Business
Auxico Resources Signs Off-take Agreement With The Lasell Company For Tantalum Ore
MONTREAL, June 22, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG) ("Auxico" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the signing of an off-take ag
About this update from Auxico Resources Canada, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" MONTREAL, June 22, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG) (\"Auxico\" or the \"Company\") is pleased to announce the signing of an off-take agreement with the Lasell Company Ltd. (\"Lasell\") for a supply of up to 1,000 tonnes per month of tantalum ore (\"Ta\") with a targeted purity of 30% Ta2O5 content. Lasell will have a right of first refusal on production exceeding 1,000 tonnes per month. Initial trial shipments of 25 tonnes per month are expected to begin in Q4 2022, with plans to expand into commercial production over the course of 2023. The tantalum ore for this off-take will be sourced and executed by the Company's joint venture partner, Kibara Minerals, of which Auxico holds a 70% stake under a profit-share agreement. Kibara Minerals has access to high-grade tantalite mineral deposits in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (\"DRC\") and an exclusive supply agreement with a cooperative for the purchase of tantalite ore from the Bafwasende Tantalum deposit, located 200 km from the city of Kisangani in the north-central part of the DRC. A full exploration permit covering an area of approximately 45.87 km2 has been issued by the Ministry of Mines of the DRC. Tantalite ore from the Bafwasende deposit, a traceable non-conflict artisanal site, has been tested by two independent groups. Impact Global Solutions, based in Delson, Quebec, performed laboratory tests on samples from the Bafwasende deposit, which produced the following grades: 46% Ta2O5 (tantalum pentoxide) and 22% Nb2O5 (niobium pentoxide). In 2020, one of the Company's potential buyers of this tantalite ore also performed its respective tests, which resulted in 42.04% Ta2O5 and 22.93% Nb2O5, which identified the Bafwasende Tantalum deposit as a high-grade columbite mineral source. Both tantalum and niobium are on the Government of Canada's published 2021 Critical Minerals List as well as the United States Geological Survey 2022 new list of 50 mineral commodities critical to the U.S. economy and national security after an extensive multi-agency assessment. In 2020, initial geological surveys were carried out at the Bafwasende Tantalum deposit on foot, focusing on a known source of Ta2O5 in an area of 400-metres in length by 200-metres in width. A total of seven exploration pits were dug over the i...