power metal resources plc (pow.l) · 6/8/2020  · deal for metal tiger, when sandfire resources...

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MARKET DATA: Name: Power Metal Resources plc Ticker: POW.L Price: 0.375p SII: 552.7m Market Cap: £2.1m Sector: Resources Listing: AIM – London FINANCIALS: Cash: £0.54m (actual. 31/03/20) Investments: £0.31m (FEL est. now) Last Placing: Dec ’19 - 0.4p to raise £0.7m Last Results: 20/05/20 – Finals Y/E Sep ‘19 ACTIVITIES: Exploration & development of mineral projects, mostly battery metal commodities in Africa, Australia and North America. KEY PROJECTS / ASSETS: Molopo Farms Complex (Botswana) Victoria Goldfields (Australia) Cobalt Blue Holdings (Cameroon) Kisinka (DRC) Ditau (Botswana) Haneti (Tanzania) DIRECTORS: Paul Johnson (CEO) Andrew Bell (Exec Chairman) Iain Macpherson (Non-Ex) Scott Richardson Brown (Non-Ex) Edmund Shaw (Non-Ex) SHAREHOLDINGS: Paul Johnson (Dir) 6.1% Red Rock Resources plc 4.5% David Steinepreis 3.3% Andrew Bell (Dir) 3.2% Total Director holdings = 10.6% (In addition to above, Iain Macpherson holds 0.39% and Edmund Shaw 0.91%) *First Equity Limited acts as Joint Broker to Power Metal Resources Plc. ANALYST Jason Robertson +44 (0)20 7330 1883 [email protected] Much more than the sum of its parts? 8 June 2020 Whilst most of the economy has been in pause mode for the last 3-months during the global state of emergency, including many exploration and mining companies, Power Metal Resources (POW.L) management have been in pro-active mode adding new projects to a growing and increasingly prospective portfolio of interests that span not only power metal exposed commodities but also gold interests in many exploration target rich localities. In this initiation research note we look at each of POW’s projects, including its four core and most exciting interests at Molopo Farms Complex (Botswana), Victoria Goldfields (Australia), Kisinka (DRC) and Cobalt Blue Holdings (Cameroon) to understand the value behind the Group. - The Molopo Farms Complex (MFC) JV in Botswana represents POW’s flagship African project, upon which technical drilling over 2,500 metres is expected to start in the coming months, following environmental management plan approval and lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, to provide us with a greater understanding of its potential for nickel, copper and PGM mineralisation. - The blue-sky objective at MFC is to target massive sulphide deposits that could be similar in size to the world class Voisey’s Bay Mine nickel deposit in Canada. - Botswana is a familiar jurisdiction to CEO Paul Johnson, where he helped develop the asset base of Metal Tiger, which subsequently attracted mid-tier miner acquisition interest for its JV. Investors will be hoping history can repeat itself in the same country with another successful discovery and exit event. - Elsewhere in Botswana, POW is running the slide rule over a planned rare earth elements and base metal-prospective project at Ditau in a JV with AIM listed Kavango Resources, which is headed up by executives with an excellent record of discovering, financing and achieving value for assets that subsequently attract the interest of majors in the billion dollar plus bracket range. - In recent weeks POW added to its gold interests through a JV in the Victoria Goldfields in Australia, with licence applications covering 1,835 sq. km, in a prolific gold mining district, near Ballarat Mine, which has produced 13m oz of gold to date, and also close to where ECR Minerals recently sold three gold projects for up to A$2.5m. - POW’s valuation is supported by a 10m share and 10m warrant holding in AIM listed Katoro Gold, which we value at £0.37m at the current Katoro share price of 2.1p, representing 18% of POW’s current market cap. Earlier this year this percentage was as high as 35%, when Katoro traded above 4p per share. FEL Comment & Recommendation By deducting Katoro’s equity and warrant valuation from the current market cap and a small Kavango loan note investment, investors are essentially valuing POW’s projects at only £1.7m. Given POW’s breadth of exploration projects and commodity exposure, many of which are located within exploration rich target areas, this figure is clearly too low, especially when considering POW’s increased interests in the gold sector, a precious metal that continues to rise in the current global crisis, and more so when measured in sterling terms. We anticipate an intensive news-flow period ahead in the coming months, with the commencement of drilling at MFC, more details being learnt about the Victoria Goldfields project, Kisinka results and possible completion of due diligence at Ditau and Alamo. A market cap of around £2m grossly understates the potential upside of the projects and investments held by Power Metal Resources, and its recent increased exposure to some highly prospective and exciting gold projects. We therefore recommend POW as a ‘Buy’. BUY POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L)

