enCore Energy Corp. (ENCUF)(EU:CA) – enCore Combines with Azarga Uranium

Wednesday, September 08, 2021

enCore Energy Corp. (ENCUF)(EU:CA)
enCore Combines with Azarga Uranium

enCore Energy Corp together with its subsidiary, is engaged in the acquisition and exploration of resource properties. The company holds the Marquez project in New Mexico as well as the dominant land position in Arizona with additional other properties in Utah and Wyoming. The firm also owns or has access to North American and global uranium data including the Union Carbide, US Smelting and Refining, UV Industries, and Rancher’s Exploration databases in addition to a collection of geophysical data for the high-grade Northern Arizona Breccia Pipe District.

Michael Heim, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

    enCore Energy and Azarga Uranium agree to merge. The merger will combine enCore’s leading position as an aggregator of domestic uranium assets and controller of in-situ processing plants with Azarga’s ownership of several high-grade, low-cost in-situ exploratory projects. We think the combination makes sense for both companies and see the announcement as a continuation of enCore’s goal of becoming the leading uranium ISR producer in the U.S.

    Why it makes sense for Azarga.  Azarga shareholders receive 0.375 shares worth $0.71 per share, a 31% premium. Azarga gains a partner with experience as a uranium aggregator, a strong balance sheet (C$5m cash + C$12m inventory and no debt), and control of permitted processing plants. Azarga was going to need to bring in a partner to develop its Dewey Burdock project (initial capital costs of US32m) …



This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary.  Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

Chakana Copper Corp (CHKKF)(PERU:CA) – The Initial Resource Estimate Is Not Expected to Be an End Point

Wednesday, September 08, 2021

Chakana Copper Corp (CHKKF)(PERU:CA)
The Initial Resource Estimate Is Not Expected to Be an End Point

Noble Capital Markets research on Chakana Copper Corp is published under ticker symbols CHKKF and PERU:CA. The price target is in USD and based on ticker symbol CHKKF. Chakana Copper Corp is a Canadian-based minerals exploration company that is currently advancing the high-grade gold-copper-silver Soledad Project located in the Ancash region of Peru, a highly favorable mining jurisdiction with supportive communities. The Soledad Project consists of high-grade gold-copper-silver mineralization hosted in tourmaline breccia pipes. A total of 33,353 metres of drilling has been completed to-date, testing nine (9) of twenty-three (23) confirmed breccia pipes with more than 92 total targets. Chakana’s investors are uniquely positioned as the Soledad Project provides exposure to several metals including copper, gold, and silver.

Mark Reichman, Senior Research Analyst of Natural Resources, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

    Latest drill results. Resource definition drilling at Breccia Bx 1 has entailed 62 drill holes, representing 17,936 meters of drilling. Chakana released drill results from the final 7 resource definition holes from Bx 1 that provided strong readings that were consistent with previous drill results. Additional resource definition drill results for Bx 5 and Huancarama are pending.

    Initial resource estimate expected in Q4′ 2021.  The company expects to release an initial resource estimate in the fourth quarter of 2021 which will include Bx 1, Bx 5, Bx 6, Paloma East, Paloma West, and Huancarama down to a depth of 300 meters. While Chakana’s near-term focus is the completion of the initial resource estimate, the company still has ground to cover in terms of defining Soledad’s …



This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary.  Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

enCore Energy and Azarga Uranium To Combine To Create Leading American Uranium ISR Company


enCore Energy and Azarga Uranium To Combine To Create Leading American Uranium ISR Company

 

CORPUS CHRISTI, TexasSept. 7, 2021 /CNW/ – enCore Energy Corp. (“enCore“) (TSXV: EU) (OTCQB: ENCUF) and Azarga Uranium Corp. (“Azarga“) (TSX: AZZ) (OTCQB: AZZUF) (FRA: P8AA) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement (the “Agreement“) whereby enCore will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Azarga pursuant to a court-approved plan of arrangement (the “Transaction“). The Transaction consolidates an industry leading pipeline of exploration and development staged in-situ recovery (“ISR“) focused uranium projects located in the United States, including the licensed Rosita & Kingsville Dome past producing uranium production facilities in South Texas, the advanced stage Dewey Burdock development project in South Dakota, which has been issued its key federal permits, the PEA-staged Gas Hills Project located in Wyoming, and a portfolio of resource staged projects throughout the United States. The combined company will possess a uranium resource base of 90.0 million pounds in the measured & indicated category, 9.9 million pounds in the inferred category, as well as 68.4 million pounds in the historic category*. 

Under the terms of the Agreement, Azarga shareholders will receive 0.375 common shares of enCore for each Azarga common share held (the “Exchange Ratio“). The Exchange Ratio implies consideration of $0.71 per Azarga common share based on the closing price of the enCore common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange on September 3rd, 2021.

Additionally, the Exchange Ratio will be subject to an adjustment mechanism at the closing of the Transaction (the “Closing Exchange Ratio“). The Closing Exchange Ratio shall be equal to the greater of: (i) the Exchange Ratio; or (ii) an exchange ratio calculated as $0.54 divided by enCore’s 15-day volume-weighted average price prior to the closing of the Transaction, subject to a maximum Closing Exchange Ratio of 0.49 common shares of enCore for each share of Azarga outstanding.

Transaction Highlights

  • Creation of a top-tier American uranium ISR mining company with multiple assets at various stages of development;
  • Two licensed ISR production facilities and multiple potential satellite exploration and development projects in South Texas;
  • Advanced stage Dewey Burdock development project in South Dakota with key federal permits issued;
  • Recently published preliminary economic assessment for the Gas Hills project in Wyoming;
  • Large uranium resource endowment in New Mexico including the Marquez-Juan Tafoya project, for which a recent preliminary economic assessment was published and the Crownpoint and Hosta Butte project;
  • Well positioned to benefit from America’s nuclear renaissance, which boasts bi-partisan political support; and
  • Management team and board with unrivaled experience in the permitting, development, and mining of ISR uranium deposits in the USA.

Paul Goranson, CEO of enCore, commented: “enCore is delighted to combine our assets with those of Azarga. Dewey Burdock is an excellent ISR uranium project and we look forward to building upon Azarga’s successes to create additional value through development progress and eventually production. In addition to the execution of plans for near term production in Texas and a dominant mineral position in New Mexico, this combination will see enCore take another leap forward towards realizing the goal of becoming a larger and more diversified uranium development company during a time of positive sentiment for nuclear energy.”

Blake Steele, President & CEO of Azarga, further added: “We are pleased to partner with enCore as a result of this transaction, while realizing a material premium for shareholders in the process. Scale is important in the natural resource sector and this transaction will position the new company among the top uranium miners based in the USA. enCore possesses a great depth of uranium development and mining experience within its management team and board of directors. As such, we are confident that the combined portfolio will be in good hands for the benefit of both sets of shareholders.”

William Sheriff, Executive Chairman of enCore, stated: “This strategic acquisition fills the gap in enCore’s pipeline of projects with key intermediate development opportunities in Wyoming and South Dakota, in between initial production in Texas and longer-term opportunities in New Mexico.  This second major acquisition for enCore within the last 12 months is in keeping with our announced aggressive M&A strategy which was successfully employed at Energy Metals Corp, which was sold for $1.6 billion during the last cycle.  Consolidation in conjunction with an elite operational team are the keys to success in building a leading US ISR company.”

Transaction Details

Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Azarga will be exchanged for common shares of enCore at the Closing Exchange Ratio. Outstanding and unexercised warrants and stock options to purchase common shares of Azarga will be adjusted in accordance with their terms based on the Closing Exchange Ratio.

The Agreement includes standard deal protection provisions, including non-solicitation, right-to-match, and fiduciary out provisions, as well as certain representations, covenants and conditions that are customary for a transaction of this nature, along with a termination fee of $4 million payable to enCore in certain circumstances.

The proposed Transaction will be effected by way of a plan of arrangement completed under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The Transaction will require approval by at least 66 2/3% of the votes cast by Azarga shareholders and, if required by Multilateral Instrument 61-101, a simple majority of the votes cast by Azarga shareholders excluding certain interested or related parties, in each case by shareholders present in person or represented by proxy at a special meeting of the shareholders of Azarga to be called in connection with the Transaction (the “Azarga Special Meeting“).

The Azarga Special Meeting is expected to be held in October or November 2021. An information circular detailing the terms and conditions of the Transaction will be mailed to the shareholders of Azarga in connection with the Azarga Special Meeting. All shareholders are urged to read the information circular once available, as it will contain important additional information concerning the Transaction.

Closing of the Transaction is subject to the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of certain other closing conditions customary in transactions of this nature, including, without limitation, court and stock exchange approval. Closing of the Transaction is anticipated to occur in November 2021.

None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Transaction have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act“), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the Transaction are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

Management and Board of Directors

The combined company will be managed by the current enCore executive team, led by Paul Goranson as CEO & Director, William Sheriff as Executive Chairman, Carrie Mierkey as Chief Financial Officer, and Dennis Stover, as Chief Technical Officer. Blake Steele, current President & CEO of Azarga, will continue as a Strategic Advisor to the combined company and John Mays, current COO of Azarga, will continue as Chief Operating Officer of the Azarga subsidiary, with a core focus to manage the continued advancement of the Dewey Burdock and Gas Hills projects.

Upon closing of the Transaction, Sandra MacKay, a current director of Azarga, will be appointed to the board of enCore.

In connection with the closing of the Transaction, enCore intends to seek the listing of its shares on the NYSE-AMEX or NASDAQ exchange which may include a share consolidation in order to meet initial listing requirements.

Board Recommendations and Voting Support

The Agreement has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both enCore and Azarga, and Azarga’s board unanimously recommends that its shareholders vote in favour of the Transaction.

Officers and Directors of Azarga holding approximately 7% of the outstanding shares of Azarga have entered into customary voting support agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their Azarga common shares in favour of the Transaction.

Clarus Securities Inc. has provided a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors of enCore, to the effect that, as of the date of such opinion, and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications set out in such opinion, the consideration to be paid by enCore pursuant to the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to enCore.

Each of Haywood Securities Inc. and Evans & Evans, Inc. have provided fairness opinions to the Board of Directors of Azarga, to the effect that, as of the date of such opinion, and based upon and subject to the respective assumptions, limitations and qualifications set out in such opinion, the consideration to be received by Azarga shareholders pursuant to the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to Azarga shareholders.

Advisors and Counsel

PowerOne Capital Markets Ltd. is acting as financial advisor to enCore. Morton Law LLP is acting as legal counsel to enCore.

Haywood Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to Azarga. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is acting as legal counsel to Azarga.

