Voyageur Minerals Ltd. (TSX-Venture:VM)

Featured Company / Voyageur Minerals Ltd.

Donald Trump campaigned and won the U.S. Presidential election on making changes, some dramatic to the regulations in the country as he took office.  Lately, it has become clear that he wants part of his legacy as President to include changing the nation’s dependence on imports.  This policy stance was the genesis for an Executive Order 13817 in December aiming to reduce the U.S.’s vulnerability to supply chain disruptions for metals deemed critical to national and economic security.

The draft list from the Department of Interior was comprised of 35 minerals, including barite and lithium, metals for which the U.S. (and Canada for that matter) is extremely limited or completely void of production.

Most in the investment community are well aware of the lithium situation, with the electric vehicle revolution responsible for companies of all sizes rushing to reach commercial production to keep up with expected future demand for the metal crucial to rechargeable batteries in EVs.  North America only has one producing lithium operation, Albemarle’s (NYSE:ALB) Silver Peak mine in Nevada, so bringing more mines online will be mandatory to meet production goals, especially given Trump’s Executive Order.  To that end, investors have been bidding up companies with promising lithium in a move to be positioned should they come to fruition.

Barite is one of the lesser-publicized minerals that investors should also be considering as a growth opportunity against the backdrop of Trump apparently unafraid to go toe-to-toe with China over taking a chunk out of a $375.2 billion trade deficit recorded in 2017.

Barite, a non-metallic mineral composed of barium sulfate (BaSO4) is used in many applications, with the bulk of production used in oil and gas drilling fluids.  It also is key to the paint and coatings industry and used in the healthcare sector, amongst other things.

For the most part, North America is dependent upon China for its barite.  Of an estimated 8.7 million tonnes produced in 2017, 3.6 million were attributed to China, with the U.S. only weighing in at about 500,000 tonnes.  Yet, the U.S. was the largest consumer of barite, accounting for 2.6 million tonnes out of the 8.4 million tonnes used.

With oil prices recovering, drilling activity is increasing, meaning the world is going to need more barite just for that demand, not to mention growth in other sectors.  Adding further validation to this contention is the fact that the International Energy Agency this month said that the U.S. will be the world’s biggest oil producer by 2023 owing to excess availability of shale reserves, which count on barite for removing debris and cooling bits during drilling.

When further considering that China is ramping up shale gas well drilling, which is expected to result in total barite consumption of over 3.3 million tonnes annually by 2020, the country – as it has historically done with other metals – will go into hoarding mode for its own consumption.

Increased energy use will play a key role in driving the barite market from over $1 billion in 2016 to more than $4.1 billion by 2024, according to Global Market Insights.

It is this evolving scenario that has Voyageur Minerals Ltd. (TSX-Venture:VM) uniquely positioned with its portfolio of both strategic critical minerals, three projects of which are for barite and two for lithium.  The Calgary-based company is actively developing a near-term cash flow barite project in British Columbia, Canada, while simultaneously exploring and developing lithium brine projects in Utah, USA.

The strategy is to immediately develop the barite project, called Frances Creek, to create cash flow to fund exploration of the other projects.

At Frances Creek, Voyageur has shown barite grades up to 99.5% BaSO4, which is a very rare occurrence and qualifies the project as the only high-grade industrial deposit in Canada.  Fact is that most barite deposits simply don’t produce high enough grade to meet industrial specifications.  Because of this fact, high-grade barite, for which the U.S. imports about 400,000 metric tonnes per year, comes at a premium price.  Voyageur intends to produce the barite to service the highest-value customers in the industrial barite market.

2017 drilling confirmed the historical resource at Frances Creek, including the average width of the zone at an impressive 20.4 meters wide grading 30-40% barite ranging from 96.5% - 99.5% BaSO4.

Importantly, Voyageur recently partnered with privately-held Innovation Metals Corp. (IMC), giving the company access to IMC’s proprietary processing technology for producing high-purity barite.  This is the barite that meets the needs for analytical lab grade (99%), pharmaceutical grade (97.5%) and high-end paint powder coat barite.

The U.S. is currently 100% dependent on imports of barite serving these high-grade markets.

Per the Memorandum of Understanding between the two companies, a joint venture will be formed for the purpose of constructing a demo plant capable of processing 2,000 tonnes per year of high-purity barite.  Once completed and tested, production will be increased to 6,000 – 10,000 tonnes per year.

