A quick review for new holders & those running the ruler over WR1:
drilling resumed mid-August with 5 rigs at Adina
approx 23,000m drilled prior to this
approx 16,500m of assays received to date
from approx 13,500m of assays, Canaccord estimate from modeling: 40mt @ 1.25%
after August 1 announcement, estimates from modeling range from 45mt @ 1.3% (Fosters) to ~57mt @ 1.25% (reddit geo @WowVeryJosh and geos engaged by @Helios11 -- see his posts for much more detailed information)
3.1km strike, orebody mineralised at surface, open in all directions, many additional targets outside this strike zone
Fosters estimates up to 125mt if entire 3.1km strike consistently mineralised
metallurgical testwork shows low impurities and 80% recovery to SC5.5 using HLS, suggesting likely DMS-only processing
42m aud cash on hand
company intends to drill at least 50,000m more, and release a MRE in Q1 of 2024
based on past performance, each rigs drill ~2500m / month on average
at this rate, with 5 rigs the company should have completed an additional 51,000m by mid-Dec (i.e. total 74,000m)
lab assays are slow, between 6-10 weeks, however recent fires have likely cleared some of the backlog
WR1 owns 20% of PWM.V, which is about to begin 15,000m drill program at Case Lake in Ontario
WR1 recently increased PWM.V holding by 10% (market value ~8m aud) in a deal which sold them projects that had cost ~1.4m aud
there are many battery/cathode factories are planned in North America
yet almost no battery chemicals are produced in North America, and little future capacity is planned
owners of these planned battery plants will need to build chemical conversion plants, but cannot commit without first securing feedstock
spodumene concentrate is the preferred feedstock for LiOH (lithium hydroxide), used in higher-range, higher-performance batteries expected to dominate North American market
the lead-time to plan and build a chemical conversion facility is approx 3 years
MRE expected Q1 2024, and PEA soon after, with no need to raise capital prior to this
WR1 is targeting production in 2027, and will therefore need to make a deal in 2024 with a strategic partner
Many big players are competing for very few good spodumene assets with uncommitted offtake in North America
WR1 is therefore in a strong negotiating position and may be able to secure debt funding and/or an offtake contract with floor price
Additionally, WR1 will experience lower dilution than most of sector due to FTF (flow through funding) available to Canadian explorers
(20min delay)