Azure Minerals (AZS) - $20M Sale Funds Nickel Copper Project

Azure Minerals Ltd. is an ASX-listed junior mining company focused on the advancement of its Andover Nickel-Copper-Cobalt project, located in Western Australia. The company was previously advancing its various Mexican projects between 2006 and 2020 but re-aligned its focus after it acquired four nickel, copper, cobalt and gold projects in Pilbara, Western Australia.

Company Overview

Azure Mineral Ltd. announced at the end of May 2022, that it had entered into a binding, conditional sales agreement for the sale of its subsidiary companies, which own and operate the company’s Mexican precious and base metals projects. The sales agreement will see the company sell its Mexican assets to Bendito Resources Inc. for a combination of cash and shares to the value of AUD$ 20 million.

Azure Minerals Ltd. released an exploration and Geological update for the Andover project near the end of May 2022. The company announced that it had identified a 4 km long nickel-rich mineral belt, the Southern Mineralised Corridor (SMC), which remains underexplored and may continue for approximately 6 km to the east of the project’s Seaview deposit. The Andover project further hosts the Ridgeline, Skyline, Atrium and Woodbrook deposits.

Management

The company is led by Anthony Rovira, who serves as the Managing Director of the company. Rovira has more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry, starting his career as an exploration and mining geologist. He has been serving as the managing director of Azure Minerals Ltd. for the past 17 years and has been responsible for the discovery of various gold and nickel deposits which have been developed into operating mines in Australia. Rovira was awarded the Prospector of the Year Award, in 2000, by the Australian Association of Mining and Exploration Companies for his work on the Cosmos discovery, currently owned by Western Areas Ltd.

Brian Thomas is the Chairman of the company’s board and has more than 35 years of experience in the mining and exploration industry. He has been involved in a large number of different commodities including precious and base metals, bulk and industrial minerals, diamonds and oil and gas. Thomas is also the principal of a boutique corporate advisory practice. The practice is focused primarily on small to mid-market capitalisation companies predominantly in the resources industry as well as investor groups. Thomas has been involved with various ASX-listed companies in either an Executive or Non-Executive Director capacity and has been involved in the financial services sector in corporate stockbroking, investment banking, funds management and banking throughout his career.

Brett Dickson is the Company Secretary and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Dickson is a Certified Practising Accountant and has had a successful corporate career focusing on the start-up, restructuring, management, growth and financing of emerging, publicly-listed mining, exploration and oil and gas companies. He has experience in capital and debt raisings, corporate restructuring, stock exchange listings on the TSX, ASX and AIM Stock Exchanges as well as in mineral exploration, mining and feasibility studies. Dickson has also formed part of the management for various publicly listed resource companies with activities in various countries including Australia and Latin America.

Annie Guo and Hansjörg Plaggemars are Non-Executive Directors of Azure Minerals Ltd. Guo brings with her more than 20 years of experience in the mining and resources sector. She held various senior roles in transaction services in her 12 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, with her focus being the mining and resource sectors. She is well versed, through her investment platform, in the matters of publicly and privately traded companies. She is currently the Managing Director of Zuleika Gold Limited. Guo has experience in the evaluation of mining projects, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, project development and corporate finance.

Plaggemars is well experienced in serving as a company director with a strong background in corporate finance, corporate strategy and governance. He has been on the board of various publicly and privately traded companies in various industries including mining, agriculture, shipping, construction and investments. He also forms part of the Board of Delphi Unternehmensberatung AG, a major shareholder of Azure Minerals Ltd.

Rounding out the management team is Graham Leaver, who brings with him more than 25 years of experience in technical and managerial roles within the base metal and gold exploration and mining geology sector of Australia. Leaver has extensive experience in sulphide nickel operations from his time at various mining companies including Black Mountain Metals, Talisman Mining, Xstrata Nickel, Jubilee Mines, Black Swan Nickel and WMC. Leaver has been involved with projects throughout its various stages including exploration and targeting, discovery, development and production.

The management team of Azure Minerals Ltd. are tasked with steering the company through its new and re-aligned Western Australian focused strategy.

Mexican asset sales

Azure Mineral Ltd. announced at the end of May 2022, that it had entered into a binding, conditional sale agreement for the sale of its Mexican subsidiary companies, which own and operate the company’s Mexican precious and base metals projects. The sales agreement will see the company sell its Mexican assets to Bendito Resources Inc. for a combination of cash payments and shares to the value of AUD$ 20 million.

Azure Minerals Ltd. will upon the completion of the transaction receive an immediate cash payment of AUD$ 6 million and a 10% equity interest, which is currently valued at AUD$ 2 million in Bendito Resources Inc. The agreement further entails a second cash payment of AUD$ 4 million and AUD$ 8 million in shares within 18 months of the completion of the transaction.

Bendito Resources Inc. intends to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange within 18 months of the completion of the acquisition of the Alacrán, Oposura and Promontorio projects. The projects acquired from Azure Minerals Ltd. will form the core assets of Bendito Resources Inc.

