Late in August, at a precisely specified point in the low Arctic, a geologist named Dave Freedman stood in a raw wind and a limitless expanse of tundra and began to thwack with a sledgehammer at a rock outcrop jutting up from the soil.
Freedman, 29, works for a company called KoBold Metals, and the process that had brought him to this pair of GPS coordinates in Quebec’s far north was complex. But the rock had had its own journey.
Please note that this article is from April 2014 – Stan Sudol
Located 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, the Ring of Fire mining camp contains billions worth of chromite — among the best deposits in the world — plus nickel, copper, platinum group elements, gold, zinc and vanadium.
In 2007, an interesting mix of six geologists and junior mining executives – Richard Nemis, Mac Watson, Neil Novack, John Harvey and Don Hoy — collectively found the most significant mineral discovery in Canada since the Sudbury Basin in 1883 and the Timmins gold camp in 1909.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/
With reserves dwindling at its existing operations, Glencore has staked $1.3 billion on a new mine that will reach more than two kilometres — picture four CN Towers — below the surface.
“We’ve been mining around Sudbury for a long time now,” vice-president Peter Xavier told a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce audience Thursday, as keynote speaker for the group’s AGM. “That means a lot of near-to-surface, easy-to-find deposits are long gone, so the future is very much at depth.”
Western groups compete for assets to secure supplies of key battery metal
In remote northern Ontario, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest railway or paved road, the world’s largest mining group and an Australian metals tycoon are in a bidding war for a deposit containing millions of tonnes of nickel.
The battle between BHP and Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals for the asset’s owner Noront Resources comes as miners race to meet surging demand for battery metals as electric vehicles go mainstream.
(Bloomberg) — A broad rally in base metals markets is gathering pace, with tight supply, logistical logjams and booming demand creating an inflationary storm that’s driving prices to multiyear highs.
Aluminum notched a fresh 13-year high and nickel rose to the highest since 2014 in London. Both metals are benefiting from China’s crackdown on emissions from energy-intensive industries, while their role in the green revolution is buoying the longer-term outlook.
LONDON (Reuters) – Nickel is making a comeback. London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month nickel hit a seven-year high of $20,225 per tonne on Thursday morning and has a new-found spring in its step after collapsing in February.
That is when Chinese steel group Tsingshan announced its Indonesian nickel operations would supply matte – a form of the metal used only for stainless steel production – to battery makers. That undercut a collective bet that only refined nickel would be sufficiently high grade for the electric vehicle sector.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Australian miner formalizes proposal at 70 cents per share
Wyloo Metals has made a formal bid to acquire Noront Resources and the company’s interests in the Ring of Fire. The Australian miner said it submitted its official proposal to Noront on Sept. 3.
According to the bid, Wyloo is offering 70 cents per share of Noront, a deal it calls “superior” to that of its rival bidder, BHP, which is offering 55 cents per share.
TORONTO, Sept. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Board of Directors of Noront Resources Ltd. (“Noront” or the “Company”) (TSXV: NOT) acknowledges receipt of a form of Arrangement Agreement from Wyloo Metals (“Wyloo”) on the evening of Friday September 3, 2021 (the “Arrangement Agreement”), which provides the terms and conditions of the potential transaction proposed by Wyloo to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Noront for C$0.70 per share.
Noront and its advisors are reviewing the Arrangement Agreement and the Noront Board and Special Committee remain focused on fulfilling their fiduciary duties and on surfacing maximum value for the Noront shareholders.
Money continues to pour in for early stage nickel stocks, with Australian upstart Mincor securing the sort of financial support rarely offered to pre-revenue companies at a time when Andrew Forrest and BHP continue to battle over a Canadian nickel explorer.
Tribeca Investment Partners is understood to be the unnamed “global resources fund” that acquired $30 million worth of Mincor stock prior to the nickel aspirant launching this week’s oversubscribed $60 million equity raising, which was further complemented by an unusually supportive $30 million debt arrangement from BNP Paribas.