Conference Call & Webcast

enCore and Azarga will be hosting a joint online investor webinar on Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 10:00 AM EDT / 7:00 AM PDT to discuss the Transaction.

To register and attend the webinar please visit:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1027177374309475597

Additionally, Mr. Goranson and Mr. Sheriff will join Smith Weekly Research in discussing the Transaction that will be available at this link:

Smith Weekly Research – enCore Energy & Azarga Uranium Business Combination

enCore Resource Summary

Project

Million Tons

Grade eU3O8%

U3O8 (M lbs.)

Crownpoint and Hosta Butte(1)




  Indicated

12.68

0.105%

26.6

  Inferred

2.76

0.110%

6.1

Marquez-Juan Tafoya(2)




  Indicated

7.1

0.127%

18.1

Historic Mineral Resources*




  Marquez-Juan Tafoya: Sunshine(3)

1.1

0.11%

2.48

  Nose Rock(4)(5)

11.8

0.148%

35.0

  West Largo(6)(7)

2.9

0.300%

17.2

  Ambrosia Lake(8)(9)

2.0

0.176%

7.1

  Moonshine Springs(9)

1.4

0.165%

4.7

  Butler Ranch(10)

0.4

0.15%

1.3

  Rosita(11)

0.4

0.082%

0.6

  Total Historic Resources*



68.4

1.

NI 43-101, Technical Report, Crownpoint & Hosta Butte , McKinley County, New Mexico, prepared by  BRS Engineering, dated May 14, 2012. Crownpoint & Hosta Butte hosts Indicated resource of 12.7 Mt of 0.105% eU3O8 totaling 26.6 M lbs, Inferred resource of 2.8 Mt of 0.110% eU3O8 totaling 6.1 M lbs.

2.

Beahm, Douglas L., P.E., P.G., BRS Inc., Terence P. McNulty, P.E., PHD,  McNulty and Associates, “NI  43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, Marquez-Juan Tafoya Uranium Project”, prepared by  BRS Engineering, dated June 9. 2021. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

3.

Carter, Geoffrey S., P.Eng., 2014, “NI 43-101 Technical Report on Mineral Resources: Juan Tafoya Uranium Project, Cibola, McKinley, and Sandoval Counties, New Mexico, USA”, reported and effective May 15, 2014, prepared for Uranium Resources Inc. by Broad Oak Associates. Carter reports the non-contiguous Southeast Deposit located about 1 mile southeast of the Marquez-Juan Tafoya Deposit has an historic estimated Inferred Resource of 1,125,900 tons containing 2.481 million pounds U3O8 at an average grade of 0.110 %, with a cutoff grade of 0.05% U3O8.

4.

M. Hassan Alief, Technical Report on Section 1, T18N, R12W, Nose Rock Uranium Property, McKinley County, New Mexico, reported an effective February 9, 2009 for Strathmore Minerals Corp.

5.

Behre Dolbear & Company (USA) Inc., 2011, Technical Report on the Nose Rock Project of Uranium Resources Inc., prepared by Robert D. Maxwell, CPG.

6.

Behre Dolbear & Company (USA) Inc., 2011, Technical Report on the West Largo Project of Uranium Resources Inc., prepared by Robert D. Maxwell, CPG.

7.

Conoco Inc., Internal Memorandum, Treeline Uranium Property, McKinley County, New Mexico, 1978.

8.

Behre Dolbear & Company (USA) Inc., 2010, Technical Report on the Ambrosia Lake Project of Uranium Resources Inc., prepared by Robert D. Maxwell, CPG and Bernard J. Guarnera, RPG, CPG. The report references Historic Mineral Resources with sources including:


1.

Sec 27-14N-10W estimated by Capitan, Melvin, Feb 25, 2008, Uranium Resources Inc., “Ore Reserve Calculation Sheet 3, T14N R10W Section 27”, in Maxwell, Robert, CPG and Bernard Guarnera, March 1, 2010, Technical Report on Ambrosia Lake Project, Section 27, et al., Behre Dolbear Report  07-019

9.

Wilton, Dean T., CPG, PG, MAIG, Chief Geologist Westwater Resources, 2018, Technical Report on the Ambrosia Lake Uranium Project, McKinley County, USA. This report outlines several Historic Mineral Resources including:


1.

Sec 25-14N-10W estimated by Yancy & Associates, May 1997, Mine Plan – Sections 23 and 25 Ambrosia Lake, New Mexico, for Rio Algom Mining Corporation, Quivira Mining Company


2.

Sec 7-14N-10W estimated by Pathfinder Mines, 1980, Mine PlanExxon Minerals Company, Moonshine Springs, Mohave County, Arizona, 1982.


3.

Sec 17-13N-9W estimated by Nelson, Jon, Uranium Resources Inc., January 18, 2008.


4.

Sec 13-13N-9W estimated by Nelson, Jon, Uranium Resources Inc., June 29, 2007.

10.

Uranium Resources, Inc., News Release dated July 7, 2015

11.

Uranium Resources Inc., Form 10K, US Security and Exchange Commission, March 27, 2014.

*A Qualified Person (as defined in NI43-101) has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources. Additional work will be required to verify and update historical estimates, including a review of assumptions, parameters, methods and testing. Historical estimates do not use the current mineral resource categories prescribed under NI43-101. enCore is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources and they should not be relied upon.

Azarga Resource Summary

Project

Million Tons

Grade U3O8%

U3O8 (M lbs.)

Dewey Burdock(1)




  Measured & Indicated (ISR)

7.39

0.116%

17.12

  Inferred (ISR)

0.65

0.055%

0.71

Centennial(2)




  Measured & Indicated (ISR)

6.87

0.09%

10.37

  Inferred (ISR)

1.36

0.09%

2.33

Aladdin(3)




  Measured & Indicated

0.47

0.111%

1.04

  Inferred

0.04

0.119%

0.10

Gas Hills(4)




  Measured & Indicated (ISR)

3.83

0.101%

7.71

  Measured & Indicated (non-ISR)

3.20

0.048%

3.06

  Inferred (ISR)

0.41

0.052%

0.43

  Inferred (non-ISR)

0.11

0.030%

0.06

Juniper Ridge(5)




  Measured & Indicated (non-ISR)

5.14

0.058%

6.01

  Inferred (non-ISR)

0.11

0.085%

0.18

1.

NI 43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, Dewey-Burdock Uranium ISR Project, South Dakota, USA, completed by Woodard & Curran and Rough Stock Mining Services (effective 3 December 2019).

2.

NI 43-101 Preliminary Assessment, Powertech Uranium Corp., Centennial Uranium Project, Weld County, Colorado, completed by SRK Consulting (effective 2 June 2010).

3.

Technical Report on the Aladdin Uranium Project, Crook County, Wyoming, completed by Jerry D. Bush, certified Professional Geologist (effective 21 June 2012).

4.

NI 43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, Gas Hills Uranium Project, Fremont and Natrona Counties, Wyoming, USA, completed by WWC Engineering and Rough Stock Mining Services (effective 28 June 2021).

5.

Juniper Ridge Uranium Project, Carbon County, Wyoming, USA, Amended and Restated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource and Preliminary Economic Assessment, completed by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G., Principal Engineer, BRS Inc. and Terrence P. (Terry) McNulty, P.E., D.Sc., T.P McNulty and Associates (effective 9 June 2017).


Mineral Resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability

Qualified Persons

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved on behalf of enCore by Douglas H. Underhill, PhD, CPG, and on behalf of Azarga by John Mays, P.E. and Chief Operating Officer of Azarga, each of whom are a “Qualified Person” as defined by NI 43-101.

About enCore

enCore Energy Corp. is a U.S. domestic uranium developer focused on becoming a leading in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium producer. The company is led by a team of industry experts with extensive knowledge and experience in the development and operations of in situ recovery uranium operations. enCore Energy’s opportunities are created from the company’s transformational acquisition of its two South Texas production facilities, the changing global uranium supply/demand outlook and opportunities for industry consolidation. These short-term opportunities are augmented by our strong long term commitment to working with local indigenous communities in New Mexico where the company holds significant uranium resources.

About Azarga

Azarga Uranium is an integrated uranium exploration and development company that controls ten uranium projects and prospects in the United States of America (“USA”) (South DakotaWyomingUtah and Colorado), with a primary focus of developing in-situ recovery uranium projects. The Dewey Burdock in-situ recovery uranium project in South Dakota, USA (the “Dewey Burdock Project”), which is the company’s initial development priority, has received its Nuclear Regulatory Commission License and Class III and Class V Underground Injection Control permits from the Environmental Protection Agency and the company is in the process of completing other major regulatory permit approvals necessary for the construction of the Dewey Burdock Project.

Cautionary Statements

Certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking information or statements under applicable securities legislation and rules. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as “may”, “will”, “plan”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “intend”, “indicate”, “scheduled”, “target”, “goal”, “potential”, “subject”, “efforts”, “option” and similar words, or the negative connotations thereof, referring to future events and results.  Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements related to the anticipated completion of the Transaction, the terms of the Transaction, the benefits of the Transaction, the combined company, the directors and officers of the combined company, the merits of the properties of enCore and Azarga, the potential share consolidation and listing of the shares of the combined company on a U.S. stock exchange and all statements related to the business plans, expectations and objectives of enCore and Azarga.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of enCore and/or Azarga to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: any inability of the parties to satisfy the conditions to the completion of the Transaction on acceptable terms or at all; receipt of necessary stock exchange, court and shareholder approvals; the ability of enCore and Azarga to achieve their stated goals and objectives; the costs associated with the companies’ objectives; risks and uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken to attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19; and the risks and uncertainties identified in enCore’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and Azarga’s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2020, each filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although management of each of enCore and Azarga has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Neither party will update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. The parties caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and it does not undertake any obligation to revise and disseminate forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of or non-occurrence of any events.

This press release is not and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States. The distribution of the enCore common shares in connection with the transactions described herein will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the “U.S. Securities Act”) and the enCore common shares may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the enCore common shares, nor shall there be any offer or sale of the enCore common shares in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Neither the TSX, the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE enCore Energy Corp.

For further information: enCore Energy Corp., William M. Sheriff, Executive Chairman, 972-333-2214, info@encoreenergycorp.com, www.encoreenergycorp.com; Azarga Uranium Corp., Blake Steele, President & CEO, 605-662-8308, info@azargauranium.com, www.azargauranium.com

Seanergy Participates in Noble Capital Markets Virtual Road Show Series


Seanergy Participates in Noble Capital Markets Virtual Road Show Series

 

September 7, 2021 – Glyfada, Greece – Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (the “Company” or “Seanergy”) (NASDAQ: SHIP) announced today its participation in Noble Capital Markets’ Virtual Road Show Series, presented by Channelchek.

