Michigan Department of Natural Resources Approves Talon Metals Application for 23,000 Acres of State Mineral Leases New Leases Augment Talon's 400,000 Acres of Mineral Rights in Highly Prospective Nickel District, Currently Host to the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Approves Talon Metals Application for 23,000
Acres of State Mineral Leases
New Leases Augment Talon's 400,000 Acres of Mineral Rights
in Highly Prospective Nickel District, Currently Host to the
Only Operating High-Grade Nickel Mine in the USA
Tamarack, Minnesota--(Newsfile Corp. - January 31, 2024) - Talon Metals Corp. (TSX: TLO) (OTC Pink:
TLOFF) ("
Talon
" or the "
Company
") received confirmation on January 30, 2024 from the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources that its Administrative Board approved the Company's application
(through its subsidiaries) for 23,000 acres of additional mineral leases in the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan.
The 23,000 acres of mineral leases augment the
Company's announcement on August 10, 2022
that it
entered into an option and earn-in agreement (the
"Option Agreement"
) with UPX Minerals Inc. (a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Sweetwater Royalties) (
"UPX"
) to acquire up to an 80% ownership interest
in the mineral rights over a land package comprised of approximately 400,000 acres located in the
Upper Peninsula of the State of Michigan. This land package was originally assembled by Henry Ford
and owned for approximately 70 years by the Ford Motor Company.
The combined land package covers highly prospective terrain within 1.7 miles (2.8km) of the high-grade
Eagle Nickel Mine (the only active nickel mine in the USA today) and is only 0.4 miles (0.6km) from the
Humboldt Mill (the concentrator which currently processes the raw nickel ore from the Eagle Nickel
Mine).
On September 12, 2023, the Department of Defense selected Talon for $20.6 million in grant funding
from the
Defense Production Act
to explore and discover more high-grade nickel mineralization in
Michigan and Minnesota.
Henri van Rooyen, CEO of Talon said:
"Our exploration team's sole focus is to discover more high-
grade nickel deposits in the United States. With funding from the Department of Defense, Talon will
bring its proven approach to exploration drilling and geophysical analysis to try to discover new high-
grade nickel and copper mineralization in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, currently the only region
with a nickel mine in the United States."
Mr. van Rooyen continued:
"Within the mineral sourcing requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act's
electric vehicle tax credits, minerals sourced domestically enjoy the highest level of preference under
the law. The United States is currently dependent on foreign countries such as Russia and China for
nickel, which is an untenable supply chain vulnerability. This extraordinary context is why Talon is
advancing its proposed Tamarack Underground Mine proposal through the Minnesota environmental
review process while also exploring for additional high-grade deposits in both Minnesota and
Michigan."
He continued, "Mineral exploration and geophysics are science but also an art. It is not just finding a
needle in a haystack; it's finding a needle in a haystack if the haystack was in a dark barn and you're
wearing dark sunglasses. The haystack in this case was buried deep underground millions of years
ago. Talon's experienced team is using cutting edge technology, our own drill rigs and in-house drill
teams to find more nickel in America. We are conducting drilling and geophysics in Minnesota on a
24/7 basis and are excited to get started in Michigan this spring."
"The Michigan DNR approval process included opportunity for extensive public comment. We are
planning to host a community "Open House" in the spring prior to any drilling and we have had a
number of information sharing meetings with proximate Tribal sovereign governments to discuss our
initial area of interest for mineral exploration, seek their feedback and discuss the potential
contribution of tribal knowledge in our fieldwork,"
said Cody Mayer, Community & Tribal Engagement
Liaison for Talon. Mayer is based in Marquette, Michigan and is the Company's first Michigan based
employee.
He continued,
"Exploration drilling and geophysics is essentially about understanding what
Michigan has in its natural resource wealth. Having this information means policymakers are better
able to plan for secure domestic supply chains in the future. If this exploration process results in the
discovery of a mineable resource like the Eagle Mine, which has successfully operated in this region
since 2014, it will ultimately be up to society to decide if that newly discovered resource will be
extracted and contribute to domestic supply chains. For now, Talon is committed to protecting the
environment during this exploration phase, being transparent with the community by sharing
information about our operations, plans and exploration results."
ABOUT TALON
Talon is a TSX-listed base metals company in a joint venture with
Rio Tinto
on the high-grade
Tamarack
Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project
located in central Minnesota. Talon's shares are also traded in the US
over the OTC market under the symbol TLOFF. The Tamarack Nickel Project comprises a large land
position (18km of strike length) with additional high-grade intercepts
outside the current resource area
.
Talon has an earn-in right to acquire up to 60% of the Tamarack Nickel Project, and currently owns 51%.
Talon is focused on (i) expanding and infilling its current high-grade nickel mineralization resource
prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 to shape a mine plan for submission to Minnesota regulators,
and (ii) following up on additional high-grade nickel mineralization in the Tamarack Intrusive Complex.
Talon has an agreement with Tesla Inc.
to supply it with 75,000 metric tonnes (165 million lbs) of nickel in
concentrate (and certain by-products, including cobalt and iron) from the Tamarack Nickel Project over
an estimated six-year period once commercial production is achieved. Talon has a
neutrality and
workforce development agreement
in place with the United Steelworkers union. Talon's Battery Mineral
Processing Facility in Mercer County was
selected by the US Department of Energy
for US$114.8
million funding grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the
US Department of Defense awarded
Talon a grant of US$20.6 million
to support and accelerate Talon's exploration efforts in both Minnesota
and Michigan. Talon has well-qualified experienced exploration, mine development, external affairs and
mine permitting teams.
For additional information on Talon, please visit the Company's website at
www.talonmetals.com
Media Contact:
Todd Malan
1-(202)-714-8187
Investor Contact:
Sean Werger
1-(416)-500-9891
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements
of historical fact that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or
anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently
available to the Company. Such forward-looking statements include statements relating to exploration
potential. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and other factors
that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking
statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no
assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company.
Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be
required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.
Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are
reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue
reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/196274