TIDMBEM
RNS Number : 1156N
Beowulf Mining PLC
18 May 2020
The information contained within this announcement is deemed to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse
Regulations ("MAR") (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this
announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
18 May 2020
Beowulf Mining plc
("Beowulf" or the "Company")
Finnish Graphite Update
Beowulf (AIM: BEM; Spotlight : BEO), the mineral exploration and
development company, provides an update on the activities of its
100 per cent owned subsidiary Oy Fennoscandian Resources AB
("Fennoscandian").
Fennoscandian continues to develop a 'resource footprint' of
natural flake graphite to provide 'security of supply' to Finland's
emerging battery sector and to benefit from Business Finland
funding, as the Company seeks to move downstream and develop its
knowledge in processing and manufacturing battery grade and
value-added graphite products.
Since Fennoscandian was acquired in January 2016, Beowulf has
invested approximately Euros 1.56 million in graphite exploration,
resource development, metallurgical testwork and the assessment of
market applications for graphite from its Aitolampi project,
including Lithium Ion Battery ("LIB") applications.
Update Highlights:
-- Testwork on a composite sample for Karhunmäki, a new graphite
prospect, produced a concentrate grade of 96.4 per cent Total
Graphitic Carbon ("TGC"), with 51.3 per cent large/jumbo flakes
(+180 micron). An Exploration Permit application has been
submitted.
-- After upgrading the Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for
Aitolampi in 2019, now with an Indicated and Inferred Mineral
Resource of 26.7 million tonnes at 4.8 per cent TGC for 1,275,000
tonnes of contained graphite, Fennoscandian will report, in the
coming weeks, on the results of spheroidization testwork and
battery tests on Aitolampi graphite.
-- Fennoscandian is supporting a study into the supply chain for
LIBs in Finland and collaborating with Åbo Akademi in Turku,
Finland.
-- Fennoscandian has joined, as a consortium member, the
Business Finland funded BATTrace project, which aims to improve
traceability along the battery raw materials value chain using
mineralogical/geochemical fingerprinting, to validate responsible
and sustainable sourcing of cobalt, nickel, lithium and
graphite.
Kurt Budge, Chief Executive Officer of Beowulf, commented:
"While Finland remains on lockdown, the Fennoscandian team is
busy assessing the results of spheroidization and battery tests on
Aitolampi graphite, and contributing to studies on the supply chain
for Lithium Ion Batteries in Finland and the traceability of
graphite being used to manufacture batteries.
"COVID-19 has brought attention to supply chain risk across many
industry sectors, no more so than feeding the growing demand for
batteries for electric vehicle and energy storage. As Finland
develops its battery manufacturing capability, the Country can
address its 'security of supply' issues for the minerals and metals
needed to be self-sufficient.
"With Karhunm ä ki, another seemingly attractive exploration
prospect has been added to the exploration portfolio, and
Fennoscandian is continuing with its strategy of developing a
'resource footprint' of natural flake graphite in Finland and
becoming a future supplier of anode-material and value-added
graphite products. I look forward to providing further
updates."
Finnish Translation:
"Suomen pysyessä eristyksessä Fennoscandianin tiimi on kiireinen
arvioidessaan Aitolammen grafiitin palloitus- ja akkutestien
tuloksia sekä osallistuessaan tutkimuksiin liittyen
litiumioniakkujen toimitusketjuihin Suomessa ja akkujen
valmistuksessa käytettävän grafiitin jäljitettävyyteen."
"COVID-19 on kiinnittänyt huomion toimitusketjun riskeihin
monilla toimialoilla, kuten myös kasvavassa kysynnässä
sähköajoneuvoissa ja energian varastoinnissa käytettävissä olevien
akkujen osalta. Kun Suomi kehittää akkujen valmistus
kapasiteettiaan, maa voi käsitellä "huoltovarmuutta" koskevia
kysymyksiä omavaraisuuden edellyttämien mineraalien ja metallien
osalta."
"Karhunmäen myötä malminetsintä valikoimaan on lisätty toinen
ilmeisen houkutteleva malminetsintä kohde, ja Fennoscandian jatkaa
strategiaansa kehittää luonnollisen suomu grafiitin "resurssi
jalanjälkeä" Suomessa ja tullakseen anodimateriaalin ja
jalostettujen grafiittituotteiden toimittajaksi. Odotan innolla
lisäpäivityksiä."
Karhunmäki Exploration Permit
In 2019, the Fennoscandian team continued to explore for natural
flake graphite prospects in Finland. Comprehensive desktop studies
and fieldwork were undertaken for several locations.
In December 2019, an Exploration Permit application was
submitted for the Karhunmäki 1 prospect, covering an area of
approximately 965 hectares, situated near the town of Lapua in
Western Finland.
Highlights from Karhunmäki fieldwork include:
-- 33 graphite bearing boulders and outcrops were sampled over a
strongly Electromagnetic ("EM") conductive area, measuring 7.0
kilometres by 4.0 kilometres.
-- The 33 samples were analysed for TGC by Leco furnace at ALS
Finland in Outokumpu. The resulting grades ranged between 1.1 per
cent TGC to 10.0 per cent TGC.
-- Metallurgical testwork on a composite of boulder and outcrop
samples taken from a highly EM conductive area measuring 1,200
metres by 700 metres, named the Kiviniemi prospect and within
Karhunmäki, produced a concentrate grade of 96.4 per cent TGC, with
51.3 per cent large/jumbo flakes (+180 micron).
Rääpysjärvi Exploration Permit
Rääpysjärvi is situated in the municipality of Tuusniemi in
Eastern Finland, eight kilometres north-north west of the Aitolampi
project and 30 kilometres south-west of the historic mining town of
Outokumpu.
