The company reported that in recent discussions, the bank confirmed its intention to approve a $295 million debt facility, which would cover 60% of the project’s projected costs.

Dasa is the highest-grade uranium deposit in Africa, surpassed only by grades found in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, and is scheduled to achieve commercial production in early 2026.

“The approval timelines outlined by the bank support yellowcake deliveries in 2026 as anticipated in the four off-take agreements we have in place with American and European nuclear power utilities,” said President and CEO of Global Atomic, Stephen G. Roman.

“To help fund the continuing development of Dasa until the bank funds are available, earlier this month we raised C$40 million ($29 million) in an oversubscribed public offering,”

Global Atomic shares traded at C$1.15 apiece on Tuesday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at C$304 million ($218 million). 

In addition to the development bank, Global Atomic is in discussions with parties regarding potential joint venture investment in the Dasa Project and other financing solutions.

Processing plant

According to Global Atomic, earthworks and civil engineering are progressing in preparation for the installation of plant equipment, components of which are now arriving at the site. More than 1,200 metres of mine development finished at Dasa.

The main fresh air raise is complete, and the return air raise is underway.  Once the fans have been installed, the expansion to the underground ventilation system will allow mining activity to advance beyond the first-level development.

Construction of a 400-person facility is expected to be completed in early Q1 2025.

Earlier this month, the company said 10,000 tonnes of development ore had been brought to the surface.

Niger coup

A military coup in July last year led the US to suspend government funding for Dasa. Still, the company managed to raise C$15 million ($11 million) in January and C$20 million ($14 million) in July by selling stock.

The Nigerien government has pledged its full support for the project, but other uranium developers in Niger faced major setbacks this past summer.

In June, the government withdrew a mining permit for Orano’s Imourare project, and in July, it revoked the mining licence for GoviEx Uranium’s (TSXV: GXU) Madaouela project.

According to the feasibility study, Dasa hosts 73 million lb. in probable reserves of uranium oxide in 8 million tonnes, grading 4,113 parts per million uranium oxide. Global Atomic has signed offtake agreements for 1.3 million lb. of uranium a year.

The facility will be located in Sohar, a port city about 200 km north of the capital, Muscat. It will have the capacity to process 18 million tonnes of low-grade iron ore a year starting in 2027. The aim is to produce 12.6 million tonnes of high-grade concentrate annually.

Vale will invest $227 million to connect the plant to its pelletizing facilities in the region. Jinnan will invest about $400 million to build and operate the plant, which it will own.

“This project brings together Brazil’s capacity to produce high-quality iron ore and Oman’s prime location and infrastructure to enhance integration between the two countries, while also reinforcing our partnership with China through Jinnan,” Vale’s new CEO Gustavo Pimenta said in a release.

The iron ore is to be transformed into a higher-quality concentrate for the production of premium pellets and, in the future, briquettes, with a reduced environmental impact.

This marks Jinnan’s first project in Oman, supporting the country’s industrial ambitions. The company is known for its leading edge in magnetic separation technology.

Vale intends to replicate this investment model across its mega hubs. The miner has announced three mega hubs in the Middle East (Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) and has signed agreements to develop similar projects in Brazil and the United States.

Shares in Vale gained 1.7% to $62.76 apiece by mid-Monday afternoon in New York, valuing the company at $284.8 billion.

As part of the deal, Aura will obtain a 100% interest in Bluestone’s Cerro Blanco gold project in southeast Guatemala as well as the adjacent Mita geothermal project.

The Cerro Blanco project has faced challenges from the Guatemalan government, which disputed the January permit amendment allowing its transition to an open-pit mining operation.

Bluestone is 27%-owned by the Lundin family trust and had initially planned the $411 million gold project near the border with El Salvador.

Cerro Blanco aims to yield 2.7 million oz. of gold over 14 years, based on a 2022 feasibility study. It hosts measured and indicated resources of 63.5 million tonnes at 1.5 grams gold and 6.6 grams silver per tonne for 3 million oz. and 13.5 million oz. of the metals, respectively.

Aura stated that upon closing the transaction, it intends to evaluate alternatives for the potential future development of Cerro Blanco.

“Cerro Blanco stands as a world-class deposit that has encountered both social and institutional hurdles. We are confident that, over the next few years, by integrating it with Aura’s 360 vision, we can refine our strategic approach to make Cerro Blanco another flagship project,” said Rodrigo Barbosa, CEO of Aura.

