, the lixiviant may be acid or sodium bicarbonate. A lixiviant is a liquid medium used in hydrometallurgy to selectively extract the desired metal from the ore or mineral. It assists in rapid and complete leaching. The metal can be recovered from it in a concentrated form after leaching. Lixiviants may work by altering the redox state of ore, or by altering the pH. Acidic lixiviants, such as sulfuric acid, are commonly used to leach base metals such as copper,[2] whereas basic lixiviants such as a solution of sodium cyanide are used to leach precious metals. In the United States, lixiviants which contact the environment are almost always oxidizers of neutral pH because this minimizes risk to the environment. The origin is the word lixiviate, meaning to leach, to dissolve out, deriving from the Latin lixivium. (Source: Wikipedia) All of this is very new to me, but when you do the research into the technology and the current knowledge, it is not that “Star Trek” about it. There has been extensive industry work to show that this could potentially be a game changer in mining metals as opposed to just the hydrocarbons. History of ISR References to ISR date back to 177 BC and the Chinese used ISR to recover copper in 907 AD. ISR has been used extensively in the recovery of soluble salts, such as halite (NaCl), trona (Na3(CO3)(HCO3)·2H2O), potash (various salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form, such as potassium hydroxide, carbonate, chlorate, chloride, nitrate, sulphate and permanganate), boron and magnesium minerals. The first trials of uranium ISR were initiated in the 1960s in USA and Russia and, by 2013, almost half of the world’s uranium was being mined from ISR operations, including those in Australia, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, USA and Uzbekistan. (Source: Mining 3) As usual, whenever there is a need to save money and make money, the Chinese are at the forefront. As I mentioned, the idea is not new, and the technology has been around for a long time. It is just the refinement that needs to be sorted out. It seems that the key in Australia is the research by Mining3. They have been doing a lot of work in establishing the requirements to extract more conventional commodities. Who is Mining3? (Source: Mining3) Mining3 is a partnership between CRCMining and the CSIRO Mineral Resources group formed in July 2016. Mining3 comprises all CRCMining’s activities and CSIRO’s hard rock mining research capability. The partnership brings together significant mining research capabilities to effectively deliver research and innovative technologies for the members and the global mining industry. CSIRO As Australia’s national innovation agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has been pushing the edge of what’s possible for almost a century. CSIRO Mineral Resources works closely with industry partners and delivers innovation to grow Australia’s resource base, increase productivity and drive environmental performance. Mining3 Mining3, previously trading as CRCMining (Cooperative Research Centre for Mining Technology and Equipment (CMTE)), was established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre’s Program in 1991. It brought together, for the first time, Australian and international leading mining organisations in a cooperative effort to develop innovative mining and processing techniques as well as supporting equipment for the industry. The Centre was successfully refunded in 1997 (CMTE 2), in 2003 (CRCMining 1) and 2009 (CRCMining 2). Under the agreement, funding from the Commonwealth ceased in June 2014, marking a milestone of 23 years delivering world-class research outcomes. Today, it is an organisation that is entirely funded by industry. What are the benefits of ISR? ISR is a bit like the Fishbone extraction theory that I mentioned previously in the article I wrote, Doriemus PLC (ASX: DOR) – Fishbones Stimulation Technology. The implications are similar. Projects that were not viable could come online, parts of the mine that were “left behind” could be extracted. It’s kind of like sucking the last little bit of your bubble tea, digging that last pearl that is mixed in among the ice in the bottom of that bubble teacup. It’s like licking the very last drop of your favourite ice cream from the bottom of the bowl. It’s like drinking that last drop of your favourite Sarawak Laksa gravy :-). The benefits of ISR is simple. Almost every issue that stops a mining process could become a non-issue if this technology were working as it is intended to do. All the cost, the geopolitical, environmental issue could be overcome with such a non-invasive method of mining. Conclusion There is no doubt that ISR will change the mining scene, but as usual, the significance that this technology will create will take time. Will it create an economic factor? Well, that is going to be the problematic variable as there has not been any real test to extract metals commercially. For me, I think to dissolve gold in a vein and then transport that to surface and mine it as we know the meaning of the word today, that is going to be tough. Fishbone