Combined with Voyageur’s nearby Pedley Mountain project, the company has known resources in excess of 200,000 tonnes, which is enough to increase production to 20,000 tonnes per year.  That’s a minimum 10-year mine life, which is expected to be increased given the open nature of the resource to date.

Voyageur will fund the project with IMC and, in turn, own 75% of the JV with options to buy IMC out of their 25%  stake in the future.

Initial testing using IMC’s technology shows purities above 99.5% can be consistently achieved.  At sales prices ranging from $2,800 - $7,500 per tonne (FOB China), the value of the expected production at the demo plant ($5.6 million - $15.0 million annually) and the later increased production up to $75.0 million annually.

As for the economics, Voyageur’s corporate presentation estimates costs at only $600 per tonne, equating to a profit EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $1,900 per metric tonne at the low end of the cost spectrum.

Safe to say, that’s impressive fundaments for an upstart with a $3.8 million market capitalization.

Furthermore, no value seems to be going to Voyageur’s lithium assets in Utah.  The company’s Roberts’ Rupture asset is in the prolific lithium-rich Paradox Basin in Utah.  Historic fluid analysis has shown grades as high as 1,700 parts per million (ppm) lithium in saturated mineral brines.  To put that in perspective, that is on par with the highest grades found in the vaunted “lithium triangle” in South America.

This type of naturally flowing brine aquifer has a historical flow rate of 50,000 barrels per day to surface.  Leveraging modern technologies, Voyageur will be able to maintain high production with fewer wells than previously would be required.

Voyageur is surrounded by other lithium miners at Roberts’ Rupture, but fortunate that geology suggests their project is over the sweet spot of the aquifer.  Historically, only two lithium high grade wells were drilled in the aquifer, both of which were in Roberts’ Rupture.  The average concentration of lithium, iodine, bromine, boron and magnesium in the brine samples from the Long Canyon #1 and the Roberts Brine Well, is comparable to the highest grades currently being produced at operating mines worldwide.

The 1,920-acre Lithium King property has an average surface lithium grade of 215 part per million, according to the U.S. Geology Survey.  The historic analysis comes from shallow wells only about 5 meters in depth.  Voyageur wants to drill wells 600 meters – 900 meters in depth into lower aquifers for analysis, which likely could host much higher grades in addition to the near surface brine.

There probably could not be a more favorable market climate right now for a company like Voyageur, especially as to the way things are falling into place with its barite assets in B.C.  Perhaps its because investors aren’t quite as in tune with barite as they are with lithium that the company still seems to be flying under the radar of the general investment community.  Whatever the reason, that doesn’t change that the company is moving one step closer to production and cash flow each day, a fact that should put this company on mining investor’s radar everywhere.

Voyageur’s third strategic critical minerals is Magnesium. The Utah brines contain as high as 40,000 ppm (4% magnesium). This is another mineral Voyageur will produce in conjunction with the lithium allowing for robust economics. Management believes that the magnesium production alone could potentially cover all costs of production. This will allow Voyageur to become a highly competitive lithium supplier in the world market.

Voyageur is working with a brine processing company to create high purity magnesium and lithium products.

Initial testing using IMC’s technology shows purities above 99.5% can be consistently achieved.  At sales prices ranging from $2,800 - $7,500 per tonne (FOB China), the value of the expected production at the demo plant ($5.6 million - $15.0 million annually) and the later increased production up to $75.0 million annually.

Corporate Snapshot:
Voyageur Minerals Ltd.
Stock Symbol: CA
Stock Exchange: TSX-Venture
Sector: Natural Resources
52 Week High: $0.1500
52 Week Low: $0.0350

Current Stock Quote / Chart / News: Click here

Information as of March 28, 2018

Donald Trump campaigned and won the U.S. Presidential election on making changes, some dramatic to the regulations in the country as he took office.  Lately, it has become clear that he wants part of his legacy as President to include changing the nation’s dependence on imports.  This policy stance was the genesis for an Executive Order 13817 in December aiming to reduce the U.S.’s vulnerability to supply chain disruptions for metals deemed critical to national and economic security.

The draft list from the Department of Interior was comprised of 35 minerals, including barite and lithium, metals for which the U.S. (and Canada for that matter) is extremely limited or completely void of production.

