TIDMJAY
RNS Number : 9278H
Bluejay Mining PLC
09 August 2021
Bluejay Mining plc / EPIC: JAY / Market: AIM / Sector:
Mining
9 August 2021
Bluejay Mining plc
('Bluejay' or the 'Company')
Definitive Joint-Venture Agreement Signed with KoBold Metals to
explore the Disko-Nuussuaq Project
Bluejay, the AIM and FSE listed, and OCTQB traded, exploration
and development company with projects in Greenland and Finland, is
announcing a joint venture agreement ('JV' or the 'Agreement') with
KoBold Metals ('KoBold'), a mineral exploration company that uses
machine learning to guide exploration for new deposits rich in the
critical materials for electric vehicles.
This agreement brings a globally significant partner to the
Company's Disko-Nuussuaq nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum magmatic
massive sulphide project ('Disko' or the 'Disko Project') in
Central West Greenland.
Highlights
-- Principal investors in KoBold include Breakthrough Energy
Ventures, a climate & technology fund, overseen by Bill Gates,
and whose investors include Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, and Ray
Dalio. Other investors in KoBold include Andreessen Horowitz, the
premier Silicon Valley venture capital fund and Equinor, the
Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company.
-- Under the terms of the Agreement, KoBold can earn 51% of Disko through a two-stage earn-in
-- Bluejay can maintain a 49% interest through proportionate
funding of the project and will manage field operations during this
period.
Kurt House, CEO of KoBold, said: " The Disko region has seen the
rare convergence of events in earth's history that could have
resulted in forming a world-class battery metal deposit.
"KoBold's technology is perfectly suited to discovering new
resources at Disko. Our proprietary library of analytical tools,
Machine Prospector(R), will enable effective deployment of
exploration capital and maximize our chances of discovery at
Disko-Nuussuaq.
"We are excited to invest in Greenland's emerging mineral sector
and to partner with Bluejay in light of their strong track record
in Greenland and the outstanding potential of the Disko
project."
Bo Stensgaard, CEO of Bluejay, said : "This Agreement is
transformative for Bluejay. We are delighted to have a partner at
the pinnacle of technical innovation for new exploration methods,
backed by some of the most successful investors in the world.
"Additionally, Bluejay retains the ability to self-fund to
maintain a 49% ownership through to production, providing external
public investors with the opportunity of investing alongside a
private investment entity of this magnitude.
"Disko is a project with great potential for the discovery of
globally significant deposits of battery metals. It is, however,
this scale that necessitated a financially and technically strong
partner to develop Disko. After many conversations with many groups
from all over the world we are pleased to enter into partnership
with a group that shares our position on fairness and providing a
transparent long-term outcome for shareholders as well as being a
credible and reliable partner that shares our commitment to
environmental sustainability. I am very pleased to say that we have
achieved this now with KoBold, an organisation with the heft and
technical capability to grow this project to its full commercial
potential. We are extremely excited to be working with them."
Dr. Peter Lightfoot, Technical Lead of Magmatic Systems at
KoBold, said: "The Disko-Nuussuaq Property is centred in a region
of extensive contaminated and metal-depleted volcanic centres where
there is clear evidence for the equilibration of flood basalt magma
with crustal sulfur with potential for the concentration of
magmatic sulphides in shallow sub-volcanic intrusions. The rich
inventory of government and exploration data provides an excellent
starting point for KoBold to utilize proprietary technology to
support exploration."
"After working on the Noril'sk mineral system and applying the
ideas to help Falconbridge with their exploration work, it is
exciting to see this work come to fruition."
About KoBold
KoBold's purpose is to discover and develop new ethical sources
of the critical materials for electric vehicles. KoBold's objective
is to make more discoveries of outstanding orebodies with fewer
failures by drawing on world-class expertise in exploration
geoscience and by developing full-stack exploration technology to
use machine learning and other scientific computing techniques to
enable highly effective exploration decision-making.
The KoBold team brings a unique group of industry-leading
specialists within data science, machine learning and artificial
intelligence, software engineering, physics, and mathematics,
coupled with well-known 'mine-finder' professionals with proven
track records. Notably for the Disko-Nuussuaq Project, KoBold's
distinguished and well-recognised nickel expert, Dr. Peter
Lightfoot, was earlier involved with the historical Falconbridge
campaign at Disko-Nuussuaq during the 1990s and, moreover, has been
part of a team that has identified major discoveries in every one
of the cobalt-producing nickel-copper sulphide belts in Canada.
