It has been an eventful year for ASX listed Kuniko Ltd (ASX: KNI) as the company advances its multiple net zero carbon green metal projects in Norway.
Kuniko published its first JORC Mineral resource estimate for the Ertelien site – part of the company’s flagship Ringerike project (copper, nickel and cobalt) and completed an extensive field program on the Trøndelag project area with promising results for substantial prospectivity on multiple copper and zinc targets.
The Nordic countries are set to play a central role in supplying Europe with sustainable critical raw materials due to the rich natural reserves, strong focus on environmental standards, proximity to mainland Europe and strategic commitment to green technology.
Finland, Sweden, and Norway are home to significant deposits of essential minerals and metals like nickel, cobalt, lithium, copper, and rare earth elements, which are crucial for renewable energy technologies, electric vehicles, and digital infrastructure.
The Nordics prioritize sustainable mining practices, emphasizing low-emission extraction methods and circular economy principles such as recycling and waste minimization as well as supporting a robust and burgeoning mining industry.
Kuniko (ASX: KNI) is at the centre of this transformation, aiming to create a fully integrated ‘mine-to-battery’ supply chain in alignment with Norway’s strategic policy objectives for battery materials and the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act.
Ringerike Project: Focused on delivering district scale potential for cobalt, copper and nickel in Norway.
Located in southern Norway, Ringerike is a key part of Kuniko’s strategy. The area includes 2 brownfield mines – Ertelien and Langedalen.
Ertelien features historical resource estimates and a legacy of drilling activities, while ongoing exploration initiatives have involved comprehensive downhole electromagnetic surveys, and a successful maiden diamond drilling program completed in 2023. These efforts have refined the geological understanding at Ertelien.
In April 2024, Kuniko published a JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Ertelien deposit. The MRE noted an inferred resource of 23.26 million tonnes.
During the September quarter, extensive field sampling program was completed for the Ringerike district showing multiple high-grade mineralisation occurrences, with copper assays up to 4.72% and nickel assays up to 1.87%.
The further drilling program in 2024 and re-sampling of historic drill cores suggests there is potential for a significant resource expansion, and this is expected to be announced to market within Q4 2024.
The Trøndelag Project: Copper and Zinc
This year an extensive field program was completed across the Trøndelag VMS license area with promising results for substantial prospectivity on multiple targets.
The Vågå Project delivered high-grade copper and zinc assays with results returned up to 5.53% Cu and 8.59% Zn from brownfield and greenfield targets, highlighting the project’s potential for further exploration and resource growth.
The Tesskrokan target on the Vågå license area identified strong potential for high-grade copper within a VMS system, with assays up to 3.03% Cu over a 1.5 km strike length.
Commenting on progress in 2024, Antony Beckmand the CEO of Kuniko said
“We are highly encouraged by the extensive progress made across several of Kuniko’s key projects this quarter, reflecting the strength of our exploration portfolio.
In the Trøndelag district, emerging targets demonstrate strong potential for VMS type copper and zinc deposits. High-grade assay results at Vågå, particularly from Tesskrokan highlight the prospect’s promising potential for a sizable VMS-hosted deposits. At Tesskrokan extensive field work has resulted in identification of a hydrothermal system with substantial indicated strike length and copper grades up to 3%.
At Ringerike, our exploration has identified multiple high-grade copper and nickel occurrences, notably at historical mines such as Tysklandsgruve and Skaug, further confirming the district-scale opportunity for substantial copper, nickel, and cobalt mineralisation. These findings affirm Ringerike’s potential as a significant source of battery metals, with high-grade targets identified across the mineralised trend. Additionally, our drill core assay results from Ertelien have returned extensive intervals of mineralisation, positioning the project for an impactful Mineral Resource Estimate update.”
Why EU auto giant Stellantis invested in Kuniko.
Securing raw materials in the automotive industry is crucial because these materials, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, are essential for manufacturing electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
As the graphic from the International Energy Agency (IEA) below shows, each electric vehicle needs a lot of critical raw materials including on average 53.2kgs of copper, 39.9 kgs of nickel and 13.3kgs of cobalt.
According to Stellantis it is vital to ensure there is a stable supply of these raw materials to avoid potential shortages, price fluctuations, and geopolitical dependencies.
This is why Stellantis has made several global strategic investments in high quality resource companies.
