Energy metals snapshot: Eight companies hunting for green technology metals

Green metals are critical to new decarbonization technologies including lithium-ion batteries, electric and hybrid vehicles, while rising demand for nuclear energy projects is spurring the increase in uranium prices. Here are eight companies to watch. 

ATHA Energy 

ATHA Energy (CSE: SASK; US-OTC: SASKF) holds a 14,000-sq.-km package of prime uranium exploration grounds in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, plus a 10% free-carried interest on key parts of land owned by NexGen Energy (TSX: NXE; NYSE: NXE; ASX: NXG) and IsoEnergy (TSXV: ISO; US-OTC: ISENF). 

In December, the junior announced plans to grow even larger with the acquisition of Latitude Uranium (CSE: LUR) and 92Energy (ASX: 92E). 

If the proposed acquisition is completed (shareholder votes are slated for the first quarter), ATHA’s portfolio would more than double to 29,000 sq. km and the company would have about $55 million for exploration. ATHA shareholders will own about 47.4% of the combined company, with 92E and Latitude shareholders each owning 24.4%. 

92Energy owns the Gemini project, a basement hosted discovery about 60 metres below surface in the Athabasca Basin, where intercepts have included 43 metres of 0.62% U₃O₈ starting at 174 metres downhole, including 6 metres of 2.17% U₃O₈ within 18 metres of 1.16% U₃O₈ in drillhole GEM22-025. 

Drilling 65 metres south of Gemini last year returned 1.47% U₃O₈ over 5 metres starting from 263 metres in hole GEM23-61. That interval included a sub-interval of 4.69% U₃O₈ over 1.5 metres, which in itself included 9.66% U₃O₈ over 0.5 metres. 

Gemini, discovered in September 2021, is on the eastern margin of the Athabasca Basin, 27 km southeast of the McArthur River uranium mine and 60 km northeast of the Key Lake uranium mill. 

Latitude is focused on the Angilak project in Nunavut, and the CMB uranium project in the Central Mineral belt of Newfoundland and Labrador. Historic resources hosted at both projects comprise 43 million inferred lb. U₃O₈ at Angilak (at a grade of 0.69% uranium oxide) and 14 million indicated and inferred lb. U₃O₈ in several deposits at CMB. Highlights from recent drill results at Angilak include 7.54% U₃O₈ over 1.6 metres in drill hole 23LC-005 from 218 metres depth.  

At the end of December, ATHA closed a private placement for proceeds of about $24 million. 

ATHA has a market cap of roughly $146 million. 

Chalice Mining 

Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) owns the Gonneville deposit, the first discovery within its 100%-owned nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) Julimar project in Western Australia, about 70 km northeast of Perth.  

Discovered in 2020, Gonneville is a magmatic PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt-gold sulphide deposit that starts at surface. The company says it’s the second-largest undeveloped nickel sulphide resource in Australia. 

Over the last three years Chalice has drilled more than 1,000 holes (about 275,000 metres) and last August released a scoping study.  

The study evaluated two scenarios: a 15-million and a 30-million-tonne-per-year open-pit operation, which would produce roughly 280,000 or 470,000 oz. palladium/platinum/gold; 9,000 or 16,000 tonnes of nickel; 10,000 or 16,000 tonnes of copper; and 800 or 1,400 tonnes of cobalt annually over 18-19 years. 

Preproduction capex was estimated at A$1.6 billion for the smaller-scale operation or A$2.3 billion for the larger option ($1.4 billion or $2 billion); the post-tax net present value (6.5% discount) at A$2.8 billion or A$4.2 billion ($2.5 or $3.7 billion), and the internal rate of return in both cases at 26%. 

The company continues with step-out drilling and scoping level study work on potential early underground mining options and flowsheet optimization. The flowsheet as currently envisaged targets production of a copper-PGE-gold concentrate, a battery-grade nickel-cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and a PGE-gold doré.  