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Page 1: POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L) · 6/8/2020  · deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019, resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment

MARKET DATA:

Name: Power Metal Resources plc

Ticker: POW.L

Price: 0.375p

SII: 552.7m

Market Cap: £2.1m

Sector: Resources

Listing: AIM – London

FINANCIALS:

Cash: £0.54m (actual. 31/03/20)

Investments: £0.31m (FEL est. now)

Last Placing: Dec ’19 - 0.4p to raise £0.7m

Last Results: 20/05/20 – Finals Y/E Sep ‘19

ACTIVITIES:

Exploration & development of mineral

projects, mostly battery metal commodities in

Africa, Australia and North America.

KEY PROJECTS / ASSETS:

Molopo Farms Complex (Botswana)

Victoria Goldfields (Australia)

Cobalt Blue Holdings (Cameroon)

Kisinka (DRC)

Ditau (Botswana)

Haneti (Tanzania)

DIRECTORS:

Paul Johnson (CEO)

Andrew Bell (Exec Chairman)

Iain Macpherson (Non-Ex)

Scott Richardson Brown (Non-Ex)

Edmund Shaw (Non-Ex)

SHAREHOLDINGS:

Paul Johnson (Dir) 6.1%

Red Rock Resources plc 4.5%

David Steinepreis 3.3%

Andrew Bell (Dir) 3.2%

Total Director holdings = 10.6% (In addition to

above, Iain Macpherson holds 0.39% and

Edmund Shaw 0.91%)

*First Equity Limited acts as Joint

Broker to Power Metal Resources

Plc.

ANALYST

Jason Robertson

+44 (0)20 7330 1883 [email protected]

Much more than the sum of its parts? 8 June 2020

Whilst most of the economy has been in pause mode for the last 3-months during

the global state of emergency, including many exploration and mining companies,

Power Metal Resources (POW.L) management have been in pro-active mode

adding new projects to a growing and increasingly prospective portfolio of

interests that span not only power metal exposed commodities but also gold

interests in many exploration target rich localities.

In this initiation research note we look at each of POW’s projects, including its four

core and most exciting interests at Molopo Farms Complex (Botswana), Victoria

Goldfields (Australia), Kisinka (DRC) and Cobalt Blue Holdings (Cameroon) to

understand the value behind the Group.

- The Molopo Farms Complex (MFC) JV in Botswana represents POW’s flagship

African project, upon which technical drilling over 2,500 metres is expected to

start in the coming months, following environmental management plan approval

and lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, to provide us with a greater understanding of

its potential for nickel, copper and PGM mineralisation.

- The blue-sky objective at MFC is to target massive sulphide deposits that could

be similar in size to the world class Voisey’s Bay Mine nickel deposit in Canada.

- Botswana is a familiar jurisdiction to CEO Paul Johnson, where he helped develop

the asset base of Metal Tiger, which subsequently attracted mid-tier miner

acquisition interest for its JV. Investors will be hoping history can repeat itself in

the same country with another successful discovery and exit event.

