EQS-News: Eurobattery Minerals publishes Q3 report for 2022 – Significant mineral resource upside identified

Eurobattery Minerals publishes Q3 report for 2022 – Significant mineral resource upside identified 

Stockholm, 30 November 2022 – The mining company Eurobattery Minerals AB (Nordic Growth Market: “BAT” and Börse Stuttgart: “EBM”; in short: “EBM”, “Eurobattery” or “the Company”), today published its interim report for the first nine months of 2022.

“Q3 brought great news from Finland. The JORC compliant report covering the complete Hautalampi project estimates 40% more metals than previously identified! We are now focusing on conducting the preliminary feasibility study that will allow us to predict the economic viability. As announced earlier in November, the additional funding will be instrumental in conducting these analyses and for financing the additional 60% acquisition of the Finnish battery mineral project. Finally, in Spain we have provided all necessary information for the completion of the Environmental and Operating Permit for the Corcel project,” said Roberto García Martínez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals.

Strategic and operational highlights in the first nine months of 2022

• In January, Eurobattery Minerals AB announced highly satisfactory first assay results from drillings at the Spanish Corcel project: 60 million tonnes of rock with a nickel grade of 0.25% are estimated. The initial assay results are from the first two of seven drill holes carried out in the Castriz prospect area in 2021. Together with Monte Mayor and Monte Castello, Castriz is one of three prospect areas in the Corcel project.
• In February, FinnCobalt Oy, the current owner of the Hautalampi project, informed Eurobattery Minerals about its expansion in eastern Finland via a newly granted reservation for applying for an exploration permit over the highly prospective Varislahti prospect zone. Varislahti covers over 23.6 km² of highly prospective ground and is expected to contain the minerals nickel, cobalt, copper, zinc, and gold. It is ideally located in terms of infrastructure and close to the Hautalampi project. Eurobattery Minerals has the option to acquire 100% of FinnCobalt in a staged process.
• In March, the company announced additional assay results from drillings at the Spanish Corcel project, confirming the results already communicated in January: an estimated 60 million tonnes of rock with a nickel grade of 0.25%. Accreditation of the resource was delayed until Q2 2022 due to Covid-19-related lags on the part of the responsible ALS Global laboratory.
• In March, Eurobattery Minerals also announced the first results from the phase 2 core drilling campaign completed at the Hautalampi Ni-Co-Cu project in eastern Finland. The results indicated that the resource areas in Hautalampi are connected. Such a connection will make intended future mining activities more efficient and economical. As in the case of the Corcel project, the full results for Hautalampi are also delayed due to Covid-19-related lags on the part of the responsible ALS Global laboratory. At the time of the announcement, the results were expected in Q2 2022, along with the mineral resource update according to the JORC.
• At the beginning of April, the company decided to carry out a directed issue of convertibles of SEK 18 million to Formue Nord Fokus A/S. The objective of the directed issue, which is based on the Annual General Meeting’s authorisation of 1 June 2021, is to finance the acquisition of additional shares in FinnCobalt in line with existing agreements, to finance additional value-creating investments, and to create flexibility in acquiring other projects or parts thereof.
• In May, Eurobattery Minerals completed another step towards realising the Finnish Hautalampi battery mineral project as the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report was submitted. The EIA report will present the status of the environment of the Hautalampi mine project as well as the environmental impact of the assessed options and their significance. As soon as the environmental compatibility of the Hautalampi project is officially confirmed, one of the conditions for Eurobattery Minerals to start mining at Hautalampi will be fulfilled.
• On 31 May, Eurobattery Minerals took another critical step in realising a battery mineral mine in Finland as the company purchased 40% of the Finnish Hautalampi battery mineral mine project from its current owner FinnCobalt. This was the first time that the company had exercised its option to acquire 100% of the shares in FinnCobalt in a staged process. As announced about two years ago, Eurobattery Minerals plans to acquire 100% of the shares in FinnCobalt by 2024 at the latest.
• In June, Eurobattery Minerals received the independent NI 43-101 report for the Castriz deposit, which is one part of the Corcel project. The report covered 10% of the deposit and concluded that this part alone contains the amount of nickel needed for 500,000 car batteries. Considering that the Castriz deposit has a nickel grade of 0.23%, Eurobattery Minerals will be able to produce minerals for a few million car batteries with a capacity of 60 kWh in the future.
• In June, the company was also appointed as the new Vice-President of the Swedish-Spanish Chamber of Commerce (Cámara de Comercio Hispano Sueca). The two-year vice-presidency is shared with the renowned Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars. Within its office, the company will benefit from networking with professionals and representatives in terms of the economy and politics, among others. In addition, the company will actively promote the green transition, which will see its battery mineral projects, also needed for zero-emission mobility, receive additional EU funding.
• On 1 July, the company announced the closing of the acquisition of the 40% stake in FinnCobalt Oy, the current owner of the ground and all mining rights of the Finnish Hautalampi nickel-cobalt-copper project. In conjunction with the transaction, the Board of Directors of Eurobattery Minerals completed a directed issue of 802,734 shares with a total value of EUR 1,000,002. In addition, EUR 250,000 in cash was paid to the three current owners of FinnCobalt.
• In August, the company presented the results from a new German survey on consumers’ attitudes to battery minerals in connection with buying a car. The survey, conducted by analyst company YouGov concluded, among other things, that 48% are willing to pay a higher price for sustainable battery production and 57% support more mining in Europe for critical minerals.
• In August, Eurobattery Minerals took another important step in preparing for a mine in its Spanish Corcel project as the necessary information for completion of the Environmental and Operating Permit was submitted to the Energy & Mining Service of La Coruña. In order to obtain these permits, Eurobattery Minerals has now submitted the Exploitation Project, the Environmental Impact Study, and the Restoration Plan to the local authorities. 
• In September, Eurobattery Minerals announced that FinnCobalt Oy, the majority owner of the Hautalampi project, had received a request for additional information for the Hautalampi project Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report from the North Karelia Centre for Economic Development, Transport, and the Environment. Eurobattery Minerals view is that these requirements will help and speed up the process of the final environmental permit application and that the work to complete the EIA and preparation of the final environmental permit application will commence simultaneously.
• In September, the company announced an updated resource estimate on the Hautalampi project. The independent JORC-compliant estimate prepared by AFRY Finland Oy concludes that compared to the previous analysis in 2021, the available mineral resources in the mine project have almost doubled with approx. 40% more metals. The new estimate exceeds Eurobattery Minerals’ previous expectations and confirms that the Hautalampi mine project has over a third more battery minerals available than expected. The company is now conducting further technical and financial evaluations of the project viability.

