Quarterly Report for the period ended 31 Dec 2021

RNS Number : 1159A

Future Metals NL

31 January 2022

 

Future Metals NL

Quarterly Activities and Cashflow Report

for the period ended 31 December 2021

Future Metals NL ("Future Metals" or the "Company", ASX|AIM: FME ), a platinum group metals ("PGM") focussed company, is pleased to provide its Quarterly Activities and Cashflow report for the quarter ended 31 December 2021 (the "December Quarter").

Highlights

Panton PGM Project

§ Over 6,000m of diamond core drilling programme completed at the Company's 100% owned Panton PGM Project ("Panton")

§ Results from the initial eight metallurgical holes drilled to provide samples for flotation optimisation and variability test work (please refer to the Company's announcements of 28 October 2021 and 17 January 2022) included:

o  8.4m @ 4.89g/t PGM 3E   from 32.6m (PS383)

o  12.6m @ 2.58g/t PGM 3E from 54.4m (PS385)

· including 4.6m @ 5.42g/tPGM 3E   from 54.4m

o  13m @ 1.03g/t PGM 3E from 43m (PS386)

o  20.8m @ 5.34g/t PGM 3E from 89.3m (PS388)

· including 10.1m @ 9.00g/t PGM 3E from 92.5m

o  14.8m @ 3.88g/t PGM 3E from 38.4m (PS384)

· including 7.8m @ 6.46g/tPGM 3E from 39.4m

o  11m @ 3.94g/t PGM 3E from 100m (PS389)

· including 4.35m @ 5.72g/t PGM 3E from 103m

o  8m @ 1.98g/t PGM 3E from 25m (PS382)

· including 2m @ 4.86g/t PGM 3E from 25.5m

§ Assay results pending for a further 52 exploration drill holes comprising 19 holes recently drilled and 33 historical holes that were not previously sampled through the footwall of the Upper Reef

§ Review of historical drilling data highlighted the potential for large-scale, shallow PGM-Ni mineralisation

§ Once all assays received, the Company will incorporate the new results into an updated MRE that will encompass shallow, bulk PGM-Ni mineralisation up to 20-40 metres in thickness, that importantly sits outside of the current MRE (please refer to the Company's announcement of 8 December 2021)

Corporate

§ Subsequent to the end of the December Quarter, the Company announced the appointments of Mr Jardee Kininmonth as Chief Executive Officer and Mr Brian Talbot as Operational & Technical Lead Advisor

§ Cash position of approximately A$5.6 million as at 31 December 2021 (prior to the payment of stamp duty associated with the Panton acquisition)  

¹ 3E = Palladium (Pd) + Platinum (Pt) + Gold (Au)

Panton PGM Project

The 100% owned Panton PGM project is located 60 kilometres north of the town of Halls Creek in the eastern Kimberly region of Western Australia, a tier one mining jurisdiction (please refer to Figure One) . The Great Northern Highway provides direct access to the Port of Wyndham .

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1159A_1-2022-1-31.pdf

Figure One | Panton Location

Panton is held under three granted Mining Leases (M80/103, M80/104 and M80/105) covering an area of approximately 23km².  Past exploration and drilling, predominantly undertaken by Platinum Australia Ltd ("Platinum Australia") in the early 2000s, resulted in the delineation of the current Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the Panton deposit undertaken by Cube Consulting Pty Ltd ("Cube") in April 2003. In August 2015, Cube reviewed and re-reported the MRE in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves 2012 ("JORC 2012"). 

The current Panton MRE is 14.32Mt @ 4.89g/t PGM (6E) , 0.31g/t Au and 0.27% Ni   (please refer to Table One) . The Panton mineralisation occurs within a layered, differentiated mafic-ultramafic intrusion referred to as the Panton intrusive which is a 10km long and 3km wide, south-west plunging synclinal intrusion. The Panton MRE is domained into the A, B, C and D Blocks (please refer to Figures Two and Three) .

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1159A_1-2022-1-31.pdf

Table One | Panton JORC 2012 MRE

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1159A_1-2022-1-31.pdf

Figure Two | Panton Geology Showing the A, B, C and D Blocks

December Quarter's Activity

Review of Historical Drilling | Shallow, Bulk PGM-Ni Mineralisation

During the December Quarter, the Company undertook a review of the historical drilling undertaken at Panton which consisted of 377 holes for 69,292 metres. The focus of drilling activity and resource estimation to date has been on the chromitite reefs, which host high-grade PGM mineralisation.