The Exploration Permit for Rääpysjärvi project, first awarded by
the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency ("Tukes") in April 2019,
with Tukes' decision upheld, after appeal, by the Administrative
Court in Eastern Finland in March 2020, has now be appealed again
to the Supreme Administrative Court in Finland. Fennoscandian is
waiting for the conclusion of this latest action before continuing
to invest in further exploration at R ääpysjärvi .
From fieldwork in 2018, a composite of grab samples from
historic graphite workings was sent to SGS Mineral Services in
Canada, producing a combined concentrate grade of 97.4 per cent
TGC, with 18.8 per cent in the large/jumbo flake fraction (+180
micron). The head grade of the composite was 19.8 per cent TGC. The
head grade of the composite sample, encouraging metallurgical
testwork results, combined with extensive electromagnetic anomalies
show significant potential for flake graphite, and support further
work.
Aitolampi Graphite Project - Resource, Testwork, Environmental
Monitoring
During 2019, further drilling at Aitolampi supported an upgraded
MRE, with an 81 per cent increase in contained graphite (compared
to the 2018 MRE) for the higher-grade western zone, and an updated
global Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 26.7 million
tonnes at 4.8 per cent TGC for 1,275,000 tonnes of contained
graphite.
I n March last year, the Company announced that Fennoscandian
had received additional grant funding from Business Finland, a 50
per cent contribution to a budget of Euros 224,900, for graphite
purification and spheroidization test work, and the further
assessment of Fennoscandian's graphite for battery
applications.
Business Finland has been granted Euros 10 million funding for a
project titled "BATCircle - the development of a Finland-based
Circular Ecosystem of Battery Metals". BATCircle is part of the
European Union ("EU") Strategic Energy Technology Programme, where
Finland, under the leadership of Aalto University and Outotec, will
coordinate research into battery recycling. The national BATCircle
consortium includes a total of 22 companies, four universities, two
research institutes and two cities.
Both spheroidization testwork and battery tests on Aitolampi
graphite have been undertaken in recent months and results will be
reported in the coming weeks.
During 2019, Fennoscandian continued with baseline water quality
monitoring at Aitolampi. The Finnish contractor EHP Environment Oy
is providing the service, using EHP-QMS monitoring stations to
enable 24/7 monitoring of pH and conductivity of surface water,
ground water levels, as well as precipitation, wind direction and
air temperature data. Surface water flow rate data and samples for
chemical analysis are also being collected from four different
locations.
Further Studies - Supply Chain, Traceability
From March 2020, Fennoscandian has been supporting a study into
the graphite supply chain for LIB production in Finland. The study
is being managed by Doctor Anastasia Tsvetkova, Laboratory of
Industrial Management at Åbo Akademi University, and is funded by
the K.H. Renlund Foundation.
The study will provide:
-- A deeper understanding of the Chinese graphite supply chain and global LIB business.
-- Understanding of the current LIB business ecosystem in Europe
and the prospects for its development.
-- Identification of various scenarios for supply of graphite
for LIB production in Europe and the potential competitive
advantages compared to Chinese material supply.
-- New business opportunities for a Finnish graphite mining and refinement industry.
-- Security of supply of one of the critical raw materials in the EU.
-- Possibility to produce LIB within EU with a lower
environmental impact using traceable raw materials.
In April 2020, the BATTrace project received funding from
Business Finland. The project runs between 2020 and 2023, and aims
to improve traceability along the battery raw materials value chain
using mineralogical/geochemical fingerprinting, to validate
responsible and sustainable sourcing of cobalt, lithium, nickel and
graphite. The consortium is led by the Finnish research
organisation VTT. Other partners in the consortium include
Fennoscandian, Finnish Minerals Group, Keliber, Outotec, Valmet
Automation, Latitude 66 Cobalt, Mawson Resources and the Geological
Survey of Finland.
Competent Person Review
The information in this announcement has been reviewed by Mr.
Rasmus Blomqvist, a Competent Person who is a Member of the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr. Rasmus
Blomqvist has sufficient experience, that is relevant to the style
of mineralisation and type of deposit taken into consideration, and
to the activity being undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person
as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code of
Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore
Reserves".
Mr. Rasmus Blomqvist is a full-time employee of Oy Fennoscandian
Resources AB, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Beowulf.
Mr Blomqvist consents to the inclusion in the announcement of
the information presented in the form and context in which it
appears.
Enquiries:
Beowulf Mining plc
Kurt Budge, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0) 20 3771
Officer 6993
SP Angel
(Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Ewan Leggat / Soltan Tagiev Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470
0470
Blytheweigh
Tim Blythe / Megan Ray Tel: +44 (0) 20 7138
3204
Cautionary Statement
Statements and assumptions made in this document with respect to
the Company's current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs, and
other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking
statements about the future performance of Beowulf. Forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, those using words such
as "may", "might", "seeks", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates",
"believes", "projects", "plans", strategy", "forecast" and similar
expressions. These statements reflect management's expectations and
assumptions in light of currently available information. They are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not
limited to , (i) changes in the economic, regulatory and political
environments in the countries where Beowulf operates; (ii) changes
relating to the geological information available in respect of the
various projects undertaken; (iii) Beowulf's continued ability to
secure enough financing to carry on its operations as a going
concern; (iv) the success of its potential joint ventures and
alliances, if any; (v) metal prices, particularly as regards iron
ore. In the light of the many risks and uncertainties surrounding
any mineral project at an early stage of its development, the
actual results could differ materially from those presented and
forecast in this document. Beowulf assumes no unconditional
obligation to immediately update any such statements and/or
forecasts.
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END
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