- Elsewhere in Botswana, POW is running the slide rule over a planned rare earth

elements and base metal-prospective project at Ditau in a JV with AIM listed

Kavango Resources, which is headed up by executives with an excellent record of

discovering, financing and achieving value for assets that subsequently attract the

interest of majors in the billion dollar plus bracket range.

- In recent weeks POW added to its gold interests through a JV in the Victoria

Goldfields in Australia, with licence applications covering 1,835 sq. km, in a

prolific gold mining district, near Ballarat Mine, which has produced 13m oz of

gold to date, and also close to where ECR Minerals recently sold three gold projects

for up to A$2.5m.

- POW’s valuation is supported by a 10m share and 10m warrant holding in AIM

listed Katoro Gold, which we value at £0.37m at the current Katoro share price

of 2.1p, representing 18% of POW’s current market cap. Earlier this year this

percentage was as high as 35%, when Katoro traded above 4p per share.

FEL Comment & Recommendation

By deducting Katoro’s equity and warrant valuation from the current market cap

and a small Kavango loan note investment, investors are essentially valuing POW’s

projects at only £1.7m. Given POW’s breadth of exploration projects and

commodity exposure, many of which are located within exploration rich target

areas, this figure is clearly too low, especially when considering POW’s increased

interests in the gold sector, a precious metal that continues to rise in the current

global crisis, and more so when measured in sterling terms.

We anticipate an intensive news-flow period ahead in the coming months, with

the commencement of drilling at MFC, more details being learnt about the Victoria

Goldfields project, Kisinka results and possible completion of due diligence at Ditau

and Alamo. A market cap of around £2m grossly understates the potential upside

of the projects and investments held by Power Metal Resources, and its recent

increased exposure to some highly prospective and exciting gold projects. We

therefore recommend POW as a ‘Buy’.

BUY

POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L)

Page 2: POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L) · 6/8/2020  · deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019, resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment

Power Metal Resources PLC - FEL Broker Note 8 June 2020

2

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

As its name suggests, ‘Power Metal Resources plc’ (POW) core focus is on the

exploration and development of power metal commodities that will be used to

manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, such as nickel and cobalt, which will

therefore aid in the replacement of combustion engine towards lower carbon emission

modes of transport. More recently in the last six months POW has broadened its remit

to include gold exploration projects to capitalise on resurgent investor interest for gold

and gold exploration resource companies in the wake of the current COVID-19 crisis

and global economic impact.

The Group has undergone three listed reincarnations, the first as Sula Iron & Gold PLC,

and then African Battery Metals Plc from January 2018, with the name change to Power

Metal Resources plc occurring in June 2019.

Serial resource entrepreneurs and seasoned deal makers Paul Johnson and Andrew

Bell joined the Board as CEO and Chairman respectively in January 2019 when the

Group raised £1m at 0.5p per share. Iain Macpherson and Scott Richardson Brown

remained on the Board as non-executives.

Paul Johnson is most noted for co-founding and advancing Metal Tiger plc, which

invested heavily in Botswana via both direct project interests and in equity partnerships

with other parties. One such JV with MOD Resources subsequently led to a landmark

deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019,

resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment (£22m return v £7.7m investment#).

Paul Johnson and Andrew Bell were also responsible for the refinancing and

restructuring of Greatland Gold plc (GGP.L) in 2016 leading to a new reinvigorated

exploration vehicle which led to dramatic operational success in Australia.

POW’s most recent Placing was completed in December 2019 to raise £0.7m at an

issue price of 0.4p per share, with an attached 1 for 1 warrant exercisable at 0.7p for

two years. City professional and First Equity Limited private client broker Edmund Shaw

joined the Board as non-executive in February 2020.