KoBold's disruptive, innovative, in-house developed machine
learning and artificial intelligence data technologies, TerraShed
(SM) and Machine Prospector(R), have been built from scratch by
alumni of top Silicon Valley software companies to guide every
aspect of mineral exploration as well as mine development and
operations. TerraShed (SM) integrates all types of geoscientific
data into a single system for quality control, visualization, and
predictive modeling. KoBold's proprietary suite of analytical
tools, Machine Prospector(R), interrogates the data with techniques
from computer vision to ensemble machine learning to stochastic
inversions, to predict the locations of orebodies and the critical
controls on ore formation. KoBold has been recognised in 2021 as a
Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and as one of the
100 most promising private artificial intelligence companies in the
world by CB Insights - and the only one within the mining
industry.
The Agreement
The true scale and complexity of Disko-Nuussuaq has always meant
that Bluejay required an equally sophisticated partner, one with
financial and technical capabilities that also recognised the
expertise, operational knowledge, local relationships and high
environmental, social and governance standards that the Bluejay
team represents.
Whilst there was opportunity to pursue alternative scenarios,
the Company's view was that in all likelihood this would have left
Bluejay shareholders with reduced ownership exposure as well as
limited longer term financial protection and transparency. It has
always been the Company's approach with Disko to maximise Bluejay's
ongoing ownership of an asset that the Company firmly believes has
the potential to host multiple globally significant occurrences of
nickel and copper.
Key Terms of the Agreement
-- KoBold will earn 51% of the Disko-Nuussuaq licence holding
through a two stage earn-in commitment
o Stage I: Advanced geological and geophysical evaluation of
Disko-Nuussuaq to refine drill-targets using KoBold's proprietary
technology, $3.4 million sole-funded by 31 December 2022
o Stage II: Sole funding of either US$11.6 million in drilling
expenditure or 15 pre-agreed drill holes within the Disko licence
area by 31 December 2024
o Bluejay can maintain its 49% shareholding by funding its
pro-rata commitment after Stage II
-- Bluejay is a well-recognised and respected partner by
communities, stakeholders and regulators in Greenland and will
manage field operations until 2024
-- Should KoBold complete Stage I work but not complete the
drilling commitment in Stage II before 31 December 2024, 2.0% of
the JV company and thereby control will revert to Bluejay with both
parties subject to continuing standard dilution methodology
The Disko-Nuussuaq Project
All Bluejay licence areas were selected carefully following
examination of all existing and newly available data and
mineralisation models and were specifically chosen due to their
accessibility via wide valley systems that cut through the
topography, therefore making drilling and operations feasible.
The Disko-Nuussuaq Project is hosted within the West Greenland
Tertiary Igneous Province. This province is a well-recognised
geological analogue to the Siberian Flood Basalts of the Noril'sk
Region. Previous studies and work conducted by the Company
highlighted the similarities between the geology of the Noril'sk
Region of Siberia, which is the marginal producer of nickel and
palladium, and Disko-Nuussuaq. This is supported by multiple peer
reviewed scientific studies.
Historical work at Disko-Nuussuaq
Initial investigations at Disko-Nuussuaq date back to the
discovery in 1870 of the 28-tonne Illukunguaq Boulder of massive
sulphide assaying 7% nickel, 3% copper and 512 grammes per tonne
('g/t') cobalt, as well as more than 2.0 g/t platinum group
elements. Following this, more than 30 years of exploration by
companies, including Cominco and Falconbridge, but also more recent
work by Vismand Exploration and Cairn Energy backed Avannaa
Resources, as well as government-backed work and data acquisition
by the Geological Survey of Greenland/Geological Survey of Denmark,
has resulted in a vast amount of scientific data (both geological,
geochemical, and geophysical) all pointing to a process producing a
globally significant accumulation of metals. The total cost of this
multi-decade data acquisition and field work represents millions of
dollars of total expenditure.
Detailed geochemical mass balance calculations on the Kukunguaq
Member sulphide-saturated contaminated basalt sequence indicates
that between 12-16 million tons of nickel metal are missing from
lavas extruded from the mantle. The most likely explanation for
this is that these metals have precipitated as nickel and copper
sulphides proximal to the main volcanic vents and other structural
corridors which controlled the migration of magma. Bluejay licence
areas cover all of the currently known contaminated and
metal-depleted volcanic centres on Disko and Nuussuaq.
In addition to the magmatic sulphide mineralisation system,
massive gold bearing boulders of native iron have been found on the
Company's licences, specifically the 10 tonne Hammer Dal Boulder
providing another significant target for
iron-nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group elements-gold
mineralisation.
Bluejay has undertaken multiple work campaigns over several
seasons with the inclusion of several state sponsored technical
partners, undertaking aerial surveys, extensive geochemical
sampling utilising the most modern analytical techniques with
ultra-low sensitivity as well as soil gas hydrocarbon sampling.