The current 2.4Moz MRE is contained within 3.5 kilometres of strike (sub-blocked into the A, B, C and D Blocks)   (please refer to Figures Two and Three)   and constrained to a +2.0g/t PGM 3E wireframe.  The current MRE is 14.32Mt with 10.09Mt contained within the Upper (Top) Reef and 4.23Mt within the Middle Reef (please refer to Table One).  

A review of the assay results for those holes that were drilled and sampled through the Upper Reef footwall demonstrates substantial bulk PGM-Ni mineralisation, outside of the current MRE. There are widths of 20m-40m in the mineralised footwall dunite that has not been considered in the MRE (please refer to Figure Four) .

The below are reported at a 0.5g/t PGM 3E cut-off, with maximum internal waste of 4m, and the results in the top 150m include the following intervals (please refer to the Company's announcement of 8 December 2021) :

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1159A_1-2022-1-31.pdf

Table Two | Shallow (<150m) Drilling Results

¹ 3E = Palladium (Pd) + Platinum (Pt) + Gold (Au)

² PdEq (Palladium Equivalent g/t) = Pd(g/t) + 0.76471Pt(g/t) + 1.90394xNi(%) + 1.38936xCu(%) + 8.23xCo(%)
 

In the past, drill holes were often terminated once the hole reached the 'Upper Reef' or the 'Middle Reef' and were not drilled through the entire prospective footwall horizon to the 'Lower Reef' (please refer to Figure Five) .  Several drill holes only had samples and assays taken within the visible chromitite in the Upper and Middle Reef and were not sampled between or below in the host dunite rock. The selection of historical drill holes in Table Two demonstrate the potential of the complete mineralised zone associated with the 'Upper', 'Middle' and 'Lower' reefs within the Panton deposit.

Following this review of historical drilling, the Company identified historical drill holes that were not sampled and assayed through the mineralised footwall dunite.  A total of 33 historical drill holes were identified and then cut and sampled for submission to the laboratory for assay.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1159A_1-2022-1-31.pdf

Figure Three | Panton Drill Hole Plan

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1159A_1-2022-1-31.pdf	http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1159A_1-2022-1-31.pdf
Figure Four | Panton Cross Section	Figure Five | Panton Cross Section

Exploration Drilling

During the December Quarter, the Company also completed over 6,000m of diamond core drilling at its 100% owned Panton PGM Project. This programme, which will recommence after the wet season, is designed to:

§ provide samples for further metallurgical test work;

§ test continuity and depth extensions to the existing MRE;

§ test the potential for defining a much larger and shallower mineralised zone at lower cut-off grades; and

§ test parallel zones of highly anomalous PGM at surface (i.e. the Northern Anomaly)

The Company completed 27 drill holes with eight holes drilled to provide metallurgical samples as reported below.  Assay results from the remaining 19 exploration holes remain pending with samples submitted to Bureau Veritas in Perth, Western Australia in 11 batches between October 2021 and January 2022. The initial batch of results are expected to be received imminently.

Combined with the 33 historical drill holes sampled and submitted for assay, the Company has assays pending on 52 drilling holes which are expected to be reported over the next 2-3 months.

Once received, all new assay data will be incorporated into a new MRE for the Panton PGM Project. The planned updated MRE will take into consideration shallow, bulk PGM-Ni mineralisation that sits outside of the current MRE (please refer to the Company's announcement of 8 December 2021) .

Metallurgical Drilling

A total of eight metallurgical holes were drilled (PS382 - PS389) to recover sufficient mineralised chromitite reef and associated mineralised dunite for metallurgical test work.

Results were reported for the initial five holes on 28 October 2021 and for the remaining three holes on 17 January 2022. These results are set out in Table Three below:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1159A_1-2022-1-31.pdf

Table Three | Metallurgical Sample Drilling Assay Results

Metallurgical flotation test work is underway at ALS Laboratories in Perth, Western Australia. Test work is being carried out on both high-grade and lower-grade bulk samples composited from the eight metallurgical drill holes. 

