Resource World Magazine

a u g u s t / s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5 www.resourceworld.com 43 pany to commercially explore the ocean floor for copper, gold, silver and zinc SMS (sea floor massive sulfite) deposits and for manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt nodule deposits. The company holds tene- ment licenses and exploration applications in various locations in the western and central Pacific Ocean and is establishing a pipeline of prospects for development. Nautilus intends to extract mineralized material from the seafloor by using three remotely controlled Seafloor Production Tools (SPTs) to recover broken rock in slurry form. The mineralized slurry will be pumped to a Production Support Vessel (PSV) via a patented risers and lifter sys- tem. Solids are pumped from the subsea miner through a jumper and up a riser to a surface vessel. At the surface, the high-grade slurry material will be dewatered and shipped for final processing. The Solwara 1 Project's footprint at the sea surface will be limited to the presence of the PSV and attendant support vessels. At steady state operations, Nautilus plans to produce mineralized mate- rial from the seafloor at an average annual rate of approximately 1.3 million tonnes. According to Nautilus, procurement of major equipment packages for the PSV has commenced. The shipyard construct- ing the PSV has placed the order for the engines and thruster packages, along with the order for the cargo handling equip- ment. The company will need to secure additional funding to move Solwara 1 forward and to accelerate development of additional assets. Commerce Resources [CCE-TSXV] is focused on deposits of rare metals and rare earth elements. The company has two projects, the Ashram rare earth project in northern Québec and the Upper Fir tan- talum-niobium deposit at its Blue River Project in British Columbia. Ashram has a measured and indicated resource of 29.3 million tonnes at 1.90% total rare earth oxides (TREO) and an inferred resource of 219.8 million tonnes at 1.88% TREO. The deposit's REE distri- bution includes enrichment in the light, middle, and heavy rare earth elements. A PEA was completed three years ago which was based on a 4,000 tpd open pit operation with an initial 25-year mine life, a pre-tax and pre-finance Net Present Value (NPV) of $2.32 billion at a 10% dis- count rate, a pre-tax/pre-finance Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 44%, and a pre- tax/pre-finance payback period of 2.25 years. A revised 2015 PEA concluded that the hydrometallurgical processing would be more cost-effective if located closer to existing infrastructure, with the St. Lawrence Seaway and Maritime regions targeted. The company holds a 100% interest in the Blue River property mineral rights underlying approximately 1,000 km 2 of contiguous mineral claims 250 km north of Kamloops, BC. Since the Blue River property acquisition, it has completed sur- face mapping, trenching, soil, rock chip, grab and channel sampling, core drilling, metallurgical testing, bulk sampling, envi- ronmental baseline studies, and conceptual mining studies. The current database comprises a total of 303 diamond drill holes consisting of 62,780 metres. In the event the company decides to advance the project, a $13.9M work program has been recommended consisting of infill, step-out and condem- nation drilling, metallurgical test work, as well as mine, co-disposal facility, environ- mental, and marketing studies. n • Competitive tax rates and skilled workforce • Home to diversified forestry, mining, natural gas, alternative energy, and manufacturing industries • Centrally located on national rail and highway routes • Largest regional service hub between Edmonton and Kamloops • Centrally located in the Duvernay natural gas field And did we mention the view? www.venturehinton.ca venture@hinton.ca Hinton, Alberta Seek better days CORReCtIOn The article in Resource World June-July 2015 (p.56) entitled Fort St. James Green Energy Project on schedule should have read: Patrick Freer, Owner's Representative for Fengate Capital Management Ltd., told Resource World that the Fort St. James Green Energy Project, well along in construction, is being built through the Fort St. James Green Energy Limited Partnership, a limited partnership between Fengate Capital and Dalkia Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Veolia Environnement S.A. (Veolia). Veolia and Fengate Capital arranged a $175 million debt financing from several interna- tional banks to support building the facility. Veolia and Fengate Capital have contracted Spanish company Iberdrola Energy Projects Canada Corporation, world experts at building green energy projects, to construct the plant. Outdated information was in the original article. n

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