The virtual road show will feature a corporate presentation from Seanergy’s CEO, Stamatis Tsantanis, and CFO, Stavros Gyftakis, followed by a Q&A session proctored by Noble Senior Research Analyst Poe Fratt, featuring questions submitted by the audience.

The live broadcast of the virtual road show is scheduled for September 9, 2021, at 1:00 PM EDT. Registration is free and open to all investors, at any level. Register Here.

Noble’s research, as well as news and advanced market data on the Company is available on Channelchek.

About Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp.

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. is the only pure-play Capesize ship-owner publicly listed in the US. Seanergy provides marine dry bulk transportation services through a modern fleet of Capesize vessels. Following the delivery of M/V Leadership to its new owners, the Company’s operating fleet will consist of 16 Capesize vessels with an average age of 11.5 years and aggregate cargo carrying capacity of approximately 2,829,630 dwt.

The Company is incorporated in the Marshall Islands and has executive offices in Glyfada, Greece. The Company’s common shares trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “SHIP”, its Class A warrants under “SHIPW” and its Class B warrants under “SHIPZ”.

Please visit our company website at: www.seanergymaritime.com.

About Noble Capital Markets

Noble Capital Markets, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 as a full-service SEC / FINRA registered broker-dealer, dedicated exclusively to serving underfollowed small / microcap companies through investment banking, wealth management, trading & execution, and equity research activities. Over the past 36 years, Noble has raised billions of dollars for these companies and published more than 45,000 equity research reports. www.noblecapitalmarkets.com, email: contact@noblecapitalmarkets.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning future events. Words such as “may”, “should”, “expects”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “hopes”, “estimates” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates, which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, the Company’s operating or financial results; the Company’s liquidity, including its ability to service its indebtedness; competitive factors in the market in which the Company operates; shipping industry trends, including charter rates, vessel values and factors affecting vessel supply and demand; future, pending or recent acquisitions and dispositions, business strategy, areas of possible expansion or contraction, and expected capital spending or operating expenses; risks associated with operations outside the United States; risks associated with the length and severity of the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, including its effects on demand for dry bulk products and the transportation thereof; and other factors listed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the SEC, including its most recent annual report on Form 20-F. The Company’s filings can be obtained free of charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except to the extent required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

For further information please contact:

Seanergy Investor Relations
Tel: +30 213 0181 522
E-mail: ir@seanergy.gr

Capital Link, Inc.
Daniela Guerrero
230 Park Avenue Suite 1536
New York, NY 10169
Tel: (212) 661-7566
E-mail: seanergy@capitallink.com

Palladium One Announces Resource Estimate for Haukiaho Zone, Doubles Endowment at LK Project, Finland


Palladium One Announces Resource Estimate for Haukiaho Zone, Doubles Endowment at LK Project, Finland

 

Highlights

  • Total Mineral Resource Estimates at the LK Project are now:
    • 0.6 million ounces Palladium Equivalent (“Pd_Eq”) of Indicated Resources (1.60 g/t, 11 million tonnes).
    • 1.7 million ounces Pd_Eq of Inferred Resources (1.19 g/t, 44 million tonnes).
  • Haukiaho, NI43-101 Pit Constrained Resource Estimate announced.
    • 1.21 million ounces Pd_Eq grading 1.15 g/t in 32.7 million tonnes.
    • Shallow deposit with a low 1:1 strip ratio.
    • Haukiaho is base metal-rich with two-thirds of the value in nickel and copper, whereas Kaukua is Platinum-Group-Elements (“PGE”) rich with two-thirds of the value in palladium and platinum.
    • Resource estimate comprises 3-kilometers of strike length; part of the 17-kilometer long Haukiaho Trend.
    • Two-kilometers of strike extent, immediately east of the Haukiaho Resource Estimate, contains two significant Induced Polarization (“IP”) chargeability anomalies with sufficient historical drilling to potentially be upgraded to Inferred Resources with modest additional drilling.
    • Remaining twelve-kilometers of Haukiaho Trend has not been drill tested by the Company, however, widely spaced historic drilling has demonstrated that the trend is mineralized. This historic drilling provides a high level of confidence for potential additional nickel-copper resources to be delineated.
  • Resource definition drilling for the Company’s primary focus area, Kaukua and the Western half of Kaukua South (“Kaukua Area”), has been completed.
    • An updated Kaukua Area NI43-101 Resource Estimate is scheduled at year end.

September 7, 2021 – Toronto, Ontario – Resource definition drilling at the Kaukua Area has been completed and an updated National Instrument (“NI43-101”) compliant Mineral Resource Estimate is scheduled at year end (Figure 1).  Without including an updated Mineral Resource Estimate at the Kaukua Area, today’s addition of a NI43-101 compliant Resource Estimate for the Haukiaho zone (Figure 2) has doubled the Company’s Mineral Resource endowment.  The quality and scale of the Company’s overall resource potential at the LK Project continues to impress, said Palladium One Mining Inc. (“Palladium One” or the “Company”) (TSXV: PDM, FRA: 7N11, OTC: NKORF) today.

Derrick Weyrauch, President and CEO of Palladium One said, “In two short years LK has grown significantly, and we have the next Mineral Resource update at the Kaukua Area scheduled at year end. LK is clearly shaping up to be a globally significant project in a best-in-class mining jurisdiction.  With Finland’s exceptionally well-designed mining and development laws and our existing resources, we believe that LK is well on its way to demonstrating the critical mass needed for a robust mining scenario. Based on the significant number of drill targets still to be tested, we see a tremendous amount of resource expansion potential remaining to be defined.”

Table 1. LK Project Total National Instrument 43-101 Pit Constrained Resource Estimate

Deposit Class Tonnes
(Mt)
Pd
g/t
Pt
g/t
Au
g/t
PGE
(Pd+Pt+Au)
g/t
Ni
%
Cu
%
Co
ppm
Pd_Eq* Spot
Au_Eq**
g/t
Spot
Cu_Eq**
%
g/t Oz
Kaukua Indicated 11.0 0.81 0.27 0.09 1.17 0.09 0.15 1.60 566,000 1.90 1.17
Kaukua Inferred 10.9 0.64 0.20 0.08 0.92 0.08 0.13 1.31 459,000 1.55 0.96
Haukiaho Inferred 32.7 0.25 0.10 0.10 0.45 0.13 0.18 53 1.15 1,210,000 1.26 0.78
Total Inferred 43.6 0.35 0.12 0.10 0.57 0.12 0.17 40 1.19 1,669,000 1.33 0.82

* Pd_Eq calculated using prices from the 2021 NI43-101 Haukiaho Mineral Resource Estimate; $1,600/oz Pd, $1,100/oz Pt, $1,650/oz Au, $3.50 Cu, and $7.50 Ni

** Spot Au_Eq and Cu_Eq is calculated for comparison only, using recent prices, $2,500/oz Pd, $1,000/oz Pt, $1,800/oz Au, $4.25/lb Cu, and $8.50/lb Ni.

  • 2019 Kaukua Mineral Resource Estimate used a 0.3 g/t Pd cut off which equates to ~0.6 g/t Pd_Eq using the 2021 Haukiaho Mineral Resource Estimate prices.
  • Kaukua Mineral Resource Estimate is previously released (see press release September 9, 2019).

Table 2. Haukiaho National Instrument 43-101 Pit Constrained Inferred Resource Estimate at incremental cut-offs

$ Value Cut-Off
($/t)
Tonnes
(Mt)
Pd
g/t
Pt
g/t
Au
g/t
PGE
(Pd+Pt+Au)
g/t
Ni
%
Cu
%
Co
ppm
Pd_Eq Cu Eq
%
Ni Eq
%
Spot
Au_Eq*
g/t
g/t Oz
$15 42.6 0.21 0.09 0.08 0.38 0.12 0.15 54 1.01 1,385,000 0.68 0.32 1.10
$20 37.7 0.23 0.10 0.09 0.42 0.12 0.16 54 1.08 1,310,000 0.72 0.34 1.18
$25 32.7 0.25 0.10 0.10 0.45 0.13 0.18 53 1.15 1,210,000 0.77 0.36 1.26
$30 27.5 0.27 0.11 0.11 0.49 0.14 0.19 54 1.23 1,090,000 0.82 0.38 1.35
$35 22.0 0.29 0.12 0.12 0.53 0.15 0.20 56 1.33 940,000 0.89 0.41 1.45
$40 16.4 0.33 0.13 0.13 0.59 0.16 0.22 59 1.45 765,000 0.97 0.45 1.59

* Spot Au_Eq is calculated for comparison only, using recent prices, $2,500/oz Pd, $1,000/oz Pt, $1,800/oz Au, $4.25/lb Cu, and $8.50/lb Ni.

  • Domains were modelled in 3D to separate mineralized rock types from surrounding waste rock.  The domains were modelled based on Pd-equivalent grade continuity above a 0.25 g/t cut-off.
  • Raw drill hole assays were composited to 5 m lengths broken at domain boundaries.
  • Capping of high grades was considered necessary and was completed for each domain on assays prior to compositing.
  • Block grades for gold were estimated from the composites using ordinary kriging interpolation into 10 x 10 x 10 m blocks coded by domain.
  • A dry bulk density of 2.0 g/cm3 was used for overburden material. Densities of 2.7 g/cm3, 2.9 g/cm3 and 3.0 g/cm3 were used for basement, gabbro/peridotite/pyroxenite and diabase, respectively.
  • Blocks were classified as Inferred Resources in accordance with CIM Definition Standards 2014.
  • Blocks were classified into the Inferred Resource category if the block fell within 120 m of a composite.  Due to limitations with QAQC for historic drillholes, the wide-spaced drilling and the early-stage of metallurgical testwork, there are currently no Indicated Mineral Resources.
  • The Mineral Resource Estimate is constrained within an optimised pit with a maximum slope angle of 55°. A slope angle of 45° was used on the south side of the pit. The optimised pit strip ratio is 0.53 (using the $15/t cut-off at which the pit was modelled) and is 0.93 using a $25/t cut-off within the bounds of the $15/t pit envelope.
  • Metal prices of $1,650/oz, $3.50/lb, $7.50/lb, $20.00/lb, $1,600/oz and $1,100/oz were used respectively for Au, Cu, Ni, Co, Pd and Pt.  Metallurgical recoveries of 65.2%, 89.2%, 63.7%, 63.7%, 79.8% and 80.1% for Au, Cu, Ni, Co, Pd and Pt were applied respectively. A $15/t value cut-off (equivalent to 0.4 g/t Pd_Eq) was estimated based on estimated total processing and G&A cost of $15/t of ore mined. Block dollar values use both metal prices and metallurgical recoveries.  Palladium One chose to use an elevated cut-off of $25/t (equivalent to 0.6 g/t Pd_Eq) to report the base-case Haukiaho Mineral Resource Estimate.
  • Palladium equivalent is calculated using the formula Pd_Eq = Pd + Cu*(Cu% Unit Value/Pd Unit Value) + Ni*(Ni% Unit Value/Pd Unit Value) + Co*(Co% Unit value/Pd Unit Value) + Pt*(Pt Unit Value/Pd Unit Value) + Au*(Au Unit value/Pd Unit Value).  Metallurgical recoveries of 100% are assumed for the Pd-equivalent calculation.
  • The contained metal figures shown are in situ.  No assurance can be given that the estimated quantities will be produced.  All figures have been rounded to reflect accuracy and to comply with securities regulatory requirements.  Summations within the tables may not agree due to rounding.
  • Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues.
  • The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources in this estimation are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration at this stage to upgrade these Inferred Resources to Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in an upgraded resource category.

