Prophecy Gains Gibellini Vanadium Project Data Access, On Schedule to Submit Plan of Operations and Baseline Studies
Date: Apr 19, 2018
VANCOUVER, British Columbia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Prophecy Development Corp. (“Prophecy” or the “Company”) (TSX:PCY,OTCQX:PRPCF, Frankfurt:1P2N) is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement (the “Agreement”) with Monitor Ventures Inc. (“Monitor”) for the right to access and use information related to the Gibellini vanadium project (the “Gibellini Data Pack”) which was commissioned, compiled and held by Monitor. Monitor (previously known as American Vanadium Corp. from 2010 to 2016, and Rocky Mountain Resources Corp. from 2007 to 2010) had been developing the project since 2007 only to relinquish it due to the low vanadium pentoxide price of around USD 2.50/lb in 2016. The price of vanadium pentoxide has since rebounded significantly and is currently trading at around USD15.60/lb according to Asian Metal Inc.
In consideration, Prophecy:
| (a) | has paid Monitor $7,000 in cash; | |||
| (b) | will, upon approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange, issue to Monitor, 50,000 warrants entitling Monitor to purchase one Common share in the capital of Prophecy at an exercise price of $3.00 for a period of three (3) years from the date of the Agreement; and | |||
| (c) | will, upon approval of the environmental impact statement (the “EIS”) in connection with the Gibellini vanadium project by the Bureau of Land Management (the “BLM”), pay Monitor, $50,000 in cash. | |||
The Gibellini Data Pack includes six boxes of printed reports and files, and over 90 gigabytes of electronic reports, files and thousands of drawings that include, but are not limited to:
Environmental studies and permitting:
- Baseline environmental studies;
- Complete Plan of Operation;
- Preparation documents for the EIS;
- Water line and power lines Plans of Development; and
- All geographic information system files associated with the studies and plans related to the environmental studies and permitting.
Exploration, geology and mining:
- 15,625 meters of drill database for the Gibellini and Louie Hill deposits;
- Exploration data, sample assays and geologic mapping of over 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) of claims which are now under Prophecy’s control or in adjudication;
- Other geologic and mining data and studies such as geologic, hydrological, geotechnical and pit design reports and maps.
Metallurgical:
- Reports of metallurgical testing carried out by SGS S.A. in 2006, by Dawson Metallurgical Laboratories in 2008, and by McClelland Laboratories in 2011;
- Pilot scale acid heap leach testing by McClelland Laboratories of a 16 tonne bulk sample from the Gibellini deposit over a 400 day continuous period in a 6 meter tall compressed column which simulated leaching of a 50 meter high heap; and
- Database of metallurgical test results and assays.
Engineering Procurement Construction Management:
- Basic engineering design drawings by Scotia International of Nevada Inc. including hundreds of drawings on process flow, crushing, heap leach pad, pregnant leach solution pond, solvent extraction plant, piping and infrastructure (power, water, and haul road); and
- Project capital and operating cost estimates based on the proposals and quotations received from equipment vendors.
With the Agreement now in place, and further to Prophecy’s news release dated March 28, 2018, Prophecy is on schedule to revise and submit to the BLM updated base line studies and an updated Plan of Operations for the Gibellini vanadium project in May 2018. Upon acceptance by the BLM of the Plan of Operations, baseline studies and an environmental report, Prophecy expects in 2019 to trigger a Notice of Intent (“NOI”) by the BLM to prepare an EIS for the Gibellini vanadium project. As a result of direction from Secretary of the Interior Order No. 3355 (Streamlining National Environmental Policy Reviews and Implementation of Executive Order 13807) Prophecy anticipates the Gibellini EIS will not be more than 150 pages (excluding appendices) and the BLM shall complete the Gibellini Final EIS within one year from the issuance of the NOI. This means that permitting for the Gibellini vanadium project may potentially be concluded in 2020. The Company has started discussions with vanadium product off takers and will provide an update on the progress in due course.
John Lee, Executive Chairman of Prophecy, states: “The Gibellini Data Pack is the culmination of over $10 million in expenditures, tens of thousands of man-hours of work, and the effort of a multi-disciplinary team over a 10-year period, all of which is now in the possession of Prophecy and will expedite project development, and help achieve the Company’s stated objective of transforming Gibellini into the first primary vanadium mine in North America, offering the best quality vanadium pentoxide product that exceeds customer requirements for a variety applications from traditional re-enforcement bars to high-tech grid-scale batteries and aerospace.
According to United Nations estimates, by 2030, the world will witness an urban population increase of 1 billion people which is equivalent to 100 times the current population of New York City. An important part of the solution to this massive impending housing problem is vanadium alloy re-enforcement steel bars to make our skyscrapers taller and safer.”
Prophecy believes the Gibellini vanadium project offers the best leverage and a direct play in vanadium that reflects increased vanadium prices in a politically-safe, mining-friendly jurisdiction. Prophecy expects to report findings from an independent preliminary economic assessment of the Gibellini vanadium project in May 2018.
