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VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 24,
2022 /CNW/ - Macarthur Minerals
Limited (TSXV: MMS) (ASX: MIO) (OTCQB: MMSDF) (the
Company or Macarthur) is pleased to update
shareholders on a productive third quarter 2022 in which the
Company appointed a Strategic Sub-Committee to proceed
with the assessment, and implementation of the Company's plan
for the development of the Lake Giles Iron Project and associated
infrastructure (power, water treatment and construction). The
appointment of the Strategic Sub-Committee follows on from the
delivery of the maiden Ore Reserve and completion of the
Feasibility Study earlier in the year.
2022 Third Quarter
Highlights
- Strategic Appointments
-
- Strategic Sub-Committee to oversee the successful assessment,
and implementation of the Company's plan for attracting strategic
partners to assist with the development of the Lake Giles Iron
Project and associated infrastructure.
- Ryan Welker appointed to the
Board of Directors.
- Appointment of consultants to advance logistics contracting
strategies for rail and port operations.
- Management conducted a site visit to the Company's Nevada lithium claims in the US to investigate
further exploration or repositioning options for the Company's 210
lithium brine claims in Nevada.
- Macarthur increased its holding in Infinity Mining (ASX: IMI)
through an on-market purchase of 1 million shares to now control
21.56%.
- Management attended the Prospectors and Developers Association
of Canada (PDAC) conference in
Toronto. This year's conference held in June was well
attended and was the first in-person PDAC event since March 2020, confirming the sector's thirst for
returning to business face to face.
- Management attended the Saudi International Iron & Steel
Conference held in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia in September.
Key Areas of Focus
Macarthur's primary areas of focus include the
following:
- Strategic Partnerships: Formalising strategic
partnerships to commercialise the Lake Giles Iron Project remains a
key focus. The Company is in active discussions with a number of
global corporates that have the potential to add capital and
technical capabilities to the project.
-
- Producing the Company's strategic partner action plan, drawing
together the individual efforts of the Company's executives and EAS
Advisors' initiatives in North
America.
- A program to engage and solicit support from the Australian
Federal Government, project support to deliver this project for the
Esperance and Goldfields community.
- Implementation of a plan targeting preferred partners for
construction, power, water, communications, and logistics.
Nevada Lithium Assets: The Company continues to examine
the potential to reposition or seek strategic partnership(s) that
can advance a programme of works to realise an improved value
proposition for the Company's 100% owned 210 lithium brine mining
claims, covering an area of 7 square miles (18 km2)
located in Railroad Valley, in Nye
County, Nevada, USA. The 210 claims are located
approximately 180 miles (300 km) North of Las Vegas, Nevada, and 330 miles (531 km)
Southeast of Tesla's new Gigafactory. Driven by the tight supply in
the lithium market expected to grow significantly to 2030 and as
demand for product remains incredibly strong1, the
Nevada lithium assets are
positioned to capture value for Macarthur.
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|
1 Markets
and markets
|
Cameron McCall, Chairman of
Macarthur Minerals commented:
"The Project fundamentals of the Company have been greatly
enhanced during the first three quarters of 2022. Our key focus is
on securing key strategic partners for process facility EPCM
construction, turnkey power and water infrastructure, above-rail
contracting and mining and crushing service partners. The clear
message from recent discussions with major debit providers in
New York is that they are not as
focused on the equity market as they are on the debt
providers."
2022 Third Quarter
Updates
Board changes
Mr Ryan Welker was appointed to
the Board of Directors effective 1 September 2022. Ryan is
Chairman and Co-founder of Vitrinite Pty Ltd a tightly held,
private, premium-hard coking coal producer in Queensland's Bowen Basin. Ryan brings a vast
range of skills and experience to the board of Macarthur. Before
moving back to Australia in 2019,
he was Head of Mining at EAS Advisors in New York, where he advised and raised
more than $2bn for dozens of ASX,
LSE, TSX and AIM listed companies. Prior to EAS, he held positions
at Rio Tinto, Hancock Prospecting, Standard Bank and served as a
Non- Executive Director of Mineral Resources Limited. His
direct industry experience gives him a blend of capabilities giving
him an in -depth understanding of the needs of mining companies of
all sizes, but particularly publicly listed junior mining
companies.
Mr Joe Phillips retired from the
Board of Directors on 31 August 2022.
Following his retirement, Joe continues to work with Macarthur and
is engaged in an advisory capacity to the Macarthur Strategic
Sub-Committee. He also remains the Executive Chair of Macarthur's
spinoff Company, Infinity Mining Limited. The change in role will
allow him to concentrate on the development of Infinity's Pilbara
and Central Goldfield tenements in
Western Australia.
Share Price
In July 2021, Macarthur market cap
hovered around the $75million level
and since that time, the Company has significantly de-risked the
Lake Giles Magnetite Project with a positive + $800 NPV Feasibility Study and a Maiden Ore
Reserve Statement released in Q1 2022. What has changed is the
investor sentiment and this is clearly impacting the share price of
the company.