Technology for the crude oil industry is very dependent on the characteristics of the hosting rock. This requirement is also going to be the same for this method. Do I think that in time, this will be a plausible scenario? I think that could well be a yes. I believe the path for this technology will allow mining of individual deposits, but it will be limited to specific geological conditions. It could be that particular ore types, like vein-hosted deposits could be the one that is specific enough, usually high grade and contained in chemistry. This style could be the one that is easiest to reach. Vein-hosted deposits are usually high grade in nature and usually not bulky could be the benefit of this technology. Lower cost, less environmental imprint, less geopolitical issues and less social implications could be perfect for ISR. 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value. It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

Gold mining in the Pilbara has been hit and miss for the previous decades. If you look into the history of gold in the Pilbara, there is no doubt there have been many “gold mining” events. However, I would never describe gold mining in the Pilbara as a provincial size. I would call it spotty and sporadic over the many decades. The focus back onto the Pilbara as a source for gold mining is only recent. The re-focus is due primarily to the last gold conglomerate rush that was created initially by Artemis Resources Limited (ASX: ARV) and Novo Resources Corporation (TSX: NVO). That gold rush has since disappeared, but the remnant debris is the appearance of some exciting gold stories. These are not new stories but more rejuvenation of some old projects that may now become interesting due to the rising gold price. In amongst the myriad of stories, some have interesting aspects. The Pilbara is a callous place for juniors with a tradition of shallow pockets and long arms, but it does bring some signs of possibilities to the process. The only real producer was the Paulsens’s gold mine, and that is now a shadow of what it was. In 2001, AGSO (Geoscience of Australia) quoted the following, “Bamboo Creek deposit (7.05 t Au total production; Williams,1998), the Golden Spec deposit (2.06 t Au to 1987) and the Lynas Find district (3.8 t). More importantly, however, significant Au resources have been defined at the Golden Eagle deposit (6.67Mt @ 1.96 g/t Au for 10.1 t Au), the Klondyke deposit (9.95 Mt @ 1.0 g/t Au for 10.0 t Au) and the Indee area (4.96 Mt @ 2.08 g/t Au for 10.3 t Au).” In some past conversations, I was told that the Paulson mine never really made money. It was marginal at best and creative accounting made it better than it was in reality. I don’t know how much that was the truth and how much was a creative conversation… 🙂 Let’s have a look at some of the participants that I think is worth discussing. Kairos Minerals Limited (ASX: KAI) (source: www.kairosminerals.com.au) In the Pilbara, Kairos’ flagship asset is the advanced Mt York deposit which is located ~100km south-east of Port Hedland. Together with the nearby Iron Stirrup and Old Faithful deposits, this forms the cornerstone of the Company’s Pilbara Gold Project. These deposits, some of which were mined historically in 1994-1998 by Lynas Gold NL, are located directly adjacent to the world-class Pilgangoora lithium mining complex (Pilbara Minerals and Altura Mining). On 23 May 2018, Kairos announced an updated Resource for these centrally located deposits, including Mt York, Iron Stirrup and Old Faithful. The global Mineral Resource estimate at the Pilbara Gold Project is now 14 million tonnes at 1.3g/t gold for 643,000 ounces of contained gold. I was at one of the presentations and I was pretty impressed with the story. Kairos suffers from the stigma of being one of the “conglomerate companies” which is common for all the players during that period of time. In fact, almost every company in the Pilbara chasing gold suffers from that even if you were not involved. Terry Topping, the Managing Director strikes me as a true exploration geologist and I was impressed with the presentation. I took notice of the story so that makes him a great presenter and I like the way he thinks. Although Mt York is the main attraction, they have another project called Croyden that I liked. Croyden is an exploration stage play and will be far from the word “production” but it has a story worthy of some DYOR. The story is that there are a series of nuggets that are found along a ridge that seems to be NOT “Conglomerate” related. In the valley, there are “watermelon seed” shaped nuggets found but these nuggets are definitely of different genesis. There is a major regional structure that is striking NE-SW which could be a source of “primary” mineralisation, well at least a source of cooking ingredients. In generality, I agree with Terry’s comments that this is most likely to be a sedimentary primary gold story. It’s not a conglomerate story. Calidus Resources Limited (ASX: CAI) (source: www.calidus.com.au) The Warrawoona Gold Project is in the East Pilbara district of the Pilbara Goldfield of