Philippines

Mankayan Copper-gold Porphyry Deposit Background Information

Project background and Licence: On 18 March 2022 Bezant announced that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines government ("MGB") has renewed Crescent Mining Development Corporation’s ("Crescent") Mineral Production Sharing Agreement No. 057-96-CAR (the "MPSA") for a second 25 year term with effect from 12 November 2021. The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (Republic Act No. 7942) is the governing law for mining. Under this Act, mineral resources are owned by the state and their exploration, development, utilisation, processing and conservation are under its full control and supervision. A Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) is a mining right which grants the contractor (in this case Crescent) the right to conduct mining operations within a contract area.

The Guinaoang (Mankayan) copper-gold deposit forms part of the major Lepanto mineralisation system located approximately 240km north of Manila on Luzon Island, Philippines. The district hosts a number of large copper and gold deposits, including the Far Southeast porphyry deposit, the Lepanto lodes, and the Suyoc epithermal gold-silver veins.

The copper mineralisation encountered in the Guinaoang deposit is typical of porphyry copper-gold style deposits. The Pliocene intrusive stock complex is composed largely of quartz diorite porphyry rocks, with two distinct phases of igneous intrusion, both of which are host to copper and gold mineralisation. In plan view the intrusives occupy an area which is approximately 400m wide and 900m long and it has been drilled to more than 900m depth.

Bezant interest in the Mankayan project: : Further to the Company’s announcement of 13 September 2021 in relation to its agreement with IDM Mankayan Pty Ltd (“ IDM Mankayan”) under which it was agreed that IDM Mankayan would take the Mankayan Project forward. The Company owns 27.5% of IDM Mankayan. Asean Copper Investments Ltd is 100% owned by IDM and holds a 40 per cent. shareholding in Crescent, which is incorporated in the Philippines and is the sole holder of Mineral Production Sharing Agreement No. 057-96-CAR which has been renewed for 25 years from 11 November 2021 (the “MPSA”) in respect of the Mankayan Project. Asean Copper also holds a 40 per cent. shareholding in Bezant Holdings Inc., which is incorporated in the Philippines and holds the balancing 60 per cent. interest in Crescent. On 26 October 2022 Bezant announced:

  • a conditional share purchase agreement (the “SPA”) to exchange its 27.5% shareholding in IDM Mankayan for a 27.5% shareholding in IDM International Limited (ACN 108029198) (“IDM International”). The SPA is conditional amongst other matters on the approval of IDM International shareholders by 31 march 2023. Upon completion of the SPA and a similar SPA between IDM International and the other shareholder of IDM Mankayan (the “Other IDM Mankayan Shareholder”) IDM International will own 100% of IDM Mankayan; and
  • a convertible loan note agreement with IDM International to invest A$137,500 (approx. GBP77K) in IDM International (the “Convertible Loan Note”). IDM International has also entered into convertible loan notes with entities associated with two of its directors to raise A$362,500 (approx. GBP203K) on the same terms as the Convertible Loan Note (together the “Convertible Notes”)

Project progress since involvement of IDM International: IDM International, through Crescent Mining Development Corporation’s (“Crescent”), have made very good progress on initial Pre-Feasibility Studies on the Mankayan copper gold project in the Philippines since IDM Mankayan acquired its interest in the Mankayan project in October 2021. This has included:

  • Renewal by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines government (“MGB”) of Crescent’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement No. 057-96-CAR (the “MPSA”) for a second 25-year term with effect from 12 November 2021 (the “MPSA Renewal”);
  • Meetings with the MGB who have expressed their support and encouragement for local projects such as the Mankayan Project and working closely with various Government departments for approvals required for the development of the Mankayan Project;
  • Working closely with the local communities including direct investment into those areas;
  • The completion of 2 Pre-feasibility holes to depths of ~1,000m each focusing on metallurgy, geotechnical and hydrogeological studies and the collection and management of all data produced from the 2 holes for analysis by Crescent’s in country team and its advisors;
  • Commencement of the process of appointing key consultants who will be undertaking Pre-Feasibility Studies work, including mine designs and engineering studies, infrastructure and tailings facilities, environmental studies and indigenous peoples’ consent; and
  • Discussions with private equity and mining finance houses for the funding of the Pre-Feasibility Studies work program.