Key financial figures for Q3 2022

• Net sales amounted to SEK 0 thousand (Q3 2021: SEK 0 thousand).
• Operating income after depreciation/amortisation and financial items totalled SEK -3,857 thousand (Q3 2021: SEK -5,621 thousand).
• Earnings per share after financial items before dilution amounted to SEK -0.25 (Q3 2021: SEK -0.36).
• Earnings per share after financial items after dilution amounted to SEK -0.23 (Q3 2021: SEK -0.36).
• Cash flow from operating activities was SEK 2,580 thousand (Q3 2021: SEK -5,406 thousand).

Key financial figures for the first nine months of 2022

• Net sales amounted to SEK 0 thousand (9M 2021: SEK 0 thousand).
• Operating income after depreciation/amortisation and financial items totalled SEK -16,260 thousand (9M 2021: SEK -12,463 thousand).
• Earnings per share after financial items before dilution amounted to SEK -1.06 (9M 2021: SEK -0.79).
• Earnings per share after financial items after dilution amounted to SEK -0.98 (9M 2021: SEK -0.79).
• Cash flow from operating activities was SEK -9,945 thousand (9M 2021: SEK -10,604 thousand).

Significant events after the reporting period

• In October Eurobattery Minerals received the complete JORC-compliant report entitled “Hautalampi Ni-, Cu-, Co-Deposit Mineral Resource Estimate, Outokumpu, Finland”. The independent report prepared by AFRY Finland Oy concludes that, compared to the previous analysis in 2021, the available mineral resources in the mine project have almost doubled with around 40% more metals.
• In October, Eurobattery Minerals decided on a rights issue of approx. SEK 49.6 million and proposed an authorisation for an over-allotment issue of an additional approx. SEK 15 million and decided on the issue of a convertible loan of SEK 10 million. Approximately SEK 24.8 million of the rights issue is secured by subscription and underwriting commitments, which correspond to 50.0% of the rights issue. The subscription period for the rights issue commences on 7 December and ends on 21 December 2022. With the additional funding, Eurobattery Minerals intends to complete the acquisition of 100% of the Hautalampi project from its current owner FinnCobalt during the first half of 2023. In addition to the completion of the acquisition of Hautalampi, the company also expects to publish an updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) and a preliminary feasibility study (PFS) for Hautalampi during Q1 2023. As for Eurobattery Minerals’ Corcel project in Spain, the company expects to publish new metallurgical results in Q4 2022 and to start a third drilling campaign in Q1 2023, with the aim of accelerating Corcel to the same project stage as Hautalampi.
• In November, Eurobattery Minerals announced that the Swedish Mining Inspectorate has decided that all Eurobattery Minerals exploration permits have been automatically extended by one year. The extension is a result of legislative change mitigating the effects of Covid-19, which extends the validity of all exploration permits that were in force on 9 June this year.
• In November, Eurobattery Minerals received the final verdict of the Hautalampi mining concession proceeding. The completed mining concession proceeding in Hautalampi brings Eurobattery Minerals one step closer to a much-needed European battery mineral mine. According to Finnish mining law, the company now has the full right to exploit all the mineral resources in the area.
• In November Eurobattery Minerals announced that Ilari Kinnunen has been appointed new Managing Director (MD) of FinnCobalt Oy in Finland as of 01^st of March 2023, replacing the current MD Markus Ekberg, who will be retiring. Markus Ekberg will continue as the Chairman of the Board of FinnCobalt Oy. Ilari Kinnunen, will be responsible for the development and operations of Hautalampi battery mineral mine development project.

Detailed financial information

The interim report January - September 2022 of Eurobattery Minerals AB is available for download at the Company’s website and can be viewed in the attachment of the release (see below).

This information is of the kind that the Company is required to disclose in accordance with the EU’s Market Abuse Regulation. The information was issued for publication through the agency of Roberto García Martínez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals AB, on 30 November 2022 at 07:30 CET.

About Eurobattery Minerals

Eurobattery Minerals AB is a Swedish mining company listed on Swedish Nordic Growth Market (BAT) and German Börse Stuttgart (EBM). With the vision to make Europe self-sufficient in responsibly mined battery minerals, the company’s focus is to realize numerous nickel-cobalt-copper projects in Europe to supply critical raw materials and, as such, power a cleaner world.

Please visit www.eurobatteryminerals.com for more information. Feel free to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter as well.

Contact Eurobattery Minerals AB

Roberto García Martínez – CEO

E-mail: [email protected]

Contact Investor Relations

Sara Pinto

Phone: +49 (0) 89-1250903-35

E-mail: [email protected]

Mentor

Augment Partners AB is the mentor to Eurobattery Minerals AB

Phone: +46 (0) 86 042 255

E-mail: [email protected]