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Mission possible:

Auroch’s run

to 100kt nickel

aving all the ingredients to take ad- Despite the recent pullback, nickel
Hvantage of an upcycle in the nickel prices are much healthier than the
sector is the position Auroch Minerals Ltd $US5.90/lb seen a mere 12 months ago.
is working towards. “We are explorers, so changes to nick-
Since October, a mix of corporate el prices right now don’t really affect us,”
moves, exploration success and gen- Platel said. “The medium-to-long-term
eral excitement in the nickel sector has outlook for nickel is solid and within that
helped shape the Auroch outfit as it is nickel price is the Class 1/Class 2 dif-
today. ferentiation. The battery market is going
Managing director Aidan Platel and to bring that demand for Class 1 – high
Ed Mason (non-executive chairman) are quality, high-grade nickel sulphide con-
now accompanied by a formidable lead- centrates – and that is what we are fo-
ership team of non-executive directors cused on and we will be leveraged to that
including former Panoramic Resources uplift.”
Ltd chief financial officer and company Auroch may be an explorer for now but
secretary Trevor Eton and Michael Ed- the move to miner status is very much
wards, noted project financier and con- front of mind for the company, potentially
tract negotiator Rebecca Moylan as chief in late 2022.
financial officer, and the astute Robin That is the date from which BHP has
Cox who is in control on the ground for indicated its nickel smelter in Kambalda
Auroch. would be reliant on third party ore, with
A market cap exceeding $50 million Mincor Resources Ltd’s Cassini deposit
puts Auroch in fair view of large funds one of those anticipated to underpin that
and institutional outlets will benefit from facility.
Mason’s nous in that arena while Eton Platel knows that going from barely
and Moylan bring the necessary grit to JORC 2012 compliant resources to pro-
thrash out potential off-take terms with duction in such a timeframe is a big chal-
the likes of BHP Ltd and Chinese parties. lenge, however, he is banking on a silver
“We have had quick growth in the last lining the company has at its nickel sul-
six months, plus we have a busy work phide projects at Saints (north Kalgoor-
programme backed by a healthy amount lie), Leinster and the new addition in Ne-
of funds to do the work and we have re- pean.
ally built the right team to take the com- “We do have very shallow depth, very
pany forward,” Platel told Paydirt after a high-grade, fresh nickel sulphides with
recent site visit to Nepean, near Coolgar- great access to processing facilities
die in Western Australia. which gives us a real chance to fast-track
“There is enough interest in nickel and the high-grade shallow portions early in
exploration plays at the moment, but re- the production schedule and push on
alistically the price run is still to come at with the other stuff later,” Platel said.
about the time we are aiming to be in pro- “I think that is what BHP recognised
duction, so it is quite a good time for us when they reached out to us.”
and for nickel.” Accessing geologists and space in the
Growing consumer thirst for EVs has labs are immediate headwinds for Au-
seen nickel graduate from stainless steel roch, leading to prolonged reporting.
only to become a key element in the bat- A win for the company last month was
teries powering the fourth industrial revo- securing a 12-month contract with Seis-
lution. mic Drilling Services Pty Ltd, affording
Nickel players have had to learn to live Auroch the opportunity to complete its
with the volatility the base metal is re- scope of works comprising over 20,000m
nowned for and at the time of print anther RC/diamond drilling.
mood-swing was in motion. “Drilling is the other factor. We want to
Prices had started to tail in late Febru- do exploration stuff to characterise the
ary from $US8.50/lb nickel to $US7.50/lb ultra-mafics and work out the targets for
in mid-March. the next drilling phase. We can’t afford to

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