EnviroGold Global’s “Metals Without Mining” Business Model to Produce Precious, Clean-Energy & Battery Metals with Expected 80% Reduction in Energy Intensity, 96% Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions per Gold Ounce Equivalent
EnviroGold Global Limited
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TORONTO, March 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EnviroGold Global Limited (CSE: NVRO | OTCQB: RGOZF |FSE: YGK) (“EnviroGold Global” or the “Company“), a Clean Technology Company accelerating the world’s transition to a circular-resource economy through the production of Metals Without Mining, is pleased to announce that the precious (gold, silver), clean-energy & battery metals (copper, zinc, lead) to be produced at the Company’s Hellyer Tailings (link) and Buchans Tailings (link) Reprocessing Projects are expected to show a 96% reduction in greenhouse gas (“HGH”) intensity per gold-ounce equivalent produced and an over 80% reduction in energy intensity relative to industry averages for conventional mining.
EnviroGold Global’s circular-economy business model is designed to produce precious, critical and strategic metals while reprocessing mine waste (tailings). “Tailings” are the by-product of mining and mineral processing and often contain significant quantities of valuable precious, critical and strategic metals. EnviroGold Global’s analytics-driven approach to project origination & development leverages extensive mine production data, mill production data and geological records to identify tailings sites that are expected to contain significant quantities of residual metals due to refractory mineralogy and/or to the inefficiency of outdated technology used during legacy mining operations. In addition to recovering precious, critical and strategic metals, the Company remediates the tailings consistent with environmental best practices, thereby reducing the environmental footprint of legacy mining. Further, by eliminating the extractive phase (mining) of metal production, the Company expects to reduce the energy intensity of metal production by over 80%.
Leveraging the framework set forth by the World Resources Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol, EnviroGold Global’s detailed assessments of expected Scope I and Scope II emissions for the Company’s planned operations at the Hellyer and Buchans Tailings Reprocessing Projects indicate that the carbon intensity of the gold-equivalent ounces of precious, critical and strategic metals produced by the Company will be 96% lower than industry averages for conventional mining. S&P Global Market Intelligence reports that the typical conventional mining operations generated nearly 1 ton of CO2 per gold ounce produced.
Commenting on the results, EnviroGold Global CEO, Dr. Mark Thorpe, said, “Whether serving as critical components for batteries, electric vehicles and clean-energy infrastructure, or as a store of value and hedge against inflation, metals have never been more critical to the modern, global circular economy. EnviroGold Global’s Metals Without Mining business model is designed to sustainably satisfy the world’s increasing demand for precious, critical and strategic metals by eliminating the most carbon & energy intensive phases of metal production, creating a win-win for corporate, community and environmental stakeholders.”
The Global Tailings Review reports that the total number of active, inactive and closed tailings storage facilities worldwide exceeds 8,500. The global footprint of tailings exceeds 280 billion metric tonnes with an additional 12.7 billion metric tonnes produced annually. The value of precious, critical and strategic metals contained in global tailings sites is estimated to exceed $3.4 trillion.
EnviroGold Global’s commercial strategy involves identifying, qualifying and developing tailings reprocessing opportunities, generally targeting tailings sites with at least 6M metric tonnes of tailings and gross recoverable metal value of $124/tonne of tailings. Tailings sites meeting EnviroGold Global’s internal assessment criteria pass through an advanced screening process which includes detailed technical/economic modeling incorporating expected recovery rates and site-specific process-level economic analysis.
The Company has reviewed over 325 global tailings sites to date and has 8 “major projects” in its global tailings reprocessing portfolio. EnviroGold Global expects to commence commercial metal production in 2022 at its Hellyer Tailings Reprocessing Project in Australia. The Company will continue to acquire the rights to tailings reprocessing opportunities around the globe and subsequent to achieving commercial metal production at the Hellyer project will leverage strategic operating partnerships to scale up commercial metal production at multiple projects simultaneously.
