Saint Jean Carbon Provides Corporate Update
OAKVILLE, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan 29, 2014) - Saint Jean
Carbon Inc. ("Saint Jean" or the "Company") (TSX-VENTURE:SJL) is
pleased to provide its shareholders with this corporate update on
its recent and planned business development activities. In addition
to providing a summary of key events, the Company also hopes this
update will demonstrate the connections across its full range of
business activities and strategies.
As background, it is worth noting that Saint Jean defines its
carbon business according to four basic pillars to success: mine
development and mineral processing; product marketing and
distribution; revenue generation; and experienced management. These
pillars are the common thread that unites the Company as it builds
a world class operation that leverages growing opportunities in the
carbon and graphite sectors. This need is driven by the unique and
wide range of technical, logistical and pricing requirements of
graphite customers and products. Meeting these challenges means the
Company must be able to demonstrate strong product knowledge and
the ability to create value added operations that go beyond simple
mining. At Saint Jean this is being accomplished by virtue of a
clear understanding of graphite business drivers; defined
strategies for moving forward; and an experienced management team.
The full effect of these factors is the ability to generate revenue
in the near future. This is critically important not only to fund
planned projects, but also to reduce reliance on the constant cycle
of fundraising that often characterizes junior mining companies.
Within this framework the following update summarizes the steps
being taken towards each of these goals.
- Complete all property acquisitions by March 2014.
- Carry out property work programs and prove out graphite quality
in Quebec and Sri Lanka projects.
- Complete 43-101's for each property.
- Sign profitable customer contracts.
- Begin generating revenue in 2014.
Property Acquisitions
The initial building blocks of Saint Jean were the Quebec based
lump graphite properties that it has assembled over the past year.
As noted in previous press releases, the Company has pursued lump
graphite because of its suitability in a wide cross section of
natural graphite product applications, and because the head grades
in lump deposits can offer a framework of low production costs.
This in turn gives the Company an opportunity to be cost
competitive when working with customers.
The Company's most recent proposed Quebec addition is the Clot
lump graphite property (the "Clot Property"). This site, along with
its Walker, Wallingford, and St. Jovite properties (the "Canadian
Properties"), were all past producers, and are all within
operational distance of each other. The historic nature of the
properties flattens the learning curve in terms of mine
development, and it is hoped that the close proximity will create a
critical mass of supply and offer economies of scale once the sites
are brought into production. Assuming the lump graphite head grades
conform to the high carbon results defined to date, the Company
believes the four properties will provide a cost advantage that
will permit a single central processing facility that can be
located off site. This in turn will lower the overall capital
expenditure for the mine development programs. Located within easy
access of major population centers such as Ottawa and Montreal the
projects will also offer ready access to transportation
infrastructure, strong labour pools, and carbon customers.
While the Company can't rule out expanding beyond these sites,
management is satisfied that these four properties will represent
the extent of its Canadian graphite acquisitions for the
foreseeable future. This view is supported by the recent
non-binding agreement the Company entered into to acquire multiple
lump graphite mineral claims in Sri Lanka (the "Sri Lankan
Property"). These past producing properties represent an
opportunity to diversify into a cost-effective environment that has
been a supplier to world markets for a century or more. Over the
course of December and January representatives of the Company, Mr.
Sam Kiri and Mr. Rajiv Mediratta began a series of meetings,
correspondence and communications with local Sri Lankan officials
to identify and discuss all key issues associated with the
development efforts. The Company plans to aggressively expand this
effort in the months ahead by entering into a binding agreement and
completing some of the licensing and ownership transactions by
February 28, 2014. Establishing operations in Sri Lanka will
require a coordinated effort and Saint Jean management is keen to
create a viable set of mine and milling operations within the
country and with the cooperation and support of the Sri Lankan
government and its local communities.
Property Work Programs
The Company has developed a full range of exploration,
trenching, analysis, mapping, and drilling programs that it plans
to carry out on its Canadian Properties over the course of 2014 and
beyond. These plans are contingent upon a number of factors, one of
which is weather permitting. As most Canadians have experienced
this year, the winter months have been particularly challenging.
That applies as much to mining groundwork as anything else.
Accordingly, the Company has moved out work schedules that might
normally have been possible in mid-winter to early spring. It is
expected that the Walker program in particular will be able to
include a drill program once the Company's geologists have been
able to map out a grid of suitable targets. The CEO of Saint Jean,
Mr. Paul Ogilvie, expressed his eagerness to begin by noting: "Our
geological and operational team has been ready to move forward with
groundwork for the past three months but of course have been
frustrated by the weather and snow. It will be a welcome change to
finally put those plans in action as soon as spring arrives".
As noted above, the same focus will apply to the Sri Lankan
Property project if ownership of the claims is finalized and
compliant with local regulations. Development work will include
sampling, analysis, mapping, trenching, and where required drill
programs to quantify the structure and extent of the lump
resources. In the case of both the Canadian Properties and Sri
Lankan properties, the Company will also take all necessary steps
to complete informative NI 43-101's to further ensure adequate
disclosure on the potential of the sites and the recommended work
programs. As with other strategy elements, focusing on both
Canadian and Sri Lankan lump graphite properties creates synergies
in terms of metallurgical analysis, product knowledge, and customer
development.