Both ASX and TSXV continue to demonstrate reasonably
synchronised share price trading patterns for MIO and MMS. Although
Macarthur's share price has pulled back over the third quarter,
this is not an anomaly that is specific to Macarthur, as it
reflects the broader patterns and impacts felt across the entire
iron ore industry following the pull-back in global prices during
Quarter 1 and 2 of 2022. Encouragingly, iron ore prices are still
above pre-Covid levels, demonstrating the resilience of a sector
that supplies a critical global resource necessary for many facets
of human endeavour and advancement.
Investment in Infinity Mining
Limited
Macarthur holds 21.56% of the issued equity and is the largest
shareholder in Infinity, which is an Australian mining exploration
company focused primarily on renewable rare earth minerals in
Western Australia.
Macarthur's spinoff to Infinity Mining, of its non-core
renewable energy assets in 2021 has allowed the Company to commit
its full focus to its flagship Lake Giles Iron Project in
Western Australia.
Iron Ore Market and Pricing
Overview
High-Grade Iron Benefits
On average, approximately two tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) are
emitted for every tonne of steel produced. This accounts for
roughly 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The trend towards
higher-grade ores demonstrates a change in demand preferences aimed
at factoring in the global shift towards decarbonisation.
Macarthur's strategy to meet and help lead the future growth in
demand for high-grade ore is the right strategy moving into the
third decade of this century which will be defined by how
industries respond to the challenges of meeting net zero
targets.
As outlined by Macarthur in its second-quarter update in 2021,
the premium for steel products may arguably result in increased
direct investment by the rest of the world (excluding China) in new steel production capacity that
has the eventual function of replacing older blast furnace steel
technology needed by the mid-2030s to meet the strict
C02 emissions standards announced in the Paris Accord
and by Japan and the USA in 2020.
Completing the journey to net zero emissions in steel production
has been demonstrated as technically possible by the use of
high-grade magnetite and scrap steel in electric arc furnaces with
'green hydrogen' as the reductant. The first green steel production
was achieved in Sweden in 2021,
with the only output from that process being
H2O.
With Macarthur's high grade 1.3 billion tonne magnetite
resource, it aims to take advantage of the coming structural shift
in the global iron ore market and help lead Australia's contribution to a cleaner steel
future.
Grants Share Based
Compensation
Pursuant to the Company's Share Compensation Plans ("Plans"),
the Board of Directors of the Company has granted an aggregate of
1,300,000 stock options ("Options") to acquire common shares of the
Company pursuant to the Plans, of which 500,000 granted to a
director of the Company with an exercise price of A$0.40 and expire three years from the date of
issue, 650,000 options granted to employees with an exercise price
of A$0.45 and expire two years from
the date of issue and the remaining 150,000 options granted to a
consultant with an exercise price of A$0.50 and expire 24 months from the date of
issue.
The Options are being issued under the terms of the Company's
Share Compensation Plans which were approved by shareholders at the
Company's Annual General Meeting on 31
August 2022.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Mr Cameron McCall, Executive Chairman and
CEO
Company profile
Macarthur is an iron ore development, and lithium exploration
company that is focused on bringing to production its Western Australia iron ore projects. The Lake
Giles Iron Project mineral resources include the Ularring hematite
resource (approved for development) comprising Indicated resources
of 54.5 million tonnes at 47.2% Fe and Inferred resources of 26
million tonnes at 45.4% Fe and the Lake Giles magnetite resource of
53.9 million tonnes (Measured), 218.7 million tonnes (Indicated)
and 997 million tonnes (Inferred). The Lake Giles Iron Project also
contains Proven Ore Reserves of 51.9 Mt and Probable Ore Reserves
of 184.7Mt. Macarthur also holds 24 square kilometre tenement area
iron exploration interests in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In addition, Macarthur has
lithium brine Claims in the emerging Railroad Valley region in
Nevada, USA.
No new information
The Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates presented above
have previously been released to the ASX on 21 March 2022, including supporting JORC
reporting tables. Unless explicitly stated, no new information is
contained in accordance with Table 1 checklist in the JORC Code.
The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or
data that materially affects the information included in the
relevant market announcements and, in the case of Mineral Resources
and Ore Reserves that all assumptions and technical parameters
underpinning the estimates in the relevant market announcement
continue to apply and have not materially changed.
Caution Regarding Forward Looking
Statements
Certain of the statements made and information contained in this
press release may constitute forward-looking information and
forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking
statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All
statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, that
address activities, events or developments that the Company
believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future,
including but not limited to statements regarding expected
completion of the Feasibility Study; conversion of Mineral
Resources to Ore Reserves or the eventual mining of the Project,
are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in
this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or
beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available
to the Company. Although the Company believes the expectations
expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of
future performance and no assurance can be given that these
expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or
developments may differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements
include but are not limited to: unforeseen technology changes
that results in a reduction in iron or magnetite demand or
substitution by other metals or materials; the discovery of new
large low cost deposits of iron magnetite; the general level of
global economic activity; failure to complete the FS; inability to
demonstrate economic viability of Mineral Resources; and failure to
obtain mining approvals. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent
uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and
expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this
press release are made as of the date of this press release and
except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws,
the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise
these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE Macarthur Minerals Limited