Paul Johnson reassuringly vowed to “protect investors and only raise funds when

required on a sensible basis” and not to “do heavily discounted placings” in a Share

Talk interview aired on 23 Jan 2020. In a similar vein in the recently published

Corporate Presentation (28 May 2020), the CEO explained the Company’s objective of

“… building our balance sheet to become self-financed …”

The main impact of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions has been on delaying the

exploration programme at MFC in Botswana, restrictions on international travel for

conducting on the ground project due diligence and on the Group results publication

being delayed from 31 March to the end of May 2020. The impact of the virus is country

specific, for example exploration work in the DRC appears to have continued

unaffected. Nevertheless, other activities such as desktop review analysis of projects

and new project acquisitions have continued unabated.

#Further details and analysis of deal can be found in FEL’s Metal Tiger plc research

note from 10 October 2019. Copies available on request.

Page 3: POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L) · 6/8/2020  · deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019, resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment

Power Metal Resources PLC - FEL Broker Note 8 June 2020

3

AFRICAN PROJECTS & INVESTMENTS

Molopo Farms (Botswana), nickel, copper, PGM, up to 50.96%.

POW holds 3,542 shares (18.26%) in Kalahari Key Mineral Exploration (Pty) Ltd

(KKME), which has 100% in the Molopo Farms Complex (MFC) project. POW’s project

interest in MFC is expected to increase to 50.96%, once US$500K is spent during 2020

on a earn in to acquire a direct 40% project interest, to add to its KKME equity interest.

POW’s dual interest through a direct project interest and an equity holding in a project

partner, is similar to the structure of a previous transaction that Paul Johnson was co-

architect of when a director of Metal Tiger plc, where it acquired an equity holding in

MOD Resources and direct interest in a Botswana copper exploration project. If a major

discovery is made at MFC, then POW would gain from both its direct project exposure

and equity interest in KKME, especially if KKME is elevated to a listing on a recognised

investment exchange from its current private status.

MFC is located in south-west Botswana and consists of three licences covering an area

of 2,725 sq. km, which are believed to be prospective for nickel-copper-PGMs.

Fig 1: Regional location of Molopo Farms Complex Project. (Source KKME).

Data from airborne and ground electro-magnetic surveys in 2019 identified a shortlist

of 8 high priority targets of “considerable size and scale” from 17 sub-surface conductor

targets. Prior to the electro-magnetic surveys, it was anticipated that 2 or 3 drilling

targets would be identified. The blue-sky objective is to target massive sulphide

deposits that could be similar in size to the world class Voisey’s Bay Mine nickel deposit

in Labrador, Canada.

Underlining the highly prospective nature of MFC, is the fact that interest in the projects

have been shown “by a number of large mining companies and also by financiers

looking to provide funding” to KKME or at project level, according to POW’s recent final

year statement. Some of this interest could have been generated at the February 2020

Indaba conference hosted in Cape Town, SA, where Kalahari Key had an exhibition

stand. It is highly encouraging in our opinion that such an early stage and pre-drilled

project is gaining such interest.

Page 4: POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L) · 6/8/2020  · deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019, resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment

Power Metal Resources PLC - FEL Broker Note 8 June 2020

4

Once Covid-19 restrictions are lifted in Botswana, POW will deliver an updated

Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to the Department of Environmental Affairs.

When this is approved, we believe up to 2,500 metres will be drilled over 4 holes in a

technical drilling campaign to test targets at around 300 to 800 metres depths, and to

understand more about the geology. Initial drilling is to be focused on the Chipo target

in the Northern area of the permits, followed by other targets at Tshepo (Central

Targets), Galaletsang (Southern Targets) and Tshenolo (Western Magnetic Targets).

Additional opportunities in Botswana are being reviewed currently with the aim of

complementing MFCs existing acreage.

Event Est. Duration

Lifting Botswana Covid-19 Restrictions Unknown

Environment Approval Securing 1 to 2 months

Drilling 2,500 metres over 4 targets 1 month

Core at Lab in Johannesburg, SA 2 to 5 weeks

Fig 2: MFC Drilling timeline (FEL estimates).

