Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Hi Magoo,
Apologies, only just seen your query. Set of 3 linked tweets from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Ecuador, translated into English:
1. [TERRITORIAL AGENDA] The Vice Minister of Mines @ADelgadoVM, fulfilled an agenda in the province of Imbabura with the objective of talking with local authorities about the development of mining projects in the area. #ElNuevoEcuador #SomosEstratégicos
2. @ADelgadoVM spoke with him @goberimbabura Juan Echeverría, with whom he addressed the importance of mining development under parameters of environmental respect. The manager of @ENAMIEP @DelauneEmmanuel
and Undersecretary Andrés Cepeda #ElNuevoEcuador
3. Furthermore, within the framework of the visit @ENAMIEP signed a machinery loan contract with the Provincial Government of Imbabura. This action will contribute to the construction of infrastructure that will be of great benefit to citizens.
Although the article does not appear directly relevant to the SOLG/ Alpala situation in the same Province, it does suggest that the Ecuador Government is serious about getting responsible mining underway with minimal delay.
Looks like there could be interesting mining developments in Imbabura province in the not too distant future............. https://twitter.com/RecNaturalesEC/status/1778915362651668501
20 March 2024
Hummingbird Resources plc
("Hummingbird", the "Group", or the "Company")
Response to Corica Mining Statement
Hummingbird (AIM: HUM) issues a response to the recent public statement made by Corica Mining Services ("Corica") regarding the suspension of mining services at Hummingbird's Kouroussa Gold Mine in Guinea.
The Company categorically disagrees with the highly misleading statements made by Corica and completely rejects its portrayal of the situation, citing both recent and historical performance at the Kouroussa Gold Mine by Corica.
Specifically, the Company disputes the accuracy of the balance quantum of monies due and the requirement for payment as presented by Corica under the terms of the mining contract.
Since the inception of the contract in September 2022, Corica has consistently underperformed against established contractual performance targets, failing to meet the mining contract volumes principally due to delays in mobilising mining equipment, commissioning the equipment, as well as recruitment and training.
In July 2023, Hummingbird notified Corica of a breach of contract due to the underperformance of the operation as noted above, granting the Company the right, as per the contract terms, to withhold all payments until the breaches are rectified and the operational deficit volumes are addressed.
Hummingbird has endeavoured to work with Corica in good faith since July 2023 to rectify the material breaches, providing interim payments and bringing in other contractors to support Corica who continue to fall behind their contractual obligations.
The Company is seeking to engage with Corica and in discussions other stakeholders, including additional mining contractors, to find a resolution to the current issues and to fully restart the operations at Kouroussa as soon as possible.
The Company will provide further updates on strategy and next steps as and when appropriate.
**ENDS**
Cascabel Complementary Investment Protection Agreement
SolGold (LSE & TSX: SOLG) is pleased to announce the signing of a joint
declaration with the Government of Ecuador in preparation for the execution of
the Complementary Investment Protection Agreement ("IPA") for the Cascabel
Project ("Project" or "Cascabel") in Ecuador. The signing took place in
Toronto at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada ("PDAC")
convention, representing a significant advancement in the Company's commitment
to the Project and its partnership with the Ecuadorian government.
The signing was conducted by the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade,
Investments and Fisheries, Ms. Sonsoles García, and Scott Caldwell, CEO of
SolGold, on behalf of SolGold plc and SolGold Finance AG, along with
representatives from Exploraciones Novomining S.A. and SolGold-Ecuador S.A.,
in advance of the definitive Complementary IPA to be signed in Ecuador.
In addition to the US$311 million investment addressed by the current IPA,
under the Complementary IPA, there is a commitment to invest a total of US
$3.2 billion over the subsequent years in activities related to the Cascabel
mining concession. The Complementary IPA embodies the largest mining
investment in Ecuadorian history, highlighting the scale and importance of the
Project, SolGold's commitment, and the impact on the broader Ecuadorian mining
sector.
SolGold's CEO and President of SolGold Ecuador, Scott Caldwell, commented:
"The Complementary Investment Protection Agreement not only reinforces the
protections for our key investment in Ecuador but also symbolizes a deepening
of our relationship with the Ecuadorian State. President Noboa's attendance
and insightful speech at the PDAC convention were warmly welcomed by the
mining community and underscores the significant support of his administration
for responsible mining in Ecuador."