Going forward, IDM International and Crescent, along with their various consultants and advisors, intend to complete a full Pre-Feasibility Studies during 2023 and 2024 that will present the Mankayan Project as a globally significant copper-gold project at a time when the supply-demand gap for copper is expected to be large as the world transitions to electrification.

The following Mineral Resource information is provided as it is in the public domain:

  • Several phases of drilling defined a copper-gold resource estimate by Snowden Mining Industry Pty Limited (“Snowden”) in 2009 under JORC (2004) which defined an initial mineral resource of 257 million tonnes containing 1.3 million tonnes of copper, 4.3 million ounces of gold of which it has an Indicated Mineral Resource of 221.6 million tonnes @ 0.49% Cu, 0.52 g/t Au, and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 36.2 million tonnes @ 0.44% Cu, 0.48g/t Au. The Snowden report was prepared for the Company and was JORC compliant when issued in 2009 but is not compliant with JORC (2012).
  • In November 2020 whilst Mining and Minerals Industries Holding Pte Ltd. (“MMIH”) had an interest in the Mankayan Project (which was subsequently acquired by IDM Mankayan Pty Ltd on 21 October 2021) MMIH announced an updated Mineral Resource was prepared by Derisk Geomining Consultants Pty Ltd (“Derisk”) for MMIH under JORC (2012) and stated that “Mankayan is now estimated to have combined Mineral Resources of 793 million tonnes containing 2.8 million tonnes of copper, 9.6 million ounces of gold and 20 million ounces of silver. It has Indicated Mineral Resource of 638 million tonnes @ 0.37% Cu, 0.40g/t Au and 0.90g/t Ag, and Inferred Mineral Resource of 155 million tonnes @ 0.29% Cu, 0.30g/t Au and 0.5g/t Ag.” This information is provided as MMIH have made it publicly available but it is not an updated JORC resource statement in accordance with AIM Rules and should therefore not be relied upon until it has been independently verified or updated by the Company. Crescent is undertaking further technical studies and the Company will make further announcements as soon as practical once these studies are completed.

Further potential remains to extend the resource through additional drilling, as well as delineating higher grade copper-gold zones within the deposit as a potential focus for mining start-up.

PROJECT FLY-THROUGH

Fly-through videos for the Mankayan copper-gold project located North of Manilla on Luzon island, hosted on “Youku” in both Standard Chinese and English.

菲律宾Mankayan铜金矿生产开拓计划

The Chinese version is available on Youku and can be accessed via the following link:
https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDIyNTAwNTc0OA==.html

The English version is also available on Youku and can be accessed via the following link:
https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDIyNTM2MjA3Ng==.html

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MINING PLUS STUDY 2019 ECONOMIC STUDY (MINING PLUS)

  • Alternative routes to production: The Mankayan copper-gold porphyry supports different robust routes for potential future development, including, for the first time, a Sub-Level Caving ("SLC") 'stepping stone' scenario, with two main Block Caving ("BC") routes identified for progression, from a total of 11 scenarios assessed, with both supporting an average production grade in excess of 0.64% copper equivalent ("CuEq").
  • 5 year lead time to production: Under all four of the representative options selected for further analysis in the study, the time to initial production was approximately five years and the first five years of production was sequenced in order to deliver production from the higher grade areas of the deposit, in some cases demonstrating average grades achievable of up to 0.77% CuEq* during this initial period.

