Overview
Because the world strikes nearer to a sustainable net-zero future, the necessity for battery metals continues to mount and nickel could quickly be among the many metals to see a provide crunch. Although its roots are within the stainless-steel sector, it is also a vital element of lithium-ion batteries.
Provided that many countries are aiming to switch combustion autos with electrical automobiles by 2030, the metallic is already experiencing an enormous spike in demand. Benchmark Minerals expects the necessity for battery-grade nickel will enhance about 950 p.c by 2040.
It is crucial to ramp up international nickel manufacturing however the useful resource sector, for its half, should achieve this with a much-reduced carbon footprint to affect the sustainability of your complete worth chain. Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX, OTC:BLSTF, FRA:B9S) acknowledges this. As a vertically built-in producer of low-cost, low-carbon nickel, the corporate goals to turn out to be a number one supply of low CO2 emission nickel sulphide. Its flagship Ta Khoa Challenge in Vietnam is consultant of that aim.
With over 20 lively mines and a burgeoning know-how sector, Vietnam is on the highway to changing into a hub of electrical automobile manufacturing and innovation, with low labor prices and controlled electrical energy pricing additional driving its progress. Steadily rising overseas direct funding within the area is indicative of this because the nation seeks to draw $50 billion in new foreign investment by 2030.
Blackstone is uniquely positioned to reap the benefits of this, thanks to 2 elements. US President Joe Biden’s Inflation Discount Act, which got here into pressure in August 2022, represents the biggest funding into local weather motion in United States historical past. An identical initiative is rolling out within the European Union (EU), which maintains a Free Commerce Settlement with Vietnam — one thing a number of companions of the corporate have expressed curiosity in.
Blackstone’s Ta Khoa Challenge consists of two streams, the Ta Khoa Nickel Mine and the Ta Khoa Refinery. Latest milestones level to Blackstone’s dedication to advancing this game-changing undertaking.
These milestones embrace a memorandum of understanding with Cavico Laos Mining to collaborate in quite a few areas related to CLM’s nickel mine in Lao Individuals’s Democratic Republic and provide of nickel merchandise for Blackstone’s Ta Khoa Refinery in Vietnam. Blackstone additionally partnered with Arca Local weather Applied sciences to additional examine the carbon seize potential on the Ta Khoa Challenge by carbon mineralisation, and discover alternatives to utilise Arca’s carbon seize applied sciences throughout the undertaking.
In a bid to collaborate on the provision of renewable wind vitality to the Ta Khoa Challenge, Blackstone signed a direct energy buy settlement with Limes Renewables Vitality.
Blackstone obtained AU$2.8 million as an advance from a analysis & improvement (R&D) lending fund backed by Uneven Innovation Finance and Fiftyone Capital. The superior cost displays the numerous funding by Blackstone to develop the Ta Khoa Refinery course of and Blackstone’s distinctive technique to convert nickel focus blends into battery merchandise within the type of precursor cathode lively materials (pCAM).
Along with Ta Khoa, the corporate additionally maintains the Gold Bridge cobalt and gold undertaking close to Vancouver, Canada.
In December 2023, Blackstone entered into an possibility settlement with CaNickel Mining to amass the Wabowden nickel undertaking situated within the world-class Thompson Nickel Belt in Manitoba, Canada.
Blackstone holds a 90 p.c curiosity within the Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Challenge, situated 160 kilometers west of Hanoi within the Son La Province of Vietnam. It consists of an present trendy nickel mine constructed to Australian Requirements, which is presently below care and upkeep. The Ban Phuc nickel mine efficiently operated as a mechanized underground nickel mine from 2013 to 2016.
Blackstone intends to enrich the prevailing mine by the set up of a giant concentrator, refinery and precursor facility, supporting built-in on-site manufacturing of nickel, cobalt and manganese precursor merchandise for the Asia-Pacific market. One in all Blackstone’s key Analysis and Growth targets with Ta Khoa is to develop a flowsheet that may assist this manufacturing.
To satisfy this aim, Blackstone is specializing in a partnership mannequin, collaborating with teams dedicated to sustainable mining. It is usually working to attenuate its carbon footprint and implement a vertically built-in provide chain.
Along with the early improvement of the King Snake and Ban Chang Huge Sulphide deposits, Blackstone plans to provide crystal nickel and cobalt sulphide intermediate merchandise. Staged improvement of the refinery, in the meantime, predicts an preliminary prepare capability of 200,000 tonnes yearly within the first 12 months, with a deliberate growth to 400,000 by the second.
The mine is anticipated to start manufacturing in 2025 after which ramp as much as 8 million tons every year (Mtpa) of nickel sulphide by 2027. Pilot Plant testing and definitive feasibility research are additionally underway. 5 teams visited the undertaking in 2022 as a part of the partnership due diligence course of, accompanied by conferences with authorities representatives, Austrade, Australian division of overseas affairs and commerce, monetary establishments and different essential stakeholders
Challenge Highlights:
- A number of Huge Sulphide Deposits: The Ta Khoa undertaking options a number of extremely promising deposits together with King Snake (up to 4.3 percent nickel and 18.2 grams per ton (g/t) PGE), Sui Phong (2.95 meters @ 2.42 p.c nickel, 0.52 p.c copper, 0.06 p.c cobalt and 0.05 g/t PGE), and Ban Chang. The undertaking can be the location of the Ban Phuc nickel mine, which was operated from 2013 to 2016 by Asia Mineral Assets, together with a number of exploration targets which have but to be examined.