Palladium Equivalent (PdEq)

Based on metallurgical test work completed on Panton samples, all quoted elements included in the metal equivalent calculation (palladium, platinum, gold, nickel, copper and cobalt) have a reasonable potential of being ultimately recovered and sold. 

Metal recoveries used in the palladium equivalent (PdEq) calculations are in the midpoint of the range of recoveries for each element based on metallurgical test work undertaken to date at Panton. It should be noted that palladium and platinum grades reported in this announcement are lower than the palladium and platinum grades of samples that were subject to metallurgical test work (grades of other elements are similar).

Metal recoveries used in the palladium equivalent calculations are shown below:

§ Palladium 80%, Platinum 80%, Gold 70%, Nickel 45%, Copper 67.5% and Cobalt 60%

Metal prices used are also shown below:

§ Palladium US$1,700/oz, Platinum US$1,300/oz, Gold US$1,700/oz, Nickel US$18,500/t, Copper US$9,000/t and Cobalt US$60,000/t

Metal equivalents were calculated according to the follow formula:

§ PdEq (Palladium Equivalent g/t) = Pd(g/t) + 0.76471 x Pt(g/t) + 0.875 x Au(g/t) +1.90394 x Ni(%) + 1.38936 x Cu(%) + 8.23 x Co(%)

Corporate

Financial Commentary

The Quarterly Cashflow Report for the period ending 31 December 2021 provides an overview of the Company's financial activities.

The Company is in a strong financial position with approximately A$5.6 million in cash at the end of the December Quarter.  Such cash position is prior to the payment of the stamp duty associated with the acquisition of the Panton PGM Project.  The net cash position is considered sufficient to fund corporate costs and also facilitate the acceleration of exploration programmes at Panton well into 2022.

Expenditure on exploration during the reporting period amounted to approximately A$1.44m and included costs associated with drilling (A$876k) and payments to field assistants (A$110k). Payments for administration and corporate costs amounted to approximately A$445k and included costs for and associated with director and consulting fees (A$195k) and listing and compliance fees (A$91k).

The aggregate amount of payments to related parties and their associates included in the December Quarter cash flows from operating activities was A$169k comprising Director fees and remuneration (including superannuation).

The Company also incurred costs of approximately A$705k in respect of its requisite readmission process to restore its quotation on AIM.

Statement of Commitments

The December Quarter is covered by the Statement of Commitments¹ outlined in the ASX Prospectus dated 18 May 2021.  A summary of expenditure to date is outlined in Table Four below.

	Proposed Use of Funds 13 June 2021 to 13 June 2023 $		Actual (13 June 2021 to 31 December 2021) $
Exploration & development expenditure
Panton Option consideration	3,000,000		3,000,000
Estimated duty liability	1,755,495		-
Drilling of extensions	2,000,000		2,014,210
Metallurgical testwork	500,000		97,942
Process design, mining and development studies	1,000,000		-
Other technical studies	500,000		-
Assessment of complementary assets or projects	500,000		-
SUB-TOTAL	9,255,495		5,112,152
Estimated cash expenses of the Australian Offers	1,077,834		1,164,174
Estimated cash costs for readmission to AIM	1,124,334		891,129
Administration costs	2,000,000		1,091,206
Working Capital	768,200		44,241
TOTAL	14,225,863		8,302,902

Table Four | Statement of Commitments

¹ The above table is a statement of current intentions. Investors should note that the allocation of funds set out in the above table may change depending on a number of factors including the results of exploration, outcome of development activities, regulatory developments and market and general economic conditions. In light of this the Board reserves the right to alter the way the funds are applied.

Board Changes and Management Appointments

Subsequent to the end of the December Quarter, the Company announced the appointments of Mr Jardee Kininmonth as Chief Executive Officer and Mr Brian Talbot as Operational & Technical Lead Advisor.    Both Mr Kininmonth and Mr Talbot joined Future Metals following successful senior management positions with Galaxy Resources Limited where Mr Kininmonth was Corporate Development Manager and Mr Talbot was Head of Australian Operations.

Changes to the Board of Directors involved existing Director Mr Justin Tremain assuming the role of Non-Executive Chair following the departure of Mr Greg Bandy who retired from the Board after more than 10 years of service.