Azure Minerals Ltd. believes that the sales agreement, which will see it own approximately 15% of the issued capital of Bendito Resources Inc., is advantageous to the company and its shareholders, as it retains exposure to the upside of its previous projects whilst receiving a significant cash return.

Western Australian projects

The Western Australian Asset portfolio of the company consists of the Turner River, Coongan, Meentheena, Barton and Andover projects. The Turner River, Coongan and Meentheena Gold Projects are joint ventures of the company with the Creasy Group. The projects are 70% owned by Azure Minerals Ltd. with the remaining 30% owned by the Creasy Group. The Turner River Gold project is a 450 km2 land package consisting of two exploration licence applications located south of the town of Port Hedland. The project has not seen any form of exploration within its area. The project is also located in close proximity to the 2.2-million-ounce Mallina Gold Project, owned by De Grey Mining. The Coongan Gold project holds a 141 kmland position and hosts various mineral deposits and occurrences. The project is located in the Eastern Pilbara Craton of Western Australia, adjacent to the western boundary of the 903 Koz Beatons Creek Gold project owned by Novo Resources Corp. The Meentheena Gold project is also located in the Eastern Pilbara Craton of Western Australia, approximately 80 km east of the town of Marble Bar. The project has a 223 km2 land position and has an extensive exploration history.

The Barton Gold project of the company is a 100% owned asset which is located adjacent to the town of Kookynie, approximately 40 km south of Leonora in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. The project has a land position of 200 km2 and is located between various large and growing gold deposits and projects. The area includes projects such as the Ulysses Gold project, which hosts 1.608 million ounces of gold and is owned by Genesis Minerals Ltd. as well as the 944 Koz Apollo Hill Gold project, owned by Saturn Minerals Ltd.

The Andover project of the company is a 70 km2 land package, located 35 km southeast of the city of Karratha and has shown significant nickel, copper and cobalt sulphide mineralisation. The project has access to various infrastructures including airports, port access, railway, grid power, sealed highways and support services. The project is a joint venture with the Creasy Group, with Azure Minerals Ltd. owning a 60% interest in the project. The company released a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Andover project in March of 2022, which shows highlights as 4.6 million tons of mineralisation at a grade of 1.11% nickel (Ni), 0.47% copper (Cu) and 0.05% cobalt (Co), with 80% of the MRE being in the indicated category. The project also contains a high-grade component of 2 million tons of mineralisation at a grade of 1.41% Ni, 0.49% Cu and 0.06% Co.

Andover project strategy

Azure Minerals Ltd. released an exploration and Geological update for the Andover project near the end of May 2022. The company announced that through various exploration initiatives it was able to identify a more than 4 km long nickel-rich mineral belt, which has been named the Southern Mineralised Corridor (SMC). The company states that the SMC remains underexplored, with initial results indicating that it may continue for approximately 6 km to the east of the project’s Seaview deposit.

The Seaview deposit of the project has shown mineralisation such as 7.0 m at a grade of 1.35% Ni, 0.45% Cu and 0.08% Co. The project further includes the Ridgeline deposit which hosts nickel-rich massive sulphides that have shown grades up to 3.95% Ni, 0.80% Cu and 0.16% Co within an intercept of 4.5 m. The Skyline deposit of the project hosts disseminated sulphides with past exploration initiatives showing mineralisation of 1.16% Ni, 1.41% Cu and 0.08% Co over an intercept of 2.2 m. The Atrium and Woodbrook deposits both host nickel-rich gossan mineralisation.

Future initiatives

Azure Minerals Ltd. will continue to focus on the SMC deposit between the Seaview and Ridgeline deposits of the Andover project. The company currently has two rigs drilling at Ridgeline and Atrium deposits, with down hole electromagnetic (DHEM) surveys planned to be conducted in the recently drilled Ridgeline drill holes. The DHEM surveys continue at the drill holes of the Skyline and Atrium deposits. The company is underway with a detailed mapping and sampling program at the SMC deposit, with fixed loop electromagnetic (FLEM) analysis planned to commence after the mapping. The company has also commenced with FLEM analysis at the pipeline prospect of the project, which has shown mineralisation of 0.38% Ni, 0.96% Cu, 160ppb Pt and 3140 ppb Pd in earlier exploration drilling. The company plans to continue advancing the Andover Project through the Mineral Resource and Scoping Study stages in the future.

Azure Minerals Ltd. also plans to conduct exploration drilling at its Turner River Gold project in the future. The company aims to identify similar mineralisation as the nearby Mallina and Hemi gold deposits.

The company will continue with the exploration of its Barton Gold project, with Azure Minerals Ltd. reporting in the middle of May 2022 that it had intersected gold at the project. The highlights of the mineralisation include 0.68 g/t of gold over a mineralisation intercept of 4.0 m, as well as 0.92 g/t of gold over an intercept of 5.0 m. Azure Minerals Ltd. is currently underway with follow-up work at the Barton Gold project, which includes geological mapping and soil sampling programs aimed at identifying targets for the next phase of drilling at the project.

 To find out more, go to the Azure Minerals website