Ivanhoe Mines
IVN-TSX Rating Price: Oct-26 Target Total Rtn Outperform $9.57 $16.50 72%
Securing the Mokopane Feeder to Add Exploration Leverage in South Africa
Bottom Line:
Ivanhoe Mines has secured exploration rights for 80km2 of land adjacent to Platreef. The rights cover a large geophysical anomaly called the Mokopane Feeder that may have been involved in the formation of mineralization at Platreef and other areas. The company will begin exploration starting with a geophysical survey due in early 2023 with subsequent drilling later in the year. Ivanhoe Mines now has two 100%-owned exploration assets on highly prospective ground—the company is also exploring the Western Foreland property near Kamoa-Kakula.
Key Points
80km2 of exploration rights adds prospective ground adjacent to Platreef.
Located on a geologically significant region of South Africa's Bushveld Complex, the exploration rights are 100%-owned by Ivanhoe and are adjacent to the 78km2 mining license held by subsidiary Ivanplats that hosts Platreef. In our view, the combined land package offers significant exploration potential due to its size, location in a world- class geological complex, and proximity to extensive mineralization already defined at Platreef.
The new exploration rights are located above the Mokopane Feeder, a significant geophysical gravity anomaly that also extends onto the Platreef mine license. While IVN is still working to define and interpret the anomaly, it may have played a factor in the formation of mineralization at Platreef, making it a highly prospective geological feature, in our view.
Ivanhoe will conduct an exploration program beginning with airborne magnetic and gradiometer-gravity geophysical surveys intended to add to the company's geological understanding of the broader mineralizing system. The survey is expected to be complete in early 2023 and will inform drilling expected later in 2023.
Ivanhoe Mines has a track record of world-scale discovery - in our opinion securing control of the Mokopane Feeder extends that trend of allowing some of the most successful explorationists globally to work on exceptional targets of scale. The new 100%-owned Mokopane Feeder properties represent a second notable property after the 100%-owned Western Foreland property adjacent to Kamoa-Kakula, where we view the company as having a strong potential to discover similar high- grade copper mineralization.