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Overview
Nuclear energy is expected to play an increasingly important role in the global clean energy and decarbonization efforts. The world’s nuclear power capacity has been steadily increasing for the past several years with roughly 60 reactors currently under construction. Although many of these reactors are planned within the Asia-Pacific region and Russia, other countries have made extensive plans to expand the capacity of their existing nuclear energy resources.
This re-emergence of nuclear energy has resulted in increased demand for uranium. Given the current lack of a sufficient primary supply, new discoveries and deposits are growing increasingly valuable in balancing the market.
The outlook for rare earth elements (REEs) is similar, as these critical minerals are essential for everything from batteries to solar panels and wind turbines. Unfortunately, even as demand continues to grow, the market for REEs is currently dominated by China.
Multiple countries have thus begun investing heavily in their own domestic REE supply, considerably increasing the investment potential for exploration and discovery.
Carmanah Minerals (CSE:CARM) is a junior mining company focused on the acquisition and exploration of energy, critical elements and precious metals. The company is actively exploring its flagship Walker Uranium Project situated in the Athabasca Basin. The company also recently acquired Hare Hill, a rare earths project tied to both York Harbor’s Bottom Brook Property and the Baie Verte Brompton Project.
With an experienced and heavily invested management team, Carmanah is incredibly well-positioned to fulfill its core objective — supporting the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable future.
Company Highlights
Carmanah Minerals is a Canadian junior mining and exploration company focused on rare earth elements and uranium. Their flagship project, Walker, is situated in the Athabasca Basin, one of the most uranium-rich regions in the world. Carmanah jointly operates the project with Marvel Discovery. The Athabasca Basin currently accounts for roughly 13 percent of global uranium production, and deposits in the region are 20 times richer than the global average. Carmanah also owns and operates a rare earths project in Newfoundland, positioned within a new mining district that is quickly gaining recognition for its REE deposits. With nuclear power capacity rapidly increasing and the potential of nuclear energy to power decarbonization, demand for uranium is expected to spike over the next several years. Uranium is also notable for its cost-competitiveness and capacity to produce near zero-carbon heat, giving it the potential to decarbonize many other sectors of the economy in addition to energy. Carmanah’s management team comprises mining industry leaders and experts. These individuals are heavily invested, collectively holding a 25-percent stake in the company.
Key Projects
Walker Claims
Located west of Wollaston Lake and south of Lake Athabasca, the Athabasca Basin spans roughly 100,000 square kilometers across Northern Saskatchewan and Alberta. The Athabasca Basin is best known as the world’s leading source of high-grade uranium and currently supplies about 13 percent of the world’s annual uranium production. These reserves are arguably most concentrated in the eastern-oriented Wollaston-Mudjatik Transition Zone (WMTZ), which hosts some of the highest-grade uranium mines in the world, including Cigar Lake, McArthur River, and Wheeler Project.
Carmanah’s Walker Project is also situated within the zone and is directly tied to Cameco’s properties, which run along the Key Lake Shear Zone and host ten uranium showings with multiple exploration and magnetic survey (EM) targets. Carmanah jointly owns and operates the Walker Claims with Marvel Discovery Corporation (TSXV:MARV), with each company holding a 50-percent stake.
The Arrow Deposit, owned by NexGen Energy, lies along a similar structural corridor as the Marvel properties. The Arrow Deposit, which has undergone a positive feasibility study with robust economics, contains probable reserves of 239.6 million pounds of triuranium octoxide (U3O8) at an average of 2.37 percent U3O8 and measured and indicated resources of 256.7 million pounds at an average grade of 3.1 percent U3O8. The Arrow Deposit is the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in Canada.
Project Highlights:
Potential for High-grade Mineralization: The Carmanah-Marvel joint venture straddles several of the largest uranium mines in the world, including:Cigar Lake, with roughly 221.6 million pounds of uranium at 16.7 percent U3O8.The Mcarthur River mine, with reserves of approximately 392 million pounds of uranium at 6.91 percent U3O8.Wheeler Project, which hosts 109 million pounds of uranium in two deposits which average 11.23 percent U3O8. Considerable Investment: Carmana will fund $1.5 million in exploration expenditures, along with a payment of $400,000 in cash. Additionally, the company will issue 3.5 million shares and 3.5 million warrants over a three-year period.Extensive Pre-existing Infrastructure: The Athabasca Basin is one of the most active uranium mining districts in the world, allowing Carmanah and Marvel to considerably reduce their upfront capital investment.