Most in the investment community are well aware of the lithium situation, with the electric vehicle revolution responsible for companies of all sizes rushing to reach commercial production to keep up with expected future demand for the metal crucial to rechargeable batteries in EVs.  North America only has one producing lithium operation, Albemarle’s (NYSE:ALB) Silver Peak mine in Nevada, so bringing more mines online will be mandatory to meet production goals, especially given Trump’s Executive Order.  To that end, investors have been bidding up companies with promising lithium in a move to be positioned should they come to fruition.

Barite is one of the lesser-publicized minerals that investors should also be considering as a growth opportunity against the backdrop of Trump apparently unafraid to go toe-to-toe with China over taking a chunk out of a $375.2 billion trade deficit recorded in 2017.

Barite, a non-metallic mineral composed of barium sulfate (BaSO4) is used in many applications, with the bulk of production used in oil and gas drilling fluids.  It also is key to the paint and coatings industry and used in the healthcare sector, amongst other things.

For the most part, North America is dependent upon China for its barite.  Of an estimated 8.7 million tonnes produced in 2017, 3.6 million were attributed to China, with the U.S. only weighing in at about 500,000 tonnes.  Yet, the U.S. was the largest consumer of barite, accounting for 2.6 million tonnes out of the 8.4 million tonnes used.

With oil prices recovering, drilling activity is increasing, meaning the world is going to need more barite just for that demand, not to mention growth in other sectors.  Adding further validation to this contention is the fact that the International Energy Agency this month said that the U.S. will be the world’s biggest oil producer by 2023 owing to excess availability of shale reserves, which count on barite for removing debris and cooling bits during drilling.

When further considering that China is ramping up shale gas well drilling, which is expected to result in total barite consumption of over 3.3 million tonnes annually by 2020, the country – as it has historically done with other metals – will go into hoarding mode for its own consumption.

Increased energy use will play a key role in driving the barite market from over $1 billion in 2016 to more than $4.1 billion by 2024, according to Global Market Insights.

It is this evolving scenario that has Voyageur Minerals Ltd. (TSX-Venture:VM) uniquely positioned with its portfolio of both strategic critical minerals, three projects of which are for barite and two for lithium.  The Calgary-based company is actively developing a near-term cash flow barite project in British Columbia, Canada, while simultaneously exploring and developing lithium brine projects in Utah, USA.

The strategy is to immediately develop the barite project, called Frances Creek, to create cash flow to fund exploration of the other projects.

At Frances Creek, Voyageur has shown barite grades up to 99.5% BaSO4, which is a very rare occurrence and qualifies the project as the only high-grade industrial deposit in Canada.  Fact is that most barite deposits simply don’t produce high enough grade to meet industrial specifications.  Because of this fact, high-grade barite, for which the U.S. imports about 400,000 metric tonnes per year, comes at a premium price.  Voyageur intends to produce the barite to service the highest-value customers in the industrial barite market.

2017 drilling confirmed the historical resource at Frances Creek, including the average width of the zone at an impressive 20.4 meters wide grading 30-40% barite ranging from 96.5% - 99.5% BaSO4.

Importantly, Voyageur recently partnered with privately-held Innovation Metals Corp. (IMC), giving the company access to IMC’s proprietary processing technology for producing high-purity barite.  This is the barite that meets the needs for analytical lab grade (99%), pharmaceutical grade (97.5%) and high-end paint powder coat barite.

The U.S. is currently 100% dependent on imports of barite serving these high-grade markets.

Per the Memorandum of Understanding between the two companies, a joint venture will be formed for the purpose of constructing a demo plant capable of processing 2,000 tonnes per year of high-purity barite.  Once completed and tested, production will be increased to 6,000 – 10,000 tonnes per year.

Combined with Voyageur’s nearby Pedley Mountain project, the company has known resources in excess of 200,000 tonnes, which is enough to increase production to 20,000 tonnes per year.  That’s a minimum 10-year mine life, which is expected to be increased given the open nature of the resource to date.

Voyageur will fund the project with IMC and, in turn, own 75% of the JV with options to buy IMC out of their 25%  stake in the future.

Initial testing using IMC’s technology shows purities above 99.5% can be consistently achieved.  At sales prices ranging from $2,800 - $7,500 per tonne (FOB China), the value of the expected production at the demo plant ($5.6 million - $15.0 million annually) and the later increased production up to $75.0 million annually.

