Kingsrose Mining (KRM) - Technical Analysis & Due Diligence

Kingsrose Mining Limited is an ASX-listed mineral exploration company with assets in Indonesia, Finland and Norway. The asset portfolio of the company consists of the Penikat PGE-nickel-copper-gold project located in Western Finland, the Porsanger project, a nickel-copper-PGE deposit in Norway and the Way Linggo project located on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The Penikat project is a 100%-owned high-grade PGE, nickel and copper project with a combined strike length of 25 km within a layered intrusion.  The project holds a land position of 20 km2 and lies 25 km from the port of Kemi. The Porsanger project is a 100%-owned, 50 kmland package, which hosts PGE and copper mineralisation similar to that found at the Sakatti Ni-Cu PGE deposit of Anglo American. The company also owns 85% of the Way Linggo project, a 10,540-hectare land package which hosts both the Talang Santo and Way Linggo past producing mines.

Company Overview

The company announced on the 5th May 2020 that it had encountered significant Rhodium (Rh), Iridium (Ir) and Ruthenium (Ru) mineralisation in previously reported mineralised intervals at its Penikat project.

Kingrose Mining Ltd. also announced on the 1st of July 2022, that it had entered into a process deed with PT Kreasi Camerlang Lestari, an Indonesian investment holding company for the sale of its Way Linggo project.

The company also provided an exploration update to its Porsanger project on the 8th of July 2022. The announcement included the commencement of ground-based fixed loop electromagnetic (FLEM) geophysical surveys. The exploration initiatives will enable the company to complete a geophysical model of the project which will serve in the identification of drill targets for a planned future drilling program. 

Management

The Company is led by Fabian Baker, who has more than a decade’s experience in the mineral exploration industry. Baker previously served as the Chief Geologist at Lydian International. In his time at Lydian International, Baker was integral to the delineation of the Amulsar gold deposit in Armenia, as well as the development of its feasibility study. Baker also previously served as the Exploration Manager of Royal Road Minerals in Turkey. Baker was also the founder and CEO of Tethyan Resource Corp., where he led the company’s entry into Serbia and Balkan countries and played a crucial part in the identifying, and negotiations of various gold, silver and base metals advanced exploration assets.  Tethyan Resource Corp. was acquired by Adriatic Metals Plc in 2020.

Joanna Kiernan is the Company Secretary of Kingrose Mining Ltd. and brings with her over 16 years of experience in the administration and operation of publicly traded companies. She has previously held the position of Company Secretary for various ASX, AIM and SGX listed resource companies.

Mark Smith is the Chief Financial Officer of Kingrose Mining Ltd. and has more than 20 years of experience in financial and operational roles in the mining industry. He previously served as the CFO and Group Financial Controller for Centamin PLC, where he played an integral role in the development, construction and operation of the Sukari Gold Project. Smith has also previously served as the Commercial Manager for both Endeavour Mining Ltd. as well as Lihir Gold Ltd.

Dr Katariina Koikkalainen is the Head of Sustainability for the company and has been involved in developing environmentally conscious and sustainable mining operations for over a decade. She previously held the position of Sustainability Manager at Ramboll, where she was involved with various large mining operations in Finland, including the Terrafame nickel mine. Koikkalainen is well versed in the environmental risk analyses and risk management of mining operations at various stages of a project’s life cycle.

The exploration endeavours of the company are dealt with by Andrew Tunningley, Peter Dodds and Scott Spurrier, who serve as the Head of Exploration, Exploration Manager and Exploration Geologist respectively. Tunningley has over 20 years of experience in the exploration of various precious and base metal deposits in Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Americas. He has previously held senior management roles with various exploration companies, including serving as senior geologist with Ivanhoe Mines in Mongolia and China, as well as Exploration Manager for Tethyan Resource Corp and Adriatic Metals in Eastern Europe.

Dodds has been involved in the execution and management of various exploration field programs for a wide variety of base and precious metals in both Scandinavia as well as Greenland. Spurrier has been involved in early to resource stage base and precious metals exploration across Europe as well as Africa and has more than 15 years of experience as a geologist. He was previously a key member of the Tethyan Resources team which built out the Raska District in Serbia and led to its acquisition by Adriatic Metals, where he remained and held the position of Project Geologist.

Projects

The asset portfolio of Kingrose Mining Ltd. consists of the Penikat PGE-nickel-copper-gold project located in Western Finland, the Porsanger project, a nickel-copper-PGE deposit in Norway and the Way Linggo project located on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The Penikat project holds high-grade PGE, nickel and copper mineralisation in three outcropping parallel reefs, with a combined strike length of 25 km within a layered intrusion.  The project, which lies 25 km from the port of Kemi, is located in the vicinity of both major roads, rail and power infrastructures. The project is 100%-owned by Kingrose Mining Ltd. and holds a land position of approximately 20 km2.

The Porsanger project is a 100%-owned, 50 km2 land package, which hosts PGE and copper mineralisation similar to that found at the Sakatti Ni-Cu PGE deposit of Anglo American. The project has in the past shown mineralisation of 1.2 g/t palladium equivalent (PdEq) over an intercept of 43.2 m as well as 1.0 g/t PdEq over 53 m.