Western Australia, approximately 150km south-east of Port Hedland and about 25km south-east of the town of Marble Bar. Historically fragmented ownership has held back the development of the area. Calidus now controls the entire Warrawoona Greenstone Belt with a total of 780km² under its control. Since listing in mid-2017 with a resource of 411kozs, the Company has undertaken a systematic modern approach to exploration and tripled the resource base to its current 1.25 million ounces. Calidus completed a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) in early July 2019 confirming the Warrawoona Gold Project will be a robust operation with strong financial returns. The compelling technical and economic outcomes of the PFS have led the Board to immediately approve the commencement of a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), which we are aiming to complete by Q3-CY2020 to allow an investment decision to be made in late CY2020. The DFS will incorporate results from an extensive resource drilling programme (infill and extensional) to expand the current resource base and increase its confidence. I know very little about this deposit but from what I have read, this is a story that is developing slowly. The research does show that the basaltic and ultramafic rocks of the Warrawoona Group are one of the most important hosts to gold mineralisation in the Pilbara. Looking at the latest presentation where the Feasibility cost of AUD1,159oz appears to make this operation very interesting. With what is happening in the world events, and the inflationary nature of paper money, there is not much chance of the gold price going too far south of the current level of AUD2,200 oz. What I like about the nature of this project is the length of the strike. Interestingly, all the four companies that I have chosen have these great strike length of mineralisation. I don’t see many of these kinds of projects in other areas. What is good in the Pilbara is the lack of cover. For example, the Klondyke project is mineralised from the surface. Artemis Resources Limited (ASX: ARV) Carlow Castle is located 28 km north-east of Artemis’ Radio Hill processing plant, via gazetted roads, and approximately 45 km by road east of the city of Karratha. Access is via the Northwest Coastal Highway and then by the unsealed Cheratta road which passes through the Project area. The gold-cobalt-copper mineralisation at Quod Est and Carlow Castle South is hosted in chloritic shear zones within the predominantly Archean mafic sequence. The ore zones appear partially oxidised above 20m with sulphides extending to depth. The primary sulphides are chalcopyrite, cobaltite and pyrite. The presence of chalcocite in some samples indicates supergene enrichment in the upper portions of the sulphide zone. The structural environment of the area is complex; Quod Est strikes north-south and dips steeply to the east whereas Carlow South strikes east-west and dips steeply to the north. Artemis has redrilled the deposit with a total of 24,721.6 m drilled on regular grids during 2017 and 2018. I have always said that gold is where you find it. How it got there can be worked out when you have the time and money to have that luxury. I am not sure why but Carlow Castle has me intrigued as there are no gold deposits that have copper and cobalt associated, especially in this part of the Pilbara. I was introduced to Carlow as a cobalt project and later learned that it is maybe more a gold deposit. As a cobalt project, I think it is the only one that is of significance in Australia. How this deposit differs to the other companies in this comparison is the lack of drilling to test the strike length. Like all the other projects we have mentioned, there is a strike of 30km that Carlow Castle sits on. Only 1.2 km of that strike has been drilled. Carlow has a current resource of 7.7 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.06 g/t Au, 0.51 %Cu, and 0.08% Co. I think that the significance of the CU-Co-Au mix makes this deposit interesting. As most readers of my Insights will know, I am a big fan of the “base-metals” suite. Carlow castle sits in a known nickel province, and a well-known prospector has an adjacent tenement that is prospective for PGE. Hence, the base-metal part is not significant, but to me, the gold piece is a bit out of the ordinary. There are numerous reports of nuggets discovered and small miners in the area, but there have been no significant discoveries recorded. One of the key issues with this deposit is the separation of the gold and the copper. Artemis has completed a preliminary metallurgical test work and has shown that this could be done efficiently. A large portion of the gold component ranging up to 48% is recoverable using gravity separation. The non-gravity gold is recoverable in sulphide concentrates as a by-product using standard floatation. DeGrey Mining Limited (ASX: DEG) (source: De Grey Mining Limited) De Grey’s Pilbara Gold Project is approximately 60km south of Port Hedland in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia. The Company’s current exploration program is focused