Duluth Metals Ltd. has received a formal 25% Option Termination Notice from Antofagasta plc on the Twin Metals Minnesota (TMM) project, which means the joint venture moves immediately to the 40:60 phase and Duluth Metals now has a 180-day buy-back right to purchase Antofagasta’s 40% equity position at a price equal to its sunk costs (currently estimated to be approximately $220 million) plus approximately $10 million currently outstanding (plus accrued and unpaid interest) under the bridge loan Antofagasta provided to Duluth Metals.
By delivering the notice, Antofagasta also no longer has the right to acquire 25% of the TMM project from Duluth after the delivery of the Bankable Feasibility Study and the permitting of the TMM project. In addition, Duluth Metals becomes the operator of the project and controls the TMM Board and the TMM Technical Committee by having three members and Antofagasta having two members on each.
“Duluth Metals is excited about moving the TMM project through its next phase of project development and continuing to work together with Antofagasta,” said Christopher Dundas, executive chairman of Duluth Metals. “We are looking forward to publishing highlights of the very comprehensive Pre-Feasibility Technical Report during the second half of July.”
“We believe the highlights of the PFS Technical Report will showcase the strengths of the TMM project, namely a great mineral resource in a mining friendly jurisdiction with much of the required infrastructure existing to support a large scale mining operation,” said Kelly Osborne, president and CEO of Duluth Metals and former interim vice president for the project for TMM.
The TMM project is located within the rapidly emerging Duluth Complex mining camp in northeastern Minnesota. The Duluth Complex hosts one of the world’s largest undeveloped repositories of copper, nickel, and PGMs, including the world’s third largest accumulation of nickel sulphides, and one of the world’s largest accumulations of polymetallic copper and platinum group metals.
