Lion Copper Gold Announced Monday that it has entered into a earn option agreement with Rio Tinto USA to advance research and exploration of Lion's copper assets in Mason Valley, Nevada.
Under the agreement, Rio is entitled to a 65 per cent interest in the asset, which comprises 34,494 acres of land including the historic Yerington mine, the Greenbelt MacArthur project, the Wassuk property, the Bear deposit, associated water rights and about 20 exploration targets spread across the company's parcel of land.
Rio avaluarà ara el possible desplegament comercial de la seva tecnologia Naton. Naton Technologies ofereix la tecnologia de lixiviació en pila de coure, que es va desenvolupar per millorar la recuperació de coure en minerals extrets i per accedir a nous recursos de coure, com ara recursos de sulfur de baixa qualitat, així com per reprocessar estocs i residus mineralitzats.
L'empresa diu que aquestes tecnologies tenen el potencial d'aconseguir un rendiment mediambiental líder mitjançant un ús més eficient de l'aigua, menors emissions de carboni i la capacitat de reciclar les àrees mineres mitjançant el reprocessament de residus.
"This agreement has the potential to both expand the scope and scale of our development and accelerate the pace of initial production," Travis Naugle, Lion Copper and Gold's chief executive, said in a media statement. As managers of Nevada's important copper resources and water rights, we recognize our role in a sustainable and circular economy. If Rio tinto exercises its profitability option, we believe it will improve its quality level and drive the development of its mining assets to become a strategic domestic copper producer with the highest ESG standards and performance. We look forward to continuing to advance the MacArthur project and our other assets at Mason Valley by building constructive relationships with Rio Tinto, the local community, Native American tribes, the state of Nevada and other valuable stakeholders."
In addition to moving forward with the MacArthur copper project based on the recently released mineral resource estimate, Lion Copper Gold intends to focus on resource growth through a comprehensive approach that evaluates the company's asset base and land package expansion.
La tecnologia Naton té el potencial de desenvolupar econòmicament recursos de sulfur de baix grau-, residus i residus que contenen coure-, i aconseguir taxes de recuperació de coure més altes en òxids i materials de transició, donant lloc a una producció de coure significativament més alta alhora que es redueix la la petjada de carboni corresponent, va dir la companyia.
"This agreement will allow us to explore the potential commercial deployment of Naton copper leaching technology in a historic mining area with significant copper resources," said Bode Batar, Chief executive of Rio Tinto Copper Mines. These technologies not only offer Rio tinto the potential to develop more copper, but also provide low-carbon production with significant environmental benefits by reprocessing old stocks and tailings to reduce waste from new and ongoing operations."
Rio tinto pagarà fins a 4 milions en opcions exclusives de guanys i acceptarà Lion Copper i Gold per completar el treball d'estudi i avaluació de Mason Valley abans del 31 de desembre de 2022.
Les accions de Lion Copper Gold van augmentar un 18,75 per cent a partir de les notícies a la tarda a la cotització de CVE. L'empresa té un valor de mercat de 26,5 milions de C.
