GROC Greenroc Strategic Materials Plc

GreenRoc Mining Plc / EPIC: GROC / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

7 February 2024

GreenRoc Mining plc

("GreenRoc" or the "Company")

Update on Application Process for Amitsoq Exploitation Licence and Other Licence Changes

GreenRoc Mining plc (AIM: GROC), a company focused on the development of critical mineral projects in Greenland, announces that, following a modification to Greenland's mining laws that became effective on 1 January 2024, the Company expects to be in a position to apply for an Exploitation Licence for its Amitsoq Graphite Project ("Amitsoq") in South Greenland in the first half of 2024. The Company also announces certain other licence changes affecting its project portfolio in Greenland.

Key Points

·   A change in Greenland's mining laws that became effective on 1 January 2024 is expected to significantly reduce the timeline for GreenRoc to apply for and obtain an Exploitation Licence for Amitsoq.

·   As such, GreenRoc is now targeting H1 2024 for the filing of its application for an Exploitation Licence, paving the way to a possible licence grant before the end of 2024.

·   The prospect of an early Exploitation Licence award is expected to assist GreenRoc in its endeavours to secure development finance for the Amitsoq Project.

·    Application has been made to extend GreenRoc's existing exploration licence package in South Greenland to encompass the last area of significant graphite mineralisation in proximity to Amitsoq which is not already under licence to GreenRoc.

·    The exploration licence for the Melville Bay Iron Project has been surrendered.

Details

Amitsoq Exploitation Licence Permitting Process

A change in Greenland's mining laws, effective 1 January 2024, now allows an Exploitation Licence to be applied for and granted prior to the final approval of a project's Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA"), Social Impact Assessment ("SIA") and Impact Benefit Agreement ("IBA"). Previously, an Exploitation Licence could only be applied for once the lengthy EIA and SIA processes had been completed and formally approved and an IBA between the Government of Greenland, GreenRoc and the local Municipality had been negotiated and signed. 

This change, allowing the process for the grant of an Exploitation Licence to run in parallel with the EIA and SIA processes, rather than having to wait for the latter to be completed, means that the additional time required to achieve an Exploitation Licence should be considerably reduced.

Under the new law, provided the holder of an Exploration Licence has substantiated and delineated a viable mineral deposit which it intends to exploit, and has complied with its licence obligations, the licence holder will be entitled to be granted an Exploitation Licence.  Before an Exploitation Licence can be granted, the licence holder must submit a Project Description and Scoping Studies  for its EIA and SIA.  Those documents must then be translated and published for public consultation for at least 35 calendar days. Once the applicant has addressed any pertinent issues raised in the public consultation, it will then be entitled to the grant of an Exploitation Licence.

GreenRoc believes this change in the law is likely to shorten the Exploitation Licence permitting process for the Amitsoq Graphite Project by several months, given that its has already formally submitted to the Greenland Government both its draft Project Description for Amitsoq, in December 2023, and its draft EIA and SIA Scoping Studies, in January 2024.  Further, GreenRoc has also fulfilled the condition requiring a viable mineral deposit to be substantiated and delineated at Amitsoq, as supported by the results of the independent Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") published in October 2023.  The Company will therefore be in a position to submit an application for an Exploitation Licence once the Project Description and EIA and SIA Scoping Studies have been approved by the Government and are ready for translation, and thus prior to the commencement of the public consultation. It is expected, therefore, that this application will be submitted in the first half of 2024, paving the way to the possible grant of an Exploitation Licence before the end of 2024.

Changes to Exploration Portfolio Licences

The Company is also pleased to provide an update on certain licence-related matters concerning its exploration portfolio in Greenland.

An application has been submitted to expand GreenRoc's exclusive Mineral Exploration Licence ("MEL") 2022-03 near Nanortalik in South Greenland.  Covering approximately 50km², the expansion area applied for (Figure 1) is the last remaining area in the vicinity of GreenRoc's existing mineral exploration licence package in South Greenland which is known to host significant graphite mineralisation and which is not already under licence to GreenRoc.

The application area lies due east of Nanortalik and is immediately adjacent to existing licence area MEL 2022-03. The area includes several historical recordings of high-grade graphite mineralisation (Figure 2).  The target area has become open for application due to the surrender of the area by the previous licence holder in January 2024.

Subject to grant of the licence extension, GreenRoc will hold the exclusive exploration rights to all prospective ground in the world-class Nanortalik Graphite District, which hosts the Amitsoq Graphite Mine, the Kalaaq Deposit and several other high-grade graphite prospects (See RNSs of 8 November 2021 and 11 October 2022).

Finally, in order to consolidate its resources and focus on developing the Amitsoq Graphite Deposit into a producing mine, the Company has decided to relinquish its exploration licence MEL 2017-41 in North Greenland, encompassing the Melville Bay Iron Project. The Company has no outstanding obligations in respect of the relinquished licence and the relinquishment has been approved by the Greenland Government.