Page 5: POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L) · 6/8/2020  · deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019, resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment

Power Metal Resources PLC - FEL Broker Note 8 June 2020

5

Cobalt Blue Holdings (CBH), (Cameroon) copper, nickel, 100%.

Four licences are held covering an area of just under 2,000 sq. km, which are

prospective for cobalt-nickel. These lie within 31 miles of Geovic Mining Corporation’s

Nkamouna/Mada cobalt-nickel deposit, which is reported to be the largest defined

cobalt resource outside of the DRC, with a NI 43-101 compliant resource of 323.1mt

at 0.21% cobalt (Fig 3), of which 68.1m at 0.26% cobalt is within the ‘Proven and

Probable’ Reserve category.

Nkamouna and Mada

NI 43-101 Resources’ Mt’ Cobalt Nickel Manganese

Measured 59.8 0.24% 0.66% 1.37%

Indicated 60.8 0.22% 0.62% 1.32%

Inferred 202.6 0.20% 0.59% 1.22%

Total 323.1 0.21% 0.61% 1.25%

Fig 3: Source 2011 BFS, Technical Report by SRK Consulting.

Exploration results from work undertaken in 2019 confirmed POW’s project has similar

geology to that found at Nkamouna/Mada, given the presence of several similar

plateaus.

“Various options” for this project are being considered by POW and its consultants,

according to POW’s recent year-end results statement, which we believe may lead to

a project disposal or bringing in of a JV partner.

Fig 4: Cameroon Licence Map – (Source POW)

Page 6: POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L) · 6/8/2020  · deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019, resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment

Power Metal Resources PLC - FEL Broker Note 8 June 2020

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Kisinka (DRC), copper, cobalt, 70%.

The 50 sq. km Kisinka licence is in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo

(DRC), near the border with Zambia and around 25 miles from the country’s second

largest city Lubumbashi. The licences were acquired for a modest consideration of

US$100K. Kisinka is in a fertile discovery area, given its location in the vicinity of

several cobalt-copper mines within the Katangan Copperbelt.

Analysis from an extensive termite mound sampling programme showed the presence

of a 6.8km by 600 metres long anomalous zone of copper mineralisation. The

management are encouraged by the presence of Roan rocks within this identified

copper mineralisation, as some of globes largest and highest-grade rock-hosted

copper-cobalt deposits in the copper belts of Zambia and DRC are located within such

rock types.

In early May 2020, Minex Consulting completed a field pitting programme for POW,

which involved sampling 21 pits totalling 174.5 metres on 9 cross sections of the

copper anomaly target. The samples will be sent to the South African laboratories once

lockdown restrictions are lifted. Results from handheld XRF devices are expected first,

followed by the assays from the labs.

Haneti (Tanzania), nickel, gold + other commodities – up to 35%.

The project is being pursued as part of a JV with AIM listed Katoro Gold plc (KAT.L), in

which POW holds a 4.38% equity interest. A direct 25% project interest is held by

POW, which can be increased (until 31 August 2020) to 35% by paying the cash sum

of £25K. We estimate around US$1.5m has been spent on the project to date by Katoro

Gold plc and former project owner Kibo Energy plc (KIBO.L).

Haneti is a polymetallic system and covers a sizeable area of 5,000 sq. km and is

prospective for many precious and base metals, namely, nickel, PGMs, cobalt, copper,

gold, niobium, tantalum and lithium.

The main target is an 80 km long ultramafic belt, upon which grades from surface

sampling have yielded up to 13.6% nickel and 2.33 g/t combined platinum and

palladium. Within this belt is the main target, Mihanza Hill, which the management of

Katoro believe has a similar style of mineralisation to ASX listed Sipa Resources

Limited’s (SRI.AX) Akelikongo nickel project in Uganda.

Within the licence, gold potential has been identified, where there are extensive

artisanal gold mining activities, in an area that is east of the Singida project, controlled

by Shanta Gold, from which a 0.7m ounce gold resource is defined.