Table 3. Kaukua National Instrument 43-101 Pit Constrained Resource Estimate (see press release September 9, 2019)

Class Tonnes
(Mt)
Pd
g/t
Pt
g/t
Au
g/t
PGE
(Pd+Pt+Au)
g/t
Ni
%
Cu
%
2019
Pd_Eq*
2021
Pd_Eq**
Spot
Au_Eq***
g/t
g/t Oz g/t Oz
Indicated 11.0 0.81 0.27 0.09 1.17 0.09 0.15 1.80 635,600 1.60 566,000 1.90
Inferred 10.9 0.64 0.20 0.08 0.92 0.08 0.13 1.50 525,800 1.31 459,000 1.55

* Pd_Eq calculated using prices from the 2019 NI43-101 Kaukua Mineral Resource Estimate, $1,100/oz Pd, $950/oz Pt, $1,300/oz Au, $3.00/lb Cu, and $7.00/lb Ni

** Pd_Eq calculated using prices from the 2021 NI43-101 Haukiaho Mineral Resource Estimate, $1,600/oz Pd, $1,100/oz Pt, $1,650/oz Au, $3.50 Cu, and $7.50 Ni

*** Spot Au_Eq is calculated for comparison only, using recent prices, $2,500/oz Pd, $1,000/oz Pt, $1,800/oz Au, $4.25/lb Cu, and $8.50/lb Ni.

  • 2019 Kaukua Mineral Resource Estimate used a 0.3 g/t Pd cut off which equates to ~0.6 g/t Pd_Eq using the 2021 Haukiaho Mineral Resource Estimate prices

Figure 1. Historic and current drilling in the Kaukua and Western portion of the Kaukau South area. Background is IP Chargeability.

Figure 2. LK Project location map showing NI43-101 compliant Kaukua and Haukiaho Mineral Resource Estimate along with  IP grids (blue lines). Yellow lines represent Exploration Permits, red lines represent Exploration Permit Applications and Exploration Reservations held by the Company.

Figure 3. Inclined view looking northeast of the Haukiaho geological model showing the western (purple) and eastern (light blue) mineralized wireframes and later cross cutting diabase dyke (green).

Figure 4. Inclined view looking northeast of the Haukiaho Mineral Resource Estimate block model and $15/t cut-off Optimized Whittle Pit Shell.

Figure 5. Cross section, looking west through the Haukiaho block model and $15/t Optimized Whittle Pit Shell.

Palladium Equivalent
Revised price assumptions – The Company is now calculating Palladium equivalent using US$1,600 per ounce for palladium, US$1,100 per ounce for platinum, US$1,650 per ounce for gold, US$3.50 per pound for copper, and US$7.50 per pound for nickel consistent with the calculation used in the Company’s September 2021 NI 43-101 Haukiaho Resource Estimate.

Spot Gold Equivalent
Spot palladium and gold equivalents are calculated using recent spot prices for comparison purposes using US$2,500 per ounce for palladium, US$1,000 per ounce for platinum, US$1,800 per ounce for gold, US$4.25 per pound for copper, and US$8.50 per pound for nickel.

Qualified Person
The Haukiaho National Instrument 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate was independently prepared by Mr. Julian Aldridge C. Geol. (1014722), a Qualified Person as defined by the National Instrument 43-101 and a Principal Consulting Geologist of Mining Plus UK Ltd.

The technical information in this release has been reviewed and verified by Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration and a director of the Company and the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101

About Palladium One
Palladium One Mining Inc. is an exploration company targeting district scale, platinum-group-element (PGE)-copper nickel deposits in Finland and Canada. Its flagship project is the Läntinen Koillismaa or LK Project, a palladium dominant platinum group element-copper-nickel project in north-central Finland, ranked by the Fraser Institute as one of the world’s top countries for mineral exploration and development. Exploration at LK is focused on targeting disseminated sulfides along 38 kilometers of favorable basal contact and building on established NI 43-101 open pit Mineral Resource Estimates.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Derrick Weyrauch”
President & CEO, Director

For further information contact: Derrick Weyrauch, President & CEO
Email: info@palladiumoneinc.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release includes “forward-looking information” that is subject to a few assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Statements regarding listing of the Company’s common shares on the TSXV are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties normally incident to such events. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future events and that actual events or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements represent management’s best judgment based on information currently available. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions and general business conditions. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company’s views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those set out in the Company’s annual information form dated April 29, 2020 and filed under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, except as required by law. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Academic Thoughts on Tesla’s Robots


Image Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk’s Tesla Bot Raises Serious Concerns – But Probably Not The Ones You Think

 

Elon Musk announced a humanoid robot designed to help with those repetitive, boring tasks people hate doing. Musk suggested it could run to the grocery store for you, but presumably it would handle any number of tasks involving manual labor.

Predictably, social media filled with references to a string of dystopian sci-fi movies about robots where everything goes horribly wrong.

As troubling as the robot futures in movies like I, Robot, The Terminator and others are, it’s the underlying technologies of real humanoid robots – and the intent behind them – that should be cause for concern.

 

Initial plans call for the Tesla Bot to stand 5 feet, 8 inches and weigh 125 pounds. Courtesy Tesla

 

Musk’s robot is being developed by Tesla. It’s a seeming departure from the company’s car-making business, until you consider that Tesla isn’t a typical automotive manufacturer. The so-called “Tesla Bot” is a concept for a sleek, 125-pound humanlike robot that will incorporate Tesla’s automotive artificial intelligence and autopilot technologies to plan and follow routes, navigate traffic – in this case, pedestrians – and avoid obstacles.

Dystopian sci-fi overtones aside, the plan makes sense, albeit within Musk’s business strategy. The built environment is made by humans, for humans. And as Musk argued at the Tesla Bot’s announcement, successful advanced technologies are going to have to learn to navigate it in the same ways people do.

Yet Tesla’s cars and robots are merely the visible products of a much broader plan aimed at creating a future where advanced technologies liberate humans from our biological roots by blending biology and technology. As a researcher who studies the ethical and socially responsible development and use of emerging technologies, I find that this plan raises concerns that transcend speculative sci-fi fears of super-smart robots.

 

A Man with Big Plans

Self-driving cars, interplanetary rockets and brain-machine interfaces are steps toward the future Musk envisions where technology is humanity’s savior. In this future, energy will be cheap, abundant, and sustainable; people will work in harmony with intelligent machines and even merge with them; and humans will become an interplanetary species.

It’s a future that, judging by Musk’s various endeavors, will be built on a set of underlying interconnected technologies that include sensors, actuators, energy and data infrastructures, systems integration and substantial advances in computer power. Together, these make a formidable toolbox for creating transformative technologies.

Musk imagines humans ultimately transcending our evolutionary heritage through technologies that are beyond-human, or “super” human. But before technology can become superhuman, it first needs to be human – or at least be designed to thrive in a human-designed world.

This make-tech-more-human approach to innovation is what’s underpinning the technologies in Tesla’s cars, including the extensive use of optical cameras. These, when connected to an AI “brain,” are intended to help the vehicles autonomously navigate road systems that are, in Musk’s words, “designed for biological neural nets with optical imagers” – in other words, people. In Musk’s telling, it’s a small step from human-inspired “robots on wheels” to humanlike robots on legs.

 

Easier Said than Done

Tesla’s “full self-driving” technology, which includes the dubiously named Autopilot, is a starting point for the developers of the Tesla Bot. Impressive as this technology is, it’s proving to be less than fully reliable. Crashes and fatalities associated with Tesla’s Autopilot mode – the latest having to do with the algorithms struggling to recognize parked emergency vehicles — are calling into question the wisdom of releasing the tech into the wild so soon.

This track record doesn’t bode well for humanlike robots that rely on the same technology. Yet this isn’t just a case of getting the technology right. Tesla’s Autopilot glitches are exacerbated by human behavior. For example, some Tesla drivers have treated their tech-enhanced cars as though they are fully autonomous vehicles and failed to pay sufficient attention to driving. Could something similar happen with the Tesla Bot?

 

This article was republished with permission from  The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts of Andrew Maynard, Associate Dean, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University

 

Tesla Bot’s ‘Orphan Risks’

In my work on socially beneficial technology innovation, I’m especially interested in orphan risks – risks that are hard to quantify and easy to overlook and yet inevitably end up tripping up innovators. My colleagues and I work with entrepreneurs and others on navigating these types of challenges through the Risk Innovation Nexus, an initiative of the Arizona State University Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute and Global Futures Laboratory.

The Tesla Bot comes with a whole portfolio of orphan risks. These include possible threats to privacy and autonomy as the bot collects, shares and acts on potentially sensitive information; challenges associated with how people are likely to think about and respond to humanoid robots; potential misalignments between ethical or ideological perspectives – for example, in crime control or policing civil protests; and more. These are challenges that are rarely covered in the training that engineers receive, and yet overlooking them can spell disaster.

While the Tesla Bot may seem benign – or even a bit of a joke – if it’s to be beneficial as well as commercially successful, its developers, investors, future consumers and others need to be asking tough questions about how it might threaten what’s important to them and how to navigate these threats.

These threats may be as specific as people making unauthorized modifications that increase the robot’s performance – making it move faster than its designers intended, for example – without thinking about the risks, or as general as the technology being weaponized in novel ways. They are also as subtle as how a humanoid robot could threaten job security, or how a robot that includes advanced surveillance systems could undermine privacy.

Then there are the challenges of technological bias that have been plaguing AI for some time, especially where it leads to learned behavior that turn out to be highly discriminatory. For example, AI algorithms have produced sexist and racist results.

Just Because We Can, Should We?

The Tesla Bot may seem like a small step toward Musk’s vision of superhuman technologies, and one that’s easy to write off as little more than hubristic showmanship. But the audacious plans underpinning it are serious — and they raise equally serious questions.

