Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
The Mexican government proposed raising mining royalties under the argument that metal prices have risen in recent years.
Granada Gold Mine (TSXV:GGM) has provided the first rubidium resource estimate for its flagship gold project of the same name in Quebec. The estimate is based on the mineralization in one drill hole out of the three holes that unexpectedly intersected a deposit of rubidium mineralization above the downward-trending gold veins on the northern edge of the Big claim.
Inferred underground mineral resources totalled 5.3 million tonnes grading 295 g/t rubidium, for 1,600 tonnes of contained rubidium. The resource was estimated using one zone of 21 zones of rubidium mineralization in one 1,600-metre-deep drill hole. A second drill hole, which was collared 1.6 km away on strike and also intercepted rubidium mineralization over multiple zones, was not included in the estimate.
The potential in-situ value of the inferred rubidium resource is the equivalent of 690,000 oz. of gold (at $0.75/g Rb) and 1.28 million oz. of gold (at $1.40/g Rb) using a $1,710.40/oz. gold price for comparison.
“With the first inferred rubidium resource and the successful leaching of the rubidium using the Re-2Ox process, and the global demand for EV metals the potential exists for a significant revised economic evaluation of the Granada gold mine property if rubidium is recovered as a byproduct of the gold mining process,” Granada’s president and CEO Frank Basa stated. Rubidium salts are commonly used in EV lithium-ion batteries and, more recently, in sodium-ion battery electrolytes.
The rubidium estimate is in addition to the recently announced increase in gold resources at Granada based on 30,000 metres of recent drilling. Measured and indicated mineral resources have increased by 21% to 543,000 oz. of gold (contained in 8.2 million tonnes at 2.05 g/t gold) and inferred mineral resources by 71% to 456,000 oz. of gold (contained in 3.0 million tonnes at 4.71 g/t gold).
The Granada property is past producer of high-grade gold adjacent to the prolific Cadillac Break near Rouyn-Noranda in the Abitibi region, and is close to several gold deposits and operating mines in northwestern Quebec.
