Frequently Asked Questions

The main differentiating factor that separates New Age from our peers is our focus on green metals powering a cleaner global automotive sector. The Company has two green metal divisions;

  1. A PGM Division that includes the 100% owned, multi-million ounce district scale River Valley project, one of North Americas largest undeveloped primary palladium deposits, located near a world-class metallurgical complex in Sudbury, ON. Also in this division, NAM owns 100% of the Genesis PGM-Cu-Ni Project in Alaska.
  2. A Lithium Division (Lithium Canada Development), based in Manitoba. NAM owns 100% of seven projects, three of which are drill ready.

New Age Metals aims to supply the automotive industry in the future with our green metal projects. This goal is based on industry analysts research that suggests automobiles with combustion engines (which require Palladium) will continue to dominate market share in the foreseeable future. The rise of reliable electric vehicles are slowly gaining more market share and will contribute to the relevance of NAM’s Lithium Division.

Gold receives most of the attention, as many more tons of gold are produced annually than Platinum Group Metals. It is true that The Platinum Group Metals are both Precious and Industrial. As a rare precious metal, there are very few Platinum Group Metals producing regions worldwide and even fewer known economically viable ore bodies.

Growth in mine supply is constrained, largely owing to:

  • Political, infrastructure and cost issues in South Africa;
  • Relatively constant palladium production in Russia; and
  • The very small number of new projects on the horizon for the near future.

The most commonly used Platinum Group Metals are by far Palladium and Platinum, respectively. Palladium and Platinum (the primary PGM’s found at our River Valley Project) are both Precious Metals, but are primarily used for industrial applications, notably Catalytic Converters for the auto industry. Over 80% of Palladium production is used for this purpose. The metals Platinum and Palladium are used as a thin coating on ceramic filters inside of the Catalytic Converters, and convert as much as 90% of the harmful gases in automobile exhaust into less noxious substances. Palladium is used for vehicles with gasoline engines, and Platinum is used for vehicles with Diesel engines.

Since 1999, exploration drilling over 160,000 metres in more than 700 drill holes across a 16 km mineralized strike have been completed to identify a NI 43-101 compliant pit constrained resource of 2.9Moz PdEq (measured+indicated) plus 1.1 Moz PdEq (inferred). Further to the extensive drilling completed to date the Company has completed multiple geophysical, mineralogical and metallurgical studies on the project.

  • The projects first economic study was completed by P&E Mining Consultants in conjunction with DRA Americas in 2019.
  • By the end of 2021, the company aims to initiate a Pre-feasibility study.
  • NAM’s ultimate goal and corporate mandate is to seek out an Option/Joint Venture partner to take this project through feasibility and then production.

We all know that Platinum is often used for Jewelry, however Palladium’s value lies within its ability to catalyze and conduct, but it also has a high level of resistance to corrosion and is very durable.

The majority (over 70%) of PGM’s are produced in either Russia or Africa. There are only two primary producers of PGM’s in North America and only a few exploration and/or development projects in the pipeline. See our latest Chairman’s Message on the River Valley Palladium Project.

Demand for Palladium continues to grow, driven primarily by the increase of global automotive sales (most notably in emerging markets) and also the tightening of emissions standards worldwide. See a real-time graph on the price of Palladium.

Lithium has been commonly used for years in household appliances and personal electronic devices that use Lithium-Ion batteries as a power source. The traction that electric vehicles (EV’s) are gaining around the globe has recently acted as a new demand driver, and as public sentiment about reducing carbon emissions grows so will the demand of Lithium.

Lithium is found either as Lithium chloride salts in brine pools in America, Chile and Australia or as lithium minerals in pegmatite hosted hard-rock. Typically, hard-rock lithium is of higher grade compared to brine sources. Canadians are experts in hard rock mining and that is important for New Age Metals (and its wholly-owned subsidiary Lithium Canada Development). We own seven pegmatite hosted projects in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field in South East Manitoba surrounding the Tanco Mine which has produced lithium bearing minerals (Spodumene, Tantalum and Cesium) since the 1960’s.

Our seven 100% owned Lithium Projects surround the historic Tanco Mine in Southeast Manitoba. Highlights of the lithium division include the following:

  • 8 early stage exploration assets (lithium bearing pegmatite targets) in southeast Manitoba along trend of the Tanco Mine acquired between 2016 – 2018
  • The Tanco pegmatite is a highly-fractionated lithium-cesium-tantalum type pegmatite that has been mined for lithium, tantalum, cesium and rubidium since 1969
  • January 2019 – Sino Mine Rare Metals Co (China) acquired the Tanco mine from the Cabot Corporation for approximately US130M
  • 1 historical non-43-101 resource estimate on 1 of 7 projects of 544,600 tonnes at 1.4% Li2O
  • Surface exploration completed on all 7 projects with drill targets identified on 2 of 7 projects
  • 11,000 acre land package owned 100% by New Age Metals in the region – largest claim holder and is considering the development of a plan to consolidate the area pending a stronger lithium market and sufficient funding
  • Veteran lithium and rare element consultant who has worked in the Manitoba region (previously as the exploration manager at the Tanco mine for 12 years) who coordinates and conducts all of our technical work and has strong relationships with the key players in the region who are also focused on exploring and developing lithium assets
  • Positive working relationship with local First Nations, exploration agreement in place with the Sagkeeng First Nation since 2018

In 2020 the Company has completed a field program on its Lithium One Project with the objective of identifying additional drill targets on previously underexplored areas of the project. Going forward the company intends to capitalize on the accelerating market interest in lithium and continue to de-risk the projects to identify a potentially mineable resource of lithium in North America in Manitoba, which has been long recognized as a top-tier mining jurisdiction. The Company is actively seeking a strategic partner for the lithium division.