Katoro’s management believe the project has “substantial exploration upside

potential”, which has led third party interest being shown it for those seeking potential

large-scale nickel-PGM opportunities.

In late May 2020 we learnt that Katoro had received certain approaches relating to a

possible earn-in, JV or similar structures centred on the nickel sulphide potential of the

project from “Tier-1 mining companies”. The project partners are currently looking to

restructure the ownership of the JV to optimise the project’s “commercial pathway”.

Page 7: POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L) · 6/8/2020  · deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019, resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment

Power Metal Resources PLC - FEL Broker Note 8 June 2020

7

Ditau (Botswana), rare earth elements – 51% (under due diligence).

Subject to completion of due diligence work, a 51% stake in this project would be

acquired from AIM listed Kavango Resources (KAV.L) for an all-share consideration of

£150K (35.7m shares) by the start of September or earlier if related international

COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. POW has already demonstrated its financial

commitment to its potential new project partner by investing £38K in a Kavango

convertible loan note, with a term to 31 March 2021, which comes with a warrant

attached to each conversion share.

The project consists of two licences covering 1,386 sq. km. Exploration has identified

10-seperate magnetic ‘ring structures’ within the permit area, one of which the ‘Ditau

Prospect’ was drilled last year in a 1,000-metre drill program.

Kavango believe that such ‘ring structures’ are associated with post-Karoo age

carbonatites which are located at shallow depths of below 60 to 70 metres of Kalahari

sand cover. Such carbonatites are typically the primary source of Rare Earth Metals,

niobium and other minerals. The discovery by Falconbridge in the 1970s of three

carbonatites around 50kms from Ditau bodes very well for a similar discovery.

By acquiring this project and partnering with Kavango, POW can tap into the experience

and wisdom of a very capable team which includes Kavango non-exec director Mike

Moles and CEO Mike Foster. Both have an excellent track record of discovering,

financing and achieving value for exploration projects in Africa. Most notably, Mike

Moles sold a platinum group element project to Impala Platinum and a coal project to

Riversdale Mining, which was subsequently sold to Rio Tinto for US$4bn.

Fig 5. 2020 Kisinka Pit Monitoring (Source Kavango Resources).

Page 8: POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L) · 6/8/2020  · deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019, resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment

Power Metal Resources PLC - FEL Broker Note 8 June 2020

8

Katoro Gold Investment (equity and warrant interest).

POW holds an equity and warrants stake in AIM Katoro Gold plc, consisting of 10m

shares and 10m warrants exercisable at 1.25p (2.5m exercisable by 15/03/22 and

7.5m exercisable by 15/05/22). Katoro’s shares have appreciated considerably in value

during this year, rising from 0.85p at the end of January to 2.1p now, having been as

high as 4.3p in mid-February.

The share rise is in response to news that Katoro plans to take part in a South African

gold production project opportunity to reprocess 1.34m oz of gold in partnership with

Blyvoor Gold Operations (Pty) Ltd. The project partners envisage, subject to funding,

that an annual gold production target of 35,000 ounces can be achieved during a 25-

year mine life from a 1.34m ounce resource. As previously mentioned in this report,

Katoro’s other main interest is Haneti in Tanzania.

Power Metals benefits from holding Katoro Gold warrants that have an in-the-money

exercise price of 1.25p (versus current mid share price of 2.1p) and a time to expiry

of around two years. In Fig 6, the warrants’ Black Scholes value is calculated at

different Katoro share prices and shown in relation to the current POW market cap, to

illustrate the gearing impact upon POW, of an appreciating Katoro share price.