Cerro Blanco is located approximately 230 km from the Minosa operating mine in Honduras, where Aura produced 65,927 ounces of gold in 2023. In addition, Aura has operating mines in Mexico and Brazil.

Over the last 12 months, Aura achieved production of 270,000 gold equivalent ounces (GEOs). With the acquisition of Bluestone, Aura expects its growth pipeline to expand beyond 450,000 GEOs in the coming years.

Shares of Aura Minerals rose 2.35% following the news, bringing the company’s market capitalization to $910 million. Bluestone’s shares fell 1.5% by 12:00 p.m. EDT, for a market capitalization of $37.6 million.

This permit authorizes Atlas to assemble and operate its lithium processing plant, process mined ore from one of its deposits at the facility, and sell the lithium concentrate produced, Atlas said on Monday. Once operational, annual production at Neves is projected to reach 300,000 tonnes.

Shares of Atlas Lithium jumped 34% to $11.05 apiece in New York by early afternoon, bringing the company’s market capitalization to $168.5 million.

“Atlas Lithium’s permit reflects 14 months of our team’s meticulous work throughout the licensing process and showcases our unwavering commitment to developing an environmentally responsible and sustainable operation in Brazil’s Lithium Valley,” Atlas CEO Marc Fogassa said in a release.

The plan is to install a modular plant with components manufactured in South Africa. The dense media separation unit is designed to have a reduced height and physical footprint compared to others in the industry, Atlas said.

The company is aiming to be environmentally sustainable and minimize water usage with recycling. The project is to employ dry stacked tailings without using dams, it added.

Seven clusters

Atlas’ lithium project encompasses 85 mineral rights covering about 468 sq. km. It includes seven main clusters of prospective mineralization: Neves, Coronel Murta, Eastern Properties, Itinga, Salinas, Santa Clara and Tesouras.

This month, the company said exploration crews at Salinas, 100 km north of Neves, discovered additional spodumene-rich pegmatites. The team is now pursuing further geological and geophysical studies before launching a drilling campaign.

In May 2023, Atlas announced what is considered the largest lithium royalty deal in Brazil by selling a 3% gross overriding revenue royalty on the Neves project to Canada’s Lithium Royalty (TSX: LIRC) for an upfront cash consideration of $20 million.

In March this year, Japan’s Mitsui & Co. paid $30 million to acquire a 12% stake in the company.

The agreement was signed in Brasília, the capital city, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in attendance.

In February, a federal judge ruled that the companies must pay up to 47.6 billion reais ($8.4 billion) in damages for the dam collapse, though the decision is still subject to appeal.

The Fundão dam burst occurred on November 5, 2015. Approximately 40 million cubic meters of mining waste destroyed communities and livelihoods, contaminated the Rio Doce and its tributaries, and reached the Atlantic Ocean.

In total, 49 municipalities were affected, either directly or indirectly, and 19 people lost their lives.

According to BHP, the agreement builds on the existing remediation and compensation efforts by the Renova Foundation in Brazil, which have thus far totalled 38 billion reais ($7.9 billion).

In addition to the amount already spent by Renova, the agreement includes 100 billion reais ($18 billion) in installments over 20 years to public authorities, municipalities, Indigenous peoples and traditional communities. Additional performance obligations for Samarco, estimated at 32 billion reais ($5.8 billion), are also included.

Payments to be completed over 15 years

The compensation covers programs for universal water sanitation, health initiatives, economic recovery, infrastructure improvements, and investment funds in education, culture, sports and food security.

The agreement also includes compensation payments of 95,000 reais ($17,000) per person for eligible fishermen and farmers in the affected areas.

“BHP Brasil’s expected outflows under the agreement align with BHP’s FY2024 Samarco dam failure provision of $6.5 billion, and no update is required to the existing provision at this time,” BHP stated.

“The Samarco Fundão dam failure was a terrible tragedy. It should never have happened and must never be forgotten,” said BHP CEO Mike Henry.

Payments are expected to be completed over approximately 15 years, with the first installment of 5 billion reais ($880 million) due within 30 days. The agreement remains subject to approval by the Brazilian Supreme Court.

BHP still faces a potential $47 billion payout in damages in a lawsuit in London’s High Court. The settlement in Brazil will not impact the UK case.

The plaintiffs include over 600,000 Brazilian citizens, 46 municipalities and 2,000 businesses, all challenging BHP’s role in the disaster.

In July, BHP and Vale agreed to equally share the cost of any damages resulting from the UK proceedings.

Shares of BHP rose 0.7% by 12:00 p.m. EDT. Vale stocks were up 3.4%.

Read More: BHP says claim it put profit over safety ‘unjustified’ in Brazilian dam collapse case

Volt has been operating its proprietary direct lithium extraction (DLE) system in the field since September 17, when the company achieved its first lithium production.

According to the company, samples of lithium carbonate have been created and verified via third-party testing for review by potential offtake partners.

Volt said it will continue to produce lithium chloride concentrate, as well as technical-grade and battery-grade lithium carbonate, in the field for the remainder of 2024.

“Successfully producing battery-grade lithium carbonate from the Permian is another significant milestone that Volt has achieved this year,” CEO Alex Wylie said in a statement, adding that “Volt Lithium is on track to become one of North America’s first commercial producers of lithium from oilfield brine.”

Volt’s DLE approach involves a two-stage process. The first stage focuses on removing contaminants from the brine before extraction. In the second stage, the breakthrough in their technology came with the development of specialized ion exchange beads, the company said.

“Unlike traditional beads, our innovative creation boasts a size of five microns and an impressive 800 times the surface area of other industry-standard beads, enhancing extraction efficiency,” Wylie told The Northern Miner in 2023.

This advancement, he said, allowed the team to consistently extract lithium from brines during various testing stages, including successful pilot projects.

The company aims to ramp up commercial production to 100,000 barrels per day of brine during the second half of 2025.

Volt’s shares were up 6% in Toronto on Wednesday morning, bringing the company’s market capitalization to approximately C$63 million ($45.5 million).

The JV will include 10 projects in the eastern Athabasca Basin: IsoEnergy’s Geiger, Thorburn Lake, Full Moon, Edge, Collins Bay Extension, North Thorburn, 2Z Lake, and Madison projects, along with Purepoint’s Turnor Lake and Red Willow projects.

Both parties have the option to adjust ownership to a 50/50 split within six months.

As part of the agreement, IsoEnergy will invest C$1 million in Purepoint through a concurrent equity financing. The funding will give IsoEnergy exposure to Purepoint’s other exploration projects in the Athabasca Basin, including Hook Lake, where drilling previously cut 10 metres of uranium at 10.3% U₃O₈.

IsoEnergy also holds more advanced projects, including past producing uranium mines in the United States. Earlier this month, it said it would acquire Anfield Energy (TSXV: AEC) in C$126.8 million, all-stock deal for its Shootaring Canyon conventional mill in Utah.

“This collaboration underscores the confidence our partners—Cameco, Orano, Foran Mining, and now IsoEnergy—have in the potential of these projects,” Chris Frostad, president and CEO of Purepoint said in a release. “It further solidifies Purepoint’s position as a leader in uranium exploration in the Athabasca Basin.”

Prospective trend

The deal consolidates a large land position immediately east of IsoEnergy’s Larocque East project, covering several kilometres of the prospective Larocque trend. The trend hosts the company’s Hurricane and Full Moon projects, as well as Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) and Orano’s Dawn Lake joint venture, where drilling is under way.

“While small, we like this transaction for ISO,” Canaccord Genuity mining analyst Katie Lachapelle wrote in a note to clients today. “Through this transaction, ISO will gain access to the Turnor Lake property, which sits on trend between the Hurricane discovery and ISO’s Full Moon property… We believe there is good discovery potential throughout the entire Larocque Trend.”

The Athabasca Basin is home to some of the world’s largest and most profitable uranium mines, including the McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines, and it produces roughly 20% of the world’s uranium supply.

Turnor Lake is geologically connected to Cameco’s high-grade La Rocque showings and IsoEnergy’s Hurricane deposit. It is located on the eastern edge of the Athabasca Basin, near several uranium deposits, including Orano’s mined-out JEB deposit (10 km southwest) and Cameco’s Eagle Point deposit (about 10 km south).

Purepoint will operate the exploration phase of the joint venture, and IsoEnergy will take over as the operator during the pre-development phase.

Shares in IsoEnergy fell nearly 3% on Tuesday morning in Toronto to C$3.75 apiece, valuing the company at C$671 million. Purepoint shares jumped 16%, valuing the company at C$17.5 million.

The amended and approved mined land reclamation plan (MLRP), along with the recently obtained air quality and aquifer protection permits, means that all necessary approvals for production at Johnson Camp have been received.

Excelsior has been looking to revive the historic open-pit copper operation with the support of Nuton, a Rio Tinto technology venture. Construction of the mine began in August following Nuton’s decision to proceed with Stage 2 of a work program in preparation for mining restart.

Under the companies’ agreement signed last July, Nuton intends to fully deploy its proprietary heap leach technology at the Johnson Camp site. In return, the Rio venture will pay Excelsior $5 million for the use of mine infrastructure and fund all of Excelsior’s costs associated with this stage.

Since the 1970s, the Johnson Camp mine has been a heap leach operation. It comprises two open pits, a two-stage crushing-agglomerating circuit and a fully functioning solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) plant capable of producing 25 million lb. of copper cathode annually.

Earlier this year, Nuton completed Stage 1 of the work program, consisting of mineralogy, predictive modelling, engineering and other test work. Meanwhile, Excelsior, as project operator, completed diamond drilling, permitting activities, detailed engineering and project execution planning.

The Stage 2 work is anticipated to take five years to complete. If successful, it would demonstrate key elements of Nuton’s technology at an industrial scale. It will then proceed based on milestones related to engineering and mobilization, infrastructure and construction, mining, leaching, copper production, and post-leach rinsing.

Upon completion of Stage 2, Nuton will have the right to form a joint venture on the Johnson Camp mine, in which Nuton and Excelsior will initially hold 49% and 51% respective interests.

Shares of Excelsior Mining were down 6.6% at C$0.17 apiece by noon ET in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$53.6 million ($38.7 million).

Its stock rose to $5.23 apiece during early trading hours in New York, before pulling back to $5.10 by 11:00 a.m. ET. The company has a market capitalization of approximately $1.25 billion.

According to the company, surface mill and infrastructure construction have reached 90%, with more than $258 million of the project’s budget spent to date. Project commitments total $270 million, representing 99% of the $271 million capital budget.

During the third quarter, 1,051 meters were developed underground, bringing the project’s total to 5,544 meters.

Underground explosive magazines have been completed, and the application for an explosive use permit has been submitted, with approval expected later this year.

According to the company, the focus continues on the lower platform, where concrete work is well underway, and on the tailing storage facility, where underdrain embankment fill and pipe installation are advancing at a good pace.

“We’re in the final construction phase with the finish line in sight,” commented Don Gray, chief operating officer at Endeavour Silver.

Commissioning of the mine is expected in the fourth quarter, with an anticipated 10-year mine life. The Terronera project is situated within the Sierra Madre volcanic belt, which hosts most of Mexico’s silver and gold deposits.

Terronera has total proven and probable reserves of 7.4 million tonnes, grading 197 g/t silver and 2.25 g/t gold. The mine consists of the Terronera and La Luz underground deposits, both of which will be mined using a combination of long-hole and cut-and-fill methods. The processing plant will have a capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day.

A feasibility study forecasts that the project will produce 4 million oz. of silver and 38,000 oz. of gold annually the 10-year period.

Cornish Lithium has opened the UK’s first low-emission lithium hydroxide demonstration plant as part of its Trelavour hard rock project in Cornwall, England.

The project aims to produce 10,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide per year by 2027.

When combined with its geothermal lithium projects, the company plans to produce a total of 25,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by 2030.

This would enable Cornish to supply around 25% of the lithium needed in the UK. Currently, Britain imports 100% of its lithium.

“Our demonstration processing plant allows us to test and confirm the viability of extracting lithium from hard rock in Cornwall before scaling up to full-size production,” Cornish Lithium said in a statement.

The facility processes lithium-enriched granite, mined from a repurposed China clay pit, to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide using low-carbon processing technology — all on a single site.

Cornish estimates that the facility will contribute at least £800 million ($1 billion) in gross value added to the local economy and create over 300 jobs for the community.

While all workers and the main infrastructure at the site are reported safe, there has been an “extensive loss” of piping infrastructure. Orders for replacements have already been placed, the South African miner said in a statement on Friday.

Zinc output this quarter is expected to fall short by nearly 9,700 tonnes due to the stoppage, which will likely last until mid-November, according to the statement. Century produced 76,000 tonnes of zinc last year.

“This incident once again highlights the threat posed by climate change, which is leading to significant damage from extreme weather-related events worldwide,” CEO Neal Froneman said.

“This setback is unfortunate, considering the Century operation had recovered well after heavy rains affected Q1 2024,” he added.

The Century zinc mine began production in 1999. Operations were placed on care and maintenance in 2016 after the depletion of the original open-pit reserves, following 16 years of producing and processing an average of 475,000 tonnes of zinc and 50,000 tonnes of lead concentrate per annum.

The mine is expected to run out of ore in 2027, but its indicated and inferred resources present an opportunity to extend operations beyond 2030, the company has said.