- Skilled Management: Internally, Blackstone’s house owners’ group brings over 50 years of expertise in management roles at main nickel mines and refineries globally. This expertise has been complemented by ALS Group, Wooden, Future Battery Industries CRC, Curtin College and the Electrical Mining Consortium.
- Giant Reserve and Mining Stock: Everything of Ta Khoa is estimated to comprise possible reserves of 48.7 Mt at 0.43 p.c nickel for 210 kilotons (kt) of nickel and a mining stock of 64.5 Mt at 0.41 p.c nickel for 265 kt nickel. This excludes Ban Khoa and different growing prospects.
- A Lengthy-lived Challenge: The Ta Khoa mine is anticipated to provide a yearly common of 18 kt of annual nickel focus over its ten-year lifespan. Blackstone believes the refinery can probably prolong its life previous ten years.
- An Established Mining Operation: Present infrastructure onsite features a 450 ktpa Mill and mining camp. The mine may even profit from a extremely supportive neighborhood and favorable authorities laws — Blackstone is dedicated to collaborating with neighborhood stakeholders within the undertaking’s improvement.
- Feed Flexibility: Ta Khoa’s refinery will supply a number of feed choices, together with nickel focus, combined hydroxide precipitate, nickel matte and black mass. This flexibility vastly improves the safety and vastly reduces the danger of the undertaking general.
- Valued Partnerships: Blackstone is collaborating with multiple industry leaders and groups within the improvement of Ta Khoa
- Compelling Pre-feasibility Examine: The monetary outcomes of a base case pre-feasibility examine on the undertaking are promising. Primarily based on a conservative NCM811 precursor worth forecast, Ta Khoa shows an distinctive inner return fee on capital invested.
- Built-in Vertical Technique: Blackstone is developing each the Ta Khoa mine and refinery towards a extremely supportive ESG, macroeconomic and monetary backdrop. This together with Ta Khoa’s low capital depth offers the corporate a big benefit over rivals. Mentioned low depth is the results of a number of elements, together with aggressive labor prices, favorable laws and low-cost renewable hydroelectric energy.
- A Chief in Low Emissions: Impartial assessments from Digbee, Minviro and Circulor, alongside an audit from the Nickel Institute, have confirmed that Ta Khoa would be the lowest-emitting flowsheet within the trade, at 9.8 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram of precursor with alternatives for even additional discount.
- Promising Pilots: With the assist of ALS and course of engineering accomplice Wooden, Blackstone not too long ago accomplished a 12-month programme of labor that developed a scaled model of its focus to sulphate flowsheet. The refinery, which processed greater than 9 tonnes of focus and MHP, efficiently achieved battery-grade nickel sulphate of 99.95 p.c, with a nickel restoration fee of 97 p.c.
- Present Roadmap: Blackstone’s subsequent precedence is to finish a sequence of definitive feasibility research. As soon as these are full, it can concentrate on totally integrating the mine into the electrical automobile client provide chain and finalizing its refining partnership construction.
Gold Bridge
The Gold Bridge Challenge is situated roughly 200 kilometers northwest of Vancouver, BC. It contains 365 sq. kilometers of 100% Blackstone-owned mining claims situated within the Cordilleran Terranes of BC. It consists of a number of, high-grade hydrothermal gold, cobalt, nickel and copper deposits and targets the historic Little Gem and Jewel mines.
Challenge Highlights:
- Vital Potential: Blackstone’s geological mannequin for the Jewel mine suggests it could have the same geological setting to the world-class Bou-Azzer main cobalt district in Morocco. There may be potential for a number of comparable deposits all through the undertaking.
- Favorably Situated Anomalies: Having accomplished an intensive maiden exploration program, Blackstone has recognized a number of large-scale IP anomalies at Little Gem, Erebor, Jewel and Roxey.
- A Nascent Enterprise: Blackstone is presently actively searching for three way partnership companions for the Gold Bridge undertaking.
Administration Workforce
Hamish Halliday – Non-executive Chairman
Hamish Halliday is a geologist with over 20 years of company and technical expertise. He’s additionally the founding father of Adamus Assets Restricted, an AU$3 million float that turned a multimillion-ounce rising gold producer.
Scott Williamson – Managing Director
Scott Williamson is a mining engineer with a commerce diploma from the West Australian Faculty of Mines and Curtin College. He has over 10 years of expertise in technical and company roles within the mining and finance sectors.