Performance Rights

In accordance with the terms of the Company's Performance Rights Plan and as approved by shareholders at the Company's general meeting held on 4 June 2021, 7,333,331 Class A Performance Rights, 7,333,334 Class B Performance Rights and 7,333,335 Class C Performance Rights were issued on 13 June 2021.

7,333,331 Class A Performance Rights and 7,333,334 Class B Performance Rights have subsequently vested having met the applicable vesting criteria.  The Class C Performance Rights will vest when the Volume Weighted Average Price over a period of 20 consecutive trading days on which trades in the Company's shares are recorded on ASX is at least A$0.25. 

On 7 December 2021, Non-Executive Director Elizabeth Henson was issued a total of 2,000,000 Performance Rights. The Performance Rights are to be voluntarily escrowed until 22 June 2023 and will expire at 5:00 pm (WST) on or before 11 June 2024.   The Performance Rights will vest upon:

a)  the Volume Weighted Average Price over a period of 20 consecutive Trading Days on which trades in the Company's shares are recorded on ASX (20 day VWAP) being at least 30 cents; and

b)  Ms Henson remaining a Non-Executive Director for a continuous period of 12 months.

No Performance Rights were converted or cancelled during the December Quarter.

This announcement has been approved for release by the Board of Future Metals.

Further Information

For further information please refer to the ASX platform under ASX code FME or visit the Company's website at www.future-metals.com.au .

Future Metals NL	[phone]
Justin Tremain	[e-mail]
Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser)	[phone]
James Harris
W H Ireland Limited (UK Broker) Harry Ansell/Katy Mitchell	[phone]

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended.
 

Competent Person's Statement :

The information contained in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results is based on, and fairly represents, information compiled by Mr Shane Hibbird, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Hibbird is a consultant of the Company and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking to qualify as a competent person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Exploration Targets, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" (JORC Code). Mr Hibbird consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based upon his information in the form and context in which it appears.

References may have been made in this announcement to certain past ASX announcements, including references regarding exploration results. For full details, refer to the referenced ASX announcement on the said date. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in these earlier market announcements.

The information in this announcement which relates to Mineral Resources was stated in the Company's Prospectus dated 18 May 2021. The Company confirms that is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the Prospectus relating to Mineral Resources, and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resource Estimate continue to apply and have not materially changed.

The information in this announcement that relates to Metallurgical Results is based on, and fairly represents, information compiled by Dr Evan Kirby, a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Kirby is a full-time employee of Metallurgical Management Services (MMS) a specialist metallurgical consultancy and an independent consultant of the Company. Dr Kirby has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking to qualify as a competent person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Exploration Targets, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" (JORC Code). Dr Kirby consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based upon his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Notes to Editors:

About Platinum Group Metals (PGMs)

PGMs are a group of six precious metals being Platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), iridium (Ir), osmium (Os), rhodium (Rh), and ruthenium (Ru). Exceptionally rare, they have similar physical and chemical properties and tend to occur, in varying proportions, together in the same geological deposit. The usefulness of PGMs is determined by their unique and specific shared chemical and physical properties.

PGMs have many desirable properties and as such have a wide variety of applications. Most notably, they are used as auto-catalysts (pollution control devices for ICE vehicles), but are also used in jewellery, electronics, hydrogen production / purification and in hydrogen fuel cells.  The unique properties of PGMs help convert harmful exhaust pollutant emissions to harmless compounds, improving air quality and thereby enhancing health and wellbeing.

 

Appendix One | Exploration and Mining Permits

Changes during the December Quarter

Project	Location	Tenement	Interest at beginning of Quarter	Interest at end of Quarter
	No changes during the December Quarter

Farm-In / Farm Out Agreement changes during the December Quarter

Joint Venture	Project	Location	Tenement	Interest at beginning of Quarter	Interest at end of Quarter
The Company has no Joint Venture Agreements

Interests in Mining & Exploration Permits & Joint Ventures at 31 December 2021

Project	Location	Tenement	Area	Interest at end of Quarter
Panton PGM Project	Western Australia	M80/103 M80/104	8.6km2 5.7km2	100% 100%
		M80/105	8.3km2	100%

 

END

 

 

UPDGRGDBGXXDGDB