There is no relationship between the Company and the World Resources Institute or the Greenhouse Gas Portal and nothing in this news release should be interpreted as suggesting an endorsement by the World Resources Institute or the Greenhouse Gas Portal.
Qualified Person Statement
All scientific and technical information contained in this news release was prepared and approved by Ian Hodkinson, MAIG RPGeo, Chief Geologist of EnviroGold Global, who is a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.
About EnviroGold Global
EnviroGold Global (CSE: NVRO) (OTCQB: RGOZF) (FSE: YGK), is a CleanTech company dedicated to creating shareholder value while establishing ESG & circular economy leadership by profitably reprocessing & remediating mine waste (tailings) to recover precious, critical & strategic metals – including gold, silver, copper & nickel. Led by CEO Dr. Mark Thorpe, the Company is strategically positioned to earn and maintain social license while capitalizing the estimated US$ 3.4 trillion of in situ metal value in global tailings. Dr. Thorpe is also the Chairman of the Canadian Mining Innovation Council.
The Company’s commercial strategy involves identifying, qualifying and developing tailings reprocessing opportunities, generally targeting tailings sites with at least 6M metric tonnes of tailings and gross recoverable metal value of $124/tonne of tailings. The Company has reviewed over 300 global tailings sites to date and through further market segmentation has identified potential targets exceeding US$10 billion in gross recoverable metal value.
EnviroGold Global acquires the metal recovery rights to tailings sites by leveraging a profit share business model to create an attractive value proposition for site owners. The Company’s low-CAPEX business model is designed to generate high free-cash flow & high target IRR while eliminating the risks of traditional exploration and extraction. The Company expects to produce metals with a carbon footprint up to 96% lower than conventional metal producers while reducing the environmental footprint of legacy mining.
As of January 2022, the Company has eight major projects in its global project pipeline including two major projects under definitive contracts and six additional major projects at various stages of commercial negotiation and detailed technical/economic review.
The Company expects to commence production of precious metals (gold and silver), clean energy metals and battery metals (copper, lead, zinc) in 2022 and is targeting seven major projects in commercial production by 2025.
Additional information can be found on the Company’s website (link) and publicly available corporate presentation (link)
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. There is no relationship between the Company and the World Resources Institute or the Greenhouse Gas Portal and nothing in this news release should be interpreted as suggesting an endorsement by the World Resources Institute or the Greenhouse Gas Portal.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, earnings guidance, economic guidance, operational guidance and future capital spending amounts. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements.
Graphical representations included in this news release are approximate representations which may vary from defined regulatory boundaries.
Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “will continue”, “will occur” or “will be achieved”. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected terms of the Hellyer Tailings Reprocessing Project and its completion, the Company’s working relationship with the owner(s) of the Hellyer Tailings, the economic viability of the Hellyer Tailings Reprocessing Project and statements regarding any residual precious metals as a by-product of the remediation, the Company’s expansion of its reprocessing pipeline, and the Company’s ability to accelerate the world’s transition to a circular resource economy. Forward-looking information in this news release are based on certain assumptions and expected future events, namely: the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; the continued commercial viability and growth in the clean technology and mining waste reprocessing industry; continued approval of the Company’s activities by the relevant governmental and/or regulatory authorities; the continued development of clean technology and mining waste reprocessing technology; and the continued growth of the Company. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the potential inability of the Company to continue as a going concern; the Company’s inability to accelerate the world’s transition to a circular resource economy, the risks associated with assessing metallurgical recovery rates from mine tailings and waste and related volumetric assessments, the risks associated with the mining and mining waste recycling industry in general; increased competition in the clean technology and waste reprocessing market; the potential unviability of the clean technology and mining waste reprocessing market; incorrect assessment of the value and potential benefits of various transactions; risks associated with potential governmental and/or regulatory action with respect to clean technology and mining waste reprocessing; risks associated with a potential collapse in the value of clean technology and waste reprocessing; and risks relating to the Company’s potential inability to expand its reprocessing pipeline.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company’s expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.