The 269th Sydney Mining Club – Leading Edge
at 5:15 pm on 7 July 2022 at the Establishment Ballroom
Steel Focus
Presenting CEO of Group 6 Metals Keith McKnight, CEO of EQ Resources Kevin MacNeill and Study Director at Magnetite Mines Trevor Thomas
Group 6 Metals (ASX:G6M)
Group 6 Metals is developing the highest-grade tungsten deposit in the western world at King Island in north-western Tasmania, an island typically known for its world-class cheese and lobster.
The company is recommissioning and expanding the old Dolphin Mine which operated for 75 years until its 1992 closure due to low tungsten prices. The Dolphin mine boasts a 14-year mine life with significant exploration upside. Production of tungsten concentrate from Group 6’s processing plant is planned for the first quarter of 2023.
Mining will commence via an eight-year expansion of the existing open cut mine which hold 2.9 million tonnes at 0.76% tungsten trioxide with a 0.2% cut off grade. After this, Group 6 will move underground to mine 1.5 million tonnes of ore at 1.24% tungsten trioxide with a 0.7% cut off grade.
With 70% offtake agreements secured, pH neutral and non-acid forming overburden rock, convenient port facilities, and prices set to rise given tungsten’s critical application in aeronautics, armaments and steel hardening; Group 6 is well positioned to be one of Australia’s key critical mineral producers.
EQ Resources (ASX:EQR)
EQ Resources is set to become a pre-eminent Australian tungsten producer by leveraging advanced technology, historical stockpiles, and unexploited resources at its Mt Carbine resource in North Queensland.
Discovered at the end of the 19th century and in large-scale production during the 1970s and 80s, Mt Carbine is still relatively unexplored with considerable exploration potential. To bring the resource back to production, EQ has completed UG environmental approvals, a bankable feasibility study ana upgrade of its gravity and crushing plants. Processing of the mineralised stockpile on site has already begun.
Over the next 12-24 months, EQ will ramp up its production from 500-650 tonnes a year to 3000-8000 tonnes, following which underground mining and the construction of an additional open pit will begin.
EQ has also established mine-to-ship logistics chain to ensure the project remains scalable and reliable over its multi-decade life and signed binding off-take agreement with strategically aligned global commodity trader CRONIMET.
Magnetite Mines (ASX:MGT)
Magnetite Mines is putting South Australia on the map as a world-class iron ore exporter by developing its 5.7 billion tonne magnetite iron ore resource in the Braemar region of South Australia.
The company will produce a premium high-grade iron ore concentrate at about 68% iron, which will attract a premium of up to US$50/tonne on the 62% Fe benchmark iron ore price.
These premiums are a product of high-grade magnetite iron ore using less energy and reducing emissions in steelmaking by up to 30%. Iron ore grades are also declining around the world, indicating a positive demand outlook for the company’s product in the long-term.
The company plans to deliver its first ore to Port Adelaide in late 2024/early 2025 and capitalise upon the unique geographical advantages of its Razorback resource including resource outcrops that allow minimal stripping, a location close to heavy rail and existing iron ore ports, and the availability of high-voltage grid power with a significant renewable energy component.
Not to be missed!