Reuters reported yesterday (22-11-2023) that Mali has signed a non-binding MoU with Russia to build a 200 tonnes per year gold refinery in Bamako. This will allow Mali to control all gold production in the country and ensure application of all taxes and duties. The report further notes that Mali produced 66.2 tonnes of industrial gold in 2022, mainly from mines operated by Barrick Gold, B2Gold, Resolute Mining, Allied Gold and Endeavour Mining. Hummingbird/Yanfolila is not mentioned.
The SOLG interim MD&A statement for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2023, has just been released and is available at this link:
https://ceo.ca/content/sedar/SOLG-2023-11-14-interim-mda-english-acb3.pdf
Mining.com has just published its ranking of the top ten largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world. Alpala is not mentioned. The list includes one hybrid copper - gold deposit (Hu’u-Onto, Indonesia, ranked number 7) and one copper-silver deposit, El Pachon, Mexico ranked number 9. The smallest deposit, in Indonesia, is estimated to contain 15.25 million tonnes of copper.
See: https://www.mining.com/featured-article/ranked-worlds-biggest-copper-projects-2023/?utm_source=Daily_Digest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MNG-DIGESTS&utm_content=ranked-worlds-biggest-copper-projects--2023
Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. (“Cornerstone”) (TSXV:CGP; OTC:CTNXF; FWB:GWN1) is pleased to announce that at a special shareholder meeting held today (the “Meeting”), holders of common shares of Cornerstone (“Cornerstone Shareholders”) voted overwhelmingly in favour of the special resolution (the “Arrangement Resolution”) approving the previously-announced plan of arrangement (the “Arrangement”) pursuant to which SolGold plc (LSE:SOLG; TSX:SOLG) (“SolGold”) will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Cornerstone (the “Cornerstone Shares”), other than the Cornerstone Shares already held, directly or indirectly, by SolGold.
The Arrangement Resolution was approved by 99.98% of the votes cast by Cornerstone Shareholders present at the virtual Meeting or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Meeting (99.97% excluding the votes cast by Cornerstone Shareholders that were required to be excluded pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 — Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions).
Greg Chamandy, Chairman of Cornerstone, and Brooke Macdonald, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone, jointly stated:
“We thank our shareholders for the near unanimous support of the merger with SolGold. We are very excited about the future prospects of SolGold under the strong leadership of Scott Caldwell. We look forward to being SolGold shareholders as the strategic review will now be the number one priority to ensure all shareholders are appropriately rewarded for supporting the extraordinary discovery at Cascabel.”
Cornerstone will seek a final order of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta to approve the Arrangement at a hearing scheduled to be held on January 10, 2023. Subject to obtaining all required approvals and the satisfaction or waiver of all required conditions to closing, the Arrangement is expected to close in late January 2023.
CGP news release
DGR has just issued this note urging all SOLG shareholders to vote for all resolutions at the forthcoming SOLG AGM: http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20221129:nASXL5g1B
.. are not very happy with the latest development: https://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/0991U_1-2022-7-28.pdf
BHP sought, and lost its case, to block a law suit taken against it over the Brazil dam burst disaster seven years ago, exposing it to the liability noted by Hamoperator. The situation BHP now finds itself in could indeed contribute to a re-assessment of its other commitments and potential investments.
See this summary of the case: https://www.mining.com/bhp-loses-appeal-to-multibillion-lawsuit-over-samarco-disaster/?utm_source=Daily_Digest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MNG-DIGESTS&utm_content=bhp-loses-appeal-to-multibillion-lawsuit-over-samarco-disaster.
A SEDAR notice of this SOLG EGM has just been posted through the SOLG bulletin board on ceo.ca:
https://ceo.ca/content/sedar/SOLG-20220527-Notice-of-the-meeting-and-record-date-amended-English-8429.pdf
Perhaps I missed a previous announcement of this EGM (at which voters of record of May 19th will be eligible to vote) and if I did, I apologise for reposting old information. But if not, I cannot help but wonder what the extraordinary business might be ..............
Part 2
6. Although not stated, it is reasonable to assume that the seemingly increasing Norges Bank stake in SOLG was made on behalf of the SWF. If correct, then that vindicates the worth of SOLG’s design and implementation of its own ESG programmes over many years and, most importantly, vindicates the credibility of those programmes, and SOLG, to the Ecuadorian Government.