on the upgrade and expansion of known resources, as well as in the discovery of new deposits. Overall, the Pilbara Gold Project has excellent potential to define significant additional resource ounces along the 200 km plus strike length of mineralised shears zones, throughout the greater than 1,500 km² landholdings. To date, approximately 10% of the shear zones have received detailed shallow RC and diamond drilling to a nominal depth of 100-150m defining ~ 1.7Moz (JORC 2012*) of gold resources (ASX Announcement 16 July 2019). De Grey considers the extensive strike length of untested and gold anomalous shear zones together with the discovery of gold nuggets associated with previously unrecognised conglomerate targets as one of the most under-explored and prospective regions of Australia. The Project is well served by infrastructure since it is close to the regional centre of Port Hedland, a gas pipeline, two railways and is traversed by the Great Northern Highway. Conclusion I chose these four companies to have a discussion because I think they all seem to have similar projects and of a similar style. They are all juniors and have a project with a decent amount of resource ounces. There are a lot of similarities to each other. I left Northern Star (ASX: NST) out of the list as they are a different beast. What they have in the Pilbara appear to be refractory and only they can make it work. If any of the four companies have the refractory factor you can take them off the list. I wrote about DeGrey Mining in April 2019 entitled, Finally a Real Gold Project in the Pilbara?- De Grey Mining Limited (ASX: DEG), and I mentioned that this was a good project with A-Grade shareholders. I still think that this is the case but I sense that the company is struggling to make this happen. I have not looked at the logistics of the company recently but with the resources and the potential of the area, I am very disappointed to see the result. There is talk about Board turbulences but I think this one may be heading for hard times. This could be one of those instances when another owner or two is required to make the “7th company” theory true. As I mentioned, I know the least about Calidus Resources but they seem to me to have the best looking numbers. Their PFS seems to be pointing to all the right numbers and only time will tell if this is going to happen. Grades look good so they should avoid the Millennium Minerals Limited (ASX: MOY) tragedy (should never have happened). The dark horse could be Kairos Minerals. Their Mt York deposits have the numbers but I think this may not work. I don’t mean that the deposit is not good, I feel they need a lot of money to make that work. Piecemeal fundraising in this part of the world is not going to go very far. As opposed to my previous discussion (Coffee with Samso – Episode 026 – Blackstone Minerals Limited (ASX: BSX) Developing the Ta Khoa Nickel Project in Vietnam.) with Blackstone Minerals Limited (ASX: BSX), their dollar does go very far in Vietnam. The project I like is the Croydon Project even though it is an early-stage exploration project. I like it because they could actually bring something new to the table. Unfortunately, that will take time and most importantly, money. The potential of this project is what I am excited about. The fact that there is so much free gold being found in samples makes this unique. Nuggets that clearly appear to be from two different sources cannot be ignored. The nuggets can be clearly observed to be fundamentally different in form and structure is going to be the hardest thing to understand. If Terry and his team work this puzzle out, they could actually find their form of Lassiter’s Reef. In my humble opinion, I think the strategy for Kairos Minerals is to try and get the production story happening for Mt. York and then go seek investors in Non-China Asia. There are a lot of punters who want this kind of story. My last roadshow there showed me that there are still many people who are waiting to invest in this sector. When they get this funding and get Mt. York to work, they will have the funding to explore Croydon properly. Carlow Castle is my favourite. I like it because it is a deposit that is different (Best undiscovered project: Carlow Castle an unconventional Gold-Cobalt-Copper mineral Project). A recent article in Economic Geology mentioned that this deposit is older and different from the others in the region. I agree with them as I have mentioned earlier due to the chemistry. Artemis has a very simple process, drill and drill and drill. They will absolutely get more resource and they have a highway as a mineralised strike. When they have over the million-ounce stage, they have the Radio Hill Plant ready to go to work. Carlow Castle and Radio Hill plant will be a joint strategy for the company as things move on. Like many things in life, there is a Ying and Yang, and for Artemis, it is money. They need money to drill and then it is a no brainer to production. Unlike Artemis, the other three companies are not 28km from Karattha and have all the simple pleasures of logistics, utilities and low cost of