Hare Hill Pluton
Covering 1,564 claims totaling 39,100 hectares in central Newfoundland, Hare Hill Pluton is a rare earth element project directly contiguous to York Harbour Metals’ (TSXV:YORK) recent Bottom Brook Acquisition. It is also adjacent to Falcon Gold’s (TSXV:FG) and Marvel Discovery’s Baie Verte Brompton Projects.
Long overlooked for its potential, the Hare Hill granitic system is highly prospective for REE mineralization. A recent report by York Harbor Metals, for instance, returned total rare earth oxide grades (TREO) between 3.45 percent and 21.63 percent TREO. An analysis by Carmanah indicates that the area is underlaid by the same peralkaline granite as York Harbor.
Project Highlights:
High-grade REE: The district in which Hare Hill Pluton is situated contains some of the highest-grade deposits of rare earths in Canada. Pre-existing Infrastructure: As with Walker Claims, Carmanah benefits from infrastructure constructed within the region by other mining companies, allowing it to pursue exploration, discovery and eventual production at a significantly reduced capital cost.
Management Team
Fraser Rieche – CEO and Director
Fraser Rieche holds a BA in economics and boasts 25 years of expertise in international project management, logistics planning and corporate finance. He has collaborated with resource-based industries and global financial institutions to develop and finance projects in mining, alternative energy, oil and gas, fisheries and forestry. Additionally, Rieche serves as an independent director for Marvel Discovery Corp.
Brian Crawford – CFO and Director
Brian Crawford holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and brings extensive experience as a senior financial executive. He has held positions in both public and private companies and has served as a partner in a national firm of chartered professional accountants. Crawford is a founder and/or co-founder of several companies currently listed on the TSXV (TSX Venture Exchange) or the CSE (Canadian Securities Exchange). Crawford serves as a director, corporate secretary and/or CFO of multiple TSXV- or CSE-listed companies, including Colibri Resource Corporation, Searchlight Resources, CBLT and Tempus Capital.
Michelle Suzuki – Director
Michelle Suzuki has dedicated the past 25 years serving as an advisor, specializing in publishing and media relations. Her expertise lies in managing investor communication campaigns for Canada’s largest digital content providers. Throughout her career, she has worked with numerous C-Suite clients across North America, ranging from life sciences technology to mining companies.
In the Canadian markets, she is widely known for her experience in these fields working with many top CEOs, senior investor relations executives, investment broker-dealers and newsletter writers on digital syndication helping educate on the importance of mining and the future of the industry.
Jordan Smith – Director
Jordan Smith previously worked for Imperial Metals at the Mt. Polley mine site, situated 56 kilometers northeast of Williams Lake. He then joined New Gold as an underground maintenance technician at the New Afton mine, located 17 kilometers west of Kamloops. In 2012, he transitioned to the power generation industry and served as a facility manager for over seven years, overseeing all operations. Currently, Smith is involved in the hospitality sector as a principal of the Bow and Stern restaurant group in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia.
Karim Rayani – Strategic Advisor
For the past 18 years, Karim Rayani has been focused on financing both international and domestic mineral exploration and development. Currently, Rayani is a principal of R7 Capital Ventures, an investment family office firm with a diverse portfolio covering natural resources, energy, cleantech, renewables, and health-related ventures all with a focus on public venture capital. Prior to this, he worked independently as a management consultant and financier. Presently, he also serves as chief executive officer, director of Falcon Gold, chairman, chief executive officer, director of Power One Resources, chief executive officer, director of Latamark Resources, chief executive officer, director of Marvel Discovery Corp., chairman, director of District 1 Exploration, and chief executive officer, director of Auvega Labs.