These new "deep-penetrating" geochemical and gas surveys have for
the first time provided metal anomaly signals coincident with
previously identified large-scale geophysical responses.
Bluejay's assessment and investigation over the last several
years has identified more than 20 drill-ready targets on licence
holdings at Disko-Nuussuaq. Of the targets defined, notably, there
are seven large conductive targets previously defined by Vismand
Exploration and Avannaa Resources and reconfirmed by Bluejay. The
two largest conductive targets are extraordinary in scale, the
largest being more than 10.0 kilometres ('km') long and around 2.0
km wide and another being around 4.8 km long and 800 metres ('m')
wide; both comparable in footprint to the world-class
Noril'sk-Talnakh ore bodies.
Details on the potential analogue Norilsk nickel district
-- The copper-nickel-platinum group metal deposits at
Noril'sk-Talnakh are located at a depth of 500-to 1,500m beneath
surface in a series of flood basalts and sedimentary rocks. The
massive sulphide orebodies are hosted within the Talnakh intrusive
complex. The ores range from Ni-rich contact ores with Cu, Co Pt,
Pd, Rh, and Au, footwall and hanging wall Cuprous ores rich in Cu
and precious metals with some Ni and Co, and disseminated sulphide
mineralization.
-- The most recent reserve estimates by Noril'sk Nickel estimate
proven and probable ore reserves totalling 663.1 million tonnes
('Mt'), containing 6.0 Mt of nickel, 11.4 Mt of copper and 117.5
million ounces ('Moz') of platinum group metals. Reserves are
reportedly sufficient to support 80 years of output. Measured and
indicated ore resources are in the order of a stunning 1,702.9 Mt
containing 11.6 Mt of nickel, 22 Mt of copper and 257.3 Moz of
platinum group metals.
Source: MMC Norilsk Nickel, Annual Report 2020.
-- It is estimated that since mining started in 1940, the
Norilsk district has produced a total of 8.3 Mt of nickel, 16.3 Mt
of copper, 178 Moz of platinum group metals, and 3.1 Moz of gold
from 691 Mt of ore. After adjusting for mining and processing
losses, the total pre-mined resource for the district camp is
estimated to be 2,800 Mt at 0.9% nickel, 1.7% copper, 6.0 g/t
platinum group metals and 0.2 g/t gold (Table 1).
-- Comparing global reserves plus resources the Norilsk camp
contains 15% of the global resource of sulphide nickel, 27% of the
total global palladium resource, and 30% of the global resource of
magmatic sulphide-hosted copper.
-- Based on the above estimates of combined reserves, resources,
and historic production, the total value of the ores in the Norilsk
district in 2020 metal prices is US$1.4 trillion, of which the
platinum group elements account for about 60%; the Oktyabrysk
massive sulphide orebody alone (accessed from the Oktyabrsk and
Taimyr mines) contained over half a trillion dollars of metal
value, exceeding the value the next 5 largest metal deposits and
making it by far the most valuable single orebody of any type on
earth.
Source: Barnes et al. 2020: Introduction to a Special Issue on
the Norilsk-Talnakh Ni-Cu-Platinum Group Element Deposits. Economic
Geology, Bulletin of the Society of Economic Geologists, Vol. 115,
No. 6, page 1157-1172.
FIGURE 1: Diagram showing well known nickel-sulphide
deposits/mining districts. The expected grade tonne range for Disko
indicated inside the transparent blue ellipsoid, based on mass
balance of depleted lavas. Source for the background data/original
diagram: Lesher & Houlé 2015: Magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE Mineralization
in Canada. SGS Open House, Technical Session 3: Exploration
Overviews and Tantato Domain Geoscience - Dec 2015. Ministry of
Energy and Resources, Saskatchewan, Canada. (
https://publications.saskatchewan.ca/#/products/82536 )
Link to Figure 1
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9278H_1-2021-8-8.pdf
Licence position at Disko-Nuussuaq
Bluejay's 2,897 square kilometre ('km(2)') Disko-Nuussuaq
holding includes several separate licences awarded by the
Government of Greenland (see Figure. 2).
FIGURE 2: Map showing the current licence holdings at
Disko-Nuussuaq.
Link to Figure 2
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9278H_2-2021-8-8.pdf
The first licence holdings at Disko-Nuussuaq were purchased by
Bluejay in 2017 from Capricorn Oil Limited ('Capricorn'), a
subsidiary of Cairn Energy PLC ('Cairn'), which was the licence
holder at the time, after the oil and gas exploration and
development company, Cairn, ceased its offshore activities in West
Greenland. At the same time, it also ceased funding its parallel
onshore mineral exploration vehicle and operator, Avannaa Resources
Ltd. The transaction included all licences at Disko-Nuussuaq as
well as licences at the Kangerluarsuk zinc-lead-silver-copper
project, located north of the former famous and most profitable
historical mine in Greenland, the Black Angel zinc-lead-silver
mine. The acquisition price was GBP500,000.
