Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/1239546
48 www.resourceworld.com A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 2 0 mineralization." In December 2019, North American Palladium Ltd. announced the success - ful completion of a plan of arrangement with Impala Platinum Holdings Limited. Under the arrangement, Implats acquired 100% of the outstanding common shares of NAP for a total cash consideration of approximately C$1.0 billion. NAP became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Implats. Impala now has a 100% interest in the Lac des Iles palladium-platinum-gold- copper-nickel mine 85 km northwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Revenue for the first nine months of 2019 was $413.8 mil - lion based on 172,507 payable ounces of palladium sold. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. [IVN-TSX; IVPAF-OTCQX] indirectly owns 64% of the Platreef Project through its subsid- iary, Ivanplats, and is directing all mine development work. The South African beneficiaries of the approved broad- based, black economic empowerment structure have a 26% stake in the Platreef Project. The remaining 10% is owned by a Japanese consortium of ITOCHU Corp. and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation; and Japan Gas Corp. Platreef's flat-lying mineralized zones are up to 90 metres thick, at a 1 g/t 3PE+Au cut-off, with PGM grades that are as high, or higher, than many of the narrow-veined PGM mines on South Africa's eastern and western limbs. Platreef also has large quan - tities of nickel, copper and gold, which are expected to establish Platreef as the lowest-cost PGM producer in Africa. Based on an independent 2017 Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), Platreef is projected to have a cash cost of US $351/ oz of 3PE+Au, net of nickel and copper by- products, and including sustaining capital costs. The DFS estimated that Platreef's initial, average annual production rate will be approximately 219,000 oz palladium, 214,000 oz platinum, 30,000 oz gold and 14,000 oz rhodium (combined 477,000 oz 3PE+Au), plus 21 million lbs nickel and 13 million lbs copper. The resources used as the basis of the DFS were those amenable to underground selective mining. Max Resource Corp. [MXR-TSXV; MXROF-OTC; M1D2-FSE] has created a wholly-owned subsidiary named PGE Americas Metals Corp. whereby MAX transferred its rights to the PGE Choco Project 120 km southwest of Medellin, Colombia in a historical PGE region. Recent work by Max returned values up to 114 g/t platinum. Colombia was the world's largest platinum producer between 1917 and 1923. Max recently signed a letter of intent to acquire a 100% interest in the EBAY palladium project 30 km southeast of Mattagami, Québec where sampling has returned 3.04 g/t palladium, plus 1.39 g/t platinum, plus 0.12 g/t rhodium. New Age Metals Inc. [NAM-TSXV; NMTLF-OTCQB; PJ7-FSE] continues to develop its 100%-owned River Valley palladium project 60 miles from the met - allurgical complex in Sudbury, Ontario. River Valley is one of North America's larg- est undeveloped primary platinum group metals projects. An updated NI 43-101 report was com- pleted in January 2019, with a resource of 2.9 million oz of Palladium Equivalent (Measured and Indicated) and 1.1 million oz in Inferred. A pre-feasibility study is in the works. Drilling will begin shortly. The company has also been explor- ing the 100%-owned road-accessible Genesis PGE-Ni-Cu Project in Alaska where last summer's exploration dou- bled the strike length of prospective mineralization. More work is planned, including prospecting, geologic map- ping and geochemical sampling for all of the newly identified PGE-Cu-Ni targets. Geophysics is also being considered to pri - oritize drill targets. Nickel Creek Platinum Corp. [NCP- TSX; NCPCF-OTCQB; P94P-FSE] is advancing its 100%-owned Nickel Shäw Project towards building a nickel sulphide mine. Located 317 km northwest of Whitehorse, Yukon, the project contains over 2 billion lbs nickel, 1 billion lbs cop - per, 6 million oz platinum group metals and 120 million lbs cobalt in the Measured and Indicated categories. Recent geophysical surveys have identi - fied anomalies in the Quill exploration area. Palladium One Mining Inc. [PDM- TSXV; NKORF-OTC; 7N1-FSE] reported that the Finnish mining authority has approved all eight exploration permit renewals and one new exploration permit application for its 100%-owned palladium-dominant Lantinen Koillismaa (LK) PGE-nickel-copper project in north-central Finland where drilling is planned. Work is temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An optimized pit-constrained Mineral Resource, at a 0.3 g/t Pd cut-off, for the Kaukua deposit includes 635,600 PdEq oz of Indicated Resources grading 1.80 g/t PdEq contained in 11 million tonnes, and 525,800 PdEq oz of Inferred Resources grading 1.50 g/t PdEq contained in 11 mil - lion tonnes. Palladium One is also exploring its 100%-owned Tyko Project near Marathon, Ontario with prospecting assay results of up to 0.74% nickel, 4.09% copper and 2.51 g/t PGMs. Platinum Group Metals Ltd. [PTM- TSX; PLG-NYSE American] is advancing the 50.02%-owned palladium-dominant Waterberg Project located on the North Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa. An independent Definitive Feasibility Study was published on September 24, 2019 which envisioned a fully mechanized, shallow, decline-access palladium-platinum-gold-rhodium (4E) mine at an annual production rate of 420,000 4E oz and a 45-year mine life. The company and Anglo American Platinum have launched a new venture, Lion Battery Technologies Inc., to accel - erate the development of next-generation battery technology using platinum and palladium. Lion has entered into an agree - ment with Florida International University to further advance a research program that uses platinum and palladium to unlock the potential of Lithium Air and Lithium Sulfur battery chemistries to increase their discharge capacities and cyclability. n PLATINUM PALLADIUM