KEN Kendrick Resources Plc

9 July 2024

Kendrick Resources Plc
("Kendrick" or the "Company")

Scandinavian Nickel Interests 

Kendrick Resources Plc (LSE: KEN), the mineral exploration and development company building nickel, vanadium, and copper battery metal projects in Scandinavia is providing this update on its nickel projects in Norway and Sweden. Nickel is fundamental to the new battery world with preferred sulphide nickel deposits being in very short supply.  Nickel derived from laterites requires significantly more energy  and is extremely complex for metallurgical recovery compared to nickel sulphide ores. The value of Kendrick's nickel assets is further strengthened by being in Norway and Sweden which are considered stable jurisdictions with favourable mining legislation and overarching European legislation focused on strategic raw materials and security of supply.

Having recognised the issues facing the battery industry, Kendrick has directed its Scandinavian mission to locate sulphide sources that may meet the nickel supply shortfall which the Board regards as being inevitable.

Highlights

General

·    Ratification this month of the European Commission's Critical Raw Materials Act 2024  should be beneficial for both funding and development of the projects

·    Kendrick's Swedish Projects are particularly well located being based in the centre of the Swedish car and battery-making industries

·    Governments are receptive to new mining ventures together with major mining companies

·    All projects have copper in association with nickel

·    Geological investigation and academia indicate the Swedish projects may be analogous to the Thompson nickel Belt (Manitoba)

Swedish projects

·    The Njuggträskliden and Mjövattnet  projects (acquired in 2023 post Listing) are exceptional in their potential and Kendrick is pleased to have acquired the properties from its royalty partner EMX  Royalty Corporation

·    Characterised by wide mineralised intersections at good grades (Tables 1 & 2 below) and amenable to open pit mining

·    Njuggträskliden currently offering a NiEq grade* of up to 2.42% Ni, equivalent to $419 per tonne of ore

·    A combined 25km of highly prospective strike length at Njuggträskliden (10km) and Mjövattnet (15km).

Norwegian Projects

·    Espedalen rapidly developing into a nickel camp with two prospects with resources greater than 1Mt each.

·    Stormyra prospect recently identified an additional 500m of drill-ready strike length to extend its current 1.16Mt @ 1% Ni, 0.42% Cu & 0.04% Co.

*Nickel Equivalent (NiEq) based on the following metal prices: nickel $17,300 per tonne, copper$9,700 per tonne, platinum $32 per gram and palladium $33 per gram

Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Kendrick Resources Plc said "Our Swedish nickel projects are exceptional in as much as they offer higher grade nickel with copper notwithstanding the contributions of PGEs¹ and cobalt. Njuggträskliden and Mjövattnet  are located a few kilometres from the battery manufacturer Northvolt and are only 100 kilometres by sea from the Kokkola nickel smelter that can selectively extract these metals. We are excited to work this project and test the 25 kilometres of strike to add significant near-surface resources to the current resource. Work at Espedalen in Norway will continue with the focus being on the drill-ready additional strike length expected to add to the existing mineral resource.  We look forward to keeping shareholders informed of progress with an emphasis on drilling and expansion of existing mineral resources".

¹Platinum Group Elements

Njuggträskliden Ni - Cu - PGE licence

Table 1: Njuggträskliden Selected Drill intercepts and Grades

A magmatic Ni-Cu-Co-PGE Project located on the Nickel Line in central eastern Sweden with a non-JORC (2012) resource together with a 16km long prospective strike length defined by historic geochemical surveys and mineralised boulder fields.

Njuggträskliden resource of 0.6Mt @ 0.71% Ni, 0.26% Cu & 0.04% Co. Consistently wide peak Njuggträskliden drill intercepts of 24.35m @ 1.01% Ni, 0.51% Cu, 1.0g/t Pt & 0.56g/t Pd, 23.01m @ 1.04% Ni, 0.6% Cu, 0.51g/t Pt & 0.23g/t Pd and 12.3m @ 0.9% Ni, 0.79% Cu, 0.3g/t Pt & 5.34g/t Pd. Assay data indicates the presence of PGEs that have typically been overlooked in terms of their recoverability and value as a by-product.

                Conduit-style magmatic mineralisation featuring intrusive breccias and phased mafic - ultramafic host rocks (gabbro, pyroxenite and peridotite) indicative of multiple pulses of magmatic activity. Mineralisation occurs as massive and disseminated sulphides, veinlets and brecciation. Regionally and at the project scale, host lithologies have undergone at least two phases of intense folding resulting in greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism.

Mjövattnet  Ni - Cu - PGE licence

Table 2: Mjövattnet Selected Drill Intercepts and Grades

Mjövattnet was one of the first nickel sulfide discoveries made along the Nickel Line. Discovered in 1971, the nickel sulfide deposit occurs along a structural corridor of similar mineralised bodies, including the Lappvattnet, Brannorna, and Lappbacken zones to the southwest, each of which have drill defined zones of mineralization, with the latter two also lying within the Mjövattnet Licence (Lappvattnet is currently held by a third party).