The initial licence holding at Disko-Nuussuaq was expanded by
Bluejay in 2017, 2018 and 2020 to the current total holding of
2,897 km(2). The Bluejay licence holdings are concentrated over the
most prospective settings/contaminated basalt, as well as targeting
the larger fault-systems & magmatic pathways. Bluejay's land
holdings also host most of the previously recognized magmatic
sulphide and native iron boulders and native iron occurrences.
Moreover, the Bluejay licence ground was acquired in areas where
valleys incised into the flood basalts that reduces the drill depth
to potentially mineralized subvolcanic intrusions. All licences
have access to a deep-water fjord or deep open water and can be
operated from either land or boat/barge-based camps.
From the later part of 2019 and into 2021 Disko-Nuussuaq has
seen a licence acquisition "race" that means that Bluejay's
first-mover holdings have been surrounded by other licence holders
and, notably, Anglo American holds an area of almost 10,000
km(2).
The northern coast of Disko island has seen earlier mining
operations when the Qullissat Coal Mine was in operation from 1924
to 1966. The former coal mine, and the abandoned mining town, is
located within the Bluejay licence holdings.
The nearest major town to the holdings at Disko-Nuussuaq is
Ilulissat which is located in mainland Greenland c. 100-170 km
south-east of the licence areas. Ilulissat is the gateway, as well
as the educational, business and administration centre to northern
West Greenland, and is an active hub with an airport, deep-water
port facilities and service providers. Bluejay has had an
established office and storage facility in Ilulissat since 2016
which has been used to support all West Greenland activity.
Bluejay, and its 100% owned subsidiaries Dundas Titanium A/S and
Disko Exploration Ltd, are well-known in the community and are
trusted partners for service, supply and logistical providers based
or operating out of Ilulissat.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
For further information please visit
http://www.bluejaymining.com or contact:
+44 (0) 20 7907
Roderick McIllree Bluejay Mining plc 9314
Bo Stensgaard Bluejay Mining plc +45 2367 8067
---------------------------- ----------------
Eric Sondergaard Bluejay Mining plc +1 403 813 1830
---------------------------- ----------------
+44 (0) 20 7907
Kevin Sheil Bluejay Mining plc 9326
---------------------------- ----------------
SP Angel Corporate Finance
LLP +44 (0) 20 3470
Ewan Leggat (Nominated Adviser) 0470
---------------------------- ----------------
SP Angel Corporate Finance
LLP +44 (0) 20 3470
Adam Cowl (Nominated Adviser) 0470
---------------------------- ----------------
+44 (0) 20 7138
Tim Blythe Blytheweigh 3205
---------------------------- ----------------
+44 (0) 20 7138
Megan Ray Blytheweigh 3205
---------------------------- ----------------
Notes
Bluejay is listed on the London AIM market and Frankfurt Stock
Exchange and its shares also trade on the OTCQB Market in the US.
With multiple projects in Greenland and Finland, Bluejay has now
secured three globally respected entities as partner, customer, and
co-investor on three of its projects, giving the Company and its
shareholders both portfolio and commodity diversification in high
quality jurisdictions.
Its most advanced project is the Dundas Ilmenite Project in
Greenland, which is fully permitted and being developed towards
production in the near term. The Dundas Ilmenite Project has been
proven to be the highest-grade mineral sand ilmenite project
globally, with a Mineral Resource reported in accordance with the
JORC Code of 117 million tonnes at 6.1% ilmenite and a maiden
offshore Exploration Target of between 300Mt and 530Mt of ilmenite
at an average expected grade range of 0.4 - 4.8% ilmenite in-situ.
The Company has agreed a Master Distribution Agreement with a major
Asian conglomerate for up-to 340,000ktpa of its anticipated
440,000ktpa annual output. The Company's strategy is focused on
securing financing ahead of commencing commercial production at
Dundas in order to create a company capable of self-funding
exploration on its current and future projects.
Bluejay holds two additional projects in Greenland - the 692sq
km Kangerluarsuk zinc-lead- silver project ('Kangerluarsuk'), where
historical work has recovered grades of 41% zinc, 9.3% lead and 596
g/t silver and identified four large-scale drill ready targets; and
the 2,025 sq km Thunderstone project which has the potential to
host large-scale base metal and gold deposits. Bluejay also has a
joint-venture agreement with a mining major at Enonkoski in
Finland; has recently signed a binding agreement for a partial
divestment in a fourth Finnish project, and with KoBold at
Disko-Nuussuaq following today's announcement.
**ENDS**
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