Customer Contracts and Revenue Generation
In early January 2014 the Company announced that it had entered
into a non-binding agreement to acquire the working operations of
Minmet Carbon Inc. (the "Minmet Acquisition"). Given the critical
importance of product knowledge, graphite marketing and
distribution, and customer contacts, the addition of Minmet and its
key principal, Mr. Chris Wood, represented a fundamental broadening
of Saint Jean's market presence. Not only is Minmet experienced in
a wide range of industrial minerals including natural graphite, it
also has significant experience and exposure in the synthetic
graphite markets. It was therefore welcome and natural that one of
Chris's first steps was to introduce Saint Jean to Miluo Xinxiang
Carbon Products Co. Ltd. ("Miluo") in Hunan China. Miluo is
actively looking for new markets and Saint Jean is equally
interested in not only selling its synthetic graphite products, but
also of course looks forward to improving its understanding of this
market segment and generating revenue along the way. Minmet and
Saint Jean have identified a series of potential customer contracts
that it believes can be executed in 2014 and are actively moving
forward to develop each over the course of the next twelve
months.
At the core of all of these efforts is the belief in the future
of the graphite and carbon markets. These markets are robust and
growing. Over the better part of the past decade the management of
Saint Jean, and now Minmet with 20 years of mineral marketing
experience, have recognized that all forms of carbon are of course
not only the building blocks of life, but also represent a
fundamental presence in a myriad of product applications in
commercial, industrial and consumer markets. At the same time, the
Company is the first to acknowledge that the carbon and graphite
sectors require strong capabilities in mining, processing,
production, research and marketing.
Accordingly, any opportunity such as joint ventures, mineral
processing partnerships or technology sharing to expand those
abilities; move projects forward; and increase revenue generation
potential, are paths the Company will actively consider. As such,
the intended acquisition of the lump graphite properties in Quebec
and Sri Lanka, namely the Clot Property and the Sri Lankan
Property, market opportunities in natural and synthetic graphite,
and continued efforts to generate near-term revenues will all form
the basis for building a sound and profitable company. Each of
these elements forms the common thread running through Saint Jean
and the Company looks forward to providing investors with
encouraging and profitable new developments in the months
ahead.
About Saint Jean
Saint Jean is a publicly traded junior mining exploration
company with a number of mining claims. The Walker graphite
property consists of 4 claims covering the past mine and 11 claims
covering interesting geological context for more graphite
mineralization in the region around the deposit, which is located
40 km north-east of Ottawa. The Saint Jovite graphite property is
located 8.5 km south-south-east of the village of Brebeuf in the
Laurentian region is approximately 153 km northwest of Montreal. It
consists of 4 claims. The Wallingford graphite property is located
10 km north of Buckingham village in the Central Metasedimentary
Belt of the Grenville geological Province, some 182 km west of
Montreal. It consists of two mining claims. The Mount Copeland
molybdenum deposit lies within metamorphic rocks flanking the
southern margin of Frenchman Cap Dome, 32 kilometers northwest of
Revelstoke, British Columbia (the "Mount Copeland Property"). The
Fort-Eden copper property is comprised of 18 mineral tenures that
total 2,828.6 hectares in area. The mineral claims are located 100
km west of Fort St. James, BC (the "Fort Eden Property"). The Red
Bird deposit is comprised of three zones of molybdenum
concentration referred to as the Main, Southeast and Southwest
zones within a property totaling 1,836 ha (4,400 acres) and is
located 133 km southwest of Burns Lake and 105 km north of Bella
Coola (the "Red Bird Property").
The Company plans to divest (the "Divestitures") each of the
Mount Copeland Property, the Fort Eden Property and the Red Bird
Property through a sale or joint venture, thus allowing it to focus
on building a graphite mining company. Additionally, Saint Jean
expects to acquire the Clot Property (the "Clot Acquisition") and
the Sri Lankan Property (the "Sri Lankan Acquisition") in
furtherance of its new focus. The Clot Acquisition, the Sir Lankan
Acquisition and the Minmet Acquisition are collectively referred to
as the "Acquisitions".
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release
contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of
applicable securities legislation, concerning Saint Jean's business
and affairs. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does
not expect", "intends" "budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
"forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or variations of such words
and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may",
"could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be
achieved". Such forward-looking statements include those with
respect to obtaining financing sufficient to fund the work program,
determining the final budget necessary to carry out the work
program, commencing work as expected and the availability of the
management team in respect thereof, allocating funds to the work
program as expected, carrying out the elements of the work program
as expected, results of the work program providing the information
and data anticipated, carrying out the testing and assaying,
completing NI 43-101 technical reports, preparing pre and/or full
feasibility studies, expectations of product quality, grade and
operating economics of the Company's graphite properties, the
Company's ability to complete the Divestitures and Acquisitions,
and become a graphite producing company.
These forward-looking statements are based on current
expectations, and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes
in circumstances that may cause actual results to differ
materially.
Although Saint Jean believes that the expectations
represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable,
there can be no assurance that these expectations will prove to be
correct. There are risks which could affect Saint Jean's future
results and could cause the results to differ materially from those
expressed in these forward-looking statements including negotiation
failure or delay, the impact of general economic conditions in
Canada and globally and the risk that they will deteriorate,
industry conditions, including fluctuations in the price of
supplies and the risk that they will increase, that required
consents and approvals from regulatory authorities will not be
obtained and the liabilities and risks inherent in Company's
operations.
Statements of past performance should not be construed as an
indication of future performance. Forward-looking statements
involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as
guarantees of future performance or results, and will not
necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results
will be achieved. A number of factors, including those discussed
above, could cause actual results to differ materially from the
results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Any such
forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their
entirety by this cautionary statement.
All of the forward-looking statements made in this press
release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking information is provided as of the date
of this press release, and Saint Jean assumes no obligation to
update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances,
except as may be required under applicable securities
laws.
Saint Jean Carbon Inc.Laurie McCarneyDirector of Corporate
Communications(905) 844-1200 ext:
305lmccarney@saintjeancarbon.comwww.saintjeancarbon.com
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