Gonneville has a JORC-compliant resource of 2.7 million measured tonnes grading 1.1 grams palladium, 0.24 gram platinum, 0.03 gram gold, 0.23% nickel, 0.18% copper and 0.019% cobalt (0.85% nickel-equivalent) and 300 million indicated tonnes grading 0.7 gram palladium per tonne, 0.15 gram platinum, 0.03 gram gold, 0.16% nickel, 0.09% copper and 0.015% cobalt (0.54% nickel-equivalent). Inferred resources come to 250 million tonnes of 0.7 gram palladium, 0.15 gram platinum, 0.03 gram gold, 0.15% nickel, 0.09% copper and 0.015% cobalt (0.54% nickel-equivalent).  

The resource has defined the deposit over a strike length of 1.9 km and from surface to a depth of about 800 metres. Gonneville remains open at depth. 

The company plans to release a prefeasibility study in mid-2025. 

The Perth-based company has a market cap of A$576 million ($516.1 million). 

European Energy Metals  

European Energy Metals (TSXV: FIN; US-OTC: EUEMF), formerly known as Hilo Mining, is conducting early stage exploration for lithium, cesium and tantalum on its more than 5,000-sq.-km land package in Finland. 

The Central Finland lithium project lies about 15 km from Sibanye-Stillwater’s (NYSE: SBSW) Keliber lithium mine and production complex, where production is expected to start in the second half of 2025, and about 400 km north of the capital Helsinki. 

European Energy Metals concluded its initial exploration program in December. The junior found multiple lithium bearing pegmatites on its concessions and took a total of 1,099 rock chip gram samples. 

At its Nabba exploration licence, which lies about 8 km to the west of Keliber’s spodumene concentrator plant, the company discovered a 350- by 110-metre spodumene-bearing boulder field in the Kyrola zone, where 49 rock chip samples ran from 0.003% lithium oxide (Li₂0) to 3.84% Li₂0, and 15 of the 49 samples returned grades greater than 0.5% Li₂0. The boulders at Kyrola were also “weakly anomalous” in cesium, tantalum, beryllium and tin. 

At Nabba’s Kaitnabba zone, the company found a spodumene-bearing boulder cluster, where two rock chip grab samples returned 1.57% and 1.01% Li₂0. At Kaitnabba, the boulders range in diameter from 0.2 to 0.4 metre. In addition, they are anomalous in cesium, tantalum, beryllium and tin. Both zones at Nabba appear to be mineralogically similar to Keliber, the company says. 

At its Lappajarvi East concession in the Pisto zone, rock chip samples from an outcropping two-mica granite and quartz-feldspar-muscovite-tourmaline pegmatite swarm mapped over several kilometres, returned lithium samples in the hundreds of parts per million (ppm) with a highlight value of 250 ppm lithium. 

The company believes the geochemistry at Lappajarvi East “shows similarities to one of the lithium-bearing pegmatite zones” at Keliber. In addition, arsenic associated with the lithium at Pisto is also common at Keliber’s Kellokallio prospect, about 11 km to the east, the company says. 

European Energy Metals has a market cap of $10.7 million. 

Forum Energy Metals  

Forum Energy Metals (TSXV: FMC; US-OTC: FDCFF) is exploring for uranium, copper, nickel and cobalt in the Athabasca Basin and for uranium in Nunavut’s Thelon Basin. It also has a cobalt project in the United States. 

In Nunavut, its Thelon project, 100 km west of Baker Lake, is on trend with the Kiggavik uranium deposit, one of the world’s largest undeveloped uranium deposits. Thelon’s Tatiggaq deposit has shown high-grade, unconformity-style uranium mineralization along a 250-metre trend with intercepts including 2.25% U₃0₈ over 11.1 metres; 1.01% U₃0₈ over 6.2 metres and 0.4% U₃0₈ over 12.8 metres. Tatiggaq is about 100 km west of Baker Lake, and the company describes the uranium mineralization at Tatiggaq as similar in style to NexGen’s Arrow deposit and Cameco’s (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) Eagle Point project. 