Shares Warrants Shares & % of POW

Katoro (BS Value) Warrants Market Cap

Share Price (p) £ m' £ m' £ m'

0.50 £0.05 m £0.03 m £0.08 m 3.9%

1.00 £0.10 m £0.07 m £0.17 m 8.2%

1.50 £0.15 m £0.12 m £0.27 m 13.0%

2.00 £0.20 m £0.16 m £0.36 m 17.4%

2.50 £0.25 m £0.25 m £0.50 m 24.1%

3.00 £0.30 m £0.25 m £0.55 m 26.5%

3.50 £0.35 m £0.30 m £0.65 m 31.4%

4.00 £0.40 m £0.35 m £0.75 m 36.2%

4.50 £0.45 m £0.40 m £0.85 m 41.0%

5.00 £0.50 m £0.44 m £0.94 m 45.4%

Fig 6: Sensitivity & leverage to Katoro Shares using equity and Black Scholes (BS) values

(Source FEL).

Page 9: POWER METAL RESOURCES PLC (POW.L) · 6/8/2020  · deal for Metal Tiger, when Sandfire Resources (SFR.AX) acquired MOD in late 2019, resulting in a near 3-fold return on investment

Power Metal Resources PLC - FEL Broker Note 8 June 2020

9

AUSTRALIAN & USA GOLD PROJECTS

Victoria Goldfields JV, gold, 49.9%.

This is the most recent project to be added, which is being pursued in partnership with

AIM listed Red Rock Resources plc (RRR.L) under JV Company Red Rock Australasia

Pty Ltd (RRAL). Licence applications have been made over an area covering 1,835 sq.

km in the Victoria Goldfields, located 120 kms northwest of Melbourne. Following the

addition of four new licence applications (916 sq. km) in early June 2020, RRAL is now

one of the largest tenement holders in Victoria Goldfields, with combined applications

stretching over a contiguous 100 km North-South length around the mining town of

Ballarat.

Victoria Goldfields

Licences

Licence App No

EL00’

Project Name Area (sq. km)

7271 Blue Whale 133

7281 Blue Chip 74

7282 Blue Sky 489

7285 Blue Ribbon 8

7294 Red Queen 130

7301 Mt Bute 85

7327 Blue Stocking 60

7328 Blue Yonder 168

7329 Evergreen 486

7330 Blue Angel 202

Total 1,835

Fig 7: Victoria Goldfield Licences details (Source POW)

The projects are in a prolific gold mining district, adjacent to Ballarat Mine, operated

by Castlemaine Goldfields Pty Limited, which is currently producing around 40,000 oz

of gold per annum at a robust average grade of 5.6 g/t from underground extraction.

The mine has historically produced over an estimated 13m ounces of gold, mostly from

alluvial mines. In the state of Victoria itself, around an estimated 85m ounces of gold

have been mined to date, accounting for 32% of all gold mined in Australia, despite

Victoria being the second smallest of Australia’s eight states in terms of land area.

Fig 8: Victoria Goldfield Licence Map (Source POW).

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Power Metal Resources PLC - FEL Broker Note 8 June 2020

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Gold mining in the Ballarat area dates to the mid-18th century, with an estimated 160

tonnes of gold mined between 1851 and 1917, of which Ballarat East produced an

estimated 47 tonnes at 10 g/t. The licence application boundaries lie next to former EL

4996, which produced a recorded 112,055 oz of gold. The geological thinking behind

the ground that the JV has pegged is to focus on areas of previous mining activity

around and North of Ballarat, and areas of major fault-related deformation including

along the structural zone boundaries.

Fig 9: Regional Goldfields (Source POW).

Victoria Goldfields has attracted considerable interest from prospectors and investors

recently. For example, the Courier News noted that February 2020 marked a five-year

high for new exploration licence applications, with 83 new mineral licences and 171

variations over the financial year.

A wealth of historic data is publicly available for examination, the review and analysis

of which will be undertaken by the JV partners as part of its desktop review to

determine the best exploration targets and those that would benefit from the use of

modern exploration technology.