manpower. This is why Carlow Castle is my favourite of the three. The project is well lined up. All they need is to upgrade the resource so that the PFS and the DFS will bring in the production investments. Artemis Resources has taken a wild ride of late. The recent capital raise to pay off the debt was a great success and Ed Mead must take a lot of that credit. Speaking to Ed over the years, he is a creative guy and I am sure the forthcoming challenges of raising more money to develop Carlow Castle will be achieved. This will be the next hurdle for the company. Hence, apart from De Grey, there are going to be hard choices to make on which horse to bet. Personally, I like Carlow Castle as I feel Artemis is undervalued for what they have. My second choice would be Kairos Minerals as discovery at Croydon and restructuring of strategy on Mt. York will definitely bring re-valuation of their share price. In third place is Calidus as they are prone to a revaluation when they get mining. Currently, they are in a hibernation mode as the market figures them out. NOTE: Samso is not a shareholder of any of the companies mentioned. Samso is also not commissioned to write this Insight. 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value. It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

I have always thought that the Heap Leach process was for deposits that were substandard and for those that cannot raise good capital for a “decent” mining process. It was a recent discussion with an associate about the treatment of transitional and oxide ores in a low-CAPEX manner that I decided to do some homework. The conversation was pretty non-engaging and straightforward until he mentioned theTujuh Bukit Mine in Indonesia. He told me that the Heap Leach pad has about eight million tonnes of material on it. That is one big pile of dirt. Although, I have always known about this process as a cheap means of extracting gold, nickel, REE and copper ores. What I did not realise was the sophistication that has been applied, learned and developed over the years. What little I did know was that the ores are mainly low-grade and must have the specifications attuned to the process. One of the main attributes required is the ability to be permeable, and preferably the ore is of an oxide nature. That was the moment that made me curious enough to realise that this is a serious process and not just for the likes of small-time miners. And, of course, more reading has made me realise that this is more than a serious operation with the extensive leaching processes in the USA, Chile and Peru. The Heap Leach process is so advanced that there are practically hundreds of article written about all aspect of the process. The way they “pile” up the ore is also sophisticated. The copper players in Chile, the worlds largest copper mine, the Escondida Mine has a leach pad for the sulphide ores and another for the oxide ores. The diagram below gives some context of the size of these Heap Leach pads. I am not sure if the Escondida one is bigger than the featured image from the Tujuh Bukit Gold mine in Sumatra, Indonesia. Suffice to say these are an excellent example of the success of the Heap Leach process. To give some context of what I mean by a giant mine, the photo below is that of the Escondida Copper Mine. Imagine the low-grade nature that is analogous with Porphyry deposits and the associated large amount of ore that is treated with a Heap Leach process. In some literature, the Heap Leach process is also described as being more environmentally friendly than traditional mineral processing methods. History of Heap Leaching. (source: A Brief Note on the Heap Leaching Technologies for the Recovery of Valuable Metals, 2019, Thriveni Thenepalli, Ramakrishna Chilakala, Lulit Habte, Lai Quang Tuan and Chun Sik Kim; Sustainability 2019, 11, 3347; doi:10.3390/su11123347). Heap leaching is one of the oldest and the most traditional mining process used to extract valuable metals from specific minerals. This is a hydrometallurgical process in which the solution is applied for the dissolution of minerals from the ore that is used for the extraction of metals. Originally, heap leaching was practised 500 years ago. Georgius Agricola published a book De Re Metallica in 1557 and reported that the heap leaching process was finished in a 40-day cycle. Since the middle of the 16th century, heap leaching was practised in Hungary for copper extraction. In 1969, gold heap leaching began in Nevada (birthplace of modern heap leaching) and in the middle of the 20th century, the United States Bureau of Mines began applying this technology. Gold and silver heap leaching first began at Cortez in 1969. Currently, 37 different heap leaching operations are active worldwide for the production of gold, which is estimated to be around 198 tons per year. What is Heap Leaching? According to Wikipedia, it is a simple process. The mined ore is usually crushed into small chunks and heaped on an impermeable plastic or clay lined leach pad where it can be irrigated with a leach solution to dissolve the valuable metals. While sprinklers are occasionally