VANCOUVER, BC, March 2, 2022 /CNW/ - Electric Royalties
Ltd. (TSXV: ELEC) (OTCQB: ELECF) ("Electric Royalties" or the
"Company") is pleased to announce an asset update on its current
royalty portfolio.
Brendan Yurik, CEO of Electric
Royalties, says, "It's exciting to provide the
first update of 2022 with active developments taking place at
projects across many of the assets in our royalty portfolio.
Drilling is underway on our Cancet, Seymour
Lake and Chubb lithium assets. Excellent final metallurgical
results have been received for the Battery Hill manganese royalty,
and we are very keen to see the results of the upcoming PEA, as we
believe this may be a very significant royalty for Electric
Royalties.
Our expectation is that progress on plans for production with
more detailed timelines for Authier and Graphmada will be forthcoming in
the near future. The owner of Authier has recently completed the acquisition
of North American Lithium ("NAL") and plans to release a study on
restarting this historical producer with Authier forming an integral part of
production.
At Graphmada, a graphite mine that was in continuous
production for 20 months prior to being placed on care and
maintenance with the outbreak of Covid-19, recently finished
graphite concentrate testing suggests successful product upgrading.
Exploration work completed during the past year indicates a renewed
focus and intention to bring the mine back into production.
Moreover, clean energy metal prices have jumped significantly over
the past year and we expect that trend to continue as additional
countries commit to net zero policies. With all of the
capital being invested in our assets this year and metal prices as
they are, we believe that it should be an eventful year in terms of
progress."
Recent highlights include:
- Authier Lithium Royalty – Emerging lithium producer
Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA; OTCQB:SYAXF) has further enhanced
its leading position in North
America's lithium sector following new Mineral Resource
estimates for its flagship North American Lithium and Authier
Lithium Projects in Québec, Canada. The new resource base of
the combined deposits should have a positive effect on the
contemplated NAL-Authier lithium operation. The restart of NAL
and its integration with the Authier deposit is currently the subject of a
feasibility study which is expected in the coming weeks (see Sayona
Mining's news release dated March 1,
2022).
- Cancet Lithium Royalty – 2,000-m drilling campaign to
commence at the Cancet Project, Quebec, with SGS Geological Services ("SGS")
appointed for data review, exploration work and metallurgical test
work. Test work at the Cancet Project will build on knowledge
gained in previous metallurgical test work and will involve heavy
liquid separation, magnetic separation and flotation batch tests
(see Winsome Resources [ASX: WR1] news releases dated December 14 and February
14, 2022).
- Seymour Lake Lithium Royalty – 3,500-meter drilling
campaign commenced at the Seymour Lake Project in Ontario in December
2021. Assay results from the first hole returned a thick and
continuous intercept of 40 m @ 1.54%
Li20 (see Green Technology Metals [ASX: GT1] news release dated
January 31, 2022).
- Chubb Lithium Royalty – Expanded Phase 2 drilling
program from 5,000 m to 10,000 m of diamond drilling is planned at the
Chubb Project site in Quebec to
follow up a successful Spring 2021 Phase 1 drilling program. All
drilling permits have been obtained and the Phase 2 Winter 2022
drilling campaign has already commenced (see Newfoundland Discovery
Corp's [CSE: NEWD] news release dated January 10, 2022).
- Battery Hill Manganese Royalty – Successful completion
of a planned third and final processing metallurgical phase to
support a Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Battery Hill
Project in New Brunswick. The
results of this phase suggest a novel and innovative purification
process can be used to produce high purity manganese sulphate
monohydrate (HPMSM). Overall manganese recoveries as high as 80%
were confirmed through locked-cycle mass balance calculations on
the complete process flowsheet. Impurities were minimized to below
100 ppm, including that of calcium and magnesium, which is a
crucial threshold level for battery grade HPMSM (see Manganese X
Energy's [TSXV: MN] news release dated February 1, 2022).
- Millennium Copper-Cobalt Royalty – Formal earn-in and
joint venture agreement with MBK Millennium Pty Ltd., a wholly
owned subsidiary of Metal Bank Limited ("MBKM") where MBKM can
earn-in up to an 80% interest in the Millennium Copper, Cobalt and
Gold Project in Mount Isa, Queensland. In conjunction with significant
increases in copper and cobalt prices since the maiden resource was
reported, results from exploration success supports an increased
exploration target for the Project. MBKM has developed a
$1 million three-phase work program
including up to 5,500 m of drilling
for 2022 to test key outcomes to confirm the exploration target and
Resource expansion and development program. MBKM is currently
assessing drilling tenders for commencement of phase 1 after the
end of the wet season in March 2022
(see Global Energy Metals' [TSXV: GEMC] [OTC: GBLEF] news release
dated December 13, 2021).