7. It also goes without saying that the current SOLG funding requirements are trivial by comparison to the worth of the Norwegian SWF, such that the current relatively small stake in SOLG could act as a springboard for further investment in SOLG, not only to fund development of Alpala, but also advance exploration of its portfolio of prospecting licences regionally. That would allow SOLG to resume operating on its previously very successful “mine finder” principle, while retaining some sort of stake in Alpala production, and associated cash flow.
8. Much comment has been made about the delayed delivery of the DFS, which does however work to the advantage of Cornerstone (CGP) as it delays the time when it will be called upon to commence payment for its costs which have been carried by SOLG to date. That provides a context for the curious comment made by “bdminefinder” (Warren Irwin) on the ceo.ca CGP BB on 4-5-2022: Americans (SolGold) will do the right thing once all other available options have been exhausted... Winston Churchill. Peace seems to have broken out between SOLG and CGP, for which there could be many reasons, of which one could be that the two companies have agreed that the onward development of Alpala, and/ or Cascabel, be offered to interested parties by the two companies acting in full cooperation with each other. Pure speculation, I know…….
9. Finally, all public statements to date (of which I am aware) state that concentrate will be shipped by pipeline from Alpala to Esmeraldas for export to overseas smelters. I would be surprised, however, if consideration has not been given to retain some or all of that concentrate for smelting in Ecuador, as that would add value to the end product, create more jobs in Ecuador and provide a further boost to the Ecuadorian economy and development of the mining industry. Boliden could bring appropriate smelting expertise to the table as it operates 5 smelters, including the Cu-Ni Boliden Harjavalta smelter in Finland.
All the foregoing are just purely personal thoughts and speculation. As always DYOR etc.
Several contributors to this SOLG BB have drawn attention to the recent acquisition of a 3.71% stake in SOLG by Norges Bank (SOLG April 2022 corporate presentation - CP); and/or the participation of Boliden staff on an ESG evaluation site visit to Alpala in April (SOLG tweet 11-4-2022). Seemingly isolated events, I cannot help but wonder if they are perhaps connected and related to developments which might be brewing in the background.
Consider:
1. The very strong anti-mining sentiment in Ecuador, of which Jaku Perez, Prefect of Azuay Province and a recent Presidential candidate, is a prominent spokesperson. Adverse impact on water resources and quality is the touchstone for that opposition, which last year succeeded in a constitutional referendum to ban mining in Cuenca canton, Azuay Province. Even though that ban appears to relate to new concessions (please correct me if I am wrong), and not to SOLG’s Sharug concession (listed as a drill ready priority target on Slide 23 of the April CP), INV Metal’s Loga Larma deposit and the Chinese owned Rio Blanco, progressing any of these will require very strict regard for environmental protection (water, protected forests etc.).
2. Delighted to host #Boliden for an ESG evaluation at Cascabel last week. Thrilled to learn that our distinguished visitors found our environmental and social initiatives “inspirational” (SOLG tweet: 11-4-2022). High praise indeed coming from Boliden which owns and operates several mines and smelters in various parts of Europe, including the Tara Mine, in Ireland, the largest producing Zn-Pb mine in Europe. It has owned and operated that mine under very stringent environmental conditions since about 2003, including management of artificial wetlands through which mine water is processed before discharge into the adjoining River Blackwater, a tributary of the River Boyne. Not only are those river basins designated under the EU Habitat’s Directive, both support and sustain important Atlantic salmon and sea trout fisheries.
3. Boliden’s track record at Tara is tangible proof that it is very capable of assuaging any concerns over its ability to observe and conform to very strict water quality conditions over many years – a perhaps very important counterargument to perfectly understandable concerns over water quality as Ecuador seeks to develop its mineral deposits.
4. Norges Bank and Boliden are connected. Norges holds a 2.1% stake in Boliden (BlackRock c.4.9%) and has a representative who serves on Boliden’s Nomination Committee.
5. Norges Bank manages and operates the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (SWF: the “Pension Fund Global”, known colloquially as the “Oil Fund”) on behalf of the Norwegian Government. That fund, the largest in the world, was valued at US$1.4 trillion in early 2021 and is invested in more than 9,000 companies globally. All prospective investments are subject to very strict environmental assessment criteria.
Part 2 to follow
Just come across this post over on ceo.ca which might be of interest. Cascabel rated as a high potential take over target
https://twitter.com/mambamayor/status/1465387784986836992?s=20