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ORIGINAL: Group Ten Metals Advances World-Class Battery and Platinum Group Metal Targets in Prolific Stillwater Mining District, Montana, USA
2020-09-16 05:00 ET - News Release
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 16, 2020 / Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX.V:PGE; OTCQB:PGEZF; FSE:5D32) (the "Company" or "Group Ten") is pleased to provide an update from its 100%-owned flagship Stillwater West platinum group element-nickel-copper-cobalt and gold ("PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au") project, which the Company is advancing with the aim of becoming a leading US-based source of key battery metals and platinum group metals, including:
- Nickel - Stillwater West contains the type of nickel - nickel sulphide - that battery makers require to meet projected supply deficits driven by demand from the burgeoning Electric Vehicle ("EV") and energy storage industries. Group Ten is advancing Stillwater West with the intention of meeting the expected surge in demand, which follows multi-billion-dollar investments in EV production by auto manufacturers, through the delineation and development of environmentally-friendly nickel supplies in a premier American mining district, which presently includes three world-class mines and a smelter-metallurgical complex.
- Copper and Cobalt - Group Ten has also demonstrated potentially significant co-product values of copper and cobalt, two metals essential to electricity storage and transmission. Most of the world's cobalt production is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and there is demonstrated interest from both industry and governments in securing North American supplies of the metal.
- Platinum - Hydrogen fuel cells, such as those being advanced by General Motors' recently announced partnership with Nikola, require platinum catalysts. The Stillwater district is world-famous for its wealth of platinum group elements and Group Ten has demonstrated significant platinum co-product grades at Stillwater West. Supply deficits are projected by analysts due to continued falling platinum production from South Africa.
- Palladium - Along with platinum and rhodium, palladium is used extensively in catalytic convertors in vehicles to meet ever more stringent emissions standards. The Stillwater district hosts the highest-grade palladium-platinum mines in the world, and the largest outside of Africa and Russia. Multi-year supply deficits have caused palladium's price to rise substantially and that trend is expected to continue.
- Rhodium - Critical for catalytic converters, rhodium is a rare platinum group metal with very little mine supply in North America. Due to limited supplies, prices are currently near all time highs. Group Ten is focused on expanding the project's rhodium potential as demonstrated in results announced earlier this year.
Michael Rowley, President and CEO, commented, "We are excited to be targeting bulk-tonnage deposits of battery-grade nickel sulphide - enriched in other important metals such as palladium, platinum, rhodium, gold, copper, and cobalt - at Stillwater West. Through the application of deposit models from South Africa's Platreef mines, which are among the largest and most profitable nickel-copper-PGE mines in the world, we have demonstrated potential for both scale and grade of these commodities in a prolific US mining district that hosts three world-class mines and a smelter. Battery-grade nickel is one of the primary value drivers at Stillwater West and it is one of only a few projects in North American that may be able to help meet the shortfalls projected by analysts and EV industry leaders such as Tesla's Elon Musk for environmentally responsible production of battery grade metals. In addition, our polymetallic commodity basket includes platinum necessary to meet increasing demand from hydrogen fuel cells, along with palladium and rhodium for use in catalytic convertors."
"Infrastructure and access are excellent at Stillwater West, and Sibanye-Stillwater's operations, adjacent to us, are widely recognized for producing palladium and platinum, along with lesser amounts of other commodities including nickel, at the highest environmental and sustainability standards. Our location is very favorable to potential end-users such as the domestic auto industry, and the US government has listed five of our target commodities - nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium, and rhodium - as Critical Minerals with the intention of increasing domestic production of these metals."
"Drilling is on-going at the project and the previously announced Induced Polarization geophysical survey is nearing completion having produced impressive results. We look forward to providing further updates from Stillwater West as we continue to rapidly advance the project towards its full potential."
Presentation at Precious Metals Summit's Online Event
Group Ten Metals is pleased to announce that the Company will be participating in Precious Metals Summit's online Beaver Creek event including a presentation by President and CEO Michael Rowley at 2:45pm Eastern Time on Wednesday September 16, 2020. To register click here: Group Ten Metals Precious Metals Summit Presentation.
About Stillwater West
The Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project positions Group Ten as the second-largest landholder in the Stillwater Complex, adjoining and adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater's Stillwater, East Boulder, and Blitz PGE mines in south-central Montana, USA1. The Stillwater Complex is recognized as one of the top regions in the world for PGE-Ni-Cu-Co mineralization, alongside the Bushveld Complex and Great Dyke in southern Africa, which are similar layered intrusions. The J-M Reef, and other PGE-enriched sulphide horizons in the Stillwater Complex, share many similarities with the highly prolific Merensky and UG2 Reefs in the Bushveld Complex. At the same time, the lower part of the Stillwater Complex also shows the potential for much larger scale disseminated and high-sulphide PGE-Ni-Cu-Co deposits, similar to Platreef in the Bushveld Complex2. Group Ten's Stillwater West project covers the lower part of the Stillwater Complex along with the Picket Pin PGE Reef-type deposit in the upper portion and includes extensive historic data, including soil and rock geochemistry, geophysical surveys, geologic mapping, and historic drilling.
About Group Ten Metals Inc.
Group Ten Metals Inc. is a TSX-V-listed Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the development of high-quality platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, cobalt, and gold exploration assets in top North American mining jurisdictions. The Company's core asset is the Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater's high-grade PGE mines in Montana, USA. Group Ten also holds the high-grade Black Lake-Drayton Gold project adjacent to Treasury Metals' development-stage Goliath-Goldlund project in northwest Ontario, and the Kluane PGE-Ni-Cu-Co project on trend with Nickel Creek Platinum‘s Wellgreen deposit in Canada‘s Yukon Territory.
Note 1: References to adjoining properties are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of the exploration potential, extent, or nature of mineralization or potential future results of the Company's projects.
Note 2: Magmatic Ore Deposits in Layered Intrusions-Descriptive Model for Reef-Type PGE and Contact-Type Cu-Ni-PGE Deposits, Michael Zientek, USGS Open-File Report 2012-1010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Michael Rowley, President, CEO & Director
Email: info@grouptenmetals.com
Phone: (604) 357 4790
Toll Free: (888) 432 0075
Web: https://grouptenmetals.com
Forward-Looking Statements