Pallinghurst on acquisition trail: Nouveau Monde, Talon Metals

The Pallinghurst Group is on the acquisition trail, upping its interest in two Canadian juniors.

Its graphite subsidiary is increasing its interest in Nouveau Monde Graphite (TSXV: NOU; NYSE: NMG) to 21% from 15.2% with the conversion of the outstanding $15 million principal amount of Nouveau’s convertible bond to common shares.

Pallinghurst converted the bond in two traches, the first for 1.9 million shares and the second for about 5.6 million shares. It was also issued about 220,500 Nouveau Monde shares in lieu of unpaid interest on the bond.

Nouveau has started construction at the wholly owned Matawinie graphite project 120 km north of Montreal. The feasibility study done in 2018 gave the project an after-tax net present value of $751 million, with an 8% discount, and an internal rate of return of 32.2%. The initial capital expenditure will be $276 million for an open pit mine with a life of 25.5 years. It will produce 100,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate yearly. The deposit has 120.3 measured and indicated tonnes grading 4.26% graphitic carbon (Cg) plus 4.5 million inferred tonnes grading 4.43% graphitic carbon.

Learn more about Nouveau Graphite’s plans at www.NMG.com.

Pallinghurst’s nickel subsidiary is investing $80 million in Talon Metals (TSX: TLO) to acquire 133.5 million common shares. This represents a 19.2% ownership position in Talon, and it is the first time Pallinghurst  has invested in this Canadian miner, and it says it currently has no further plans to increase its share.

Talon’s flagship property is its 51% ownership of the Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project in Minnesota. Kennecott Exploration, a division of Rio Tinto, holds the balance. The deposit contains an indicated resource of 3.9 million tonnes grading 1.91% nickel, 1.02% copper and 0.05% cobalt, plus an inferred resource of 7.2 million tonnes grading 1.11% nickel, 0.68% copper and 0.03% cobalt.

Learn more about Tamarack at www.TalonMetals.com.