Beaufort Securities view: The expansion of FinnAust’s licence coverage at its properties in Finland is a positive development. The company has been granted the licences at low costs, which strengthens its strategy of placing the assets for exploration activities on market stabilization. FinnAust holds 76 permits for exploration, comprising two reservations (13,192 hectares in total), 57 claims (3,663 hectares) and 17 exploration licences (7,655 hectares). Meanwhile, FinnAust is progressing well in terms of acquisition of Bluejay Mining, which is a potentially high-quality, low-cost heavy mineral sands asset in Greenland. The company has obtained shareholders’ approval and awaits regulatory approval for the change in control of the EL. We look forward to detailed information on work programmes related to the Pituffik titanium project. In light of these developments, we maintain a Speculative Buy rating on the stock.
Yesterday, FinnAust Mining (FinnAust) announced increase of licence coverage at its fully-owned copper, zinc and nickel properties in Finland. The company has been granted licences in its three Finnish project areas. For the Outokumpu copper project, FinnAust was awarded exploration licences (ELs) for the Haapovaara project (999 hectares) and the Viuruniemi project (971 hectares). This has increased the total project area to 6,130 hectares, with 52 licenced areas, of which 44 are claims and eight are ELs. The claims would expire in 2017-18 and the new ELs in 2019-20, which can be extended for three years. At the Hammaslahti copper-gold-zinc project, the company has been granted a licence for the Tohmajärvi project (921 hectares), taking the total project area to 12,317 hectares, which covers 18 licenced areas. At the Kelkka nickel sulphide project, FinnAust secured two licences [Enonkoski C EL (1,849 hectares) and Makkola EL (514 hectares)], taking the total project area to 5,730 hectares. Furthermore, the company informed that shareholders approved the acquisition of 60% stake in Bluejay Mining during the general meeting in December 2015. FinnAust has applied for approval from Greenlandic authorities for change in control of the mineral exploration permit.
