05:26:52 EDT Fri 29 Mar 2024
Enter Symbol
or Name
USA
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AEX Gold Inc
Symbol AEX
Shares Issued 177,098,737
Close 2022-05-12 C$ 0.66
Market Cap C$ 116,885,166
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AEX Gold becomes largest licence holder in S. Greenland

2022-05-12 11:29 ET - News Release

Mr. Eldur Olafsson reports

AEX GOLD BECOMES LARGEST ACREAGE HOLDER IN SOUTHERN GREENLAND

AEX Gold Inc. has acquired mineral exploration licences No. 2020-41 and 2021-11 covering areas in South Greenland from Orano group for zero upfront consideration and a royalty on future production. AEX views these licences as holding significant opportunity for the discovery of strategic minerals.

Highlights:

  • Significant 3,527.75-square-kilometre strategic mineral licence area acquired from Orano, taking AEX's total land package in South Greenland to 7,615.85 square kilometres.
  • The acquisition means the company will become the largest licence holder in South Greenland, and the third largest in Greenland, after Anglo American and Greenfield Exploration.
  • The licences are acquired in exchange for a 0.5-per-cent contractual gross revenue royalty (GRR), based on any future mineral sales from the licence area. The royalty is capped at $10-million (U.S.). Orano has a right of first refusal on any sales or transfer of licences.
  • The licence area includes assets which increase the company's exposure to metals such as nickel, copper, zinc, lead, titanium, vanadium, graphite and rare earth minerals, as well as additional gold resources across the Nanortalik and Tartoq gold belts.
  • Minerals present are categorized as strategic due to increasing demand for their use in the global energy transition. This acquisition now potentially gives AEX shareholders exposure to 29 elements across South Greenland.
  • South Greenland is considered as one of the most prospective regions for strategic metals and rare earth elements; the region is currently known to host 1.5 per cent of global rare earth element reserves, however, the European Commission estimates that with further exploration this number could increase to as high as 9.2 per cent.
  • AEX's continuing mineral system modelling highlights the potential of Southern Greenland to host significant strategic metal deposits. These new licences sit within an interpreted Laurasian mineral belt connecting Eastern Canada through Greenland to Scandinavia that hosts world-class mineral deposits such as Voisey's Bay (Canada), Gardar province (Greenland) and the Kiruna IOCG (iron oxide copper gold) belt (Scandinavia).
  • Existing AEX infrastructure, such as the 50-personnel exploration camp at Nalunaq, will be leveraged to explore and potentially develop the acquired licences.

Eldur Olafsson, chief executive officer of AEX, commented:

"We are excited to be substantially increasing our exposure to strategic metals and rare earth elements across Greenland. Greenland has the potential to become a crucial supplier of these vital minerals to the Western world, and AEX intends to be a key player in this.

AEX is now the third-largest licence holder in Greenland and the largest in Southern Greenland. We have an excellent relationship with the government which continues to provide strong support to the mining industry both fiscally and through favourable legislation. We welcome the opportunity to expand exploration for strategic minerals following this deal. As with our current portfolio, AEX will conduct this exploration through the use of modern, cutting-edge exploration methods and techniques, utilizing our existing camp and infrastructure, and we look forward to providing updates to the market on this work in due course."

The licence area acquired has significant strategic mineral potential, including nickel, copper, rare earth elements, zinc, lead, titanium and graphite. AEX will pay Orano a 0.5-per-cent gross revenue royalty on potential future sales of minerals exploited on the licences, paid annually and capped at $10-million (U.S). The royalties cap is subject to an annual inflation adjustment, with an ultimate cap set such that it cannot exceed the current market capitalization of the company.

The acquisition is subject to approval from the Greenland government, the process of which is already under way.

The increasing demand for strategic minerals globally is well documented, due in part to their usage in the global energy transition. Greenland currently holds 1.5 per cent of global rare earth element reserves despite being significantly underexplored, with more deposits being identified annually. AEX's significant land package therefore provides a unique opportunity for the company to become a significant player in this sector. The rise in demand for these minerals is not only down to the need for alternative energy, but also due to the rapid growth and innovation in the technology sector, with rare earth elements and other strategic metals being used in the manufacturing of almost all high-tech devices.

Europe and the United States are currently reliant on supplies of rare earth elements from China, which also controls 90 per cent of the mid-stream of the supply chain. As a result, the potential significance of the rare earth resource base in Greenland presents an opportunity to become a vital supplier of strategic minerals to the West.

Targets of specific note across this newly acquired land package include:

  • The Stendalen iron-vanadium-titanium layered intrusive -- previously explored by GEUS (Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland), Softrock Mineral and NunaMineral A/S. This intrusive is eight kilometres in diameter and hosts a magnetic layer up to 20 metres thick which has provided historical samples yielding between 1 and 10.5 per cent titanium dioxide (TiO2) (average of 4.8 per cent) and 226 to 5,753 parts per million vanadium (V) (average 2,335 ppm). Stendalen also host the potential for nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and platinum group element (PGE) mineralization with grab samples proving grades of 0.8 per cent copper, 0.5 per cent nickel and 0.1 per cent cobalt (Co).
  • North Sava -- a continuation of the ground held and explored by AEX Gold during 2021 within a newly identified IOCG and porphyry copper belt situated in close proximity to the international airport at Narsarsaq. North Sava has provided historical grab samples up to 382 grams per tonne gold (Au), 3.4 per cent copper, 3.7 per cent zinc (Zn), 100 g/t silver (Ag), 19 per cent niobium (Nb), 1.7 per cent uranium (U) and 2.2 per cent zirconium (Zr).
  • Midternaes -- an unconformity and ultramafic-hosted nickel, uranium, lead and zinc target within a sublicence adjoining AEX Gold's Tartoq NP licence and within the Tartoq gold belt in Southwest Greenland.
  • The Paatusoq rare earth element, niobium, tantalum, zirconium project is a syenite complex that is 20 km in diameter covering an area of more than 240 square km within an unexplored section of the Garder province that also hosts the Kvanefjeld and Tanbreez rare earth projects.
  • Numerous gold targets within the Nanortalik gold belt and several identified graphite targets similar to that already being explored by AEX at Norrearm and GreenRoc at the Amitsoq project.

About AEX Gold Inc.

AEX's principal business objectives are the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of gold properties in Greenland. The company's principal asset is a 100-per-cent interest in the Nalunaq project, an advanced exploration-stage property with an exploitation licence, including the previously operating Nalunaq gold mine. The company has a portfolio of gold assets covering 7,615.85 square km, the largest portfolio of gold assets in Southern Greenland covering the two known gold belts in the region. AEX is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and wholly owns Nalunaq A/S, incorporated under the Greenland Public Companies Act.

Qualified person statement

The technical information presented in this press release has been approved by James Gilbertson, CGeol, vice-president, exploration, for AEX Gold and a chartered geologist with the Geological Society of London, and as such, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

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