Scandium International has submitted a new mine plan for their Nyngan Scandium project in NSW, Australia

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   Scandium International Mining Corp. (TSX: SCY) 

Advised that it has filed a new mine lease application (“MLA 568“) with governmental regulators, related to the Nyngan Scandium Project, in NSW, Australia.

The new application covers an estimated 371 hectares of ground where the surface rights are fully owned by the Company’s Australian subsidiary, EMC Metals Australia Pty Ltd. 

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Scandium International Mining Corp. (TSX: SCY)  advises that it has filed a new mine lease application (“MLA 568“) with governmental regulators, related to the Nyngan Scandium Project, in New South Wales, Australia. The new application covers an estimated 371 hectares of ground where the surface rights are fully owned by the Company’s Australian subsidiary, EMC Metals Australia Pty Ltd. The Company will seek the granting of a new mine lease for the Nyngan Scandium Project, based on this new MLA.

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The new MLA filing is in direct response to ongoing delays in governmental resolution of a neighboring landowner’s objection to the Company’s 2017 mine lease grant (ML 1763). The new MLA is not expected to encounter delays in processing by the relevant governmental departments, and specifically is not dependent on either timing or ultimate resolution of the ongoing landowner objection to the award of ML 1763.

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HIGHLIGHTS:

  • The Company believes it can permit and construct a scandium mine, of similar design and scale to our current plans, within the footprint defined by this new MLA 568,
  • Ongoing review by governmental departments of the landowner objection will continue, and depending on the final ruling, could result in the grant of a new mining lease over the original 875 hectare footprint and boundaries defined in the original ML 1763,
  • The Company fully intends to proceed with development of the Nyngan Scandium Project, regardless of the final outcome of the pending landowner objection..

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DISCUSSION:

The Company has filed two 2019 news releases on this matter, in January and April, outlining the issues, the timing of events and discoveries, and the pathways to resolution for ourselves, our neighbouring landowner, and the Department of Planning and Environment (the “Department”).

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While the Department now has a new Minister and a revised portfolio, the Secretary of the Department remains charged with the task of determining the validity of the affected landowner’s ‘Agricultural Land’ objection, and the ‘first principles’ investigations related to that final determination have been ongoing since initiated in 2018. The Secretary of the Department must make a ruling on the objection, but that ruling can be made at any time. If the Secretary of the Department rejects the landowner’s objection, the Department will grant a new Mining Lease over the area of the 2017 granted ML 1763, currently determined to be invalid.

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The Company’s decision to file a parallel MLA 568, and request a new mine lease grant on that new MLA, is fully independent of other potential resolution paths, and is specifically not impacted by related and ongoing matters between the Department and the landowner. No neighbouring landowner surface rights are included in MLA 568.

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The critical observation for both shareholders and future customers is that the Company believes it can permit and construct a scandium mine, of similar design and scale to our current plans, without the requirement by Scandium International’s Australian subsidiary to own or control the objecting landowner’s portion of land previously included in the 2017 granted ML 1763.

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The NI 43-101 Nyngan Project resource represents multiples of size relative to the 20 year initial development program put forward in the Company’s feasibility study. The Company owns land over a significant portion of that resource, and has established rights and permissions to develop. Whether an ML is granted over EMC Metals Australia Pty Ltd freehold land, or is granted to also include additional land currently owned by a neighbouring landowner, the Company intends to pursue plans to construct and operate the world’s first primary scandium mine on the Nyngan project site.

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