Mostly done poking at Pt potentials for now... having looked at a few more explorers.
At Generation, way too early to tell what sort of resource they might be able scope out. I note they're doing a Feasibility study now which will not include results of recent drilling ? As drilling continues. Hmmm. What matters in reporting on the potential is not high grade intercepts, or even just reaching a threshold that theoretically makes economic sense to mine it... but it has to make competitive sense out of funding it to become a mine... given a risk analysis of the alternatives. I don't think they're there yet.
The Canadian projects... Generation and Palladium One... appear to be competing with each other, in reporting out high grade intercepts over narrow widths... But, when you look past high grade narrow widths to see the total width... which is what you have to mine... the averages end up near or under 2 grams per ton of Pd equivalent.
The style of rocks they're poking holes in... are sulphides... notoriously variable in concentrations... not overly uniform... the range in potential variation making predictions from holes drilled harder to rely on. Also they can tend to vary a lot in width of the mineralized zones within a trend... harder to predict, harder to mine... harder to make money from predictably.
Looking at it quickly, I can't tell much about the scope of the potential in larger land packages... but the Feasiblity of a mine in one location... based on a 2 g/ton Pd equivalent being mined ? I'll wait to see what the Feasibility study shows that I'm not seeing now... as a lot will depend on the plan to mine it.
Rocks, Management, Money... l don't see a reason to question the management or the money... but the rocks are an open ended question... I'll expect the Feasibility Study to be somewhat disappointing... maybe too early to be moving it toward mining. Expect the study to note additional work needed.
I mentioned another early stage exploration project , ValOre, reporting a resampling of old cores showing they average 0.25 grams of Rhodium along with other PGEs ? That value in Rhodium at 26K an ounce now... equal to 2.5 grams Pd equivalent by itself... then add in the other PGEs and gold... and how does that compare in value in the rocks... over widths of what extent ? Note they have reports of ores sitting on the surface ? Also guilty like the other Canadians of reporting a lot of high values in small "rock samples" or narrow intercepts which are meaningless or misleading. It's an early stage project... with a report on rocks... which, if you can trust them to not Bre-X you... leaves questions about management and money. Two years ago they'd be lucky to get money to do the work they're doing now... but, now... they just got $8 million by asking for $3. It may prove to have a more unique value proposition because of rocks on the surface and high averages in grades of Rhodium... making it a lot more likely it will become a mine.
It feels a bit disorganized in the way it is presented... but the information seems it is there... pair Generation's effort with ValOre's rocks... and then you might have something ?
The project(s) I've followed for a couple years that still look like they might answers all the questions (rocks, management, money) the best.... looks like it is getting closer to duplicating the rocks they have in the most profitable PGE mines in the world... those in South Africa... and even higher grade than that... Montana... where they share a different style of mineralization... broad widths... relatively uniform... more metal... open as far as you want to follow them. Sibanye-Stillwater tops my PGE list with the highest ROE... but it has a local competitor that is still in the exploration stages...
Group Ten Metals... an explorer like the others... but one that is much more likely to become the next Sibanye-Stillwater... huge widths... a mineralized trend that stretches for 32 km... a couple of spots worth looking at more closely on that trend are already picked out to poke at.
Compare the rocks they have... the nature of them... as well as the numbers reported over total lengths of holes drilled... to the rocks of the Canadian PGE explorers ? What makes a good mine better... is rocks closer to surface... existing infrastructure... and a higher percentage of rocks with value in them worth mining... uniformity in those rocks... and a lower percentage of rocks you have to move... that don't pay you to move them. So, rocks with lower grades of PGEs that are still worth mining without any PGEs in them, because of other metals... make the mine make money... and make the PGEs values a bonus on top ? Higher % grades in Ni, Cu, Cr, etc, might not make your eyes bug out... but they make money from rocks instead of being rocks that are costing you money to move out of the way. Which is why SBSW tops the ROE list... higher values... lower costs.
So, my exploration stage picks, for now, are EastPlats, ValOre, and clear winner Group Ten... |