The Qavvik deposit, 15 km west of Tatiggaq, has returned grades of 0.62% U₃0₈ over 5.1 metres; 0.81% U₃0₈ over 0.9 metre; and 0.66% U₃0₈ over 13.6 metres, including 1.45% U₃0₈ over 1.5 metres and 2.76% U₃0₈ over 0.9 metre. Qavvik, and the Ayra prospect, 20 km west of Tatiggaq, are to be drilled in 2024. 

In Saskatchewan, Forum has nine drill-ready uranium projects. Three of the projects —Wollaston, Costigan and Maruice Point — are 100% owned. Another four are joint ventures: Henday (60%-owned by Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE-AM: UEC); Fir Island (51% Orano Canada); Clearwater (25% VEC); and Northwest Athabasca (26.3% Cameco, NexGen 18.7% and Orano 11.7%). 

In addition, it has an option agreement on its 100%-owned Grease River project with Traction Uranium (CSE: TRAC; US-OTC: TRCTF).

Forum’s other critical metals projects in Saskatchewan and Idaho are all 100%-owned. Four of the projects are in Saskatchewan: the Janice Lake copper project; the Love Lake copper-nickel project; the Still nickel-cobalt project and the Fisher copper-zinc project. In Idaho it owns the Quartz Gulch cobalt project. 

Forum Energy Metals has a market cap of about $35 million. 

Hot Chili  

Hot Chili’s (TSXV: HCH; ASX: HCH; US-OTC: HHLKF) Costa Fuego copper-gold project sits in the coastal range of Chile’s Atacama Region, 600 km north of Santiago. 

A preliminary economic assessment last June outlined a 16-year open pit and underground mine. It could produce an average of 112,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent a year (248 million lb. copper-equivalent) during the first 14 years at C1 cash costs of US$1.33 per lb. copper net of byproduct credits. The study outlined a post-tax net present value (8% discount) of US$1.1 billion, with an internal rate of return of 21%. Startup capital of about US$1 billion could be paid back within three-and-a-half years, and the initial phases of open pit mining could fully fund development of a bulk underground operation. 

Hot Chili expects to complete a prefeasibility study in the second half of this year and a resource update in the first half of 2025. Resources now stand at 725 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.38% copper, 0.11 gram gold per tonne, 0.45 gram silver and 93 ppm molybdenum (0.47% copper-equivalent). Inferred resources add 202 million tonnes averaging 0.3% copper, 0.06 gram gold, 0.31 gram silver, 66 ppm molybdenum (0.36% copper-equivalent). 

In July, Hot Chili executed a US$15-million investment agreement with Osisko Gold Royalties (TSX: OR; NYSE: OR) for a 1% net smelter return royalty (NSR) on copper and a 3% NSR royalty on gold.  

Hot Chili recently added three holdings near Costa Fuego to its portfolio. In November, the company said it will earn 100% of two historic copper areas 10 km southwest of Costa Fuego’s planned central processing hub. The properties, Marsellesa and Cordillera, were exploited historically for shallow copper oxide and sulphide material. In August, it picked up an option on Bastion Minerals’ (ASX: BMP) Cometa project, 15 km southeast of Costa Fuego.  

Hot Chili has a market cap of about $108 million. 

Neo Energy Metals  

Neo Energy Metals (LSE: NEO) owns 70% of the Henkries uranium project in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, about 80 km north of the mining town of Springbok and immediately south of the Orange River and the border with Namibia. 

Anglo American (LSE: AAL) completed a feasibility study on the project based on more than 700 drill holes (9,693 metres) after discovering Henkries in the 1970s. Anglo also mined 211 pits and processed a 254-tonne bulk sample at South Africa’s National Institute of Metallurgy. 

Neo Energy is now working on updating Anglo’s feasibility study. With about US$30 million spent on historic exploration, Neo Energy expects an “accelerated development and production timetable” and a “clear pathway to low-cost production.” 

Uranium mineralization at Henkries is hosted in soft paleochannel sediments mostly within five to 10 metres of surface. The project consists of Henkries Central, North, and South, and the Central and North deposits occupy less than 10% of the project’s 743-sq.-km concession. 