used for irrigation, more often operations use drip irrigation to minimise evaporation, provide more uniform distribution of the leach solution, and avoid damaging the exposed mineral. The solution then percolates through the heap and leaches both the target and other minerals. This process, called the “leach cycle,” generally takes from one or two months for simple oxide ores (e.g. most gold ores) to two years for nickel laterite ores. The leach solution containing the dissolved minerals is then collected, treated in a process plant to recover the target mineral and in some cases precipitate other minerals, and recycled to the heap after reagent levels are adjusted. Ultimate recovery of the target mineral can range from 30% of contained run-of-mine dump leaching sulfide copper ores to over 90% for the ores that are easiest to leach, some oxide gold ores. The significant advantage of the heap leaching method over conventional leaching and recovery techniques is that heap leaching consumes less than 0.3 ton of water for one ton of ore. What do you leach? (Source: Wikipedia) Heap leaching is an industrial mining process used to extract precious metals, copper, uranium, and other compounds from ore using a series of chemical reactions that absorb specific minerals and re-separate them after their division from other earth materials. Similar to in situ mining, heap leach mining differs in that it places ore on a liner, then adds the chemicals via drip systems to the ore, whereas in situ mining lacks these liners and pulls pregnant solution up to obtain the minerals. Heap leaching is widely used in modern large-scale mining operations as it produces the desired concentrates at a lower cost compared to conventional processing methods such as flotation, agitation, and vat leaching. Additionally, dump leaching is an essential part of most copper mining operations and determines the quality grade of the produced material along with other factors. Due to the profitability that the dump leaching has on the mining process, i.e. it can contribute substantially to the economic viability of the mining process, it is advantageous to include the results of the leaching operation in the economic overall project evaluation. This, in effect, requires that the key controllable variables, which have an impact on the recovery of the metal and the quality of solution coming from a dump leaching process. The process has ancient origins; one of the classical methods for the manufacture of copperas (iron sulfate) was to heap up iron pyrite and collect the leachate from the heap, which was then boiled with iron to produce iron(II) sulfate. Some Examples of Major Heal Leach Pads Several major projects around the world are using this method of extraction. As mentioned, the major proponents of this process are miners of gold and copper porphyry deposits and these are in the USA, Chile, Peru and Indonesia. These deposits are mainly lower grade and have a large tonnage. Interestingly, the other gold mining countries such as Australia, South Africa and Canada do not seem to practice this form of processing as much. In terms of weather, the dry arid nature of Australia would be ideal, especially the low rainfall parts of the drier parts of Australia. Tujuh Bukit Project According to the company website, the Tujuh Bukit Project consists of 2 (two) distinct mining development opportunities: firstly, the low capital cost, low operating cost and low technical risk Heap Leach Project, which entered the production at the beginning of 2017; and secondly, the potential future development of the world-class Porphyry Project subject to the successful completion of required technical, environmental and social studies. The heap leach pad working inventory of 3 Mt at 0.72 g/t gold and 8 g/t silver containing 0.07 Moz of gold and 0.8 Moz of silver. The heap leach pad is considered to be a working inventory because the active ore placement lift has a planned 150-day leach cycle to realise 100% of the estimated total recovery. In addition to this planned leach cycle, there is potential for additional recovery of metal as the leach solution percolates through the underlying lifts. As of 31 December 2017, the Heap Leach Oxide Project Mineral Resources are 106 Mt at 0.73 g/t gold and 24 g/t silver containing 2.5 Moz of gold and 80 Moz of silver. Escondida Copper Mine (Source; Wikipedia) Escondida is a copper mine in the Atacama Desert in Antofagasta Region, Chile. The Escondida deposit is one of a cluster of porphyry coppers in an elongated area about 18 km north-south and 3 km east-west. It is associated with the 600 km long West Fissure (Falla Oeste) system, which is in turn associated with most of the major Chilean porphyry deposits. A barren, leached cap, in places up to 300 metres thick, overlies a thick zone of high-grade secondary supergene mineralisation of the main orebody, largely chalcocite and covellite, which in turn overlies the unaltered primary mineralisation of chalcopyrite, bornite and pyrite. At mid-2007, Escondida had total proven and probable reserves of 34.7 million tonnes of copper, of which 22.5 