VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BatteryOne Royalty Corp. (“BatteryOne” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a portfolio of royalties from Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (“PEMC”) on projects that span over 11,148 hectares in the British Columbia copper belt. The portfolio includes a 1.0% net smelter returns royalty on all metals and minerals produced (collectively, the “Royalties”) from PEMC’s Copper King, NUB East and NWT projects (the “Projects”).
The Projects are located along the trend of some of the largest copper deposits in British Columbia. Projects that are in close proximity include the Kemess and Mount Milligan properties held by Centerra Gold Inc. (“Centerra”), the Kwanika Copper deposit advanced by Posco Daewoo and Serengeti Resources Inc. (“Serengeti”), and the Stardust project held by Sun Metals Corp. (“Sun Metals”), which has attracted Teck Resources as a strategic investor. The Royalties will apply to any rights renewing, deriving, replacing or complementing such Projects at any time, as well as any other rights that in the future form part of the Projects that are within two (2) kilometers of the current outermost boundaries of the Projects. Payment and performance of the Royalties will be secured by title to the mineral claims.
PEMC has also agreed to grant to BatteryOne a right to acquire a 1.0% net smelter returns royalty in the future, on all metals and minerals produced from PEMC’s Pinnacle Reef project (the “Pinnacle Reef NSR Royalty”) in the event the existing option agreement on this property is terminated or expires. PEMC has also agreed to grant BatteryOne a right of first refusal (“ROFR”) on any future royalty or streaming transactions on the Projects.
Mr. Alex Tsukernik, President and Chief Executive Officer of BatteryOne commented, “British Columbia is one of the world's premier jurisdictions for copper, and we see this transaction as the first step in building a strategic part of our exploration royalty portfolio. Following our initial acquisition of a 2% royalty on the Dumont nickel project in Quebec, BatteryOne is quickly building a portfolio of nickel and copper royalties to create a pure-play battery metals royalty company."
Completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including the execution of royalty agreements, and all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals. The closing date for the acquisition of the Royalties is expected to be on or about March 14, 2019.
OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECTS
- The 4,178-hectare Copper King project is 100% owned by PEMC and is located 45 km south of the Kemess project controlled by Centerra. Pacific Empire believes Copper King has geological and structural similarities to Kemess in that Black Lake Intrusive suite porphyritic dikes, plugs and stocks have intruded Takla Group volcanic rocks in close proximity to a regional unconformity. Historically, 459 meters have been drilled on the property with the following results:
- 64m – 0.17% Cu
- 9.2m – 0.15% Cu
- 4.6m – 0.4% Cu
- 10.7m – 0.15% Cu
On March 23, 2016, Aurico Metals Inc. (“Aurico”), the prior owner of the project prior to its acquisition by Centerra, released a positive feasibility study for its Kemess Underground project forecasting a 12-year mine life during which the project would produce 1.4 million oz of gold, 573 million pounds of copper, and 4.5 million oz of silver (see “Technical Report for the Kemess Underground Project and Kemess East Resource Estimate, British Columbia, Canada”, dated July 12, 2017).
In May 2017, Aurico released a preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”) for its Kemess East project, contemplating a stand-alone scenario excluding the economics of its Kemess Underground project. The PEA forecast a 12-year mine life during which the project would produce 963,000 oz of gold, 687 million pounds of copper, and 3.8 million oz of silver (see “Technical Report for the Kemess Underground Project and Kemess East Resource Estimate, British Columbia, Canada," dated July 12, 2017). Based on the positive results of the PEA, Aurico had planned to release a separate Feasibility Study for an integrated development plan for Kemess Underground and Kemess East in 2018. Centerra acquired Aurico on January 8, 2018.
- The 1,258-hectare Nub East Property is 100% owned by PEMC. It is an exploration stage alkalic porphyry property in north-central British Columbia, located 27 kilometers north of Kemess.
- The 5,712-hectare NWT project is 100% owned by PEMC and is an advanced stage copper-gold project located approximately 65 kilometers northwest of Centerra’s Mount Milligan project, 17 kilometers to the east of the Kwanika project advanced by Serengeti and Posco Daewoo and 25 kilometers southeast of the Stardust project owned by Sun Metals Corp.
- On January 15, 2019, Centerra’s year-end results disclosed that Mount Milligan produced 194,993 oz of gold and 47.1 million pounds of copper in 2018
- On November 20, 2018, Serengeti issued a press release expecting the completion of a pre-feasibility study on Kwanika by the end of Q2, 2019. On April 3, 2017, Serengeti released a preliminary economic assessment for Kwanika forecasting a 12-year mine life during which the project would produce 676,300 oz of gold, 601 million pounds of copper, and 2.66 million oz of silver in concentrates (see "NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Kwanika Project Preliminary Economic Assessment Update 2017”, effective study date April 3, 2017, date of revised technical report April 28, 2017).
- On November 14, 2018, Sun Metals issued a press release reporting an intersection of 100 meters at 4.99% Copper-equivalent, including 2.51% copper, 3.03 grams per tonne gold, and 52.5 grams per tonne silver. On December 20, 2018 Sun Metals issued a press release reporting that Teck Resources had acquired $3,500,000 of common shares in its private placement, representing 13.8% of total shares outstanding.
- On January 15, 2019, Centerra’s year-end results disclosed that Mount Milligan produced 194,993 oz of gold and 47.1 million pounds of copper in 2018
- PEMC’s Pinnacle Reef project is located 3 kilometers southeast of the NWT project.
The acquisition price for the Royalties will be C$10,000 in cash and 345,000 common shares of BatteryOne valued at C$0.35 per share. The acquisition price for the Pinnacle Reef NSR Royalty will be C$40,250, payable in shares of BatteryOne at a later date if and when the existing option agreement is terminated or expires.
ABOUT BATTERYONE
BatteryOne is a private royalty company focused on nickel and copper deposits, which it sees as central to the continuing development of Electric Vehicles and the broader electrification thesis. The Company intends to continue growing its portfolio of royalties in those commodities to provide investors with differentiated, focused exposure.
The Company intends to seek a listing on a Canadian stock exchange in 2019.
ON BEHALF OF BATTERYONE ROYALTY CORP.
(signed) “Alex Tsukernik”
President and CEO
Email: info@batteryoneroyalty.com
Website: www.batteryoneroyalty.com
Technical and Third-Party Information
Except where otherwise stated, the disclosure in this press release relating to the Projects and is based on information publicly disclosed by the former owner or operator of this property and information/data available in the public domain as at the date hereof and none of this information has been independently verified by BatteryOne. Specifically, as a royalty holder, BatteryOne has limited, if any, access to the property subject to the Royalties. Although BatteryOne does not have any knowledge that such information may not be accurate, there can be no assurance that such third party information is complete or accurate. Some information publicly reported by the operator may relate to a larger property than the area covered by BatteryOne’s royalty interest. BatteryOne’s royalty interests may cover less than 100% and sometimes only a portion of the publicly reported mineral reserves, mineral resources and production of a property.