As for the economics, Voyageur’s corporate presentation estimates costs at only $600 per tonne, equating to a profit EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $1,900 per metric tonne at the low end of the cost spectrum.

Safe to say, that’s impressive fundaments for an upstart with a $3.8 million market capitalization.

Furthermore, no value seems to be going to Voyageur’s lithium assets in Utah.  The company’s Roberts’ Rupture asset is in the prolific lithium-rich Paradox Basin in Utah.  Historic fluid analysis has shown grades as high as 1,700 parts per million (ppm) lithium in saturated mineral brines.  To put that in perspective, that is on par with the highest grades found in the vaunted “lithium triangle” in South America.

This type of naturally flowing brine aquifer has a historical flow rate of 50,000 barrels per day to surface.  Leveraging modern technologies, Voyageur will be able to maintain high production with fewer wells than previously would be required.

Voyageur is surrounded by other lithium miners at Roberts’ Rupture, but fortunate that geology suggests their project is over the sweet spot of the aquifer.  Historically, only two lithium high grade wells were drilled in the aquifer, both of which were in Roberts’ Rupture.  The average concentration of lithium, iodine, bromine, boron and magnesium in the brine samples from the Long Canyon #1 and the Roberts Brine Well, is comparable to the highest grades currently being produced at operating mines worldwide.

The 1,920-acre Lithium King property has an average surface lithium grade of 215 part per million, according to the U.S. Geology Survey.  The historic analysis comes from shallow wells only about 5 meters in depth.  Voyageur wants to drill wells 600 meters – 900 meters in depth into lower aquifers for analysis, which likely could host much higher grades in addition to the near surface brine.

There probably could not be a more favorable market climate right now for a company like Voyageur, especially as to the way things are falling into place with its barite assets in B.C.  Perhaps its because investors aren’t quite as in tune with barite as they are with lithium that the company still seems to be flying under the radar of the general investment community.  Whatever the reason, that doesn’t change that the company is moving one step closer to production and cash flow each day, a fact that should put this company on mining investor’s radar everywhere.

Voyageur’s third strategic critical minerals is Magnesium. The Utah brines contain as high as 40,000 ppm (4% magnesium). This is another mineral Voyageur will produce in conjunction with the lithium allowing for robust economics. Management believes that the magnesium production alone could potentially cover all costs of production. This will allow Voyageur to become a highly competitive lithium supplier in the world market.

Voyageur is working with a brine processing company to create high purity magnesium and lithium products.

Initial testing using IMC’s technology shows purities above 99.5% can be consistently achieved.  At sales prices ranging from $2,800 - $7,500 per tonne (FOB China), the value of the expected production at the demo plant ($5.6 million - $15.0 million annually) and the later increased production up to $75.0 million annually.


Forward Looking Statements

This report includes forward-looking statements that reflect current expectations about its future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. Voyageur Minerals Ltd. has tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words and phrases such as "may," "will," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plan," "should," "typical," "preliminary," "we are confident" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause Voyageur Minerals Ltd.'s actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation, the Company's growth expectations and ongoing funding requirements, and specifically, the Company's growth prospects with scalable customers, and those outlined above. Other risks include the Company's limited operating history, the Company's history of operating losses, consumers' acceptance, the Company's use of licensed technologies, risk of increased competition, the potential need for additional financing, the terms and conditions of any financing that is consummated, the limited trading market for the Company's securities, the possible volatility of the Company's stock price, the concentration of ownership, and the potential fluctuation in the Company's operating results.

Disclaimer

AllPennyStocks.com feature stock reports are intended to be stock ideas, NOT recommendations. Please do your own research before investing. It is crucial that you at least look at current SEC filings and read the latest press releases. Information contained in this report was extracted from current documents filed with the SEC, the company web site and other publicly available sources deemed reliable. For more information see our disclaimer section, a link of which can be found on our web site. This document contains forward-looking statements, particularly as related to the business plans of the Company, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by these sections. Actual results may differ materially from the Company's expectations and estimates. This is an advertisement for Voyageur Minerals Ltd. The purpose of this advertisement, like any advertising, is to provide coverage and awareness for the company. The information provided in this advertisement is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject us to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country.

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