Fulcrum Metals plc says it has signed a Master Licence Agreement (MLA) with Extrakt Process Solutions LLC for the exclusive licencing of Extrakt’s technology on legacy gold mine waste to develop the companies tailings projects in Kirkland Lake and across the mining regions of Timmins and Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada.
Following the Teck Hughes mining option agreement announced by Fulcrum on November 30, 2023, the company has been in discussions with Extrakt regarding the use and licensing of Extrakt’s proprietary non-cyanide technology. On 24 January 2024, Fulcrum entered into a phased development plan with Extrakt to test its technology at its Teck Hughes project.
The company has now signed the MLA which secures exclusive rights to the use of Extrakt’s leach technology on historic gold mine waste including Fulcrum’s Teck Hughes and Sylvanite projects in Kirkland Lake and across the Timmins and Kirkland Lake regions of Ontario, Canada.
The Timmins and Kirkland Lake gold camps are two of Canada’s most prolific gold-producing regions, covering over 3,700 sq.km with over 110 Moz of historical production and more than 70 documented mine waste sites.
Under the MLA, Fulcrum will pay an annual exclusivity fee in cash to Extract which is material for Fulcrum with the first exclusivity payment fee being payable by Fulcrum within 42 days. The MLA has an initial term of four years that can be extended for up to a total of 12 years by mutual agreement.
The MLA provides a framework for licensing agreements for individual sites on a site-by-site basis including site-specific royalties and collaboration with Extrakt, its affiliates and alliance partners.
Extrakt’s technology, according to Fulcrum, enables the recovery of precious metals from refractory ore without the use of cyanide.
High level testing on tailings from Fulcrum’s Teck Hughes and Sylvanite projects has demonstrated very positive non-optimised results, with gold recovery rates of up to 59.4% and leach times as low as three hours.
A non-optimised conceptual study at Teck Hughes, based on 2,000 t/d of tailings processed over a nine-year operation, a 59.4% gold recovery rate, a sx-hour leach time, and a gold price of $2,899/oz suggests a pre-tax NPV (7.5% discount) of approximately $33 million, Fulcrum says.
With a process plant design conceptualised and high-level leach test work complete, further optimisation presents additional upside potential through enhanced recovery rates, reduced leach times, vacuum filtration of residue and the recycling of reagents and water – as well as the recovery of additional minerals held in the tailings.
Fulcrum is now focussed on the development of its Teck Hughes and Sylvanite projects towards optimisation and production using Extrakt technology and positioned to scale the concept across two of Canada’s historically most productive gold regions. Fulcrum believes this represents a substantial, long-term opportunity to unlock significant and largely untapped value from legacy mine waste.
Ryan Mee, Chief Executive Officer of Fulcrum, said: “I am delighted we have signed the MLA and to be collaborating with Extrakt in applying their cutting-edge non-cyanide technology that has delivered breakthrough results on our projects.”
William Florman, President of Extrakt, said: “We are pleased to have entered into this unique MLA agreement with Fulcrum following the recently completed foundational step in reporting a favourable conceptual study at their Teck Hughes project and, before that, significant testing results at Sylvanite. We have seen promising results to date in applying our technology to these projects and look forward to working with Fulcrum to develop their projects and further establish our technology’s ability in Canada’s highly productive mining districts in Timmins and Kirkland Lake.”