Rooster Talk: Nickel in Vietnam - Blackstone Minerals

Samso talks to Scott Williamson, managing director of Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX), about its aspiration to produce nickel with its Ta Khoa project in Vietnam. The company is based in Perth, Western Australia. The Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Project is 160 kilometres west of Hanoi in the Son La Province of Vietnam and includes an existing modern nickel mine built to Australian standards, which is currently under care and maintenance. The Ban Phuc nickel mine successfully operated as a mechanised underground nickel mine from 2013 to 2016. Previous project owners invested more than US$136 million in capital and generated US$213 million in revenue during a 3.5-year period of falling nickel prices. The project was placed into care and maintenance in mid-2016 during some of the lowest nickel prices in the past 10 years. Existing infrastructure Existing infrastructure associated with the project includes an internationally-designed 450,000 tonnes/annum processing plant connected to local hydro grid power with a fully-permitted tailings facility and a modern 250-person camp. Since commencing maiden drilling in August 2019, Blackstone has made significant progress at Ta Khoa, drilling over 9,000 metres of diamond core in more than 47 holes into the Ban Phuc DSS deposit and the highly prospective King Cobra discovery zone. Scoping study An initial scoping study evaluating mining and processing options is well advanced, including potential in-country downstream processing to deliver high-value nickel sulphate into Asia’s rapidly expanding electric vehicle (EV) industry. The recently announced MOU with Asia’s largest and the world’s second-largest EV battery cathode manufacturer, Ecopro BM Co Limited, represents a significant step toward making this a reality. Scott Williamson is the managing director and this Rooster Talk is to chat over what Blackstone has been doing since our last Coffee with Samso. The share price has risen significantly over the last couple of months and I wanted to know what has changed.  Scott shares with us the recent drilling activities and results from the last campaign. We also touched on the sentiment of the current capital market and the medium to long term predictions of the nickel price. I was interested to know what Scott thinks about how the changing world events will impact the strategy and plans of Blackstone Minerals. About Scott Williamson An experienced managing director with a demonstrated history of working in the mining & metals industry. Skilled in open pit & underground mining, corporate finance, investor relations and project planning. A strong business development professional with equity capital markets experience gained after graduated from West Australian School of Mines and Curtin University of Technology. Scott holds a WA First Class Mine Manager’s Certificate and is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. For further information about Coffee with Samso and Rooster Talks visit: www.samso.com.au Samso is primarily a consulting company that delivers digital information to the market in terms of creating organic content. Samso simplifies your story to customers or investors. Samso creates organic content for you to engage your audience and BRAND yourself to them. Samso provides bespoke research and presentation for clients to engage their customers or investors. Organic content allows audiences to feel a real sense of sincerity when you share your business strategy, allowing your business to stand out among the sea of social media traffic. Working with Proactive Group allows exposing our Insights to over 1.2 million monthly unique views internationally. Samso has nearly 30 years of experience in developing business ideas and concepts in the Australasian region. Samso has worked primarily in the mineral resources industry, capital markets and corporate finance. Noel Ong is the founder of SAMSO.   Disclaimer Samso and affiliated companies accept no responsibility for any claim, loss or damage as a result of information provided or its accuracy. The information provided is general in nature, not financial product advice, see a financial expert before making any investment decision. Your personal objectives, financial situation or needs have not been taken into consideration. There may be a conflict of interest present with commercial arrangements with companies and/or stock held. Samso or an associate may receive a commission for funds raised.