Evidence for the route map to success for a small junior exploration company in the

Victoria Goldfields, can be seen from the recent achievement of AIM listed ECR Minerals

(ECR.L), which announced the sale of three gold exploration projects for up to A$2.5m

to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (FSX.V) in April 2020. In the same RNS, ECR’s CEO

also revealed that “other external parties” were reviewing data on two of its other

projects in the Victoria Goldfields that could lead to commercial transactions and/or

JVs.

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Alamo (Arizona, USA), gold, 60% earn-in (under due diligence).

POW is currently conducting due diligence on the ‘Alamo’ gold prospective project, that

covers an initial small area of 340 acres (about half a square mile), in west-central

Arizona. Native gold nuggets have previously been identified at many locations within

the boundaries of the project, most of which are believed to be at surface. Additional

areas to the 340 acres are under application to significantly expand the project. Also,

other gold project opportunities are being reviewed in other parts of the US.

Along with gold, there could be potential for the discovery of base metals, given that

there are mines in the region from which silver, lead, gold, zinc and copper are

produced.

The management understand that around 60 ounces of gold nuggets have been found

in the project area at surface by prospectors using metal detectors, of which the largest

nugget weighed 5 ounces. During a site visit by the management in Jan 2020, three

small gold flakes were recovered following the excavation of a small test pit, which

demonstrates the presence of near-surface gold. The objective and greater prize of a

future exploration campaign will be to locate the source of the nuggets in the bedrock

and determine if a large gold system exists.

The project is currently owned by Frisco Gold Corporation, who have an option to earn

an interest in 60%. POW is undertaking due diligence on the project until 30 June 2020

for a payment of US$25K in shares (4.8m shares).

To acquire the option from the vendor, POW would be required to pay a consideration

of US$0.25m in shares (38.8m shares), issue 38.8m warrants and 5m options (all

exercisable at 1.0p per share). The consideration shares are subject to a 4-month 1.5p

price limit-based lock up. To earn a 60% interest in the project POW will be required

to spend US$1.1m over a four-year period.

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Regulatory Disclaimers and Disclosures

This document is non-independent research and a marketing communication under the FCA Conduct of Business Rules. It

has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research

and is not subject to any prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination of the investment research. FEL does have

procedures in place to manage any conflicts which might arise in the production of investment research, including Chinese

Wall procedures.

This research note is designed for information purposes only and does not constitute a personal recommendation, offer or

invitation to buy or sell any investment referred to within it. Investors should form their own conclusions and/or seek their

own advice to determine whether any particular transaction is suitable for them in the light of their investment objectives,

the benefits and risks associated with the transaction and all other relevant circumstances.

The views expressed in this note are those of First Equity’s analyst. They are based on information believed to be reliable

from mainly primary sources but no warranty or representation, express or implied, is made about the accuracy or

completeness of this information, which may be subject to change without notice. Any opinion given reflects the analyst’s

judgement as at the date of this document’s publication. Any or all statements about the future may turn out to be incorrect.

This document is not for distribution into the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan

Neither this document nor any copy of it may be taken or transmitted into the United States of America, or distributed,

directly or indirectly, in the United States of America or to any US person as defined in Regulation S under the United States

Securities Act of 1933. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States securities laws.

Neither this document nor any copy of it may be taken or transmitted into Canada or distributed in Canada or to any individual

outside Canada who is a resident of Canada, except in compliance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

Neither this document nor any copy of it may be taken or transmitted into or distributed in Australian or to any resident

thereof except in compliance with Australian securities laws. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a

violation of Australian securities laws.

Neither this document nor any copy of it may be taken or transmitted into or distributed in Japan or to any resident thereof

for the purpose of solicitation or subscription or offer for sale of any securities. Any failure to comply with this restriction

may constitute a violation of Japanese securities laws.

Important Declarations

First Equity Limited acts as Joint Broker to Power Metal Resources plc.

First Equity Limited clients and employees hold shares in Power Metal Resources plc.

First Equity Limited is a member of the London Stock Exchange

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