Dr. Frank Bierlein – Non-executive Director
Dr. Frank Bierlein is a geologist with 30 years of technical and company expertise, specializing in grassroots to mine-stage mineral exploration, goal technology, undertaking administration and oversight, due diligence research, mineral prospectivity evaluation, metallogenic framework research and mineral assets market and funding evaluation.
Alison Gaines – Non-executive Director
Alison Gaines has over 20 years of expertise as a director in Australia and internationally. She has expertise within the roles of board chair and board committee chair, notably remuneration and nomination and governance committees. She can be the managing director of Gaines Advisory P/L and was not too long ago international CEO of worldwide search and board consulting agency Gerard Daniels, with a big mining and vitality apply.
Gaines has a Bachelor of Legal guidelines and a Bachelor of Arts (hons) from the College of Western Australia, a Graduate Diploma in Authorized Observe from Australian Nationwide College and an honorary doctorate of the College and Grasp of Arts (Public Coverage) from Murdoch College. She is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Firm Administrators and holds the INSEAD certificates in company governance. She is presently the governor of the School of Regulation Ltd, and non-executive director of Tura New Music.
Dan Lougher – Non-executive Director
Daniel Lougher’s profession spans greater than 40 years involving a variety of exploration, feasibility, improvement, operations and company roles with Australian and worldwide mining firms together with a interval of eighteen years spent in Africa with BHP Billiton, Impala Plats, Anglo American and Genmin. He was the managing director and chief government officer of the profitable Australian nickel miner Western Areas Ltd till its takeover by Independence Group.
Lougher additionally holds a first-class mine supervisor’s certificates of competency (WA) and is a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Lougher is the chair of the corporate’s technical committee and nomination committee.
Jamie Byrde – CFO and Firm Secretary
Jamie Byrde has over 16 12 months’s expertise in company advisory, private and non-private firm administration since commencing his profession with large 4 and mid-tier chartered accounting corporations positions. Byrde makes a speciality of monetary administration, ASX and ASIC compliance and company governance of mineral and useful resource centered public firms. He’s additionally presently firm secretary for Enterprise Minerals Restricted.
Dr. Stuart Owen – Government
Dr. Stuart Owen holds a Bsc and PhD in geology with over 20 years of expertise in mineral exploration. He was senior geologist within the group that found the Paulsens Mine (+1Moz) and as an exploration supervisor at Adamus found the Southern Ashanti Gold deposits (+2Moz). Lastly, at Enterprise, he found the Mt Lindsay Tin-Tungsten-Magnetite deposits.
Tessa Kutscher – Government
Tessa Kutscher is an government with greater than 20 years of expertise in working with C-Degree government groups within the fields of enterprise technique, enterprise planning/optimisation and alter administration. After beginning her profession in Germany, she has labored internationally throughout totally different industries, reminiscent of mining, finance, tourism and tertiary schooling.
Kutscher holds a grasp’s diploma in literature, linguistics and political science from the College of Bonn, Germany and a grasp’s diploma in educating from Ludwig Maximilian College of Munich.
Andrew Strickland – Government
Andrew Strickland is an skilled examine and undertaking supervisor, a fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, College of WA MBA graduate, with undergraduate levels in chemical engineering and extractive metallurgy from Curtin and WASM.
Earlier than becoming a member of Blackstone, Strickland was a senior examine supervisor for GR Engineering Companies the place he was liable for delivering a sequence of scoping, PFS and DFS research for each Australian and worldwide tasks. Over his profession, he has held a wide range of undertaking improvement roles throughout each junior to mid-tier builders (together with Straits Assets, Perseus Mining and Tiger Assets) and main multi-operation producers (South32).
Graham Rigo – Government
Graham Rigo is an skilled examine supervisor with over a decade of on-site manufacturing expertise, holding undergraduate levels in chemical engineering and finance from Curtin College, WA.
Earlier than becoming a member of Blackstone, Rigo was a examine supervisor for Ausenco the place he was liable for delivering a sequence of scoping, PFS and DFS research for each Australian and worldwide tasks over a variety of various commodities.
Rigo has over 11 years of website expertise in nickel and cobalt hydromet manufacturing expertise, in supervisory/superintendent stage roles in addition to course of engineer expertise.
Lon Taranaki – Government
Lon Taranaki is a world mining skilled with over 25 years of intensive expertise in all points of assets and mining, feasibility, improvement and operations. Taranaki is a certified course of engineer from the College of Queensland Australia. He holds a Grasp of Enterprise Administration, and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Firm Administrators. Taranaki has established his profession in Asia the place he has efficiently labored (and lived) throughout a number of jurisdictions and commodities starting from technical, mine administration and government administration roles.
Previous to becoming a member of Blackstone in February 2022, Taranaki was the chief government officer of Minegenco, a renewable-energy-focused impartial energy producer. Previous this, he was managing director of his non-public consultancy, AMG Mining World, the place he was offering providers to the mining trade in Singapore, Guyana, Indonesia and Cambodia. Moreover, Taranaki has held varied senior positions with Sakari Assets, PTT Asia Pacific Mining, Straits Assets, Sedgmans and BHP Coal.