The company also owns 85% of the Way Linggo project, a 10,540-hectare land package which hosts both the Talang Santo and Way Linggo past-producing mines. Mining at the operations ceased in 2020, with the operations being put in care and maintenance. The infrastructure of the project, being placed in care and maintenance is well maintained and includes a 140 ktpa mineral processing facility. The project lies on the Trans Sumatra Fault Zone, an occurrence which hosts various multi-million-ounce gold deposits.

Mineralisation at the Penikat project

Kingrose Mining Ltd. announced on the 5th of May 2020 that it had encountered significant Rhodium (Rh), Iridium (Ir) and Ruthenium (Ru) mineralisation in previously reported mineralised intervals. The discovery forms a part of the company’s drill core resampling initiatives at the project.

The average grade of Rhodium in the project’s mineralisation differs for each reef, with the average of the project’s SJ Reef being 0.25 g/t Rh and its AP and PV reefs averaging 0.1 g/t Rh. The highlights of the drill core resampling include a 2.0 m interval at a 0.84 g/t Rh grade, 0.25 g/t Ir grade and 0.22 Ru which includes a 0.5 m intercept at 2.1 g/t of Rh, 0.64 g/t of Ir and 0.66 g/t of Ru. The Intercept also includes 1.8 g/t Pd, 4.1 g/t Pt, 0.1 g/t Au and 0.15 % Ni.

The occurrence of Rhodium and Iridium at the project produces the possibility of the company supplying high-value and rare PGEs to the market. Rhodium is most commonly found in catalytic converters for cars, with its primary focus being to reduce nitrogen oxides in exhaust gases. Iridium is most commonly used as a hardening agent for platinum and high-temperature crucibles. The average price of Rhodium is approximately USD$ 18,000 per ounce with Iridium trading at USD$ 5,000 per ounce on average.

The drill core resampling program of the company has also led to the company publishing an exploration target estimate for the project.

The company announced on the 28th of June 2022, that it had enlisted the services of Jeremy Witley, the Head of the Mineral Resources Department of The MSA Group in South Africa to prepare a JORC compliant exploration target estimate.

The estimate of the exploration target shows 21 to 32 million tons of mineralisation at a grade of 4.0 g/t to 7.4 g/t of 6E. 6E is a term used to express the sum of platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and gold in mineralisation. The estimate ranks the Penikat Project as one of the highest-grade PGE deposits in the world.

The sale of the Way Linggo project

Kingrose Mining Ltd. announced on the 1st of July 2022, that it had entered into a process deed with PT Kreasi Camerlang Lestari (PTKCL), an Indonesian investment holding company.

The process deed will consist of a focused due diligence program by PTKCL and a drilling program prepared in collaboration with and funded by PTKCL. The drill program, which has been conducted, consisted of 4 holes drilled into the Maul Vein area of the project for a total of 436.1 m. The process deed further includes the payment of a USD$ 100,000 deposit as well as a 60-day exclusivity period.

The completed 436.1 m drill program was able to identify high-grade gold and silver mineralisation at the project. Kingrose Mining Ltd. announced on the 12th of July 2022, that it had encountered concealed near-surface mineralisation as well as shallow mineralisation. The highlights of the drilling results include a 6 m intercept at a grade of 4.3 g/t of gold and 14 g/t of silver, which includes a 0.4 m interval at 31.3 g/t of gold and 36 g/t of silver.

The drill results further showed good continuity of high-grade shallow mineralisation with highlights as an intercept of 2.2 m at a grade of 7.9 g/t gold and 31 g/t of silver starting at 35.3 m below the surface as well as 1.6 m of mineralisation at a grade of 4.4 g/t gold and 11 g/t of silver starting at a depth of 32.5 m.

Porsanger project exploration

Kingrose Mining Ltd. provided an exploration update to its Porsanger project on the 8th of July 2022. The announcement included the commencement of a ground-based fixed loop electromagnetic (FLEM) geophysical survey targeting the Porsvann and Karenhaugen intrusions of the project, which cover 1.2 km to a depth of a minimum of 500 m. The first FLEM survey conducted at the project within the Porsanger area was aimed at targeting feeder-conduit type massive sulphide PGE-copper-nickel mineralisation at depth, underlying broad historical drilling intervals of disseminated PGE and copper mineralisation from the surface. The mineralisation included a 53 m intercept at 0.8 g/t palladium, 0.3 g/t platinum and 0.1 % copper from a depth of 2.9 m.

The exploration initiatives will enable the company to complete a geophysical model of the project which will serve in the identification of drill targets for a planned future drilling program. 

The company has also resubmitted 313 samples of quarter cut drill core, collected from nine historical holes at the Porsvann and Karenhaugen intrusions of the project. The samples are to be sent for palladium, platinum, gold, rhodium and multi-element analysis which will be aimed at verifying historical data as well as analysing the samples for various other precious and base metals.

Future

Kingrose Mining Ltd. has a strong cash position of AUD$ 26 million in the bank, with it set to increase its cash position through its divestment initiative at the Way Linggo project. The company intends to conclude with the sale of the project in the coming year, with it aiming to retain a royalty on future production at the project.

The company will furthermore implement its strong cash position towards the advancement of both its Penikat and Porsanger projects. The company’s exploration initiatives are fully funded, thanks to its cash position for the coming year, with Kingrose Minerals Ltd. not looking to raise any funds in the near future.  

To find out more, go to the Kingsrose Mining website