For instance, how responsible is Musk’s vision? Just because he can work toward creating the future of his dreams, who’s to say that he should? Is the future that Musk is striving to bring about the best one for humankind, or even a good one? And who will suffer the consequences if things go wrong?

These are the deeper concerns that the Tesla Bot raises for me as someone who studies and writes about the future and how our actions impact it. This is not to say that Tesla Bot isn’t a good idea, or that Elon Musk shouldn’t be able to flex his future-building muscles. Used in the right way, these are transformative ideas and technologies that could open up a future full of promise for billions of people.

But if consumers, investors, and others are bedazzled by the glitz of new tech or dismissive of the hype and fail to see the bigger picture, society risks handing the future to wealthy innovators whose vision exceeds their understanding. If their visions of the future don’t align with what most people aspire to, or are catastrophically flawed, they are in danger of standing in the way of building a just and equitable future.

Maybe this is the abiding lesson from dystopian robot-future sci-fi movies that people should be taking away as the Tesla Bot moves from idea to reality — not the more obvious concerns of creating humanoid robots that run amok, but the far larger challenge of deciding who gets to imagine the future and be a part of building it.

 

Suggested Reading:



Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Cathie Wood Drop Bombshells at Bitcoin Conference



Why the Feds are Investigating Tesla’s Autopilot





The Future of Electric Vehicles



Raw Materials and Scalability of Tesla’s Vision

 

Stay up to date. Follow us:

 

Academic Thoughts on Teslas Robots


Image Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk’s Tesla Bot Raises Serious Concerns – But Probably Not The Ones You Think

 

Elon Musk announced a humanoid robot designed to help with those repetitive, boring tasks people hate doing. Musk suggested it could run to the grocery store for you, but presumably it would handle any number of tasks involving manual labor.

Predictably, social media filled with references to a string of dystopian sci-fi movies about robots where everything goes horribly wrong.

As troubling as the robot futures in movies like I, Robot, The Terminator and others are, it’s the underlying technologies of real humanoid robots – and the intent behind them – that should be cause for concern.

 

Initial plans call for the Tesla Bot to stand 5 feet, 8 inches and weigh 125 pounds. Courtesy Tesla

 

Musk’s robot is being developed by Tesla. It’s a seeming departure from the company’s car-making business, until you consider that Tesla isn’t a typical automotive manufacturer. The so-called “Tesla Bot” is a concept for a sleek, 125-pound humanlike robot that will incorporate Tesla’s automotive artificial intelligence and autopilot technologies to plan and follow routes, navigate traffic – in this case, pedestrians – and avoid obstacles.

Dystopian sci-fi overtones aside, the plan makes sense, albeit within Musk’s business strategy. The built environment is made by humans, for humans. And as Musk argued at the Tesla Bot’s announcement, successful advanced technologies are going to have to learn to navigate it in the same ways people do.

Yet Tesla’s cars and robots are merely the visible products of a much broader plan aimed at creating a future where advanced technologies liberate humans from our biological roots by blending biology and technology. As a researcher who studies the ethical and socially responsible development and use of emerging technologies, I find that this plan raises concerns that transcend speculative sci-fi fears of super-smart robots.

 

A Man with Big Plans

Self-driving cars, interplanetary rockets and brain-machine interfaces are steps toward the future Musk envisions where technology is humanity’s savior. In this future, energy will be cheap, abundant, and sustainable; people will work in harmony with intelligent machines and even merge with them; and humans will become an interplanetary species.

It’s a future that, judging by Musk’s various endeavors, will be built on a set of underlying interconnected technologies that include sensors, actuators, energy and data infrastructures, systems integration and substantial advances in computer power. Together, these make a formidable toolbox for creating transformative technologies.

Musk imagines humans ultimately transcending our evolutionary heritage through technologies that are beyond-human, or “super” human. But before technology can become superhuman, it first needs to be human – or at least be designed to thrive in a human-designed world.

This make-tech-more-human approach to innovation is what’s underpinning the technologies in Tesla’s cars, including the extensive use of optical cameras. These, when connected to an AI “brain,” are intended to help the vehicles autonomously navigate road systems that are, in Musk’s words, “designed for biological neural nets with optical imagers” – in other words, people. In Musk’s telling, it’s a small step from human-inspired “robots on wheels” to humanlike robots on legs.

 

Easier Said than Done

Tesla’s “full self-driving” technology, which includes the dubiously named Autopilot, is a starting point for the developers of the Tesla Bot. Impressive as this technology is, it’s proving to be less than fully reliable. Crashes and fatalities associated with Tesla’s Autopilot mode – the latest having to do with the algorithms struggling to recognize parked emergency vehicles — are calling into question the wisdom of releasing the tech into the wild so soon.

This track record doesn’t bode well for humanlike robots that rely on the same technology. Yet this isn’t just a case of getting the technology right. Tesla’s Autopilot glitches are exacerbated by human behavior. For example, some Tesla drivers have treated their tech-enhanced cars as though they are fully autonomous vehicles and failed to pay sufficient attention to driving. Could something similar happen with the Tesla Bot?

 

This article was republished with permission from  The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts of Andrew Maynard, Associate Dean, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University

 

Tesla Bot’s ‘Orphan Risks’

In my work on socially beneficial technology innovation, I’m especially interested in orphan risks – risks that are hard to quantify and easy to overlook and yet inevitably end up tripping up innovators. My colleagues and I work with entrepreneurs and others on navigating these types of challenges through the Risk Innovation Nexus, an initiative of the Arizona State University Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute and Global Futures Laboratory.

The Tesla Bot comes with a whole portfolio of orphan risks. These include possible threats to privacy and autonomy as the bot collects, shares and acts on potentially sensitive information; challenges associated with how people are likely to think about and respond to humanoid robots; potential misalignments between ethical or ideological perspectives – for example, in crime control or policing civil protests; and more. These are challenges that are rarely covered in the training that engineers receive, and yet overlooking them can spell disaster.

While the Tesla Bot may seem benign – or even a bit of a joke – if it’s to be beneficial as well as commercially successful, its developers, investors, future consumers and others need to be asking tough questions about how it might threaten what’s important to them and how to navigate these threats.

These threats may be as specific as people making unauthorized modifications that increase the robot’s performance – making it move faster than its designers intended, for example – without thinking about the risks, or as general as the technology being weaponized in novel ways. They are also as subtle as how a humanoid robot could threaten job security, or how a robot that includes advanced surveillance systems could undermine privacy.

Then there are the challenges of technological bias that have been plaguing AI for some time, especially where it leads to learned behavior that turn out to be highly discriminatory. For example, AI algorithms have produced sexist and racist results.

Just Because We Can, Should We?

The Tesla Bot may seem like a small step toward Musk’s vision of superhuman technologies, and one that’s easy to write off as little more than hubristic showmanship. But the audacious plans underpinning it are serious — and they raise equally serious questions.

For instance, how responsible is Musk’s vision? Just because he can work toward creating the future of his dreams, who’s to say that he should? Is the future that Musk is striving to bring about the best one for humankind, or even a good one? And who will suffer the consequences if things go wrong?

These are the deeper concerns that the Tesla Bot raises for me as someone who studies and writes about the future and how our actions impact it. This is not to say that Tesla Bot isn’t a good idea, or that Elon Musk shouldn’t be able to flex his future-building muscles. Used in the right way, these are transformative ideas and technologies that could open up a future full of promise for billions of people.

But if consumers, investors, and others are bedazzled by the glitz of new tech or dismissive of the hype and fail to see the bigger picture, society risks handing the future to wealthy innovators whose vision exceeds their understanding. If their visions of the future don’t align with what most people aspire to, or are catastrophically flawed, they are in danger of standing in the way of building a just and equitable future.

Maybe this is the abiding lesson from dystopian robot-future sci-fi movies that people should be taking away as the Tesla Bot moves from idea to reality — not the more obvious concerns of creating humanoid robots that run amok, but the far larger challenge of deciding who gets to imagine the future and be a part of building it.

 

Suggested Reading:



Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Cathie Wood Drop Bombshells at Bitcoin Conference



Why the Feds are Investigating Tesla’s Autopilot





The Future of Electric Vehicles



Raw Materials and Scalability of Tesla’s Vision

 

Stay up to date. Follow us:

 

Release – enCore Energy and Azarga Uranium To Combine To Create Leading American Uranium ISR Company


enCore Energy and Azarga Uranium To Combine To Create Leading American Uranium ISR Company

 

CORPUS CHRISTI, TexasSept. 7, 2021 /CNW/ – enCore Energy Corp. (“enCore“) (TSXV: EU) (OTCQB: ENCUF) and Azarga Uranium Corp. (“Azarga“) (TSX: AZZ) (OTCQB: AZZUF) (FRA: P8AA) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement (the “Agreement“) whereby enCore will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Azarga pursuant to a court-approved plan of arrangement (the “Transaction“). The Transaction consolidates an industry leading pipeline of exploration and development staged in-situ recovery (“ISR“) focused uranium projects located in the United States, including the licensed Rosita & Kingsville Dome past producing uranium production facilities in South Texas, the advanced stage Dewey Burdock development project in South Dakota, which has been issued its key federal permits, the PEA-staged Gas Hills Project located in Wyoming, and a portfolio of resource staged projects throughout the United States. The combined company will possess a uranium resource base of 90.0 million pounds in the measured & indicated category, 9.9 million pounds in the inferred category, as well as 68.4 million pounds in the historic category*. 

Under the terms of the Agreement, Azarga shareholders will receive 0.375 common shares of enCore for each Azarga common share held (the “Exchange Ratio“). The Exchange Ratio implies consideration of $0.71 per Azarga common share based on the closing price of the enCore common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange on September 3rd, 2021.

Additionally, the Exchange Ratio will be subject to an adjustment mechanism at the closing of the Transaction (the “Closing Exchange Ratio“). The Closing Exchange Ratio shall be equal to the greater of: (i) the Exchange Ratio; or (ii) an exchange ratio calculated as $0.54 divided by enCore’s 15-day volume-weighted average price prior to the closing of the Transaction, subject to a maximum Closing Exchange Ratio of 0.49 common shares of enCore for each share of Azarga outstanding.

Transaction Highlights

  • Creation of a top-tier American uranium ISR mining company with multiple assets at various stages of development;
  • Two licensed ISR production facilities and multiple potential satellite exploration and development projects in South Texas;
  • Advanced stage Dewey Burdock development project in South Dakota with key federal permits issued;
  • Recently published preliminary economic assessment for the Gas Hills project in Wyoming;
  • Large uranium resource endowment in New Mexico including the Marquez-Juan Tafoya project, for which a recent preliminary economic assessment was published and the Crownpoint and Hosta Butte project;
  • Well positioned to benefit from America’s nuclear renaissance, which boasts bi-partisan political support; and
  • Management team and board with unrivaled experience in the permitting, development, and mining of ISR uranium deposits in the USA.