million tonnes is estimated to be recoverable. Total resources (including reserves) were 57.6 million tonnes of copper, of which 33.0 million tonnes should be recovered. Exploration continues. Sulfide ore, which contributes 77% of the recoverable copper reserve, is crushed and milled in one of the two concentrators and the copper concentrate is separated out using froth flotation. Approximately 86% of the copper is recovered. It is piped down to the port of Coloso, where it is dewatered before shipping. Oxide ore, 4% of recoverable copper, is crushed, agglomerated and then acid leached in large heaps, and the copper is recovered from the leach solutions as copper cathode in a solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) plant. Recovery is 68%. The low-grade sulfide ore contributes 19% of recoverable copper. It is also crushed and dumped on large heaps, but here the leaching occurs through oxidation induced by microorganisms. The copper is also recovered by SX/EW. Is Heap Leaching something of the Past? In July 2019, Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX:K; NYSE: KGC) (“Kinross”) announced an agreement with N-Mining Limited (“N-Mining”) to acquire Chulbatkan, a high-quality, heap leach development project for $283 million, including approximately $113 million in cash and approximately $170 million in Kinross shares. In addition, N-Mining will have the right to economic participation equivalent to a 1.5% net smelter return (NSR) payment and contingent consideration linked to future reserve additions (www.globenewswire.com). Chulbatkan is located in the industrialised district of Khabarovsk Krai, Far East Russia, approximately 15 kilometres southwest of Udinsk, a settlement on the Amgun River and has year-round transportation access. The projects have indicated resources of approximately 3.0Moz and have an estimated AISC of USD$ 550oz. CAPEX is expected to be in the USD500M mark. The mine is expected to be low cost, and the processing is focused on a Heap Leach process. The examples I have given above are very big, but on a smaller scale, there are also participants looking at a cheap alternative to mining. An example is Tatana Resources, a company at the time of research was quoted as looking to list on the ASX. They have a smaller Heap leach process that is looking to extract copper from oxide ores. In my time in the Eastern Goldfields, I had seen many such operations. In 2015, Pheonix Gold Limited (ASX: PXG), taken over by Evolution Mining Limited (ASX: EVN), announced a Feasibility study to progress with a Heap leach strategy with their Castle Hill project. They reported an AISC of AUD913, and in essence, that is a good result for very low-grade ore. Conclusion This has been an interesting article to write as there is more to the topic than I realised. Although I am not in the mining world, the whole topic is intriguing and shows that perception can be very deceiving. I think most people who read or invest in this industry are in the same situation. We know enough to be dangerous is a phrase I use to say when we know just enough to make a fool of ourselves. In a simple way, Heap Leach works really well for ores that are oxide in nature and are permeable. The way the pile is constructed or rather the design of the leach pad is the next most important aspect. Recovery is normally lower than your conventional treatment methods, but the cost, the capital cost of the process is also significantly lower. The operational cost would also be lower as you require less water, energy and chemicals. As it is always the case, when you learn something about what you think is little known or little publicise, it becomes so in your face you wonder why you never picked up on it. As most people would have noticed, the mining grade is lowering, and mines are going deeper. As I was promoting in 2009, the time for a revaluation of gold is coming as mines get deeper and the cost of production follows that curve. When you look at my recent article, Gold in the Pilbara- The Players and their Story, there are many deposits around the world who are isolated due to the fact that it is too expensive to process. Alternative means of processing have to come into play soon or the gold price would be ascending very quickly. World and economic situations around the world are already pointing to a rising gold price. There is no alternative to hedging against inflation at the moment. If paper money becomes too inflationary and how would you flock to safety. Apart from gold, what would be safe? Gold has no alternative to safety unlike how you would have an alternative to fossil fuel, electric vehicles and hydrogen cells…etc Rising gold price will help create alternatives but I think if one can find projects that are amenable to Heap Leaching, profitability will be assured. With that comes happy investors and that leads to happy management. And we all know what that leads to, a happy spouse and a happy world… 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. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information. 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