Two drill-defined zones of mineralisation hosting a non-JORC (2012) resource of 0.17Mt @ 1.29% Ni, 0.19% Cu and 0.02% Co and a further 15km of prospective strike length to be tested. Impressive wide drill intercepts at Mjövattnet including 76.18m @ 0.60% Ni, 27.7m @ 0.64% Ni & 11.6m @ 0.82% Ni

Described as syn-deformation or feeder-style Ni - Cu mineralisation, the known deposits remain open at depth. Migmatised paragneiss host rock interbedded with graphitic schist with intrusive breccias and unlike Njuggträskliden, an absence of compositional layering results in a complex intrusive morphology.

Espedalen Ni-Cu licence

The Espedalen Project is located approximately 50km north-west of Lillehammer in southern central Norway, 3 hours' drive north of Oslo. The project is well served with transport infrastructure being accessible by tarmac roads and is close to rail links to ports in southern Norway and to Glencore's Nikkelverk nickel refinery located 350km to the south.

The known nickel mineralisation on the Espedalen Project is hosted within differentiated mafic and ultramafic bodies which have intruded anorthositic country rocks collectively referred to as the Espedalen Complex and range in age from 1698 - 1250 Ma. This age range is similar to the age of the rocks hosting the giant Voisey's Bay nickel deposit in Labrador, Canada. Further evidence supporting the analogy between Espedalen and Voisey's Bay are tectonic plate reconstructions which place southern Norway in relatively close proximity during the time of formation of Voisey's Bay and with the two regions undergoing similar tectonic developments.

Mining in the Espedalen area dates from 1666. Total production from the Espedalen region is estimated at 100,000t @ 1.0% Ni, 0.4% Cu and 0.06% Co. Significant exploration has been undertaken in the area. The majority and most recent work having been completed by Falconbridge Limited and Blackstone Ventures Limited having completed 134 drill holes across the Espedalen project area, defining significant accumulations of nickel sulphides at the Stormyra and Dalen prospects and generating numerous other quality targets.

In 2009, Blackstone published a NI 43-101 report detailing Inferred Mineral Resources at the Stormyra and Dalen prospects. Blackstone relinquished the Espedalen Project in 2011 following the preceding financial crisis. ASX listed Drake Resources Limited (now renamed Ragnar Metals Limited) acquired the Espedalen Project in 2012. Drake refined the Mineral Resources at Stormyra (1.16Mt @ 1% Ni, 0.42% Cu & 0.04% Co) and Dalen (7.8Mt @ 0.28% Ni, 0.12% Cu & 0.02% Co) prospects in accordance with JORC (2012).

Drilling Programme

Kendrick's maiden diamond drill programme at the Stormyra Ni-Cu-Co Deposit (see Kendrick's RNS dated: 31 January 2023) concluded on 1 March 2023, encompassing 19 boreholes, comprising infill, step-out, and exploration holes, spanning a total of 1,650 metres. The Stormyra Mineral Resource contains a high-grade core, with assays of up to 8.2% Ni. The high-grade core remains to be fully- defined by drilling. Additional investigation of this high-grade core is warranted along with drill testing a ground geophysical conductor, directly associated with the nickel mineralisation, which extends 500m to the south-east of the currently defined limits of the Stormyra Mineral Resource.

European Union and Scandinavian Strategic and Critical Raw Materials Initiatives

Reliable and unhindered access to Strategic and Critical Raw Materials is a growing concern for the EU. In 2011 the European Commission produced its first Critical Raw Materials ("CRMs") lists comprising 20 CRMs. The most recent updated list produced in 2023 contains 34 CRMs.

The main parameters used to determine the criticality of a material are ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE to the EU and SUPPLY RISK. Copper and nickel do not meet the CRM thresholds but are included on the CRM list as Strategic Raw Materials in line with the Critical Raw Materials Act ("CRMA"). The European Green Deal triggered the development of the CRMA specifically to strengthen production, processing, and recycling of strategic raw materials in Europe to diversify supply chains.  

The CRMA came into force on 24 May 2024 after a relatively short period of review which is thought to reflect the growing urgency in new legislation aimed at securing long-term supply of CRMs.  Upon advancement of both Nickel Line projects, Kendrick will apply for Strategic Project status under the Critical Raw Materials Act. An Eu initiative, granting of the status is expected to streamline permitting procedures and provide support in securing project finance. 

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed, verified, and approved by Colin Bird, CC.ENG, FIMMM, South African and UK Certified Mine Manager and Director of Kendrick Resources plc, with more than 40 years' experience mainly in hard rock mining.

About Kendrick Resources Plc

Kendrick Resources Plc is a mineral exploration and development company with projects primarily based across Scandinavia. The principal of its business is to explore the opportunities within the natural resources sector with a focus on battery, base, and precious metals including but not limited to vanadium and nickel. In doing so, the Company is looking to build a long term energy metals business in Scandinavia which delivers energy metals to Europe to help enable its renewable energy transformation by building a top tier energy metals production business.