Mercuria eyes equity in African assets, new metals boss says
“You will see us very present in Africa and putting our money where our mouth is in respect of the Copperbelt,” Kostas Bintas said.
Explorer and developer Bluejay Mining (LON: JAY) is reshuffling its board as it progresses to the next stage of development of its projects, particularly the Dundas ilmenite asset in Greenland.
The company, which secured a 30-year mining licence for Dundas in December, said chief executive Rod McIllree has assumed as the board’s executive chairperson. He has been replaced by Bo Møller Stensgaard, who was Bluejay’s chief operating officer.
Former chairperson Mike Hutchinson will now act as nonexecutive director and chair of the remuneration committee.
The company achieved key milestones in 2020, including the expansion of its footprint in Greenland, where it plans to produce 440,000 tonnes of ilmenite annually over an initial mine life of 11 years.
Ilmenite is considered the most important ore of titanium, used commercially in the production of paint, adhesives and personal care products such as toothpaste.
Bluejay also advanced its drilling campaigns at the nickel-copper-platinum-cobalt project at Disko-Nuussuaq and the lead-zinc-silver Kangerluarsuk deposit, both in Greenland.
The junior was also able to lure Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO), inking a joint venture and earn-in agreement with to advance the Enonkoski nickel project in Finland.
The deal could see the world’s second-largest miner progressively earn up to a 75% interest in the project by injecting $20 million into Enonkoski, either by covering expenses or paying cash equivalent amounts, over three stages.
The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, FinnAust Mining Finland Oy, is currently one of the largest license holders in Finland, where it plans to produce mostly copper and zinc.
FinnAust Mining fully-owns a range of brownfield exploration licenses surrounding historical mines, including the Hammaslahti copper mine, the Outokumpu copper mines and the Enonkoski nickel belt, which hosts the Enonkoski project.
The past-producing Enonkoski mine churned out 6.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.8% nickel between 1984 and 1994.
Rio Tinto and Bluejay Mining have also been working together on the Dundas project. The goal is to review and potentially improve the technical work the junior completed to the date of the agreement on its fully-owned asset.