At Henkries Central, about 80% of the uranium is in a continuous layer 3.6- km long, up to 1.1 km wide and up to eight metres thick. More than 800 holes have been drilled at Henkries Central, with average grades of 436 ppm U₃O₈. 

At Henkries North, the uranium lies within six zones, the largest 1 km in length. The two deposits have been defined along a 12-km section of the paleochannel. Henkries South extends over 24 km of the same 37 km paleochannel hosting the Central and North deposits. 

A JORC-compliant resource from January 2022 estimated Henkries Central hosts 2 million indicated tonnes averaging 635 ppm U₃O₈ and 1.7 million inferred tonnes grading 211 ppm U₃O₈. Henkries North has 1.6 million inferred tonnes averaging 315 ppm. 

Neo Energy Metals has a market cap of £11.11 million ($18.9 million). 

Power Metals  

Power Metals (TSXV: PWM; US-OTC: PWRF) is exploring for lithium, tantalum and cesium at its Case Lake property in northeastern Ontario, about 80 km east of Cochrane near the border with Quebec. 

Lithium mineralization at Case Lake is hosted by spodumene in pegmatite dykes, and the project consists of a pegmatite swarm of six spodumene dykes known as the North, Main, South, East and Northeast dykes on the Henry Dome, and the West Joe dyke on a new tonalite dome, collectively forming a known 10-km mineralization trend. 

Power Metals drilled 15,700 metres at Case Lake between 2017 and 2022 and in 2018 discovered that in addition to lithium mineralization, its Joe West pegmatite contained cesium mineralization.  

Last year the company identified several new pegmatites through prospecting, sampling and mapping. It also acquired high-resolution airborne magnetic and LiDar data, identifying regional structures that it says control the emplacement and distribution of LCT pegmatites at the project, and plans to drill test targets this year.  

In August Power Metals acquired two strategic lithium properties in Quebec from Winsome Resources (ASX: WR1), bringing Winsome’s 9.9% stake in the company to 19.6%. The properties, Decelles and Mazerac, are about 350 km from Case Lake.  

In May the company sold a 2% gross overriding revenue royalty on Case Lake to Lithium Royalty Corp. (TSX: LIRC) for $1.5 million. 

Power Metals has a market cap of about $38 million. 

Power Nickel  

Power Nickel (TSXV: PNPN; US-OTC: PNPNF) is focused on the Nisk project, a nickel-copper sulphide deposit near Nemaska in Quebec’s James Bay region. The company can earn up to 80% of the project from Critical Elements Lithium (TSXV: CRE) and currently owns a 50% stake. 

At the end of November, Power Nickel released its first resource estimate for Nisk. Open-pit indicated resources stand at 519,000 tonnes grading 0.63% nickel, 0.04% cobalt, 0.3% copper and 0.56 gram palladium per tonne (0.84% nickel-equivalent) and underground indicated resources measure 4.9 million tonnes grading 0.78% nickel, 0.05% cobalt, 0.42% copper and 0.78 gram palladium (1.07% nickel equivalent). Inferred underground resources total 1.7 million tonnes grading 0.98% nickel, 0.06% cobalt, 0.45% copper and 1.11 grams palladium (1.35% nickel-equivalent). 

Elsewhere in Canada, Power Nickel owns the Golden Ivan project in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. The property hosts two mineral showings and a portion of the past-producing Silverado mine, which operated between 1921 and 1939. 

In Chile, Power Nickel owns 202.3 sq. km in the northern iron-oxide-copper-gold belt and a 3% NSR on future production from Teck Resources’ (TSX: TECK.A/B; NYSE: TECK) Copaquire copper-molybdenum deposit, which borders its Quebrada copper mine. Teck has the right to acquire one-third of the 3% NSR at any time. 

In July, Power Nickel said it planned to “optimize its non-core assets” so it could focus on the Nisk project. The plan envisages spinning out the company’s B.C. and Chilean projects into Consolidated Gold and Copper via a plan of arrangement, and to put the Copaquire royalty up for sale. 

Power Nickel has a market cap of $34 million.