Paul Goranson, CEO of enCore, commented: “enCore is delighted to combine our assets with those of Azarga. Dewey Burdock is an excellent ISR uranium project and we look forward to building upon Azarga’s successes to create additional value through development progress and eventually production. In addition to the execution of plans for near term production in Texas and a dominant mineral position in New Mexico, this combination will see enCore take another leap forward towards realizing the goal of becoming a larger and more diversified uranium development company during a time of positive sentiment for nuclear energy.”

Blake Steele, President & CEO of Azarga, further added: “We are pleased to partner with enCore as a result of this transaction, while realizing a material premium for shareholders in the process. Scale is important in the natural resource sector and this transaction will position the new company among the top uranium miners based in the USA. enCore possesses a great depth of uranium development and mining experience within its management team and board of directors. As such, we are confident that the combined portfolio will be in good hands for the benefit of both sets of shareholders.”

William Sheriff, Executive Chairman of enCore, stated: “This strategic acquisition fills the gap in enCore’s pipeline of projects with key intermediate development opportunities in Wyoming and South Dakota, in between initial production in Texas and longer-term opportunities in New Mexico.  This second major acquisition for enCore within the last 12 months is in keeping with our announced aggressive M&A strategy which was successfully employed at Energy Metals Corp, which was sold for $1.6 billion during the last cycle.  Consolidation in conjunction with an elite operational team are the keys to success in building a leading US ISR company.”

Transaction Details

Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Azarga will be exchanged for common shares of enCore at the Closing Exchange Ratio. Outstanding and unexercised warrants and stock options to purchase common shares of Azarga will be adjusted in accordance with their terms based on the Closing Exchange Ratio.

The Agreement includes standard deal protection provisions, including non-solicitation, right-to-match, and fiduciary out provisions, as well as certain representations, covenants and conditions that are customary for a transaction of this nature, along with a termination fee of $4 million payable to enCore in certain circumstances.

The proposed Transaction will be effected by way of a plan of arrangement completed under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The Transaction will require approval by at least 66 2/3% of the votes cast by Azarga shareholders and, if required by Multilateral Instrument 61-101, a simple majority of the votes cast by Azarga shareholders excluding certain interested or related parties, in each case by shareholders present in person or represented by proxy at a special meeting of the shareholders of Azarga to be called in connection with the Transaction (the “Azarga Special Meeting“).

The Azarga Special Meeting is expected to be held in October or November 2021. An information circular detailing the terms and conditions of the Transaction will be mailed to the shareholders of Azarga in connection with the Azarga Special Meeting. All shareholders are urged to read the information circular once available, as it will contain important additional information concerning the Transaction.

Closing of the Transaction is subject to the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of certain other closing conditions customary in transactions of this nature, including, without limitation, court and stock exchange approval. Closing of the Transaction is anticipated to occur in November 2021.

None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Transaction have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act“), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the Transaction are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

Management and Board of Directors

The combined company will be managed by the current enCore executive team, led by Paul Goranson as CEO & Director, William Sheriff as Executive Chairman, Carrie Mierkey as Chief Financial Officer, and Dennis Stover, as Chief Technical Officer. Blake Steele, current President & CEO of Azarga, will continue as a Strategic Advisor to the combined company and John Mays, current COO of Azarga, will continue as Chief Operating Officer of the Azarga subsidiary, with a core focus to manage the continued advancement of the Dewey Burdock and Gas Hills projects.

Upon closing of the Transaction, Sandra MacKay, a current director of Azarga, will be appointed to the board of enCore.

In connection with the closing of the Transaction, enCore intends to seek the listing of its shares on the NYSE-AMEX or NASDAQ exchange which may include a share consolidation in order to meet initial listing requirements.

Board Recommendations and Voting Support

The Agreement has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both enCore and Azarga, and Azarga’s board unanimously recommends that its shareholders vote in favour of the Transaction.

Officers and Directors of Azarga holding approximately 7% of the outstanding shares of Azarga have entered into customary voting support agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their Azarga common shares in favour of the Transaction.

Clarus Securities Inc. has provided a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors of enCore, to the effect that, as of the date of such opinion, and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications set out in such opinion, the consideration to be paid by enCore pursuant to the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to enCore.

Each of Haywood Securities Inc. and Evans & Evans, Inc. have provided fairness opinions to the Board of Directors of Azarga, to the effect that, as of the date of such opinion, and based upon and subject to the respective assumptions, limitations and qualifications set out in such opinion, the consideration to be received by Azarga shareholders pursuant to the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to Azarga shareholders.

Advisors and Counsel

PowerOne Capital Markets Ltd. is acting as financial advisor to enCore. Morton Law LLP is acting as legal counsel to enCore.

Haywood Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to Azarga. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is acting as legal counsel to Azarga.

Conference Call & Webcast

enCore and Azarga will be hosting a joint online investor webinar on Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 10:00 AM EDT / 7:00 AM PDT to discuss the Transaction.

To register and attend the webinar please visit:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1027177374309475597

Additionally, Mr. Goranson and Mr. Sheriff will join Smith Weekly Research in discussing the Transaction that will be available at this link:

Smith Weekly Research – enCore Energy & Azarga Uranium Business Combination

enCore Resource Summary

Project

Million Tons

Grade eU3O8%

U3O8 (M lbs.)

Crownpoint and Hosta Butte(1)




  Indicated

12.68

0.105%

26.6

  Inferred

2.76

0.110%

6.1

Marquez-Juan Tafoya(2)




  Indicated

7.1

0.127%

18.1

Historic Mineral Resources*




  Marquez-Juan Tafoya: Sunshine(3)

1.1

0.11%

2.48

  Nose Rock(4)(5)

11.8

0.148%

35.0

  West Largo(6)(7)

2.9

0.300%

17.2

  Ambrosia Lake(8)(9)

2.0

0.176%

7.1

  Moonshine Springs(9)

1.4

0.165%

4.7

  Butler Ranch(10)

0.4

0.15%

1.3

  Rosita(11)

0.4

0.082%

0.6

  Total Historic Resources*



68.4

1.

NI 43-101, Technical Report, Crownpoint & Hosta Butte , McKinley County, New Mexico, prepared by  BRS Engineering, dated May 14, 2012. Crownpoint & Hosta Butte hosts Indicated resource of 12.7 Mt of 0.105% eU3O8 totaling 26.6 M lbs, Inferred resource of 2.8 Mt of 0.110% eU3O8 totaling 6.1 M lbs.

2.

Beahm, Douglas L., P.E., P.G., BRS Inc., Terence P. McNulty, P.E., PHD,  McNulty and Associates, “NI  43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, Marquez-Juan Tafoya Uranium Project”, prepared by  BRS Engineering, dated June 9. 2021. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

3.

Carter, Geoffrey S., P.Eng., 2014, “NI 43-101 Technical Report on Mineral Resources: Juan Tafoya Uranium Project, Cibola, McKinley, and Sandoval Counties, New Mexico, USA”, reported and effective May 15, 2014, prepared for Uranium Resources Inc. by Broad Oak Associates. Carter reports the non-contiguous Southeast Deposit located about 1 mile southeast of the Marquez-Juan Tafoya Deposit has an historic estimated Inferred Resource of 1,125,900 tons containing 2.481 million pounds U3O8 at an average grade of 0.110 %, with a cutoff grade of 0.05% U3O8.

4.

M. Hassan Alief, Technical Report on Section 1, T18N, R12W, Nose Rock Uranium Property, McKinley County, New Mexico, reported an effective February 9, 2009 for Strathmore Minerals Corp.

5.

Behre Dolbear & Company (USA) Inc., 2011, Technical Report on the Nose Rock Project of Uranium Resources Inc., prepared by Robert D. Maxwell, CPG.

6.

Behre Dolbear & Company (USA) Inc., 2011, Technical Report on the West Largo Project of Uranium Resources Inc., prepared by Robert D. Maxwell, CPG.

7.

Conoco Inc., Internal Memorandum, Treeline Uranium Property, McKinley County, New Mexico, 1978.

8.

Behre Dolbear & Company (USA) Inc., 2010, Technical Report on the Ambrosia Lake Project of Uranium Resources Inc., prepared by Robert D. Maxwell, CPG and Bernard J. Guarnera, RPG, CPG. The report references Historic Mineral Resources with sources including:


1.

Sec 27-14N-10W estimated by Capitan, Melvin, Feb 25, 2008, Uranium Resources Inc., “Ore Reserve Calculation Sheet 3, T14N R10W Section 27”, in Maxwell, Robert, CPG and Bernard Guarnera, March 1, 2010, Technical Report on Ambrosia Lake Project, Section 27, et al., Behre Dolbear Report  07-019

9.

Wilton, Dean T., CPG, PG, MAIG, Chief Geologist Westwater Resources, 2018, Technical Report on the Ambrosia Lake Uranium Project, McKinley County, USA. This report outlines several Historic Mineral Resources including:


1.

Sec 25-14N-10W estimated by Yancy & Associates, May 1997, Mine Plan – Sections 23 and 25 Ambrosia Lake, New Mexico, for Rio Algom Mining Corporation, Quivira Mining Company


2.

Sec 7-14N-10W estimated by Pathfinder Mines, 1980, Mine PlanExxon Minerals Company, Moonshine Springs, Mohave County, Arizona, 1982.


3.

Sec 17-13N-9W estimated by Nelson, Jon, Uranium Resources Inc., January 18, 2008.


4.

Sec 13-13N-9W estimated by Nelson, Jon, Uranium Resources Inc., June 29, 2007.

10.

Uranium Resources, Inc., News Release dated July 7, 2015

11.

Uranium Resources Inc., Form 10K, US Security and Exchange Commission, March 27, 2014.

*A Qualified Person (as defined in NI43-101) has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources. Additional work will be required to verify and update historical estimates, including a review of assumptions, parameters, methods and testing. Historical estimates do not use the current mineral resource categories prescribed under NI43-101. enCore is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources and they should not be relied upon.

Azarga Resource Summary

Project

Million Tons

Grade U3O8%

U3O8 (M lbs.)