PERTH, Australia, Sept. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd (“Wyloo Metals”) confirms it submitted an Arrangement Agreement to the Board of Noront Resources Ltd (TSXV:NOT) (“Noront”) for consideration on September 3, 2021. In submitting the agreement, Wyloo Metals calls upon the Noront Board to act in the best interest of shareholders and progress the formalization of Wyloo Metals’ superior proposal in line with its fiduciary obligations.
Wyloo Metals restricted on due diligence
Wyloo Metals received a revised confidentiality agreement from the Noront Board on August 31, 2021. Wyloo Metals was surprised to learn that the removal of the standstill provision required the consent of BHP Western Mining Resources International Pty Ltd. (“BHP”).
TORONTO, Aug. 31, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Noront Resources Ltd. (“Noront” or the “Company”) (TSXV: NOT) acknowledges receipt on August 30, 2021 of a non-binding letter from Wyloo Metals (“Wyloo”). The letter describes Wyloo’s interest in potentially acquiring all of the common shares of Noront that Wyloo does not currently own, subject to a number of conditions, including due diligence, and negotiating and executing a definitive arrangement agreement.
Responding to the Wyloo Proposal
Noront is party to a July 27, 2021 support agreement with BHP Western Mining Resources International Pty Ltd (“BHP”) and its parent, BHP Lonsdale Investments Pty Ltd (the “Support Agreement”), under which Noront agreed to support an offer by BHP to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Noront that BHP does not already own (the “BHP Offer”). As is customary, the Support Agreement defines the circumstances in which Noront is permitted to engage with, and provide confidential information to, another party that makes a proposal to acquire the common shares of Noront.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/
BHP versus Andrew Forrest was once a David and Goliath fight confined to the Pilbara. Today the battle between the two titans of iron ore, has moved to the far reaches of Northern Canada and the quarry they both seek is a nickel company no one has ever heard of.
So small and financially embattled is Noront Resources, that nine months ago it was worth just around $70 million dollars – little more than the petty cash held in the head offices of BHP and Forrest’s Fortescue.
Thanks to the bidding war between Forrest and BHP, Noront is now capitalised at $380 million and counting. Forrest lifted his offer this week to C70 cents per share – trumping BHP’s C55 cents.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd. has bumped up its offer for Noront Resources Ltd., trumping BHP Group Ltd.’s bid, and in a highly unusual move is proposing to keep the struggling Ring of Fire exploration company as a publicly traded entity.
Since May, Toronto-based Noront has been the subject of a takeover tussle between Australian private equity firm Wyloo and BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, which is also based in Australia.
Both are extremely well funded. BHP’s market valuation is US$165-billion. Wyloo is backed by Andrew Forrest, founder and chair of Fortescue Metals Group, and one of the richest individuals in Australia.
Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has hit back at BHP in their battle for a Canadian nickel explorer with big dreams and big challenges.
He might have a $27.5 billion fortune and a $2.35 billion dividend cheque coming from Fortescue Metals Group, but Andrew Forrest still has plenty of the underdog mentality that’s marked his career.
So having watched BHP waltz in and try to pinch Canadian nickel junior Noront Resources out from under him, Forrest was never going to take things lying down.
On Monday night, he launched a fresh bid for the Canadian business, beating BHP’s offer of C55¢ a share with a C70¢ pitch – and throwing in a history lesson to boot.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Australian miner boosts offer to Noront shareholders as take-over battle with BHP continues
The Ring of Fire is now a hands-on project for Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest. Wyloo Metals, a subsidiary company of Forrest’s Tattrarang private investment outfit, is promising new leadership to bring the promise of the James Bay mineral belt to reality as part of its takeover bid of Noront Resources.
In its latest pitch to Noront investors, Perth-headquartered Wyloo wants to clean house at Noront and appoint Forrest as chair of a new board of directors.
While in the early stages of a bidding war with rival BHP, Wyloo issued a new acquisition offer to Noront shareholders on Aug. 30 to acquire the Toronto junior miner’s assets in the remote mineral belt 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.