The three main representative options summarised below, taken from the 11 modelled scenarios, comprise two BC scenarios and one SLC 'stepping stone' scenario (the option numbers being those used in the study)

THE TWO PREFERRED BC SCENARIOS

  • Option 4: medium production rate with lower start-up costs than those associated with higher production rate models
    • US$1,181m net present value ("NPV")*, US$11,647m total revenue, US$19.1/t average cost, 27% internal rate of return before tax and royalty ("IRR"), US$896m start-up Capex
  • Option 8: lower start-up costs, coupled with a good overall project value maintained by ramping-up the production rate after the first footprint
    • US$797m NPV*, US$11,473m total revenue, US$19.7/t average cost, 21% IRR, US$633m start-up Capex

SLC INTERMEDIARY ROUTE

  • Option 9: a more flexible/low start-up cost SLC method has been determined as an intermediary step towards full block caving scenarios, with start-up Capex of US$529m, a slightly reduced time to first production, a first phase period into higher grade core and US$19.9/t average cost

BLOCK CAVE COMPARATOR SCENARIO

  • Option 3: High production rate, high rate of return, high start-up cost two lift BC, where the full footprint of the BC is undercut to enable a high production rate.

ASSUMPTIONS AND VARIABLE ECONOMICS USED IN THE STUDY

  • A breakdown of the key assumptions used by Mining Plus and the effects of a copper price range of US$2.5 – US$3.5/lb is provided in Table One below.

TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF REPRESENTATIVE OPTIONS 3, 4, 8 & 9 FROM MINING PLUS STUDY

  Option 3
(Comparator)
4
(Medium rate Option)
8
(Scaled option)
9
(SLC ** Intermediary route)
  Description 24Mtpa 2 BC footprints over 2 lifts 12Mtpa 4 BC footprints over 2 lifts 6Mtpa small BC followed by 3 12Mtpa BC 6Mtpa SLC followed by 3 6Mtpa BC
IRR before tax and royalty Cu $3/lb
Au $1,250/oz
29% 27% 21% 14%
Average Cost per t USD/t $19.1 $19.1 $19.7 $19.9
First Footprint Start-up Cost USD $1,402m $896m $633m $529m
First 5 years of production Tonnes 92 M 54 M 29 M 28 M
Cu (%) 0.45 0.46 0.48 0.41
Au (g/t) 0.51 0.54 0.62 0.45
CuEq (%) 0.70 0.72 0.77 0.62
Total production Tonnes 333 M 316 M 315 M 302 M
Cu (%) 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.41
Au (g/t) 0.46 0.47 0.46 0.45
CuEq (%) 0.63 0.65 0.64 0.63
Mine Life Years 23 34 38 58
Time to First Production 5 5 5 4.2
NPV before tax and royalty, 8.5% discount rate* Cu $3/lb
Au $1,250/oz
$1,589m $1,181m $797m $361m

Notes:
* - the NPV used is for comparative purposes only, as full financial analysis was not undertaken for the study.
** - SLC has been designed to be part of a continuation into a full block cave scenario, however the standalone IRR and mine life are included for continuity.

Analysis of the information in Table 1

The general trend is that the higher production rate options (higher start-up costs) return higher rates of return and discounted cashflows, due to the reduced effect of time discounting over a shorter mine life. Other points of note include:

  • Options 3 and 4 have a very similar average cost per tonne, due to the higher start-up cost of option 3 being offset by the sharing of fixed production costs over a larger tonnage.
  • The options target higher grade first, which can be seen in the comparison between the grade of the first 5 years versus the total production. The lower production rate cases can be more selective, thereby consequently returning a higher grade in the first five years.
  • Option 9 (SLC) has a lower first five years grade than the BC options. This is due to it being a top-down method (hence starting in lower grade ore) and the higher dilution of the method, with each level being mined next to the dilution from the level above. This effect is mitigated by the greater selectivity of the SLC footprint.
  • Option 9 (SLC) has a slightly lower lead time to first production because mining starts at the top and advances downwards (as opposed to the BC, which is bottom up).
  • Although not explicitly modelled in the study, the SLC is less sensitive to geotechnical parameters than the BC, due to the rock being broken-up by drill and blast, rather than breaking due to the action of caving. Such drill and blast control of breaking comes at a considerably higher mining cost.

Note: * - The NPV calculated is for comparative purposes only, as full financial analysis was not undertaken for the study. A mean copper price scenario of US$3/lb was used and all costs are mine and processing combined. Due to the current uncertainty surrounding the Philippine tax/royalty rates, neither have been included in the comparison. Inclusion of tax and royalty would reduce the NPV and IRR, but it is expected that the relative economic merits of each scenario would not change significantly.

23 November 2022