One of these investments was in June 2023 in Kuniko Ltd when Stellantis agreed to purchase €5 million in new equity in Kuniko for an ~20% shareholding and signed a binding offtake term sheet for 35% of future production of nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate from Kuniko’s Norwegian exploration projects for a term of nine years.
Commenting at the time on the investment and offtake, Stellantis Chief Purchasing and Supply Chain Officer, Maxime Picat said “we Kuniko we are adding another level to support our European battery needs with local and environmentally conscious solution from its Norwegian projects”.
Supporting the EU CRMA and electrification ambitions
The European Union’s sweeping regulatory changes, notably the Critical Raw Materials Act, signed as law in May 2024 represents a proactive response to fortify domestic capabilities in producing, refining, and recycling critical raw materials.
These initiatives aim to address reduced import dependency amid a projected massive surge in global demand for such materials by 2050.
The inclusion of nickel, copper, cobalt in the EU’s critical materials list underscores the strategic importance of Kuniko’s efforts in Europe’s transition towards sustainability. In addition, the Ringerike district has the potential to host Platinum Group Metals (PGEs) which are also included in the CRMA list as strategic.
The EU battery regulation will also over time create significant opportunities from companies such as Kuniko that can supply low carbon battery metals and minerals into Europe.
Its not just electric vehicles in Europe that will be consuming critical raw materials, but all the assets required to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 such as wind turbines, solar and hydrogen energy technologies, and infrastructure.
This energy transition and electrification agenda will require far greater supplies of critical raw materials by 2050 than current supplies - copper (35%), nickel (100%) and cobalt (330%).
Kuniko with its strategy to be mining and producing carbon neutral green metals by 2030 is uniquely placed to assist Europe meet this supply requirements.
Future battery metals processing opportunities
Kuniko’s ongoing mineralogical studies and test work are crucial steps toward realising its mine-to-battery supply chain vision.
Kuniko is also exploring conventional and innovative processing options to best make informed decisions for sustainable and efficient project advancement.
Hydrometallurgical testing will evaluate if Kuniko could sustainably produce battery end-products in Norway using modern, low-emission technologies. This would establish a strategically important European mine-to-battery material plant, producing battery chemical end-products such as nickel sulphate hexahydrate, copper sulphate, and cobalt heptahydrate.
Ringerike’s strategic location near Oslo, Norwegian battery gigafactories, and the deep-sea port of Drammen provides easy access to European markets. The project would be able to utilise Norway’s 98% renewable electric grid, maintaining a low carbon footprint.
The goal would be to deliver ethical, sustainable, and low-carbon battery metals through an environmentally friendly hydrometallurgical production facility.
Voisey Bay comparative.
Kuniko Ltd views the Voisey’s Bay mine in Canada as a geological analogy for its Ringerike project. Voisey’s Bay is known for its significant nickel and cobalt production, with a geological profile featuring Ni-Cu-Co sulphide mineralization within dynamic mafic intrusions and evidence of magma conduit systems—characteristics also observed at Ringerike.
While Voisey's Bay transports concentrate for hydrometallurgical processing off-site, Kuniko aims to improve upon this model by implementing hydrometallurgical processes directly at Ringerike. This approach would support Kuniko’s goal of establishing an on-site, mine-to-battery supply chain, minimizing carbon footprint and maximizing sustainable production for European battery markets.
Summary
Kuniko’s has several strategic advantages that should ensure the company is well placed to carry through with its objective of becoming a material supplier of carbon neutral green and battery metals to Europe.
The Company’s leadership team is a huge asset with extensive experience in mining, mineral processing, financing and sustainable project development as well as expertise from automotive and electro-mobility industries.
Kuniko’s has 2 major shareholders in Stellantis and Vulcan Energy, and both are represented on Kuniko’s board. Stellantis is a €39 billion global auto giant with extensive experience in raw materials and battery technology. Vulcan Energy is a lithium and renewable energy producer, specialising in the production of lithium in Europe with a net zero footprint. Vulcan has invaluable contacts and relationships in Europe’s battery value chain.
The Company’s offtake and relationship with Stellantis is significant as it moves from exploration to development and toward production.
Kuniko is traded on ASX and in Germany on Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart and Gettex exchanges.
Download a copy of the company's recent investor deck here
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