- Bissett Creek Graphite Royalty – Minviro Ltd.
("Minviro") has completed an ISO-compliant Life Cycle Assessment on
the production of graphite concentrate and lithium-ion battery
anode material on the Bissett Creek deposit in central Ontario and benchmarked it against the
production of Chinese natural and synthetic graphite and its
upgrade into battery anode material. The results of the study show
Bissett would not only have a much
lower carbon footprint but also have a clear path to carbon
neutrality. The study is expected to be made public in the coming
weeks.
A 2013 PEA proposed a two phase plan, with the construction of a
graphite mine producing 20-25,000 tonnes per year of concentrate
and potential for later expansion as measured and indicated
resources are large enough to support a higher production rate.
Northern Graphite Corp. is currently re-evaluating its development
plans in light of the substantial growth in EV/battery
markets. The results of this process are expected to be
announced in the coming months (see Northern Graphite Corp.'s
[TSXV: NGC] news release dated February 14,
2022).
- Graphmada Graphite Royalty – The program of research and
development of specialty carbon products has achieved its first
milestone – the environmentally friendly production of high quality
graphene from Graphmada graphite concentrates. Research into the
characterization of large flake graphite concentrates produced from
the Graphmada Mining Complex in Madagascar have demonstrated excellent
qualities of low impurities, low defects and low oxidation.
Exfoliation of these high quality large-flake graphite concentrates
has also produced environmentally friendly graphene with excellent
qualities (see Greenwing Resources Ltd.'s [ASX: GW1] news release
dated December 22, 2021).
- Mont Sorcier Vanadium Royalty – Assay results for an
additional 12 holes from the 2021 infill drill program at the Mont
Sorcier iron and vanadium project, at Chibougamau, Quebec. As previously reported,
the program consisted of 42 holes comprising 15,178 m of drilling, with all drill holes
completed in the North Zone in order to upgrade the resource
category to support completion of a feasibility study planned to be
undertaken in 2022 (see Voyager Metals Inc.'s [TSXV: VONE] news
release dated February 23,
2022).
David Gaunt, P.Geo., a qualified
person who is not independent of Electric Royalties, has reviewed
and approved the technical information in this release.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
Brendan Yurik
CEO
About Electric Royalties Ltd.
Electric Royalties is a royalty company established to take
advantage of the demand for a wide range of commodities (lithium,
vanadium, manganese, tin, graphite, cobalt, nickel, zinc &
copper) that will benefit from the drive toward electrification of
a variety of consumer products: cars, rechargeable batteries, large
scale energy storage, renewable energy generation and other
applications.
Electric vehicle sales, battery production capacity and
renewable energy generation are slated to increase significantly
over the next several years and with it, the demand for these
targeted commodities. This creates a unique opportunity to invest
in and acquire royalties over the mines and projects that will
supply the materials needed to feed the electric revolution.
Electric Royalties has a growing portfolio of 18 royalties,
including one royalty that currently generates revenue. The
Company is focused predominantly on acquiring royalties on advanced
stage and operating projects to build a diversified portfolio
located in jurisdictions with low geopolitical risk, which offers
investors exposure to the clean energy transition via the
underlying commodities required to rebuild the global
infrastructure over the next several decades towards a decarbonized
global economy.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange), nor any other regulatory body or securities
exchange platform, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking
Information and Other Company Information
This news release includes forward-looking information and
forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking
information") with respect to the Company within the meaning of
Canadian securities laws. Forward looking information is typically
identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend,
estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which,
by their nature, refer to future events. This information
represents predictions and actual events or results may differ
materially. Forward-looking information may relate to the Company's
future outlook and anticipated events and may include statements
regarding the financial results, future financial position,
expected growth of cash flows, business strategy, budgets,
projected costs, projected capital expenditures, taxes, plans,
objectives, industry trends and growth opportunities of the Company
and the projects in which it holds royalty interests.
While management considers these assumptions to be
reasonable, based on information available, they may prove to be
incorrect. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of the Company or these
projects to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other
factors include, but are not limited to risks associated with
general economic conditions; adverse industry events; marketing
costs; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory
developments involving the renewable energy industry; inability to
access sufficient capital from internal and external sources,
and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms;
the mining industry generally, the Covid-19 pandemic, recent market
volatility, income tax and regulatory matters; the ability of the
Company or the owners of these projects to implement their business
strategies including expansion plans; competition; currency and
interest rate fluctuations, and the other risks.
The reader is referred to the Company's most recent filings
on SEDAR as well as other information filed with the OTC Markets
for a more complete discussion of all applicable risk factors and
their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through
the Company's profile page at www.sedar.com and at
otcmarkets.com.
SOURCE Electric Royalties Ltd.