Figure 1. GreenRoc's exclusive licences MEL 2013-06 (including the Amitsoq deposit) and MEL 2022-03 and the newly applied for area in light green (which will form part of MEL 2022-03 upon grant). The red symbols mark the known occurrences of graphite mineralisation.

Figure 2. Known graphite occurrences (Loc 2 and Loc 7) in the area of the new licence application, and a geological marker horizon shown as white dotted lines, as viewed from the north-west (SRK Report, 2015).

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GreenRoc's CEO, Stefan Bernstein, commented:

"The changes in the Greenlandic Mineral Law that came into effect on 1 January 2024 are very positive  for GreenRoc. The fact that our application for an Exploitation Licence can now run in parallel with the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment studies we are undertaking should significantly shorten the processing time for the Exploitation Licence. It also futher illustrates Greenland's commitment to simplifying its mineral administration in order to establish a solid mineral extractive industry in the country."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company are responsible for the release of this announcement.

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or anticipated future events and anticipated results that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, competition for qualified staff, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation, uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans, uncertainties resulting from working in a new political jurisdiction, uncertainties regarding the results of exploration, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of prospecting rights, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of regulatory and other third party consents and approvals, uncertainties regarding the Company's or any third party's ability to execute and implement future plans, and the occurrence of unexpected events. 

Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors.

**ENDS** 

For further information, please contact:  

About GreenRoc

GreenRoc Mining plc is an AIM-quoted company which is developing mining projects in Greenland in critical, high-demand and high-value minerals.

Led by a group of highly experienced mining industry professionals, GreenRoc has a portfolio of 100% owned projects with defined Resources:

·    The Amitsoq Graphite Project, the Company's flagship project and one of the highest-grade graphite deposits in the world with a combined Measured, Indicated and Inferred JORC Resource of 23.05 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 20.41% graphite, giving a total graphite content of 4.71 Mt; and

·    The Thule Black Sands Ilmenite Project ('TBS'), which has an initial Mineral Resource of 19Mt at 43.6% Total Heavy Minerals with an in-situ ilmenite grade of 8.9%.

About Amitsoq

Amitsoq is located in the Nanortalik region of southern Greenland and has been confirmed as one of the highest-grade flake graphite projects in the world.  GreenRoc is focused on fast-tracking the development of Amitsoq into a producing mine in the shortest possible timeframe to meet critical demand from Electric Vehicle ('EV') manufacturers in Europe and North America for new, high grade and conflict-free sources of graphite.

Key points about Amitsoq:

·    GreenRoc holds the Amitsoq exclusive exploration licence MEL2013_06 of a total of 72.52km2 in the South of Greenland.

·    Amitsoq has a total inferred, indicated and measured JORC Resource of 23.05 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 20.41% Graphitic Carbon ("C(g)"), giving a total graphite content of 4.71 Mt.

·    Results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment were released on 31 October 2023 stating a post-tax NPV8 of US$179M at an IRR of 26.7%. Capex estimated at US$131M including a 25% contingency.

·    Independent micronisation and spheronisation test work has proven that Amitsoq graphite can be easily upgraded to high-grade anode-quality graphite, otherwise known as high purity spherical graphite or cSPG, a key raw material in the manufacturing of EVs.

·    In GreenRoc's test work programmes, Amitsoq spheronised graphite has achieved higher than 99.95% purity with relatively little energy input and processing and using the milder alkaline purification method compared to the industry standard hydrofluoric acid, boding well for future production costs and sustainability commitments. 

·    Electrochemical testing of Amitsoq graphite anode material in a Li-battery cell shows that it performs very well, in part due to its good crystallinity.

·    Significant further upside exists at Amitsoq as the Amitsoq Island Deposit is open in at least two directions with potential for considerable further expansion via the similarly high-grade Kalaaq Mainland Deposit as well as a series of other high-grade targets on GreenRoc's licence package.

·    The deposit was in small-scale production about 100 years ago, and there remains considerable underground mine development in place from that time, which will be of considerable benefit to GreenRoc in the mine construction phase.

·    Following a detailed evaluation process, the European Raw Materials Alliance has expressed its support of GreenRoc and its Amitsoq graphite project, stating that "GreenRoc's graphite resource is of global importance and, together with the Company's strategy, will enable the European Union to achieve a certain level of independence for the electrical vehicle supply chain. ERMA has approved the Amitsoq Graphite project and will engage to support its development and financing to produce these critical raw materials for the benefit of the European Union goals." (see RNS dated 8 February 2023).

·    In October 2023, GreenRoc was awarded a grant of approximately £250,000 by the Automotive Transformation Fund in the UK to part-finance a feasibility study into the establishment of a graphite spheronisation processing plant to produce active anode material from graphite concentrate delivered from Amitsoq. This feasibility study is expected to be completed in H1 2024.