Dewey Burdock(1)




  Measured & Indicated (ISR)

7.39

0.116%

17.12

  Inferred (ISR)

0.65

0.055%

0.71

Centennial(2)




  Measured & Indicated (ISR)

6.87

0.09%

10.37

  Inferred (ISR)

1.36

0.09%

2.33

Aladdin(3)




  Measured & Indicated

0.47

0.111%

1.04

  Inferred

0.04

0.119%

0.10

Gas Hills(4)




  Measured & Indicated (ISR)

3.83

0.101%

7.71

  Measured & Indicated (non-ISR)

3.20

0.048%

3.06

  Inferred (ISR)

0.41

0.052%

0.43

  Inferred (non-ISR)

0.11

0.030%

0.06

Juniper Ridge(5)




  Measured & Indicated (non-ISR)

5.14

0.058%

6.01

  Inferred (non-ISR)

0.11

0.085%

0.18

1.

NI 43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, Dewey-Burdock Uranium ISR Project, South Dakota, USA, completed by Woodard & Curran and Rough Stock Mining Services (effective 3 December 2019).

2.

NI 43-101 Preliminary Assessment, Powertech Uranium Corp., Centennial Uranium Project, Weld County, Colorado, completed by SRK Consulting (effective 2 June 2010).

3.

Technical Report on the Aladdin Uranium Project, Crook County, Wyoming, completed by Jerry D. Bush, certified Professional Geologist (effective 21 June 2012).

4.

NI 43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, Gas Hills Uranium Project, Fremont and Natrona Counties, Wyoming, USA, completed by WWC Engineering and Rough Stock Mining Services (effective 28 June 2021).

5.

Juniper Ridge Uranium Project, Carbon County, Wyoming, USA, Amended and Restated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource and Preliminary Economic Assessment, completed by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G., Principal Engineer, BRS Inc. and Terrence P. (Terry) McNulty, P.E., D.Sc., T.P McNulty and Associates (effective 9 June 2017).


Mineral Resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability

Qualified Persons

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved on behalf of enCore by Douglas H. Underhill, PhD, CPG, and on behalf of Azarga by John Mays, P.E. and Chief Operating Officer of Azarga, each of whom are a “Qualified Person” as defined by NI 43-101.

About enCore

enCore Energy Corp. is a U.S. domestic uranium developer focused on becoming a leading in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium producer. The company is led by a team of industry experts with extensive knowledge and experience in the development and operations of in situ recovery uranium operations. enCore Energy’s opportunities are created from the company’s transformational acquisition of its two South Texas production facilities, the changing global uranium supply/demand outlook and opportunities for industry consolidation. These short-term opportunities are augmented by our strong long term commitment to working with local indigenous communities in New Mexico where the company holds significant uranium resources.

About Azarga

Azarga Uranium is an integrated uranium exploration and development company that controls ten uranium projects and prospects in the United States of America (“USA”) (South DakotaWyomingUtah and Colorado), with a primary focus of developing in-situ recovery uranium projects. The Dewey Burdock in-situ recovery uranium project in South Dakota, USA (the “Dewey Burdock Project”), which is the company’s initial development priority, has received its Nuclear Regulatory Commission License and Class III and Class V Underground Injection Control permits from the Environmental Protection Agency and the company is in the process of completing other major regulatory permit approvals necessary for the construction of the Dewey Burdock Project.

Cautionary Statements

Certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking information or statements under applicable securities legislation and rules. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as “may”, “will”, “plan”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “intend”, “indicate”, “scheduled”, “target”, “goal”, “potential”, “subject”, “efforts”, “option” and similar words, or the negative connotations thereof, referring to future events and results.  Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements related to the anticipated completion of the Transaction, the terms of the Transaction, the benefits of the Transaction, the combined company, the directors and officers of the combined company, the merits of the properties of enCore and Azarga, the potential share consolidation and listing of the shares of the combined company on a U.S. stock exchange and all statements related to the business plans, expectations and objectives of enCore and Azarga.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of enCore and/or Azarga to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: any inability of the parties to satisfy the conditions to the completion of the Transaction on acceptable terms or at all; receipt of necessary stock exchange, court and shareholder approvals; the ability of enCore and Azarga to achieve their stated goals and objectives; the costs associated with the companies’ objectives; risks and uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken to attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19; and the risks and uncertainties identified in enCore’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and Azarga’s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2020, each filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although management of each of enCore and Azarga has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Neither party will update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. The parties caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and it does not undertake any obligation to revise and disseminate forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of or non-occurrence of any events.

This press release is not and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States. The distribution of the enCore common shares in connection with the transactions described herein will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the “U.S. Securities Act”) and the enCore common shares may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the enCore common shares, nor shall there be any offer or sale of the enCore common shares in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Neither the TSX, the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE enCore Energy Corp.

For further information: enCore Energy Corp., William M. Sheriff, Executive Chairman, 972-333-2214, info@encoreenergycorp.com, www.encoreenergycorp.com; Azarga Uranium Corp., Blake Steele, President & CEO, 605-662-8308, info@azargauranium.com, www.azargauranium.com

Release – Chakana Reports Significant Intercepts at Soledad Peru


Chakana Reports Significant Intercepts at Soledad, Peru Including 46M of 5.64% Copper, 592.9 g/t Silver and 0.36 g/t Gold Provides Update on Resource Drilling

 

Soledad Project Highlights Include:

  • Resource definition holes at Breccia Pipe 1 (“Bx 1”) completed; 62 drill holes totalling 17,936m
  • A total of 259 diamond core holes completed on the Soledad project to date for 60,225m
  • Additional resource definition drill results pending for Bx 5 and Huancarama
  • Gradient array and 3D induced polarization (IP) orientation surveys in progress

Vancouver, B.C., September 7, 2021 – Chakana Copper Corp. (TSX-V: PERU; OTCQB: CHKKF; FRA: 1ZX) (the Company or Chakana”), is pleased to provide results from the final seven resource definition holes drilled in Bx 1 totaling 2,474.65m from the Soledad project, Ancash, Peru (Table 1). Drilling continues as part of a fully funded 26,000m exploration and resource drilling program planned for 2021 (Fig. 1). These results will increase confidence in the initial resource estimate, anticipated at the end of 2021.

“Results for the final seven resource definition holes for Bx 1 are excellent as expected and consistent with previous drill results. These results, combined with previous drilling at Bx 1, will be part of the initial resource estimate that will also include Bx 5, Bx 6, Paloma East, Paloma West, and Huancarama. We look forward to releasing additional drill results from our ongoing drill program and are committed to having the initial resource estimate out by the end of the year,” stated President and CEO David Kelley.

Drill Results

Table 1. Mineralized intervals:

Bx 1 (Resource Definition)

DDH # From – To
(m)
Core Length
(m)
Au
g/t
Ag
g/t
Cu
%
Cu-eq
%*
Au-eq
g/t*
SDH21-211 0.0 27.0 27.0 4.61 14.2     4.80
and 39.0 83.0 44.0 4.86 60.8 1.58 5.28 8.07
and 133.0 159.0 26.0 0.68 256.1 3.72 6.35 9.72
and 198.0 241.7 43.7 0.29 54.0 0.93 1.58 2.42
and 255.4 257.8 2.5 0.26 83.1 1.88 2.76 4.22
SDH21-213 0.0 24.0 24.0 5.90 20.3     6.17
and 37.0 106.3 69.3 3.38 71.4 1.34 4.16 6.36
including 38.0 46.0 8.0 10.42 32.1 2.85 9.94 15.20
and 146.0 192.0 46.0 0.36 592.9 5.64 10.94 16.74
including 152.0 167.0 15.0 0.56 1207.6 11.52 22.21 33.97
and 208.0 216.0 8.0 0.12 129.4 1.93 3.11 4.76
and 232.0 259.0 27.0 0.80 132.2 1.31 2.96 4.53
and 297.0 329.2 32.2 0.64 48.2 0.90 1.73 2.65
SDH21-216 0.0 113.0 113.0 3.60 62.2 0.81 3.70 5.65
and 125.0 132.0 7.0 0.45 42.4 0.61 1.27 1.94
and 175.9 178.0 2.1 0.43 152.4 3.13 4.71 7.21
and 189.0 201.0 12.0 0.36 83.3 0.45 1.40 2.14
and 225.0 228.0 3.0 0.10 237.8 1.13 3.23 4.94
and 240.0 253.0 13.0 0.23 43.8 0.74 1.26 1.93
and 319.0 320.7 1.8 0.64 18.3 1.11 1.68 2.58
and 371.0 372.0 1.0 1.58 140.0 8.46 10.69 16.35
SDH21-218 288.10 319.15 31.05 0.48 29.7 0.33 0.90 1.37
SDH21-221 257.85 278.75 20.90 0.06 69.8 0.31 0.95  
and 310.25 348.00 37.75 0.88 56.2 0.44 1.50 2.29
SDH21-223 284.00 308.00 24.00 0.34 47.8 0.36 0.99 1.52
SDH21-225 137.30 140.00 2.70 0.48 418.5 1.07 4.96 7.59
and 163.00 172.00 9.00 0.76 86.0 2.84 4.07 6.23
and 196.00 280.00 84.00 1.35 211.5 1.73 4.42 6.76

* Cu_eq and Au_eq values were calculated using copper, gold, and silver. Metal prices utilized for the calculations are Cu – US$2.90/lb, Au – US$1,300/oz, and Ag – US$17/oz. No adjustments were made for recovery as the project is an early-stage exploration project and metallurgical data to allow for estimation of recoveries are not yet available. The formulas utilized to calculate equivalent values are Cu-eq (%) = Cu% + (Au g/t * 0.6556) + (Ag g/t * 0.00857) and Au-eq (g/t) = Au g/t + (Cu% * 1.5296) + (Ag g/t * 0.01307).

Bx 1
There are two breccia pipes at Bx 1, the Main Zone that crops out at surface, and the North Zone that is 40 metres north of the Main Zone and begins 125m below surface (Figs. 3 and 4). Drill holes in this release were designed to fill in gaps in previous drilling to contribute to the initial resource estimate. Three holes were drilled to the north from a central platform where the Main Zone crops out at surface. These holes cut the Main Zone and the North Zone. Four additional holes were drilled to the southwest from a platform located northeast of Bx 1 and were designed to fill in gaps on the southwest margin of the Main Zone.

2021 Resource and Exploration Drill Program
Results reported here are part of the fully funded 2021 drill program of 26,000m.  Combined with the drilling in the second half of 2020, approximately 32,000m is anticipated through the end of 2021. Of this, 18,414m have been reported to date in 83 drill holes.  Additional resource definition drill results for Bx 5 and Huancarama are pending. In addition, new targets located in the northern half of the project that have not been drilled previously but are strategic to any eventual development at Soledad will be tested. Exploration targets have been ranked based on their technical merit, access, and logistics.

