ASX/TSX-V: JRV
HIGHLIGHTS
- As previously announced, Jervois has completed its merger
with eCobalt (the "Arrangement") after receiving eCobalt
shareholder and Supreme Court of British
Columbia approvals.
- Following the successful completion of the Arrangement, all
conditions precedent have been met and settlement of the
A$16.5 million equity placement in
Jervois has occurred.
- The Idaho Cobalt Project has been renamed Idaho Cobalt
Operations ("ICO") to reflect its advanced stage of development and
Jervois's intention to transform the site into a mining operation.
The site has had an estimated US$100
million invested to date in plant and infrastructure.
Together with completion of the environmental permitting process,
this provides Jervois with a strong platform to complete
construction.
- Jervois will update a Feasibility Study ("FS") for the ICO.
Appointments to the FS team are being undertaken, drill rigs have
been secured and permits obtained. Mobilisation has commenced in
support of the FS, with the summer drill programme to support final
testwork and engineering for the permitted 1200stpd concentrator,
and to enhance geological confidence on the mineral resource in
early years of production.
- Jervois is inviting tenders for the FS from a select group
of engineering groups capable of deploying in the United States to finish ICO site
construction.
- In parallel, invitations are being sent for completion of a
scoping study to produce refined cobalt and copper from ICO
concentrate, within the state of Idaho. Jervois believes that the ICO resource
potential and production scale will support downstream refining. A
domestic United States refinery
will improve project economics, increase investment and skilled job
creation in Idaho, and also
enhance the security of United
States cobalt supply.
- FS (and refinery scoping study) are scheduled to be
completed by end Q1 2020. Upon the close of project financing and
opening of the ICO mine portals, Jervois expects a 12-month
construction period with first commercial production of concentrate
from in 2H 2021, ready for sale to Western customers.
MELBOURNE, Australia,
July 25, 2019 /CNW/ - Jervois Mining
Limited (ASX:JRV) (TSX-V: JRV) ("Jervois") (the "Company") is
pleased to report that it has completed its previously announced
plan of arrangement with eCobalt. On Tuesday 23 July 2019, the Supreme Court of British Columbia approved the merger with
eCobalt Solutions Inc. (TSX: ECS) ("eCobalt") via the granting of
the plan of arrangement with eCobalt under the Business
Corporations Act (British
Columbia).
Following the successful completion of the eCobalt merger, all
equity placement conditions precedent have been met and the
A$16.5 million oversubscribed equity
placement led by BW Equities will now close. Jervois is
sufficiently well capitalized to advance both the ICO, its
exploration activities in Uganda,
and continuing negotiations with the governments of Uganda and Tanzania over the Kilembe cobalt-copper
mine-Kasese Cobalt Refinery and the Kabanga nickel-cobalt-copper
deposit respectively. Jervois is excited to have completed
the mergers with both M2 Cobalt and eCobalt; ICO represents the
best opportunity to transition Jervois from developer to producer
status, and resources of the Company are being aggressively
deployed to turn this into a reality.
The ICO is a high-grade cobalt-copper deposit and a partially
completed mine site and mill located in Lemhi County outside the town of Salmon, Idaho. The mine and mill site
are located on National Forest lands, and activities must adhere to
United States Forestry Service ("USFS") and Environmental
Protection Authority ("EPA") requirements – the site is
environmentally permitted with an approved Plan of
Operations. Jervois also envisages constructing a downstream
cobalt refinery in southern Idaho,
near Blackfoot. Although a site has been secured and
prefabricated buildings purchased, the refinery requires further
study and permitting.
Significant pre-works have been undertaken at site, with
approximately US$100 million invested
thus far. Earthworks (construction of access and haul road,
portal bench, mill and concentrator pads and water retention and
tailings ponds) and milling equipment has been purchased (ball
mill, flotation circuits, grizzlies, hoppers and conveyers).
An advanced water treatment plant and control wells have been
installed, main power substation and power lines have been extended
to the portal bench and concentrator facilities, with access to
competitive grid power connected in 2018. Major civil and
earth works including concrete foundations for the concentrator
were progressed in 2018. The ICO represents a partially
constructed cobalt mine strategically positioned to take advantage
of the forecast improvement in the cobalt market as demand for
superalloys in the United States
continues to grow and electrification of the global transportation
industry accelerates.
To complete construction of the ICO, Jervois will finalise
engineering for the permitted 1200stpd mine and concentrator in
support securing final project financing. This study is anticipated
to be complete by the end of Q1 2020. Historically eCobalt
has completed a number of NI 43–101 compliant FS's; Jervois plans
to build on previous studies to finalise the mine and mill
design. Selective flotation optimisation and locked cycle
testing will be applied to produce separate cobalt concentrate and
a high-grade copper concentrate that will be sold in concentrate
form initially, generating early cashflows from the operation and
allowing accelerated commissioning and ramp up. Jervois has
confidence that based on its background it can successfully place
separated concentrate products on attractive commercial
terms. Mineralogy will be better defined via QEMSCAN
characterization, comminution characterization work will confirm
the crushing and milling circuit configuration and an assessment of
the suitability of ICO mineralization to ore sorting will be
undertaken.
Jervois plans to order long lead items in advance of completing
the FS, specifically a SAG mill once the design basis and potential
growth footprint is more clearly understood. Whilst Jervois
has confidence in the technical and economic potential of a larger
scale operation, the currently approved Plan of Operations allows
for 1,200stpd ore processing. Jervois has had initial
discussions with the USFS and will work with regulators to assess
how the mine can be enlarged in an environmentally responsible
manner. Higher concentrate production rates will
significantly improve the scale and competitiveness of a downstream
cobalt refinery. At completion of the FS Jervois plans to
secure project financing to construct, commission and bring the ICO
into commercial operation during 2021.
In parallel, Jervois will commission a refinery scoping study,
building on work previously completed by eCobalt which has
undertaken multiple FS's on a cobalt refinery. The study will
consider commercially proven technology to process concentrates,
including third party feed through to cobalt and copper
metal. Whilst Jervois believes that commissioning the mine
and mill to sell concentrate in an accelerated timeframe makes best
sense for the Company and Idaho,
Jervois is ultimately focused on building a United States domestic cobalt refinery.
Idaho has access to competitive
power costs produced by hydroelectric generators and competitive
skilled labour costs, which are key determinants of refinery
economics. Initial discussions with Idaho politicians and local stakeholders have
been positive and highlight strong local support for this
initiative, with Jervois already owning land at Blackfoot Idaho on which the Company plans to
establish the facility.
A combined infill and exploration drilling programme will
commence in August. Infill drilling will be undertaken to
reduce the spacing in between existing drill hole intercepts,
supply ore for future testwork (including the refinery) and explore
the footwall at the RAM deposit to test a geological model recently
defined by Jervois through detailed geological structural
conceptual modelling. The drilling programme will reduce mine
construction and operating risk, support the refinery preliminary
design and also offers resource size and production scale
upside.
The mine and concentrator will create local construction jobs,
transitioning to fulltime employment of approximately 180 long term
skilled labour positions. The local community and state of
Idaho are set to benefit from the
significant investment, with the prospect of further capital
expenditure and employment in the cobalt refinery at Blackfoot further impacting positively the
State of Idaho.
Jervois' experienced team have a demonstrated history of
designing, financing, constructing, commissioning and operating
major mining sites. Mr. Russell
Bradford has been appointed as FS Project Director,
operating under the leadership of Jervois's EGM Technical Services,
Mr Michael Rodriguez. Mr
Bradford is a mining executive and qualified metallurgist with
almost 30 years of international experience, with significant
project and operational exposure to base metals including cobalt
and copper. Mr Bradford spent a decade at the BCL
nickel-copper operations in Botswana (GM Metals Production, Smelter
Manager and Concentrator Manager), LionOre International (GM
Operations and Metallurgy) and Norilsk Nickel (GM Operations and
Metallurgy). Mr Bradford was GM Project Development at Mantra
Resources and was responsible for the Mkuju River FS, in
Tanzania. Mr Bradford's most recent role was Senior Vice
President – Metallurgy, for Asanko Gold, leading the FS, FEED and
execution for the Obotan mine expansion in Ghana.
The ICO FS team is being established and an invitation to tender
to complete the FS has been sent to a select group of engineering
groups capable of deploying in the United
States to finish construction under an EPC framework to
facilitate project financing. In parallel with Mr Bradford
coordinating the mine and mill FS to concentrate, Mr Rodriguez will
engage with technical advisers for completion of a scoping study on
a domestic United States cobalt
refinery. The FS (and refinery scoping study) are forecast to
be complete by end Q1 2020. Jervois is already in discussions
with potential lenders, and a dataroom is being prepared.
Upon project financing close and opening of the ICO mine adits,
Jervois expects a 12-month construction period with first saleable
concentrate in 2H 2021.
Cobalt is a strategically important metal for the United States and its allies.
Jervois is excited to lead construction of the only domestic cobalt
mine supply in the United States,
a significant and important development for the security and surety
of future metal supply. Australia is an important and valuable ally of
the United States. As an Australian company, Jervois believes
the ICO should be advanced into production as quickly as possible,
not only for economic reasons, but also for the benefit of both
countries' collective national security. Jervois is looking
forward to continuing to work with United
States political leadership and regulators in Washington DC, the State of Idaho and local communities in the
Salmon, Challis and Blackfoot areas to implement this vision.
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content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jervois-mining-update-on-idaho-cobalt-development-strategy-300890738.html
SOURCE Jervois Mining Limited