Geophysical Surveys
Two different types of geophysical surveys are being tested to identify new breccia pipe targets and help refine the ranking of our existing 110 targets identified to date. Orientation surveys based on gradient array induced polarization and 3D induced polarization are underway over the known and well understood mineralized breccia pipes. Once the parameters of the surveys are optimized, the surveys will be completed throughout the 12-km2 footprint of the Soledad mineral system where tourmaline breccias are known. These techniques will improve our understanding of the structural controls on fertile corridors that host the breccia pipes, help identify additional breccia pipes that may not come to surface, and refine the existing targets that we have.

About Chakana Copper
Chakana Copper Corp is a Canadian-based minerals exploration company that is currently advancing the Soledad Project located in the Ancash region of Peru, a highly favorable mining jurisdiction with supportive communities. The Soledad Project consists of high-grade copper-gold-silver mineralization hosted in tourmaline breccia pipes. A total of 60,225 metres in 259 diamond core holes for exploration and resource definition drilling have been completed since 2017, testing 15 of 110 total exploration targets, confirming that Soledad is a large, well-endowed mineral system with strong exploration upside.  Chakana’s investors are uniquely positioned as the Soledad Project provides exposure to base and precious. For more information on the Soledad project, please visit the website at www.chakanacopper.com.

Sampling and Analytical Procedures
Chakana follows rigorous sampling and analytical protocols that meet or exceed industry standards. Core samples are stored in a secured area until transport in batches to the ALS facility in Callao, Lima, Peru.  Sample batches include certified reference materials, blank, and duplicate samples that are then processed under the control of ALS. All samples are analyzed using the ME-MS41 (ICP technique that provides a comprehensive multi-element overview of the rock geochemistry), while gold is analyzed by AA24 and GRA22 when values exceed 10 g/t by AA24.  Over limit silver, copper, lead and zinc are analyzed using the OG-46 procedure. Soil samples are analyzed by 4-acid (ME-MS61) and for gold by Fire Assay on a 30g sample (Au-ICP21).

Results of previous drilling and additional information concerning the Project, including a technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, are made available on Chakana’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Qualified Person
David Kelley, an officer and a director of Chakana, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

(signed) “David Kelley
David Kelley
President and CEO

For further information contact:

Joanne Jobin, Investor Relations Officer
Phone: 647 964 0292
Email: jjobin@chakanacopper.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking Statement Advisory: This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Chakana to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements or information relates to, among other things, the interpretation of the nature of the mineralization at the Soledad copper-gold-silver project (the “Project”), the potential to expand the mineralization, and to develop and grow a resource within the Project, the planning for further exploration work, the ability to de-risk the potential exploration targets, and our belief in the potential for mineralization within unexplored parts of the Project. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs but given the uncertainties, assumptions and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements or information. The Company disclaims any obligation to update, or to publicly announce, any such statements, events or developments except as required by law.

Release – Gevo Announces Plans for Hydrocarbon-Process Pilot Unit at Luverne Facility


Gevo Announces Plans for Hydrocarbon-Process Pilot Unit at Luverne Facility

 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., September 7, 2021 — Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), announced that it plans to install an alcohol-to-hydrocarbon process pilot unit at its facility located in Luverne, Minnesota (the “Luverne Facility”). The pilot unit is being designed to produce market development quantities of sustainable aviation fuel (“SAF”), renewable premium gasoline, other renewable fuel products, as well as provide capability to supply market development quantities of chemical products. The installation is estimated to begin in Q3 2022 with startup demonstration production expected in Q4 2022.

In addition, we expect to test and evaluate certain potential unit operations that may be incorporated into Gevo’s state-of-the-art Net-Zero 1 production facility that is expected to begin production in 2024 in Lake Preston, South Dakota. Installation of the pilot unit at the Gevo-Luverne facility is part of the plan to use the facility as a technology development and piloting site. The pilot unit will also be used in training of employees for Net-Zero 1 and other future projects.

“The work we do at the Luverne facility will be critical in establishing a smooth startup of Net-Zero 1 and future Net-Zero projects for ramping up capacity right out of the gate,” stated Dr. Paul Bloom, Chief Carbon & Innovation Officer of Gevo. Dr. Bloom continued, “We also plan to use the new pilot capability to support our robust pipeline of new renewable fuel and chemical projects in the future, which is also a first step in converting Luverne into a hydrocarbon facility. We couldn’t do that effectively without the support we’ve received from the City of Luverne and the State of Minnesota. We’re excited to bring more high-quality jobs to the area and to continue to be a part of the Luverne community.”

Agri-Energy, LLC, Gevo’s wholly-owned subsidiary that owns the Luverne Facility, rehired multiple former employees in the beginning of August, and is in the process of hiring additional employees to produce the isobutanol (IBA) that is the feedstock for the hydrocarbon pilot unit. Additional operations staff will be required for the hydrocarbon production, though a certain number cannot yet be attributed to it.

About Gevo
Gevo’s mission is to transform renewable energy and carbon into energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons. These liquid hydrocarbons can be used for drop-in transportation fuels such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel, that when burned have potential to yield net-zero greenhouse gas emissions when measured across the full life cycle of the products. Gevo uses low-carbon renewable resource-based carbohydrates as raw materials, and is in an advanced state of developing renewable electricity and renewable natural gas for use in production processes, resulting in low-carbon fuels with substantially reduced carbon intensity (the level of greenhouse gas emissions compared to standard petroleum fossil-based fuels across their life cycle). Gevo’s products perform as well or better than traditional fossil-based fuels in infrastructure and engines, but with substantially reduced greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to addressing the problems of fuels, Gevo’s technology also enables certain plastics, such as polyester, to be made with more sustainable ingredients. Gevo’s ability to penetrate the growing low-carbon fuels market depends on the price of oil and the value of abating carbon emissions that would otherwise increase greenhouse gas emissions. Gevo believes that its proven, patented technology enabling the use of a variety of low-carbon sustainable feedstocks to produce price-competitive low-carbon products such as gasoline components, jet fuel and diesel fuel yields the potential to generate project and corporate returns that justify the build-out of a multi-billion-dollar business.

Gevo believes that the Argonne National Laboratory GREET model is the best available standard of scientific-based measurement for life cycle inventory or LCI. Learn more at Gevo’s website: www.gevo.com

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to a variety of matters, without limitation, including the Luverne Facility, the Luverne Facility’s ability to produce IBA, SAF or other products, the Net-Zero 1 project, Gevo’s technology, Gevo’s products, and other statements that are not purely statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Gevo undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Gevo believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2020, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Gevo.

 

Investor and Media Contact
IR@gevo.com

+1 720-647-9605

Grindrod Shipping (GRIN) – IVS Bulk JV Interest Acquisition Closed and Added Buybacks Prior to Strong Stock Price Move

Tuesday, September 07, 2021

Grindrod Shipping (GRIN)
IVS Bulk JV Interest Acquisition Closed and Added Buybacks Prior to Strong Stock Price Move

Grindrod Shipping, originated in South Africa with roots dating back to 1910. The company is based in Singapore, with offices around the world including, London, Durban, Cape Town, Tokyo and Rotterdam. Its primary listing is on Nasdaq and secondary listing on the JSE.

Grindrod Shipping owns and operates a diversified fleet of owned, long-term chartered and joint-venture dry-bulk and liquid-bulk vessels across the globe.

Poe Fratt, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

    IVS Bulk joint venture interest acquisition closed. As expected the pending acquisition of the remaining 31.14% equity stake in the IVS Bulk joint venture and redemption of IVS Bulk preferred stock closed on September 1st. Existing cash was utilized to complete the acquisition since the upsizing of the existing IVS Bulk credit line is still in the finalization stage.

    Charter-in update.  The options to extend the firm charter-in period by 11—13 months on the IVS Pinehurst, a 2015-built Supra, was exercised. The added charter-in term at a fixed rate starts in early January 2022. The fixed price purchase option remains in place, which creates optionality. Assuming a charter-in rate of ~$13.0k/day and a TCE rate of $30.0k/day, the charter-in should generate cash …



This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary.  Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

Garibaldi Resources Corp (GGIFF)(GGI:CA) – Garibaldi Resumes Drilling at EL Following Completion of Geophysical Surveys

Tuesday, September 07, 2021

Garibaldi Resources Corp (GGIFF)(GGI:CA)
Garibaldi Resumes Drilling at E&L Following Completion of Geophysical Surveys

Garibaldi Resources Corp is a Canadian-based junior exploration company. It is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of mineral properties located in Canada and Mexico. The company’s projects in Mexico include the La Patilla, the Rodadero, the Tonichi and the Iris project. Its projects in Canada include the PSP and King projects, The Cariboo Copper and Gold project, the Red Lion project, the Grizzly project, the Tora Tora project and the Black Gold project.

Mark Reichman, Senior Research Analyst of Natural Resources, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

    Drilling resumes at E&L. The 2021 drilling program will resume at the E&L project at Nickel Mountain. Garibaldi’s preliminary ZTEM geophysical survey detected several conductors that are being ranked for field work and drill testing. Five conductors occur along the 15-kilometer strike-length between E&L in the southwest and the nickel copper outcrops identified at Mount Shirley to the northeast which offer new discovery potential. Later in the season, the drill could be moved to test gold-silver targets at Casper and Palm Springs.

    Financing enhances flexibility.  Garibaldi secured up to C$12 million of equity financing over three years via a draw down equity financing facility. The agreement is structured to provide access to equity private placement tranches of up to C$500,000 each. Each tranche will be a private placement of units consisting of one Garibaldi common share and one-half a common share purchase warrant valid …



This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary.  Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

FAT Brands Inc. (FAT) – Additional Detail From Management Call

Tuesday, September 07, 2021

FAT Brands Inc. (FAT)
Additional Detail From Management Call

FAT Brands Inc is a multi-brand restaurant franchising company. It develops, markets, and acquires predominantly fast casual restaurant concepts. The company provides turkey burgers, chicken Sandwiches, chicken tenders, burgers, ribs, wrap sandwiches, and others. Its brand portfolio comprises Fatburger, Buffalo’s Cafe and Express, and Ponderosa and Bonanza. The company’s overall footprint covers nearly 32 countries. Fatburger generates maximum revenue for the company.

Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

    Call With Management. We were able to have a follow-up call with FAT Brands CEO Andrew Wiederhorn following the Company’s conference call to further discuss the Twin Peaks acquisition, how the concept fits into the brand portfolio, and the opportunities to grow the concept.

    Growth Opportunities.  With just 82 stores open in 25 states, there is plenty of “white space” to expand the Twin Peaks brand, in our view. We would note key peers Buffalo Wild Wings and Hooters operate about 1,200 and 340, respectively, locations. We expect a strong push to open additional locations in the Northeast and Midwest domestically and international expansion. We also would note newer …



This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary.  Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision.